District of Columbia needs to step up it's SMEM game and Navy Yard Shooting is a prime example.

Here is the feed for our Emergency Management Agency,  and as you can see that it's not to active and  until 6 hours into Navy Yard Shooter incident it was not even active.   And, at no time was it was it a go to source for information on what the District was up to and what citizen can expect.   Considering that this started at 8:20 AM to have no one for the top of the EMA/ Executive  food chain (see below) not say a thing until 5 plus hours into it shows the lack of awareness or ability to respond in current and meaningful way by the very people who's job it is to protect us.

To us the problem we face in the District is highlighted by the name of the vary agency that is suppose to be out in from of this and All Hazards for that matter.    It's the Homeland Security part. Having dealt with the Agency since 2001 when it was just an EMA we could tell right away that adding this Homeland Security part to the name started the whole closed loop mentality of the District at the very time the world of Emergency Management was embracing Social Media DC decided to shun it. 

For those that aren't aware of how the District of Columbia's Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) plays out the Mayor is the defacto Incident Commander (IC) and even more important for this blog post normally the Mayor's social media and public statements are the message from the District to it's citizens and anyone else for that matter.    As you can see the there is nothing really of any use here for anyone.

So our question is who is in charge of helping the public and the District for that matter when we experience emergencies like the Navy Yard Shooter let alone "All Hazard" planning which is what official and agencies like Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency.  I have to say that this exchange on Twitter pretty much sums up the state of confusion in the District with regards to SM let alone communicating with the public.

We're raising these concerns a residents of the District of Columbia and know all too well that by doing so we risk reprisal and even further distancing by the current administration and officials in our public safety agencies.  However,  since our and the public's in general lives and property are on the line we really didn't have a choice.  


For some background. Hastatus was hired by the District of Columbia in 2006 to help it improve it's emergency communications. We started off by redoing the Family Emergency Planning Guide and a Children's Emergency Planning Guide.  Member of Hastatus, have served as a member of the transition advisors for Mayor Vince Gray Administration and advised  HSEMA director Millicent Williams on a number of Social Media Emergency Management strategies .

Pubic Good: It's International Corporate Philanthropy Day.

Pubic Good: It's International Corporate Philanthropy Day.: "Since we believe that doing public good is good business! Hastatus is announcing that we will be donating 10 percent of our profits t..."

Turning a light on

   I still can remember landing  on a website back in 1996 and seeing the following.

"Duh, it's a website it's always under construction"

This was on a punkrock bands sites.  To understand the statement one has to recall or imagine that back in the early days most of the website designers would post a graphic or text on the sites that stated the site was under construction.     So here was this punk band or their designer just going and stating the obvious.

Websites, socialmedia and your online community are things that should be growing.  Now the order and extent that your nurture them is going to be radically different for each and everyone.  The demands of today are different then those of past or future and being in the NOW is something that requires flexibility.

Sure your the one having to make the decisions on resources based upon this NOW and you are often going to be making them without all the information that you would like to have when doing so. However, so of what you are being told to do NOW is something that everyone needs to stop for a moment and consider.

Right now there there is a forming best practice in the SocialMedia and it seems to amassing into a herd mentality about what those specific skills, objectives, tools and deployment of them of them all because it worked some once.   What we can say is that over and over when interfacing with other consultants, especially those branding themselves as social media experts is that they are locking themselves into systems.

The marginal utility of a consultant or expert is to provide a clients with meaningful advice that is based upon years of practices with the demonstrative wisdoms to help the client integrate what ever it is they have hired said consultant to do.  THUS the moment that someone comes into your office or onlineness and says they have the total solution and know it will work the same for you is the signal that you are waiting for to reach for the keyboard or phone and seek further council.

The end of this story is that what is ahead in under construction and it should be a co-creation experience.

FYI THERE ARE NO SOCIALMEDIA EXPERTS

Ahemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Who produced DC's 2007 Family Emergency Planning Guide for DCHSEMA

Really there is no question, our company won this subcontracted part of Mayor Fentys's overhaul of the District's Emergency Operations Plan EOP in 2007.  

Hastatus, LLC produced the whole guide with corrections and updates  in less then 90 days when the contract called for 6th Months and on budget for DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. 

I am sure any other company making the same claim can produce the contract number and cite in their corporate finances where they receive payment and paid taxes because just claiming on the Intertubes (screen shots & voicemails archived) that your company produced this makes you no different then the guy posting from their basement (in jammies) about being a big deal.

If your a government agency, private business or foundation and you are dong business with a group of consultants or partners and they are not from Hastatus, LLC with claims to have worked on the any emergency planning guides for families or kids in 2007, it is impossible and the truthiness of the company should be questioned.


 

The Irony of it all.

We felt it would be best to start this converstation with our clients, friends and visitors to our Cloud. The world has changed and we here in the US of A need to change with it. What am I talkin about about. The Rise of the Blogs, Yep Blogs have risen and infact if your not on them, linking to them and blogging aways then you are missing the future.

In the Social Media Bible they auorthros point out that even Google has changed the way it ranks a site or information. If there are not blogs about it, there are not links from blogs to it or from it to other blogs then the information is ranked lower.

Thats, right you have the website, the old myspace pages that new shinny facebook page and even that confounded twitter and now we're now saying you have to have a blog.

Yep, Not only does your business,groups or nonprofit have to have a blog. You! if your the director, leader, or owner then you will have to have a personal blog or two. People what to know about the you as well as the company/group/issue. And, if your not ready to embrace this culture of sharing then don't expect anyone to play with your and your socialmedia.

Everyone is ready and they are waiting so why are you.  If you started then here is a great link to high value blogs that are the kinds that you want to have links to and from.  Blog Directories 

Hastatus is

 the tip of the WEB2.0

Since we have been online since 1991 via bulletin boards and then building full domains by 1995 there are no public innovations that we have not seen coming, deployed and processed successful or not. It is this experience along with our passion for excellence seeking to maximize public good that makes Hastatus a solid player in a wide range of areas. 

We look forward to working with every and anyone that is seeking to make this world a better place for everyone.