Initiatives & Wiki’s
Creative Commons via anime.wikia.com
#SMEM Initiative
- The #SMEM Initiative began on Twitter on November 11, 2010 when a couple of emergency managers began using the hashtag to mean “Social Media in Emergency Management.”
- For over a year, people have chatted on this hashtag about practices, sharing relevant articles and hosting a weekly Twitter chat on Fridays from 12:30p-1:30p called #SMEMChat.
- Beyond the chats, this collective group conducted a BarCamp on March 24, 2011, during the NEMA Conference and released a white paper in November 2011.
#VOSG / #VOST (Virtual Operations Support Group or Team Concept)
- This concept was initially conceived by Jeff Phillips (@LosRanchosEM) and tested during the #SMEM11 camp at NEMA. A concept paper has been developed which outlines the process that was used.
- This concept continues to be refined and has been used in several large-scale events including the #140ConfNW (Social Media Conference) and the #ORFireInfo (wildfire in Oregon). The VOSG website can be located at http://www.vosg.us/
#VSMWG (Virtual Social Media Working Group) as hosted by DHS Science & Technology Directorate
- This is an appointed group of emergency services people across the nation who are working on developing social media best practices and guidelines for governance. Information about this group is hosted on the First Responders Communities of Practice website. Membership in FRCoP must be requested and sponsored by a public agency.
- This group has created a white paper about social media’s emerging use in emergencies and has developed a FEMA Webinar to acquaint new users to the applications of social media in crisis.
IAEM Emerging Technologies Caucus
- This caucus, is a subcommittee of the International Association of Emergency Management (IAEM) and is a group of emergency management professionals who are researching and evaluating new technologies for recommendations to the broader community. Information about the group may be found on the IAEM Website.
Crisis Commons & Crisis Camps
- CrisisCommons is a global network of volunteers who use creative problem solving and open technologies to help people and communities in times and places of crisis. Seeks not only coders, programmers, geospatial and visualization ninjas but collaborative, smart and savvy folks who can lead teams, manage projects, search the internet, translate languages, apply intuitive and universal access interfaces. Initiative embraces innovation and open systems. Their work can be found online at: http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Main_Page
#CrisisData as hosted by the American Red Cross
- This initiative collected the data from an Emergency Social Data Summit which occurred in 2010. Information may be found at http://crisisdata.wikispaces.com/
Project EPIC as hosted by the University of Colorado & University of California at Irvine
- Empowering the Public with Information in Crisis is also known as “Tweak the Tweet” or #TtT and has been used on a number of occasions to capture tweets using a special syntax onto a map so the people can quickly see what issues/problems are existing and where the Twitter data can be found.
Humanity Road
- Humanity Road’s mission is to educate the public before, during and after disasters about how to survive, sustain and reunite with loved ones after disasters. Their main website is located at www.humanityroad.org
LinkedIn Group Discussions
- #SMEM Group Discussions on the LinkedIn Platform include a variety of conversations about different aspects of emergency management.
#SMEM Training Courses
- National Disaster Preparedness Training Center’s Social Media in Disaster Response & Recovery
- FEMA Webinar on Social Media (next delivery, January 18, 2012)
Local Coordination Examples (It is important to consider networking with folks in your local community who are active in the social media sphere. These affiliations & relationships can result in key advances in your local emergency management programs.)
