LONG READ: What we can all learn from the #GrabBag hashtag blow back
Posted: September 10, 2019 Filed under: communications, emergency planning, local government | Tags: #GrabBag, #grabbag case study, #grabbag case study police council public sector, police scotland, twitter emergency planning case study Leave a commentIn late 2019, we live in interesting times.
So far this year we’ve had flooding, extreme heat and dams that almost collapse.
In the rest of the year we have the prospect of snow, ice and the impact of a possible ‘no deal’ Brexit with government modelling of food shortages, medicine shortages
Trust is low with around a third of us trusting government officials and journalists with politicians generally trusted by a fifth of the population.
So, how do you get across the need to prepare for possible future emergency?
With great difficulty it seems.
A tweet from Police Scotland appeared to set off a mix of alarm and mirth with the #GrabBag hashtag trending and BBC News picking up the baton online and in broadcast.
A number of police and councils have also used the hashtag along with #30days30ways to ask people to get ready in peacetime ahead of any emergencies ahead.
The aim is positive but in an atmosphere of mistrust, it can very easily go off target.
With some possible alarming days ahead its worth taking a pause to reflect on how we can pull this stuff off. It’s long been a frustration of mine that emergency planning is always 9th on the ‘to do’ list, never rises above that and gets ignored until its too late.
The #GrabBag content
Here’s a quick look at the content in and around the #GrabBag hashtag.
Well this is random and a bit scary, still, I’m taking bets.
Asteroid 4/1
Tsunami 8/1
Nuclear war 14/1
Alien invasion 22/1
Zombie Apocalypse 33/1
No deal Brexit 1000/1#beprepared #30Days30WaysUK #PaddyPower— Paul (@fudpucker74) September 8, 2019
And also…
I think if police stations up and down the country are going to start simultaneously suggesting we pack a #GrabBag they should at least hint as to why. A zombie apocalypse is going to need a very different packing strategy to an AI takeover, for example.
— Amanda Jennings (@MandaJJennings) September 9, 2019
And…
WTF is #GrabBag all about.
Why would we have to leave our homes ?
Monsoon? Forest fire? Hurricane?
I notice that the police and councils up and down the country haven’t said WHY we might need to evacuate quickly. I have never know a campaign like this and it is fucking scary.— jen wood #My blouse is not big 😀 (@unojen_wood) September 8, 2019
But any good analysis should look at the data, too.
So…
The #Grabbag numbers
Using Ritetag analysis, the hashtag had reached large numbers with almost 4,000 tweets.
The hashtag had also spiked impressively in the analysis.
However, the big problem with hashtag analysis is drilling down into sentiment. The US-based algorithm is incapable as yet of spotting sarcasm leading to a manual analysis of what people were really saying.
It’s safe to say the hashtag didn’t really perform as intended.
Sarcasm, worry and brand jacking emerged, the analysis suggests, and the original purpose of the hashtag was obscured.
The #Grabbag key words
The most frequently used positive terms were fine…
The most frequently used negative ones less so…
But what were the trends to a UK audience? I went through and counted a cross-section of around 150 to give a snapshot of the underlying sentiment.
The #Grabbag sentiment
Counting through the content, the sentiment was overwhelmingly parody with supportive tweets being outscored four to one.
The original tweets with the original purpose had been swamped by people who were either pouring scorn or were entertained by the idea of a #grabbag full of gin. Hey! Big LOLs! There’s an argument that any publicity is good publicity. I’m not convinced by that argument.
But there was also a more worrying undertow, too. Did the Police know something they didn’t? Shouldn’t people be more responsible? Who was responsible for all this? This is 2019, we’re talking about. There was even a flavour of newsjacking with big brands trying to cash-in.
Conclusions
So, armed with all this, what does it tell you?
Well, first up, I’m not going to suggest anything stupid like stopping tweeting. Police and local government people who tweet have my undying admiration. I used to be one. Whoever launched the hashtag should be applauded for trying to tackle a serious issue. But the episode does provide some teachable moments that we can learn from.
The public sector should still tackle the big issues
The temptation after adverse publicity is to go into a bunker and maybe delete your account. ‘No,’ and ‘no’ to that. There is a need to communicate in the places where people are. Besides, its a legal obligation for the public sector to warn and inform.
