Welp, Saturday plans will have to look slightly different now.
Better mount up as I *think this is for Texas.
Well, I don’t *think I’m going to need my tie, but definitely my best pair of boots.
Incident Management: External Affairs Media Relations Spc…aka PIO!
Along with #Harvey – I spy with my right eye, #Hurricane #Irma
Packed State of Ohio EMA Joint Information Center / Joint Information System course today!
Started everyone into group work as well as ongoing discussion on the role of SMEs at a press conference.
Just in case, we also tasked participants to start thinking about a policy/protocol for their agency on sneak attack aka ambush interviews.
We found as we leverages our strengths and capitalize on our skills, we as JIC Managers can better meet the needs of any situation – we just gotta find the right PIOs for the job.
As our groups collaborated, we found that despite crossing state lines, we still have the same problems as other areas – thus proving our point that we need to consistently train together and exercise our plans together.
Many of our participants enjoyed working in the JIC setting and were excited to work in a JIC during the next activation. Most excellent as we build a strong cadre of PIOs across this great state.
My Ohio Peeps!
Reporting live from Medina County’s Emergency Operations Center….
Day-2 of Ohio EMA’s Basic Public Information Officer’s course here in Medina County EMA welcoming participants from two different FEMA Regions to our class!
We have representation from almost every ESF – outstanding to see that kind of participation in our state class.
It’s going to be a packed two days of training including classroom discussion…
…complex in-class activities…
…on-camera interviews…
…engaging (and crazy reporter) type questions…
…and of course we had several contentious mock press conferences.
Train like you fight right? We also discussed how our varied experiences lends a ton of expertise to our ongoing operations in any community across this great nation.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s JIC/JIS course!
I better check my email now…
Busy morning yesterday and today. Lots of preparation going on for Hurricane Harvey.
So many hard-working Emergency Management pros from FEMA are working the magic to support those in the path of Hurricane Harvey with coordination of resources for deployment.
Reporting from FEMA HQ…
Fun time this morning at FEMA HQ.
Quick meeting with my manager and a quick hello to our other External Affairs pros on the 8th floor.
Additionally, lots of planning ongoing for the preparedness/response for Hurricane Harvey. And lots of senior administration here today to update ongoing issues as well as brief leadership on various branches of government.
Photo Credit: FEMA/Bill Koplitz
Despite the ongoing flurry of activity, I was still able to grab a few smiles from my External Affairs peeps.
@rusnivek and @EmergencyPrepGal
We are going to need everyone to listen to trusted sources of local, state, national information on safety measures being implemented throughout affected areas.
Please heed the warnings of your local public safety professionals.
Be safe peeps.
I stopped by the State of Maryland’s Emergency Management Agency and EOC.
I had a chance to sit down with Executive Director Russell Strickland and talk about various Training & Exercise plans including a few ways to enhance their plans. Also caught up with the famous Doc Lumpkins!
Yep, that’s our classic pose. It’s the same pose as the EMI conference, White House Disaster Day, NEMA Conference, etc….
Obv we all had to have a quick meeting with City of St. Louis EMA Sarah Gambling-Luig.
#FlatSarah had to go to another meeting concerning #CityHallSelfie so the rest of us stayed to plan for upcoming classes.
Great discussion on various aspects of social media focusing on gathering information for tactical operation for SA/COP. Emily and Ed provided some great insight to upcoming plans for Maryland. Additionally, we also had a chance to chat about ready deployable PIOs to field tactical operations, Joint Information Centers (JICs), Incident Management Teams (IMTs), and increasing SA/COP for State of Maryland.
Looking forward to more PIO involvement with my Maryland peeps!
Great to see the leadership at WKYC (NBC affiliate) for hosting our quarterly NorthEast Ohio’s (NEO) Public Information Officer (PIO) training!
Photo credit: K. Hyson, Cincinnati Health Department
Lots of discussion based around media relations focusing on timely and accurate reporting. Additionally, lots of conversation with good stories vs bad stories – which challenges the typical paradigm of news media’s “If it bleeds, it leads!” mantra.
“Off the record” conversation as well as immediate notification of incident dominated the early part of our conversation.
We moved into how strategy sometimes gets in the way of real emergencies and of course how our PIO narratives sometimes conflicts with how the story is produced.
To me, I was also surprised at how many reporters wanted txt msgs as compared to phone calls. In fact, desk assignment editors wanted a mention as well as a follow-up txt or notification of ongoing emerging issue.
I am very greatful to be able to have candid conversation with our partners in the media. And yes, sharing success stories as well as challenges will allow us to do a better job with our local media to communicate our safety messages. Very glad to hear that getting the story right is still the main drive of our local news agencies.
Many thanks to the pros at WKYC (NBC affiliate) Cleveland for the hospitality and generosity.
Reporting live from WKYC…
Me Oh My Oh May 2017!
First week I’ll be presenting at the 2017 Association of Floodplain Managers annual conference in Kansas City. Region-7 peeps!
Second week will be in the State of Nevada Emergency Operations Center for a set of social media courses including my favorite PER-344 – Social Media Tools & Techniques! Region-9 baby! Sadly, I will not be attending the National SAA conference.
Third week will be spent teaching ICS-300 in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Who’s excited for Intermediate Incident Command System (ICS) for Expanding Incidents?!?
Fourth week will be spent in southern Ohio in a PIO course with on camera interviews and crisis response exercise.
Trust me, it’s likely going to be a busy tough May.
Solid start to the week being able to deliver the brand new FEMA NDPTC Social Media Engagement Strategies course.
Numerous pros from across the state of California attending today.
Special thanks to the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services in hosting this fun class in their Emergency Operations Center.
Super special shoutout goes to MayJo!
Talked specifically about addressing audiences and their appropriate platforms. Mediums like static posts are great however we need to explore outside of your comfort zone and try new avenues to communicate. FacebookLive, Periscope, InstagramLive, YouTubeLive, etc…..these new emerging live broadcast tools can allow agencies to be creative in their broadcast of messages.
Solid afternoon facilitation on the formulation of a strategic communications specifically focusing in on social media and audience engagement.
And of course the standard shout out to our friend Cheryl.
Overall, the intent of this class is really to be a catalyst to start a meaningful conversation about engaging your constituents on various social media platforms.
Obviously, you would be taking FEMA NDPTC PER-344 Social Media Tools & Techniques first – which gives you a heavy dose of the currrent tools/platforms that are out there as well as a bunch of tactics and techniques that you could use in your EOC or JIC.
Both courses provide a different take on social media actions esp during disasters / crisis.
Keep on learning peeps. Much more to digest and figure out.
We all must do better to support our local communities, county coordinators, and state officials to work and communicate together before, during, and after the disaster.
We the people right? #Merica
Where is @rusnivek? 