In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

On the Canadian Red Cross’s blog, Red Cross Talks, John Saunders, “Disaster Dude/Director of Disaster Management, Ontario,” has a post, Twittering About Emergency Preparedness. Saunders says that Twitter has helped the organization reach an audience — “Upward mobile, professionals between ages 30 – 45″ — which he says is often difficult to get to on preparedness:

“I’ve been on Twitter (@CRCSaunders) for a few months now, and I can already see the benefits. The audience that I engage with there are the group hardest to get with the preparedness message. Upward mobile, professionals between ages 30 – 45 are busy with their career, dating, family, mortgages, etc. Getting this group to think about ‘bad stuff’ that might happen while they are struggling with the current is a challenge.

Twitter’s not a great place to spout off 140-character tips on emergency preparedness, but it is a great place to network and talk with people. Twitter is really about #ICE – Interact, Communicate and Engage. When those who follow your tweets get to know who you are, beyond your avatar, they are more likely to listen when you do provide timely suggestions.

If you get enough of the right kind of followers, then your preparedness message will get out there more than any fridge magnet could.”

Thanks to the CrisisSocMedia Twitter feed for bringing this to my attention.