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SMusion Centers
This week’s announcement of the Red Cross and Dell’s collaboration in opening an innovative digital operations center is a giant step forward in incorporating social media efforts in crisis response....
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Bridging The Abyss
As a social media (SM) junky for a few years now, I have had lots of opportunities to use the medium during a community’s worst day. I’ve made some mistakes and learned some lessons along the way, but...
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Wake Up Folks!
Emergency Management Magazine hosted an All Hazards Stakeholders Summit in Seattle today. I believe this is the second year of these “summits”, bringing together the best and brightest stars in...
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SMoke on the water
Wow, how time flies. I realized it has been almost a month since I last posted. My apologies to those who follow along. Things have been kinda nuts at work. Let me explain. At “O-dark-thirty” on...
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Don’t “Pull A Phil”
I hit the links today, determined to shake off the cobwebs accumulated during a gray Pacific Northwest winter. After three holes of hackin’, choppin’ and basically suckin off the tee, I stood on the...
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A Dose Of Mortality
I had a sobering discussion with my son last night. He is 23 years old, works as a part-time firefighter, and also serves as a resident volunteer firefighter. He is testing everywhere, intent on...
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Inoperable Interoperability
I recently met with a group of boathouse owners at our local marina that recently suffered a fire killing two boat owners, destroying the large boathouse and 12 large pleasure boats. In prepping for...
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Fire and Golf
I’m writing this while sitting on the deck of a golf resort, overlooking an uphill tough par 5 hole that I’ve only reached in two one time in the dozen times I’ve tried. All day long, foursomes of...
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Are You Freakin’ Kiddin’ Me?
Over the past couple of weeks the #SMEM Twitter world has been noodling with the question of the changing role of the Public Information Officer (PIO) in crisis. Some even wondered aloud if this...
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Got A Full Slide Tray?
Yesterday Patrick Meier posted a great article about the use of social media (SM) “Big Data” in disaster response. Specifically, he challenges growing assumptions and presumptions that SM big data...
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You Are Already Behind
I’m sitting in my favorite easy chair at home, sippin’ a beer, surfin’ my tablet and swayin’ to the music of my favorite Pandora music channel. A balloon pops up in the upper right corner of the...
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I Told Ya So
This morning I read a San Fransisco Chronicle article detailing the San Fran fire chief’s edict banning the use of helmet cameras by on duty firefighters. Prompted by the viral spread of a helmet...
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C’mon Boston, It’s Not About The Vest
A couple of days ago the Boston Globe wrote a lengthy article about the exodus of the most recent Boston Fire Chief, Steve Abraira. Chief Abraira recently resigned under withering public criticism of...
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Yippee Ki-Yay!
“Factors obstructing the adoption of crowdsourcing, social media, and digital volunteerism approaches often include uncertainty about accuracy, fear of liability, inability to translate research into...
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The Indian Street Morons
35 years ago I stood at the top of a set of stairs, watching with anxious fascination the chaos below. Western Washington Security and Bellingham Police Department undercover officers observed drug...
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Hey LAFD, IT’s Not A Vacation!
I’m sitting in a Houston airport waiting for my flight and my Twitter and Facebook feeds blow up with news the Los Angeles Fire Department social media sites had been shut down due to patient privacy...
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Where’s Waldo?
You are the captain of Engine 3, assigned as a RIT crew standing by a rip snortin’ house fire. You and your team were initially disappointed to hear the IC’s assignment, knowing full well you would...
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Georgia Governor’s Melting Snow Job
It never ceases to amaze me how governments and politicians continue to be brought to their knees by Mother Nature. Over the past 48 hours, the Deep South has been struck by a blizzard of epic...
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It’s Time For DEVO
By now most folks have heard of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, commonly called “drones”, and their military use in hunting down Middle East terrorists and tracking cross-border drug...
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The Buck Stops With Them
The response to the tragic Oso Mudslide continues, and rescue efforts are transitioning to recovery. Continued heavy rains are only making the situation worse for the search and recovery teams post...
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