When things go awry I think Cadbury’s and Easter
Every year the meme re-surfaces that Cadbury’s have banned the word ‘Easter’ from their Easter eggs. It spreads across the internet like wildfire. It’s political correctness gone mad. Angry people bombard Cadbury’s with messages to say how outraged they are.
The only thing is that Cadbury’s haven’t banned Easter at all.
The chocolate manufacturer when this first happened where faced with a choice. Either ignore it or talk back. They chose talk back. Like a giant version of whack-a-mole their team mans the ramparts to try and tweet back to people who complain online.
@geordieron40 There’s no policy to remove ‘Easter’, it’s mentioned on the back! As a seasonal treat they’ll always be linked with Easter
— Cadbury UK (@CadburyUK) March 25, 2016
Active rebuttal in the manner of Cadbury’s when things have gone a bit awry is something to deploy. If the message out there is that the police want you to pack your bags because… something BAD is about to happen that feels like something to address.
Equally, it wouldn’t go amiss to respond to some of the parody tweets with a degree of wit and humour.
Yes, this means more resources.
Yes, it helps to direct people towards your message.
Get by with a little help from your friends
The public sector is great but often vital campaigns are launched in a corner of the internet. With #GrabBag, I didn’t see the combined might of the public sector combining. It would have been good to see partners, friends and the rest of the organisation come to the fore to amplify any explainer tweets.
Tapping into your internal comms and companies
If we don’t trust government officials, who do we trust?
Well, it turns out we trust our employers far more. Perhaps surprisingly, even those who think the system is failing them put their trust in their employers. The Edelman Trust Barometer puts 69 per cent of those with a cynical outlook as still trusting their employer.
That’s a massively powerful figure and one that invites a real re-calibration your message. Have a loudhailer. But add companies’ internal comms channels to your loudhailer. It’s also enlisting your own internal comms too for public sector organisations are not just big employers but they’re big local employers.
Thanks for reading. You can find me @danslee on Twitter and dan@danslee.co.uk by email.
LONG READ: I read 147 Facebook updates across seven pages to see how the Whaley Bridge dam crisis was communicated on Facebook
Posted: August 16, 2019 Filed under: communications, emergency planning, local government | Tags: emergency planning facebook, lessons from whaley bridge, toddbrook reservoir incident, whaley bridge, whaley bridge dam case study, whaley bridge emergency planning case study, whaley bridge facebook case ctudy 6 Comments
Earlier this year a dam burst near the Brazilian town of Belo Horizonte and within minutes 40 were dead and 300 missing buried under thick brown sludge.
In the UK, its been almost 100 years since loss of life from a dam burst from any of our almost 3,000 dams.
In August 2019, it nearly happened.
Heavy rain at the Toddbrook Reservoir saw the dam overspill and the 170-year-old dam wall start to disintegrate. There were fears it would lead to the wall collapsing and a million gallons of water flooding down onto the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge below.
An emergency operation kicked in with 1,000 people evacuated from the 6,500 population.
The plot was quite simple. Firstly, ump water out of the dam to ease the pressure on the damaged wall. Secondly, repair the damaged wall. So, fire crews crews pumped water out of the reservoir and the RAF brought in a Chinook helicopter to bring in bags of material to help shore-up the crumbling wall.
But how did people stay in touch?
And how did organisations reach people to get a message out in the seven days when the town held its breath?
How was there not mass panic?
The answer was a range of bush telegraph, word-of-mouth, phone, radio, TV and social media.
After seven tense days the dam wall was repaired and the water was pumped out, the was no collapse and the evacuated were allowed home.
Now the dust has settled I took a look at the role Facebook played in the operation to see what lessons I could learn. Turns out there’s a stack.
It was an incident played out on Facebook both corporate pages but also on station accounts and the community-run Whaley Bridge community page whose admin was a vital part of the local news network.
Traditional news sites covered the incident but I focused on fire, police, council, ambulance and the community Facebook page.
Yes, people in an emergency want to be kept updated through the corporate Facebook page
Mapping the main four corporate Facebook pages, Derbyshire Police, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue, Derbyshire County Council and East Midlands Ambulance service there were 147 individual updates which were shared 21,000 times with more than 9,000 comments and shared more than 19,000 times.
