4. Understand that effective spokespersons are
not born. They’re trained. And they are trained
often. Your ability to provide important information,
often in the face of many unknowns,
can often rest with the person or people
who will be the face of your utility in a crisis.
Posture, eye contact, gestures, expressions of
empathy, self-control and confidence will be
important. And while there are many successful
utility leaders, their skills may not
always include those required of a spokesperson.
Incorporating Technology into Emergency Communications Planning
26 SOURCE summer 2013
It’s best to acknowledge that now
and find an important role for your leader
to fill while delegating the spokesperson
responsibilities to another, if needed.
5. Ensure that the first time you’re introduced to
your community is not during an emergency. Key
to effective communication during an emergency
is having the trust of the customers
and residents you are trying to reach. Trust
comes with experience. Trust comes with a
positive track record. Trust comes with developing
a persona—or some call it a brand—
that defines your organization and what you
stand for. Having solid ongoing public outreach
and communication programs in place
aimed at informing the community, establishing
your brand and creating relationships
will go a long way toward earning the organizational
credibility on which you will rely in
more challenging times.
This kind of planning is complex and timeconsuming.
But in the event of a disaster
you, your customers and your community
will be grateful for the work you did
in advance to make sure vital information
gets out. S
Emergency, continued from page 19
By Daniel Jaimes
Mobile technology has not only changed the way we interface with
each other, it has also become an influential means of communication,
which makes it critical for utilities to understand and immediately
incorporate mobile technology and social media in their emergency
response protocols.
For many water agencies, Twitter, Facebook and other social media
platforms have become an extension of their website and other
public outreach programs. They have found that social media helps
to humanize their agencies, neutralize conversations introduced by
the media and the public and correct misinformation. For mobilesavvy
utilities, Twitter provides an inexpensive and effective means
to send out short updates to media news desks, customers and
regional stakeholders. In times of crisis, it has become a cost-effective
and easy tool to immediately alert large numbers of people of
unexpected circumstances such as water service interruptions.
When used correctly, social media can be a critical go-to source for live,
up-to-date, news-breaking information for customers, residents, businesses,
elected officials and utility employees. Reporters and news desks
now aggressively turn to social media for information and use the same
methods to provide readers and viewers with short, immediate and
oftentimes, live updates (Tweets). This means that constructive media
relations during an emergency will necessarily demand this capability.
Over the past few years social media has been an important and popular
tool for larger utilities, but smaller agencies may find it has the
most value. For example, the small unincorporated Town of Sunol,
CA has a blog that is updated weekly by the Hetch Hetchy Regional
Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) communication team to
inform the community about the latest news and images regarding
water infrastructure construction projects in the area. With a local population
of nearly 1,000, the project blog has attracted more than 2,000
clicks each month over the last three years.
Continued on next page