The document provides metrics and statistics on how Fairfax County disseminated information to the public before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy compared to previous storms. Key findings include: 1) The county's emergency blog saw record views and comments during Sandy; 2) The county's Facebook page had over 10,000 likes, comments, and shares with 145,000 people reached each day; and 3) The county's Twitter saw over 1,000 new followers and 1,494 retweets of county updates during the storm.
Ski resorts are increasingly using social media to market themselves and engage with customers. Vail Resorts has led the way by developing EpicMix, a mobile app that allows skiers to track their experiences and share them socially. EpicMix saw nearly 100,000 users in its first season who generated over 35 million social media impressions. Vail Resorts has since expanded EpicMix's photo sharing capabilities. Other resorts also have large Facebook followings and use sites like blogs to curate authentic user-generated content.
Mod. 8 CS (2): Ski Resorts & Social Media. YouTube Case Study and WorkshopRaul Revuelta
Vail Resorts has abandoned its traditional advertising strategies in favor of a new in-house social media marketing operation. This operation uses social media platforms like YouTube to constantly engage with skiing enthusiasts in real-time. Vail Resorts operates ski resorts across Colorado and California/Nevada and has seen social media accelerate consumers' decision making about visiting resorts.
Online Newsrooms vs Digital Content HubsSally Falkow
The traditional text-based online newsroom which lists press releases but not much else is outdated and needs to be replaced with a visually rich content hub that includes social content, blog posts, images and video and a database of expert bios.
Poland, the largest innovative Central and Eastern European market, hosts a week-long series of events in California in November 2014.. American companies and investors can see products, ideas and achievements in technologically-advanced economic sectors.
Turn Your Business Listings into Local LeadsSurefire Local
Search and discovery has changed a lot and it is hard to create a presence in many places. One way businesses are able to build their online visibility is through directory listings. The key though is making sure each listing is complete with accurate and consistent information on your business. That's where Yext comes in.
During this webinar, Christian Ward, a Local Data Expert of Yext, discusses how local data works and the tools a business needs to be successful with turning their local business listings into an effective lead generation channel.
Visual content is becoming increasingly important in marketing as people are drawn to visuals. Brands must use visual content like images and video to stand out in the noisy digital landscape. Research shows visual content receives higher engagement across marketing disciplines and on social media. As visual processing is a major function of the brain, visual content allows for richer communication of ideas and information in a quick, easy way. Analytics prove brands see better results when incorporating visuals into their strategies, and visual content will continue growing in importance for online marketing.
5 Media Relations Trends to Watch in 2013Sally Falkow
The demand for more news at a faster pace has changed the way the media reports the news. This means that businesses have to change too - these 5 media trends are opportunities a business can tap into in 2013 to increase online visibility and earned media mentions.
Ski resorts are increasingly using social media to market themselves and engage with customers. Vail Resorts has led the way by developing EpicMix, a mobile app that allows skiers to track their experiences and share them socially. EpicMix saw nearly 100,000 users in its first season who generated over 35 million social media impressions. Vail Resorts has since expanded EpicMix's photo sharing capabilities. Other resorts also have large Facebook followings and use sites like blogs to curate authentic user-generated content.
Mod. 8 CS (2): Ski Resorts & Social Media. YouTube Case Study and WorkshopRaul Revuelta
Vail Resorts has abandoned its traditional advertising strategies in favor of a new in-house social media marketing operation. This operation uses social media platforms like YouTube to constantly engage with skiing enthusiasts in real-time. Vail Resorts operates ski resorts across Colorado and California/Nevada and has seen social media accelerate consumers' decision making about visiting resorts.
Online Newsrooms vs Digital Content HubsSally Falkow
The traditional text-based online newsroom which lists press releases but not much else is outdated and needs to be replaced with a visually rich content hub that includes social content, blog posts, images and video and a database of expert bios.
Poland, the largest innovative Central and Eastern European market, hosts a week-long series of events in California in November 2014.. American companies and investors can see products, ideas and achievements in technologically-advanced economic sectors.
Turn Your Business Listings into Local LeadsSurefire Local
Search and discovery has changed a lot and it is hard to create a presence in many places. One way businesses are able to build their online visibility is through directory listings. The key though is making sure each listing is complete with accurate and consistent information on your business. That's where Yext comes in.
