On March 16, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' Transportation Committee hosted a Snow Summit to assess both what worked well and what did not at the state — Virginia Department of Transportation — and county levels. The lessons learned from this summit will be invaluable not only for the next snow storm, but for any emergency.

1. Snow Communications Winter 2010 Merni Fitzgerald, Director, Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs Barbara Hunter, Assistant Superintendant, Fairfax County Public Schools

2. Coordinated, Multichannel Coordinated and multichannel public information efforts for February blizzards from Feb. 3 to Feb. 16

3. Coordinated Countywide & county agency messages State info: VDOT, VDEM, State Police Board communications Conference calls Hotlines School information (such as snow clearing volunteer day)

4. Multichannel County Web Site GIS Maps CEAN Alerts Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) Media Relations HOA Outreach Employee Communications

5. Status Updates

6. Safety Messages, Tips, News Releases

7. Maps

8. Facebook Messages  Facebook Q&A with Residents 

9. Facebook Messages and Community Interaction

10. Facebook Metrics # of “Fans” Feb. 3: 2,992 Feb. 16: 3,911 # of Facebook Interactions Feb. 3-16: 585

11. Twitter

12. YouTube

13. Media Relations

14. HOA Outreach

15. Employee Communications

17. Channel 21 crawl

19. Twitter (2,200 followers)

21. Fairfax County Public Schools Message #2: Reopening schools to parents Superintendent communications: Letter sent via Keep in Touch, posted on home page, and recorded voice mail to homes Dear Parents or Guardians: … Barring any significant additional snow accumulations, we do anticipate opening on Tuesday, February 16, with a two-hour delay to ensure that rush hour traffic has subsided and our children can walk safely to their bus stops or to school. However, we will continue to need your assistance when school re-opens to ensure that our students remain safe. … I personally want to thank you for your patience and understanding in knowing that student safety is our top priority. Jack D. Dale Superintendent Fairfax County Public Schools

22. Fairfax County Public Schools Message #2: Reopening schools to community

23. Fairfax County Public Schools Message #3: Snow makeup options

24. Fairfax County Public Schools Parklawn Elementary School staff express their sentiments during the blizzard

25. Public Feedback for Snow Summit March 3-15 111 E-mails 69 Ideas, 120 Comments, 1,486 Votes 5 Phone Messages