Often times, as a trainer of communicators I’m looking at ways to turn heads and get people interested. In this incident, there was no need. There was a captive audience of 6,500 Whaley Bridge people. The challenge was to get information out.
Of the four corporate pages, the most commented, shared and reacted to was the Derbyshire Police corporate page. This was no surprise as they were leading on the evacuation. Throughout the seven days they kept a running commentary with regular updates on the position of the repair and pumping as well as the evacuation plan and reassurance that those evacuated homes were being monitored. Other agencies concentrated on what they were doing and there was a level of sharing the police general updates.
The Derbyshire Police page was an information lifeline
From a distance, there was a number of things that worked.
Time stamping each update worked to build-in obsolescence. So, an update at 3pm was marked as 3pm on the image. In a fast-developing scenario this felt like a useful tactic to do.
Writing in plain English for Facebook. Each update was clear and concise. Each gave the impression the content had been specially shaped for Facebook. Each had a calm and informative tone of voice. This was not a press release cut and pasted but something for Facebook itself.
Updates had new first-hand content. People wanted to know what the issue was and what success looked like. Knowing that reducing the water levels was all-important images of the water level being reduced were important.
Replying to comments. With more than 7,000 comments over the seven day operation the comms team had their hands full. But commenting helped warn, inform and reassure the public. They were also able to respond warmly to messages of thanks.
Openness made a bank of goodwill. The operation didn’t go smoothly. There was an evacuation of 1,000 people and then the halt to the operation which let some people home to gather pets and medicines. That could have gone badly. What played out on Facebook was praise for the emergency services that helped them.
Updates were in real-time and regular. There was an appetite to update Facebook regularly. The impression given was that Facebook was a prime channel rather than an unmonitored after-thought. When there was an update it was posted. But the gaps were not too long.
But some of the best content came from devolved station pages
Sharing the sweets is something I’ve long argued for. By all means have a corporate page giving the official line but if you give the people on the ground the trust and training you’ll be surprised at what you find.
Here, there were two station Facebook pages, the Melbourne On-Call Fire Station page and the Staveley Fire Station page. More than 30 updates were shared from the scene and shared more than 500 times across the community.
This incident confirms the important role a responsible community-run Facebook presence can have as a force for good. It’s a reminder that one of the main places people get local news is local Facebook.
Eye-witness content underpinned the corporate message. Both stations created good eyewitness content at a time when the immediate peril had passed. Images of pumping operations and reduced water levels showed the message in action.
Eye-witness content from the frontline created content for the corporate page. In any incident that spans days people get tired and the thin red line can get tired and thinner. What you’d like to do isn’t always what you can do. So, to have fire crew creating content means you’re able to pull it and post it through the corporate page.
It showed the human face. The tired firefighters that have worked through the night gave an opportunity for the community to thank them for their efforts. What was striking was the messages of thanks and support. That must have had a value to firefighters tired after a long shift.
The Whaley Bridge community page was at the heart of it
The town has 6,500 residents and 5,600 members of the Whaley Bridge page. So well connected was the page admin was that he was in the room when the decision was taken to evacuate.
Happily, the page admin hung back to first allow the authorities to make the announcement that 1,000 people would have to move out as the dam was at risk of breaking.
The Whaley Bridge page was at the heart of the community network posting 74 times across seven days with 12,622 reactions and 2,180 comments and 2,647 shares. Rather than being a simple sign-posting operation to forward on the official police post the admin worked to reflect the work on the ground. The tenor of the posts was supportive.
It’s possible the task could have been harder if the page admin had had an axe to grind.
This is a reminder that the Facebook admin in the community is just as important as the local reporter. In many ways, they are more important.
It was surprising, given the role that Facebook groups play that there was not an effective Facebook group for the town. But with the page being an effective and well placed source there was no need.
On-the-spot content. The Whaley Bridge page was busily creating its own content from the town and in many cases from close to the dam itself.
Evidence worked. When people wanted to see evidence of progress the pictures that confirmed this did well. While the Chinook shots got lots of attention it was the shots of the water levels being reduced that really engaged with the community.
Re-sharing some corporate content but not all. There was plenty being put out by fire, police, council and ambulance. But only a selection of it was shared.