During this webinar, Christian Ward, a Local Data Expert of Yext, discusses how local data works and the tools a business needs to be successful with turning their local business listings into an effective lead generation channel.
Visual content is becoming increasingly important in marketing as people are drawn to visuals. Brands must use visual content like images and video to stand out in the noisy digital landscape. Research shows visual content receives higher engagement across marketing disciplines and on social media. As visual processing is a major function of the brain, visual content allows for richer communication of ideas and information in a quick, easy way. Analytics prove brands see better results when incorporating visuals into their strategies, and visual content will continue growing in importance for online marketing.
5 Media Relations Trends to Watch in 2013Sally Falkow
The demand for more news at a faster pace has changed the way the media reports the news. This means that businesses have to change too - these 5 media trends are opportunities a business can tap into in 2013 to increase online visibility and earned media mentions.
Raleigh Workshop: Million Dollar Roundtable, By Kerry HendersonPR Council
1) The document discusses how the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) used online tools like podcasts, webinars, and blogs to address challenges of slowing growth and declining membership value in the US.
2) MDRT's goals were to build an online community for ongoing development and engagement of all members across generations and locations.
3) The solution involved a multimedia microsite hosting podcasts and webinars on retirement topics. This engaged over 175,000 users and increased participation of younger members.
Sally Falkow Named Kred Top InfluencerSally Falkow
Kred, a social media influence scoring tool, has named Sally Falkow, CEO of Meritus Media, a Top 1% Influencer. Social media is now the number one online activity, surpassing email and 95% of Americans are active on social media. Figuring out who is in a brand’s social graph and who has influence in certain communities and subjects has become very important to marketing and PR success.
Social Media News Release 15-step guideSally Falkow
This document provides a 15-step guide for creating an effective social media news release. It discusses best practices for crafting announcements to share on social networks like Facebook and Twitter to promote your organization, products or services. Contact information is provided for PRESSfeed, the company that can help distribute your social media news releases.
Every business know they should "Think like publisher" and create branded content. But a business has different goals - they're not only looking for an audience and eyeballs. A business owner or CMO needs to know how to make content that supports the business goals and gets ROI.
Digital media and shifts in media consumption require a new approach to media relations. Use your experts, partner with other credible sources and provide visual assets to reporters.
The document provides guidance on writing effective press releases for the digital age. It discusses Google's rules around links and how to focus press releases on discovery rather than direct links. Press releases should drive traffic and build brands by distributing content widely on websites, news sites, and social media to reach journalists, influencers and consumers. Links should form naturally from interested parties writing articles, not be included or optimized in the release itself. Key topics covered include keyword research, multimedia optimization, distribution channels, and tracking effectiveness.
The document discusses key themes from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2015, including an increased emphasis on advertising technology and how it is changing the industry. Speakers called for greater collaboration between creatives and technologists to harness data and build more emotional connections with consumers. The launch of the Cannes Innovation festival focused on how data can be used as the "linchpin" to create more emotional content.
This document contains quotes from various experts on topics related to social media, online conversations, and building relationships. It discusses how conversations cannot be controlled, the importance of social influence over search engine optimization, making connections between people, creating engagement around products and services, and other insights. The quotes are attributed to sources like Marian Salzman, Mitch Joel, Craig Newmark, and others.
This document discusses strategic planning in times of media revolution. It covers classic strategic planning approaches and how planning must evolve to Strategic Planning 2.0 to address today's complex, changing media landscape. Specifically, it discusses the need for five commitments in planning: business creativity, innovation marketing, understanding culture and context, defining brand strategies, and implementing plans. The document emphasizes that strategic and creative thinking is needed to identify the right intersection between logic and creativity.
Co-Creation Forum presents: How Brands can Derive Insight from Co-CreationEphraim Cohen
Co-Creation is an increasingly interesting and talked about topic of conversation. Yet some are left to ponder its relevance and value to an organization. During this webinar, Jennifer Kitchen, Managing Director of Promise North America will challenge the audience to think about “Why aren’t organizations infusing co-creation into their brand development processes?” As fodder to the discussion, Jennifer will draw upon real-life stories from a range of co-creation believers and skeptics.
