Getting a Flood of Crisis Help With Social Media

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By: Doug Bedell

Here, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is an example of how important portable technology has become to timely crisis response and management. In bygone days, Dan Schoonmaker, director of communications for the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, would have had to get back to his office computer before sending out alerts for flood-response volunteers. Instead, he turned to his at-the-ready laptop and iPhone to start sending out the word.

From an Earth Day event at Acquinas College, about a mile from the surging Grand River, Schoonmaker and a colleague started sending out tweets and emails. According to a Crain's Detroit Business post, "Schoonmaker said the council was able to recruit 500 volunteers directly through social media, thanks to internal lists of environmental activists who regularly take part in events to clean up the Grand River and others who are active in volunteer legislative lobbying...."

Read on in the post and realize that social media need to be made part of crisis communication plans everywhere.

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About the Author

Doug Bedell has a background in journalism and PR and is the owner of Resource Relations LLC in Central PA, focusing on organizational and crisis communication. He’s the community manager of SimplyFair.net, a social network on fairness. On the Web, Doug’s at www.ResourceRelations.com. On Twitter, he’s @DougBeetle.

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