People responded really well to the people helping them. A blurred shot of a worker making a cup of tea in the requisitioned sailing club house was the most popular piece of content. An expression of gratitude to those who were helping them it is as British as a cup of tea.
They were flooded by journalists. Looking to speak to local people the Facebook page admin was inundated with private messages from reporters. So much so he was telling them to stop messaging. In a crisis, news desk used to despatch a reporter who would be directed to the local shop or pub to gauge community feeling. Now, they also head to the largest community Facebook presence.
Video helped to reassure and scotch rumours
The story boiled down to something straight forward. Namely, that the dam wall will break unless the water level is dropped to relieve pressure and the wall is repaired. So, footage of the water level dropping through pumping and emergency repairs was gold.
The best footage was from the scene. Rather than have a talking head at HQ telling people something was happening they had action shots. This was a brilliant decision and spoke far eloquently than a senior person. ‘Don’t tell us, show us,’ was a well followed mantra in the crisis phase. Drone footage showed this well.
Facebook Live from the residents Q&A. More than 40,000 people watched the session where residents could ask questions. This was a cracking idea and was responded to.
Putting up the senior people. The council had some early sub-titled video of the council Leader while the police and fire service at the end of things wrapped-up with the most senior people they had. As a strategy this was secondary.
In summary
Facebook as the largest social channel is integral to the messaging in an emergency.
Regular and timely updates to fill the vacuum are needed.
Comments need to be responded to.
The idea of don’t just say it, show it works well.
Devolved Facebook presences can come into their own for creating content that can be re-shared by the corporate page.
What came through the more than 170 Facebook posts from the incident was a feeling of community spirit and a collective holding of breath until the danger passed.
Those involved should feel a real sense of pride.
I help deliver Facebook training for people in the public sector. More here. If you’d like help give me a shout dan@danslee.co.uk.
LIVE TALES: Live streaming and Hurricane Irma
Posted: September 10, 2017 Filed under: communications, emergency planning, live streaming, live video, video | Tags: hurricane irma, live video, periscope, periscope case study Leave a commentThere’s always moments when a new digital platform comes into its own.
In 2011, it was Twitter that really came into the mainstream during the London riots. It was where middle managers in the organisation and the public could find out what was happening.
Twitter and Hurricane Irma
In 2017, Twitter is the bread and butter of emergency communications. The US Government department FEMA have been using it and have been using this and the web to shoot down rumour.
We created an #Irma rumor control page to help you verify what’s true and what’s not. Visit it here: https://t.co/nnXuF8Q7E8 pic.twitter.com/ypNwNRlOM0
— FEMA (@fema) September 8, 2017
In 2017, live video and Hurricane Irma seems to have made a similar transition.
Both platforms allow you to use your phone as an outside broadcast unit and stream to the internet.
Both platforms end up feeding in the media by providing eye-witness reporting from the scene. In an environment where fake news has undermined trust in text, video is hugely important for communications people.
Case study #1: Behind the scenes news room tour
A journalist takes a tour of the TV news room that is keeping people informed of what is taking place.
Case study #2: The calm before the storm
Residents took to walking around deserted streets to show what was happening.
Case study #3: The eye witness
Views from the balcony showing the hurricane as it is striking.
Case study #4: The professional storm chaser
In the US, storm season is met with enthusiasts chasing down tornados and extreme weather. People like Jeff Piotrowski have been using Periscope to connect with people and give a realtime sense of the storm.
LONG READ: 14 comms lessons from the Manchester bomb attack
Posted: May 29, 2017 Filed under: communications, emergency planning | Tags: emergency planning communications, greater manchester fire and rescue, greater manchester police, manchester attack, manchester attack communications lessons, manchester city council Leave a commentThere’s a school of thought that public sector comms people are a bunch of non-jobs who are a waste of money.
Their budget would be better spent on replacing windows or filling potholes, the argument goes.
Those who make that argument? They know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Empty tins sound the loudest. Where were they when a terror attack struck Manchester? They were nowhere. Wheras the Public Sector in Manchester just as the people did responded.
As Google Trends shows, the spike of searches for Manchester and Ariana Grande whose concert was attacked is marked.
Where were the Public Sector communications people?
Late at night and for days after they were communicating with the stunned Greater Manchester public of 2.8 million, 65 million UK citizens and billions around the globe.