The document discusses search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of improving web pages to rank higher in search engines for targeted keywords. Key factors that influence rankings include crawlability, optimized code, internal link structure, link popularity/relevance, and content relevance. Organic or natural search results receive the majority (around 60%) of clicks from users. SEO is also the most popular form of search marketing. Reasons to conduct SEO include high ROI, users trusting natural results more, and many people not looking past the first page of results.
This is my presentation from last year. Since then Facebook added a few 100 million users and more news organizations changed their structure and strategy. Compare this to my other recent ones .
5:10 Tribeca #antisummit Twitter Social Summary FINAL 5:10Donnetta Campbell
The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival was a success with 12 days of various events attracting many attendees. An analysis of the social media hashtag campaign found over 47,000 tweets using relevant hashtags from nearly 18,000 accounts, reaching over 112 million people and generating over 583 million impressions. Several hashtags like #AntiSummit, #TDIA2015, and #TribecaTogether trended during the festival.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise boosts blood flow, releases endorphins, and promotes changes in the brain which help relax the body and lift the mood.
Creating a Government Brand Journalism Site Greg Licamele
This document summarizes Fairfax County Government's social media reach and engagement from fiscal years 2012-2015. It shows steady increases in Twitter impressions and Facebook reach over those years. It also compares traffic to the previous Fairfax County news website versus the new NewsCenter site launched in August 2015, showing much higher engagement for NewsCenter despite it being live for less than two months. The document emphasizes the strategy behind NewsCenter is to provide relevant, timely information for residents in an audience-focused way.
The document summarizes online metrics for communications about the opening of the Silver Line metro expansion in Fairfax County, Virginia from July 14-28, 2014. Facebook reach and engagement was higher than average during this period. Twitter saw over 176,000 impressions and 7,136 engagements, with the highest activity on July 26, the opening date. A Storify story compiling social media posts about the opening was viewed 709 times.
This document outlines Fairfax County's social media strategy. It discusses the county's success in growing its social media presence across platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The strategy identifies philosophies for the county's social media use, such as engaging the community and sharing timely information. It also provides goals to further expand the county's reach on social media platforms and increase engagement over the next fiscal year. Departments are asked to identify specific social media goals and tactics for their accounts. The county will also create dashboards to track key metrics for each social media account.
Fairfax County Social Media Policy and Guidelines for Official AccountsGreg Licamele
This document outlines Fairfax County's social media policy and guidelines for official social media accounts. It provides guidance on existing social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and more. It covers topics like requesting new accounts, publishing guidelines, handling comments, using social media during emergencies, and ensuring accessibility. The document establishes that the Office of Public Affairs oversees and coordinates the county's social media presence and provides support to department accounts.
International Disaster Conference and Expo PresentationGreg Licamele
Presentation delivered in New Orleans at the 2013 International Disaster Conference and Expo. http://idcexpo.blogspot.com/2012/12/idce-panelist-bios-licamele-dudgeon.html
Connecting Personal Preparedness and Technology (PPT)Greg Licamele
The document proposes the creation of the Center for Personal Preparedness Through Technology at GW's School of Engineering. The Center would examine how to use existing and emerging technologies to increase personal preparedness levels in the US population. It would establish nine sectors focused on projects utilizing technologies like cell phones, personal music/media devices, RFID tags, home automation systems, and more to integrate preparedness into people's daily lives. The long-term goals are to increase national preparedness levels to at least 60% within five years and work with youth to encourage technology adoption. The Center would partner with industry, government, and academia.
Hurricane Hugo caused widespread damage when it made landfall in South Carolina in 1989. Coastal development had increased dramatically in previous decades, exposing more property and lives to hurricane damage. Building codes in South Carolina were also lacking or not enforced. When Hugo hit, it resulted in $6 billion in damages and 35 deaths in the Carolinas due to the extensive coastal development and lack of adequate building standards. FEMA's response was slow, taking 10 days to establish disaster assistance centers and leaving residents waiting weeks for aid due to bureaucratic policies and procedures. The storm highlighted issues with coastal management practices, emergency response, and the need for policy reforms.
Raleigh Workshop: Million Dollar Roundtable, By Kerry HendersonPR Council
1) The document discusses how the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) used online tools like podcasts, webinars, and blogs to address challenges of slowing growth and declining membership value in the US.
