Giving the Public a Seat at Our Table: Social Engagement as an Agent of Organizational Change

1. Giving the Public a Seat at Our Table: Social Engagement as an Agent of Organizational Change

2. The Fundamental Shift Social sites are not another media channel A fundamental shift in the way people communicate Changing expectations from the public

3. Our Social Engagement Goals Carry out the organization’s mission online. Give the public a seat at our operational table. What is our mission?

4. The Red Cross Social Community Local chapters Volunteers Donors Students Enthusiasts

5. How do we empower our community? • Relationship building on individual level • Helping make connections • Building tools to help them share and mobilize • Social Engagement Certification • Digital volunteerism

6. How do we use it? What we do every day online We listen to and interact with our stakeholders; volunteers, general public, politicians, donors (blood and financial), corporate sponsors and others who are interested in the Red Cross. Interact with news outlets Answer questions (tough ones, easy ones) Take complaints Answer pleas for help Share Red Cross stories Serve as a news source/Crowdsource

7. Roy’s fire EXAMPLE FROM CHICAGOBREAKING NEWS< THE PHOTO WE POSTED ON FACEBOOK< TWITTER POST ETC> EXAMPLE FROM ROY’S FIRE AND CHICAGO BREAKING NEWS

8. Best Practices Listen Insert your voice Respond immediately (otherwise the phone/customer service line goes unanswered) Engage Be personal Make friends without asking for anything Follow others

9. Case Study: Social Engagement and Disaster Relief

11. Social Media Becoming an Integral Part of Disaster Response • Growing trend in U.S. and across the world in disasters to use social media to seek help. • Survey finds more people using social media, mobile technology and online news outlets in emergencies. • Trying to learn more about the disaster • Asking for help • Sharing information about well-being with family and friends 11 2

12. Red Cross Digital Operations Center Visualizes information from social sites Coordination center for social engagement with the public during disasters Helps us better manage data so it will be useful for decision makers

13. Requests from the public (Alabama Tornadoes 2011)

14. Snowmageddon #Snoprah • Groundhog Day Blizzard Feb 1, 2011 • 20.2 inches of snow • Hundreds stuck on Lakeshore Drive • Businesses, schools & roads were closed • @ChicagoRedCross • 90% volunteers • Crowd sourcing, sharing information • More than 360 commuters were taken to shelters that night

15. #snOMG Tweeting for Help “Chicago Red Cross started preparing for the blizzard because we knew everyone would be talking about it. By following popular hashtags such as #snOMG, #ChicagoBlizzard, @snowmageddon, #snowpocalypse and #snoprah • Research by the Red Cross shows that 74% of those surveyed believe an emergency responder would hear an SOS tweet. “They believe you would respond within an hour –the public thinks you’re listening.  People think if they tweet about an emergency, then someone will come with help. • We soon caught media attention. In some cases, reporters found the Red Cross tweets more timely than information coming from official sources.

16. Engaging during the Midwest Tornadoes 2012

17. MOBILE

18. Midwest Floods 2013 Issue Changing location of bulk distribution sites Supplies were running out quickly Circumstances beyond our control with various municipalities, delayed vehicles etc. Solution @SaminDispatch Twitter account, staffed 24-7 by volunteers

19. Tornado, Wildfire, Shelter, Team Red Cross & First Aid Apps The Red Cross Shelter View app displays current shelter information from the National Shelter System. Launched February 2011 Updated every 30 minutes Shows detailed location of shelter and includes population count One of iTunes top apps in August 2011 25,000 in August

20. Thank you Jason Golden @jasondgolden LinkedIn – Jason D. Golden