Thoughts should absolutely be with those who were killed and affected by the explosion. Thoughts too with the police, ambulance, fire and local government people who responded first.
But as a communicator who has worked eight years in local government I’m absolutely sparing a thought to the comms people too. There are some people in the industry who would have folded faced with this challenge. That’s understandable. A terror attack is a massive event. The response from Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue, Transport for Manchester, the Combined Authority, both Mayor’s teams, all parts of the NHS, Manchester City Council and others was sterling. No channel seemed to go AWOL. No-one seemed to have left a scheduled tweet in place.
Professional. Informative and well judged. Not just in the aftermath but in the coming together and moments of reflection.
This is what gold standard communications looks like.
Clear, timely precise information under intense pressure for a sustained period.
Class, be like them.
When people talk about ‘non-jobs’ ask them how they’d communicate a terror attack and its aftermath. You’ll get a non-answer.
Mental resilience
However, I was reminded by Stephen Waddington’s post about mental resilience in communications. It’s a timely post that asks people to look after their mental health. In the aftermath of huge stress, I’d hope that the organisations and individuals involved bear this in mind. They’re bright people. I’m sure they will.
Here are some standout lessons
Co-operation
The Public Sector is not a single thing but a number of organisations that serve a community. In the aftermath of the attack, organisations shared vital updates. Fire shared police updates, for example. The Mayor’s office shared a newspaper’s frontpage, for example. The strength of the Public Sector is the long reach and broad digital footprint. In an emergency share it.
There’s no question that the public far wider than Manchester identified with the content and amplified it.
Communications to say ‘you can get updates over here.’
One lessons of communicating in an emergency is for the Public Sector to signpost people to where the up-to-date information is. This happened effectively in the Westminster attack and did so again in Manchester. Here, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue acknowledged the incident and pointed people to Greater Manchester Police.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmanchesterfire%2Fposts%2F1357969944280858&width=500
Communications to say ‘we’re on it’ part I
The Ambulance Trust dealing with the attack communicated via Twitter to say they were aware and ask people not to call on other matters unless it was an emergency.
Due to the incident in Manchester, please only call us for life threatening emergencies at this time. Thank you.
— NWAS NHS Trust (@NWAmbulance) May 22, 2017
Communications to say ‘we’re on it’ part II
Police acknowledged the incident as it was breaking. This is text book stuff. By doing this they flag-up they are aware and where to follow for updates. The days of waiting to sign-off a press release at a time of emergency is long over.
Police responded to reports of an incident at Manchester Arena. Please stay away from the area. More details to follow….
— G M Police (@gmpolice) May 22, 2017
Communication as a sharable image with need-to-know information
There’s every chance this image wasn’t made by the Public Sector itself. But the lesson this does show is that the key public information in the hours after the event WILL be shared as an image.
Useful contacts if you’re in need of help in #Manchester today: emergency helpline etc. RT to help families find their loved ones x pic.twitter.com/rwy6zY2f0p
— RaevennanHusbandes (@AfroThunderRae) May 23, 2017
Communications as part of the investigation
Content taken at the time and in the aftermath helps police piece together what happened. This tweet encourages people to send their footage in.
If you witnessed the Manchester Arena explosion and have image or video, please help the investigation: https://t.co/YKydWRtFm3 @GMPolice pic.twitter.com/ZUB2abwcwc
— Terrorism Police UK (@TerrorismPolice) May 23, 2017
A video response and information update
As the aftermath became recovery, the issue turned to transport and what would be running. Video was used here.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftransportforgreatermanchester%2Fvideos%2F1555113811173552%2F&show_text=0&width=560
Communications as mental health support for an entire city
If more than 20,000 people were at the Manchester Arena many more would have faced an anxious wait to see if their children, family or friends were okay. Updates to say ‘it’s not okay’ were widely shared.
It’s ok to not be ok – NHS consultant advice and support on psychological wellbeing. #Manchester #StandTogether https://t.co/PRD8ojzeYB pic.twitter.com/XQ2XAffzHo
— Richard Preece (@drrichardp) May 28, 2017
Communications to say ‘we’re bouncing back.’
A week after the attack, sporting events took place across the city. As this video from Mayor Andy Burnham shot and posted within minutes shows, it’s a city refusing to give in.