2) MDRT's goals were to build an online community for ongoing development and engagement of all members across generations and locations.
3) The solution involved a multimedia microsite hosting podcasts and webinars on retirement topics. This engaged over 175,000 users and increased participation of younger members.
Sally Falkow Named Kred Top InfluencerSally Falkow
Kred, a social media influence scoring tool, has named Sally Falkow, CEO of Meritus Media, a Top 1% Influencer. Social media is now the number one online activity, surpassing email and 95% of Americans are active on social media. Figuring out who is in a brand’s social graph and who has influence in certain communities and subjects has become very important to marketing and PR success.
Social Media News Release 15-step guideSally Falkow
This document provides a 15-step guide for creating an effective social media news release. It discusses best practices for crafting announcements to share on social networks like Facebook and Twitter to promote your organization, products or services. Contact information is provided for PRESSfeed, the company that can help distribute your social media news releases.
Every business know they should "Think like publisher" and create branded content. But a business has different goals - they're not only looking for an audience and eyeballs. A business owner or CMO needs to know how to make content that supports the business goals and gets ROI.
Digital media and shifts in media consumption require a new approach to media relations. Use your experts, partner with other credible sources and provide visual assets to reporters.
The document provides guidance on writing effective press releases for the digital age. It discusses Google's rules around links and how to focus press releases on discovery rather than direct links. Press releases should drive traffic and build brands by distributing content widely on websites, news sites, and social media to reach journalists, influencers and consumers. Links should form naturally from interested parties writing articles, not be included or optimized in the release itself. Key topics covered include keyword research, multimedia optimization, distribution channels, and tracking effectiveness.
The document discusses key themes from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2015, including an increased emphasis on advertising technology and how it is changing the industry. Speakers called for greater collaboration between creatives and technologists to harness data and build more emotional connections with consumers. The launch of the Cannes Innovation festival focused on how data can be used as the "linchpin" to create more emotional content.
This document contains quotes from various experts on topics related to social media, online conversations, and building relationships. It discusses how conversations cannot be controlled, the importance of social influence over search engine optimization, making connections between people, creating engagement around products and services, and other insights. The quotes are attributed to sources like Marian Salzman, Mitch Joel, Craig Newmark, and others.
This document discusses strategic planning in times of media revolution. It covers classic strategic planning approaches and how planning must evolve to Strategic Planning 2.0 to address today's complex, changing media landscape. Specifically, it discusses the need for five commitments in planning: business creativity, innovation marketing, understanding culture and context, defining brand strategies, and implementing plans. The document emphasizes that strategic and creative thinking is needed to identify the right intersection between logic and creativity.
Co-Creation Forum presents: How Brands can Derive Insight from Co-CreationEphraim Cohen
Co-Creation is an increasingly interesting and talked about topic of conversation. Yet some are left to ponder its relevance and value to an organization. During this webinar, Jennifer Kitchen, Managing Director of Promise North America will challenge the audience to think about “Why aren’t organizations infusing co-creation into their brand development processes?” As fodder to the discussion, Jennifer will draw upon real-life stories from a range of co-creation believers and skeptics.
The document discusses search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of improving web pages to rank higher in search engines for targeted keywords. Key factors that influence rankings include crawlability, optimized code, internal link structure, link popularity/relevance, and content relevance. Organic or natural search results receive the majority (around 60%) of clicks from users. SEO is also the most popular form of search marketing. Reasons to conduct SEO include high ROI, users trusting natural results more, and many people not looking past the first page of results.
This is my presentation from last year. Since then Facebook added a few 100 million users and more news organizations changed their structure and strategy. Compare this to my other recent ones .
5:10 Tribeca #antisummit Twitter Social Summary FINAL 5:10Donnetta Campbell
The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival was a success with 12 days of various events attracting many attendees. An analysis of the social media hashtag campaign found over 47,000 tweets using relevant hashtags from nearly 18,000 accounts, reaching over 112 million people and generating over 583 million impressions. Several hashtags like #AntiSummit, #TDIA2015, and #TribecaTogether trended during the festival.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise boosts blood flow, releases endorphins, and promotes changes in the brain which help relax the body and lift the mood.
