Archive for December, 2009

Congratulations to The Charlotte Fire Department!

The Charlotte Fire Department serves the city of Charlotte, North Carolina and its 800,000+ citizens. The organization is filled with tradition, but has continued to change and grow with their city into the 21st Century. The department responded to over 90,000 calls in the 2009 fiscal year. The Charlotte Fire Department began their blog in March of 2009 and has spread their Social Media presence across many platforms.

You can see their efforts at their blog, Twitter account, YouTube channel, Flickr photostream, and their Google Alert Group.

Depiction software merges images, data, maps, and real-time events into a dynamic view of your local communities not only in crisis, but more importantly before the actual crisis in simulations so that your Agencies can effectively prepare for the crisis. The combination of the data points and simulation capabilities of the software are incredible, and makes it a powerful tool in both pre-crisis presentations as well as collecting and disseminating live event information.

As the winner of Social Media Responder 2009, Charlotte FD will receive a full copy of the Depiction software and their two plugins (a $200 value) thanks to Tim Goddard and courtesy of Depiction.

We’d also like to extend both our appreciation and congratulations to all the other Finalists: Bellevue PD, The Chronicles of EMS, Eric Neitzel, Los Angeles FD, and Montgomery Country Fire and Rescue Service who are all living examples of the best practices to communicate with their communities in Social Media.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and safe New Year!

See you in 2010!

Related articles by Zemanta

• OPEN WEB AWARDS 2009: The Winners (mashable.com)
• 10 Essential Skills for Social Media PIOs (piosocialmediatraining.com)

Napa City Fire Department posted a great twitter message on 12/22 that connected their department with the Social Media Responder 2009 contest. Check out this screencast, using Screenr, to find out why I think this is such a great Twitter message.

Follow Napa City Fire on Twitter @Napa_City_Fire

TrendSpotting recently released their 2010 Social Media Predictions featuring predictions from some of the biggest influencers in Social Media today. I think it’s a really interesting presentation with some very interesting predictions that can be applicable to First Responder and Public Safety Agencies…

What do you think about these predictions? Is there a category you would add to it? What do you think 2010 will bring for First Responder and Public Safety Agencies in Social Media?

Officers from the Kenosha Wisconsin police department have put their own twist on the 12 days of Christmas song in this YouTube video. I think it is OK for emergency response agencies to occasionally have fun with social media tools. Positive and fun interactions with your community can be really important for building relationships.

What do you think of this video? Is it appropriate? Is it useful to accomplishing the department’s mission?

The release of Motorola‘s new Droid phone provides Social Media PIOs with a new potential tool in their Social Media arsenal.

Here are 7 Droid Applications I consider as a must have for any Social Media PIO:

• Twidroid – Every Social Media PIO needs a Twitter client on their phone, especially since mobility is really what Twitter was designed for to begin with. The interface is simple with a number of options including limiting alerts to @ replies and/or Direct Messages, a separate ringtone for alerts, and the ability to choose your preferred photo sharing service for integration directly with any photos you may take. Twidroid also has a PRO version which features the ability to use multiple accounts and color customization
• The Weather Channel – This app will provide you with weather information at either your current location or at any of your saved locations. The service provides a Right Now, Hourly 36-Hour, and 10 Day weather outlook options. One really nice feature is that it can be added to your home screen as a widget
• Radar Now! – The one thing The Weather Channel lacks is access to weather radar, which Radar Now! provides in beautiful colors and renditions
• Color Flashlight – You’ll never know when you might need to turn your phone into a flashlight, and this application even has a Police option for flashing strobes
• Wifi Analyzer – One of the most important things to have is access to wifi. The second most important thing is to know how well your wifi will connect you. Wifi Analyzer provides color comparison charts for you in both signal strength as well as volume. Choose the wifi access point that charts the highest for the best service
• US Traffic – The really strong point of Social Media PIOs are their ability to be mobile while connected. US Traffic will provide you with traffic information across the United States so that you can plan your approach to minimize travel time and maximize your Social Media time
• DroidSS – Having the ability to monitor RSS Feeds while mobile is huge! DroidSS allows you to monitor any blog feeds, twitter feeds, or your Google Alerts feeds right from your Droid! It also has the ability to be widgetized right on your home screen for a quick glance of that all important feed.

Applications for the Android OS will certainly continue on their rapid pace of growth throughout 2010, especially since the announcement of the highly anticipated Nexus One being released sometime in the next 12 months.

A social media public information officer used web-based tools and simple hardware devices to create, share, and distribute information to enhance their agency’s mission. I have been thinking about a list of essential skills for social media PIOs. Can you do all of these things for your agency’s social media presence?

1. Upload a video to YouTube or Vimeo from your handheld camera, smartphone, or webcam. Then embed the video into a blog post or page.

2. Allow readers to subscribe to your blog posts and enewsletters using a double opt-in email subscription client like Aweber.

3. Email a picture from your smartphone to Flickr or TwitPic.

4. Add a Facebook Fan Page badge or Twitter button to a blog page or sidebar. (how to add a badge or button post and screencast)

5. Record a phone call as an audio file using Skype or Google Voice. Then post the audio file to a blog post.

6. Create or find the RSS feed for your agency blog and allow readers to receive email updates of your RSS feed.

7. Record a podcast, take live calls, and embed the recording in your web page using a tool like Blog Talk Radio.(blog post about Montgomery County Fire Rescue use of Blog Talk Radio)

8. Host a ustream broadcast during a public injury prevention program, training event, or actual incident to give real-time updates.

9. Hyperlink to other websites so the new page opens in a new window instead of opening and replacing the referring page.

10. Monitor your social media presence with Twitter Search, Google Alerts (screenr how to), and One Riot.

What would you add to this list?

Ask if you want a screencast made on how to do any of these skills.

Below is a list of resources and agencies with a Facebook Fan Page presence:

Categories

• Disaster Communications and Response
• Emergency Medical Services
• Fire Service
• Law Enforcement
• Healthcare

Disaster Communications and Response

• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
• Santa Barbara County Red Cross
• The American Red Cross
• White Mountain Joint Information System

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Emergency Medical Services

• Boston EMS
• Chronicles of EMS
• EMS1.com
• EMS Professional Magazine
• Forest Hills VAC
• Iredell County Emergency Medical Services
• JEMS Connect
• LUMS Emergency Medical Services
• Reedy Creek Fire and Rescue Department Emergency Medical Services
• Rural Metro Pridemark

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Fire Service

• Boston Fire Department
• Buffalo Fire Department
• CAL Fire
• Charlotte Fire Department
• FireGroundVideo.com
• Los Angeles Fire Department
• Newark Fire Department
• National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
• Seattle Fire Department

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Law Enforcement

• Baltimore Police Department
• East Long Meadow Police
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
  The United States Department of Justice
• Georgia Law Enforcement Disaster Response
• Houston Police Department
• Law Enforcement Today
• National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund
• Philadelphia Police Department
• Salt Lake City Police Department

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Healthcare

• Emory Healthcare
• Intermountain Healthcare
• McKinsey Healthcare
• Sharp Healthcare

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Do you know of or have a Facebook Fan Page that should be added to this list? Leave it’s name and URL in the comments so we can add it to the list!

The Bellevue Nebraska Police Department Community Oriented Police and Problem solving unit has established an excellent social media presence. This screencast explores the COPPS Blog (the agency hub) and several spokes (Twitter, Facebook, and Nixle).