Watch Andy’s thank you to Greater Manchester after completing #GreatManchesterRun #WeLoveManchester #WeStandTogether #cityunited pic.twitter.com/3ujEcWX4B1
— Mayor Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) May 28, 2017
Communication as poetry
Tony Walsh was invited to read one his poems not just in the event after the attack but at the Great Manchester Run.
Communication as an image to convey breaking news
Greater Manchester Police staged a series of raids and arrests across Manchester in the days after the event. A simple update and sharable image kept people informed.
Latest update pic.twitter.com/f4dF5aUto0
— G M Police (@gmpolice) May 26, 2017
Communications as infographic
Greater Manchester used an infographic to explain the scope and depth of the investigation.
Timeline of events on Mondays attack at the Arena pic.twitter.com/DINIv8KS7L
— G M Police (@gmpolice) May 28, 2017
Communication to say ‘we’re human too.’
If it’s okay to be not okay, it’s also okay to show your staff as being human. A Facebook timeline image shows the Greater Manchester Chief Constable embracing a member of the public. It’s genuine, warm and isn’t staged.
Communications as a captured Instagram street picture
An image on the street spotted and photographed by Greater Manchester Police and shared to their Instagram feed.
Sharing other people’s content
Manchester City Council shared this fund raising link. It doesn’t have to be your own content. It doesn’t even have to be Public Sector.
Making a city proud
So proud of my daughter Jordan – a Critical Care nurse in Manchester dealing with fallout of last nights attack. Our services do us proud! pic.twitter.com/XgXT3bqsNO
— Gary Sumner (@gsum66) May 23, 2017
VIDEO LINK: A quick routine case study on why frontline fire content works
Posted: November 6, 2016 Filed under: emergency planning | Tags: fire crew video case study, video and communicatioons case study frontline, warn and inform, why have frontline teams with social media 3 CommentsWhy give frontline teams access to social media? Easy. Because they create the best content.
It’s long been a drum I’ve been banging and I find it odd that this hasn’t mushroomed faster.
What was the content?
Take Highgate Fire Station in the West Midlands, for example. They responded to an abandoned burning car on November 4 and posted a short video clip the next day. Just 21 seconds and features a firefighter in breathing aparatus extinguishing the blaze. They posted it to their station Twitter account. You can see the video here:
Earlier car fire in action. Remember that arson is a danger to us and members of the public! pic.twitter.com/pZPNOavpOs
— WMFS Highgate (@HighgateFire) November 5, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
In terms of resource, it took one firefighter less than five minutes to shoot, edit and post the content. It’s the kind of thing that back when I was a journalist the fire crew would barely mention. Why? Because they are routine to them. To the residents they serve they aren’t.
So who saw that video?
Tweetreach say that 39,000 accounts were reached by the tweet which was shared 13 times. Included in that number was the Birmingham Mail who ripped the video and created their own video which they posted on their own channels.
What equipment was needed?
A smartphone that can record video and some WiFi. That’s it.
What did it say?
On a basic level, it said that firefighters risk their lives to make the area they serve safer. It also works to promote the work of the fire service and better connect with residents.
So, why wouldn’t fire and rescue services want more of this? In fact, why wouldn’t the rest of the public sector want to tell people about the job they are doing? And yet, so many oprganisations are still reluctant to invest and trust their staff.
BLAZE MESSAGE: 14 lessons fire comms can teach everyone
Posted: July 31, 2016 Filed under: emergency planning, social media, Uncategorized | Tags: case studies, data, examples, Facebook, fire, fire and rescue, fire and rescue communications, instagram, mapping, open data, public sector, snapchat, twitter 3 Comments
A thousand flowers are blooming in this new era of digital communications.
Amazing things are happening, new rulebooks are being written and old ones tossed away.
But if you are too busy growing roses you won’t spot the great things happening.
Or in other words, look outside your own corner of the world and you’ll find great things.
And so it is with fire and rescue services not just across the UK but across the world. I’ve done some work in the sector and got to know some people and I’ve always left with knew ideas on how to do things.
Often, people in the sector don’t realise just how great their work is. Less in number than local and central government comms people from the sector communicate to save lives and to prevent them. I’d love them to be bolder. They don’t just get you to test your smoke alarm. They save lives.
One myth exploded, though. In the UK the comms is not geared up primarily for documenting heroic rescue. Prevention is better than cure. Statistics say there were 258 fatalities in the 12-months to March 2015 and 3,225 were taken to hospital. There were almost 155,000 fires. This is the second lowest in UK history.
Fire comms people need to move from the pedestrian pace of advice to business to communicating death and sometimes the death of their own colleagues. That takes guts. Not everyone can do this.
There is a community of fire communicators
The FirePRO organisation is the umbrella group for the sector and a bright bunch they are too. But Twitter also connects them not just across the UK but far further. The fact I asked a question about best practice on a Friday night and got a pile of responses is perfect evidence. Neil Spencer from West Midlands fire describes this as a ‘can do, will do, let’s give it a try attitude.’
Here are 14 things you can learn from fire comms
#1 Using planning to get your shizzle ready
Nobody wants an emergency. But they tend to happen and when they do public sector comms people have to react. I’ve lost count of the number of blank faces in local government when I ask what they’d do if a plane crashed, a bomb went off or a tower block started to fall down. Not so fire and rescue.
As award-winning Bridget Aherne wrote in a blog post for comms2point0:
“The way to sum this up quickly – and sorry to anyone who knows me because you’ll have heard me utter this phrase, annoyingly, hundreds of times before – you have to be proactive about your reactive communications.”
Lesson: Good comms planning always helps.
#2 Using Periscope for realtime situation reports
Lesson: If an incident is breaking live video from the scene to give situation reports has real value and can plug into online networks as well as media organisations.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the last 18-months co-delivering workshops on making effective video for comms. It teaches people to plan, edit, shoot and post video. However, in an emergency the value is not the well-shot video. The value is have video footage from that particular spot at that particular time. Why? So you can communicate with people in realtime. In the UK, there is a duty on comms people in local government, fire, police and other agencies to warn and inform.
As this US example shows, a firefighter giving a commentary or even a brief situation report – has value. Don’t forget anyone with a smartphone and the Periscope app has the ability to fill that information vacuum. Questions can also be posed by people following the stream and answered by fire crew.
In an era where video is highly sought by media organisations online to be in the frontline is priceless.
LIVE on #Periscope: San Bernardino major fire https://t.co/td3Y3O2FSR
— EPN564 (@EPN564) July 22, 2016
#3 Using a hashtag
Lesson: A simple sharable hashtag can help spread a campaign.
One of the greatest uses of a hashtag by anyone in the public sector is the excellent #testittuesday tag. Started by Norfolk Fire and rescue it is that brilliant thing of basic advice shared as a hashtag. It encourages people every Tuesday to test their smoke alarm. As basic good advice it can be hard to measure the effectiveness or the fires that didn’t happen because of a test.
You don’t need 2 be Batman or Superman 2 test your smoke alarms be an everyday hero! #TestitTuesday #BatmanvSuperman pic.twitter.com/BmcYecmeoN
— Norfolk Fire Service (@Norfolkfire) April 19, 2016
#4 Using Instagram as a channel
Lesson: Instagram can be used for soft power. Images of the work people to do interspersed with more serious messages.
Services across the world are starting to make headway with Instagram. Really, there’s no surprise. It’s not like there’s nothing to photograph. If there isn’t a fire there’s the equipment or the staff in the equipment. Kent Fire and Rescue Service excell in this area. A stream that is engaging, fun and personable people could do worse than looking at this.
#5 Using mapping
Lesson: Maps can communicate with the media and residents and reduce avoidable contact.
Back when I was a journalist we made a round of calls to fire stations on our patch at 7.30am, 1pm and 10pm. There were six in our patch and a further 14 in surrounding areas which we sort of covered. That’s 60 calls a call.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service have a mapping page embedded in their website which gives news of incidents with some basic details. They also post images and videos which can be used with a credit. This must cut the amount of time on routine calls. Hats off to Sarah Roberts for this.
#6 Using the social web as a firefighter and human being
Lesson: People respond to people so let your people.
One thing I’ve long argued for is for public sector people to use social media as themselves. There’s far greater cut-through. People connect better to real people than a logo. So, it’s always inspiring to see real people doing just that. Thanks to @rubonist on Twitter for flagging this.
@danslee @Rubonist I’m a big fan of keeping my community informed. This includes #media when something significant is occurring.
— Thanh Nguyen (@PIOthanhn) July 29, 2016
#7 Using the social web as a senior officer
Lesson: Using the social web allows senior people to be visible and to listen better. It also allows partners and the organisation to better understand their thinking and priorities.
There has been a trend in recent years of senior public sector people using Twitter to engage, listen, share ideas and give some visibility to yourself.
@BridgetAherne @JackGrasby @LFRSABrodie @HolmesyL @danslee Its about more than fires, it’s prevention & rescue too #InstitutionallyModest
— Dave Walton (@WYFRSDaveWalton) July 29, 2016
#8 Using embedded social media video
Lesson: Embedding video to drop into people’s timelines can be a good way to communicate.
Sometimes things don’t always go to plan as this incident which saw five people die in Nechells, Birmingham. Video content posted to Twitter shared the press conference to the community. This could have been uploaded to Facebook too.
Press conference given by area commander Ben Brook at Nechells site pic.twitter.com/41OISXyNve
— Jasbir Authi (@JABhammail) July 7, 2016
#9 Using humour and newsjacking
Lesson: Being creative about your communications and the channels you use can pay off.
As London Fire Brigade showed in their epic news jacking of the racy film 50 Shades of Grey imagination on comms works. A campaign followed in the wake of the film to talk about the number of times people had called for help with locked handcuffs, penis rings and other rather embarrassment-creating problems. The #50shadesofred campaign is a benchmark in public sector comms. Data driven it used a range of channels.
#10 Using data to allow people to build their own picture
Lesson: Data can be turned into something searchable to give people street-level insight.
Everyone’s experience is different. This is why it is refreshing to see West Midlands Fire Service use their incident data to allow you to search by postcode to see what incidents happened in your neighbourhood.
#11 Using Flickr as an image library
Lesson: A Flickr library can make thousands of images available for re-use.
Social photo storage site Flickr may not have the sexiness as Snapchat but as a place to be your public image library it remains peerless. There are several organisations in the UK using it well. However, the US use is the benchmark. Los Angeles Fire Department post images to the stream. They have almost 20,000 images. With an open licence anyone can use them. As the argument goes, public money paid for then so why shouldn’t with the permission of the photographer people and organisations re-use them?
#12 Using Facebook for large communities
Lesson: Facebook pages are a start but not the last word on how people can be reached on the platform.
Pages can be a useful way to have some Facebook real estate although they deal with broadcasting to small corners of the web that can be shared on. Manchester Fire and Rescue and Scottish Fire and Rescue are examples.
But to really engage, you need to use Facebook as the page to comment and add content on other pages. Or join Facebook groups as an individual.
#13 Using Facebook for niche communities
Lesson: Facebook pages for smaller communities can be effective ways of reaching them. The Polish community, maybe. Or in Biker Down‘s case motorbike riders.
Facebook has the numbers so it is worth using. Seeing as it has the numbers yo can also carve out niches where people will congregate. There were more than 5,000 serious incidents with motorbikes in 2014. I’ve long believed that the single corporate page is almost always not the answer for large organisations. There are communities within them, so plug into them. If you are a biker the Biker Down page would work.
#14 Using Facebook quizzes
Lesson: Quizes reach people. Often people who are hard to engage with.
Facebook quizzes can engage with audiences that may well be resistant to leaflets and other comms. London Fire Brigade uses them well and creates them to accompany campaigns. They’ve done them to see if people fancy being firefighters, for example. With this one, they are celebrating their 150th anniversary with helmets.
#15 Using Snapchat
Lesson: Yes, you can use Snapchat.
One of the good things about the web is coming across organisations doing good things in other countries. Take Sapeurs Pompiers Volontaires du Gard. They are a French fire brigade in Nimes in the south of the country who have an imaginative use of images on Twitter and Snapchat too.
Thanks for the input for this post from people across the Fire and Rescue comms community. In particular: Catherine Levin, Neil Spencer, Bridget Aherne, Sarah Roberts, Robert Coles, @Rubonist, Thanh Ngugen, Steven Morgan, Phillip Gillingham, Jim Williams, Pave Dhande, Leigh Holmes, Jack Grasby, Pete Richardson, Dave Walton and Dawn Whittaker.
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