Creating a Government Brand Journalism Site Greg Licamele
This document summarizes Fairfax County Government's social media reach and engagement from fiscal years 2012-2015. It shows steady increases in Twitter impressions and Facebook reach over those years. It also compares traffic to the previous Fairfax County news website versus the new NewsCenter site launched in August 2015, showing much higher engagement for NewsCenter despite it being live for less than two months. The document emphasizes the strategy behind NewsCenter is to provide relevant, timely information for residents in an audience-focused way.
The document summarizes online metrics for communications about the opening of the Silver Line metro expansion in Fairfax County, Virginia from July 14-28, 2014. Facebook reach and engagement was higher than average during this period. Twitter saw over 176,000 impressions and 7,136 engagements, with the highest activity on July 26, the opening date. A Storify story compiling social media posts about the opening was viewed 709 times.
This document outlines Fairfax County's social media strategy. It discusses the county's success in growing its social media presence across platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The strategy identifies philosophies for the county's social media use, such as engaging the community and sharing timely information. It also provides goals to further expand the county's reach on social media platforms and increase engagement over the next fiscal year. Departments are asked to identify specific social media goals and tactics for their accounts. The county will also create dashboards to track key metrics for each social media account.
Fairfax County Social Media Policy and Guidelines for Official AccountsGreg Licamele
This document outlines Fairfax County's social media policy and guidelines for official social media accounts. It provides guidance on existing social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and more. It covers topics like requesting new accounts, publishing guidelines, handling comments, using social media during emergencies, and ensuring accessibility. The document establishes that the Office of Public Affairs oversees and coordinates the county's social media presence and provides support to department accounts.
International Disaster Conference and Expo PresentationGreg Licamele
Presentation delivered in New Orleans at the 2013 International Disaster Conference and Expo. http://idcexpo.blogspot.com/2012/12/idce-panelist-bios-licamele-dudgeon.html
Connecting Personal Preparedness and Technology (PPT)Greg Licamele
The document proposes the creation of the Center for Personal Preparedness Through Technology at GW's School of Engineering. The Center would examine how to use existing and emerging technologies to increase personal preparedness levels in the US population. It would establish nine sectors focused on projects utilizing technologies like cell phones, personal music/media devices, RFID tags, home automation systems, and more to integrate preparedness into people's daily lives. The long-term goals are to increase national preparedness levels to at least 60% within five years and work with youth to encourage technology adoption. The Center would partner with industry, government, and academia.
Hurricane Hugo caused widespread damage when it made landfall in South Carolina in 1989. Coastal development had increased dramatically in previous decades, exposing more property and lives to hurricane damage. Building codes in South Carolina were also lacking or not enforced. When Hugo hit, it resulted in $6 billion in damages and 35 deaths in the Carolinas due to the extensive coastal development and lack of adequate building standards. FEMA's response was slow, taking 10 days to establish disaster assistance centers and leaving residents waiting weeks for aid due to bureaucratic policies and procedures. The storm highlighted issues with coastal management practices, emergency response, and the need for policy reforms.
The document provides analytics and metrics on Fairfax County's website and digital properties for 2012. Some key findings include:
- The county website had over 6.7 million unique visitors in 2012, a 5% increase from 2011.
- Library, job, and tax pages were among the top 10 most visited pages.
- Homepage click patterns remained consistent, with 75.7% of clicks going to 29 links.
- Overall website satisfaction declined in all categories from 2011 according to surveys.
- Traffic to the county's Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and emergency blog pages all saw positive increases.
- Satisfaction with the county's Facebook and Twitter was over 80% according to surveys.
The document provides guidance for county governments on using Facebook effectively. It recommends posting often with relevant, timely and actionable information. It also suggests understanding your audience and how Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm works to ensure more people see your posts. The document outlines best practices for posting, including timing, tone, and details like thumbnails. It also covers monitoring and responding to comments according to certain criteria for deleting content.
The document provides feedback on improving the Fairfax County iPhone app. It suggests switching to a grid layout for the home screen with prominent icons to make content easier to access. It also recommends rebranding the news section as the Fairfax County NewsWire and presenting news stories in a banner format with pictures for featured stories. Additional changes include reducing text size on news story pages and adding indicators to mark stories as read/unread.
The document proposes ideas for a new University Relations website at George Washington University. It suggests organizing the site as a "living scrapbook" that provides up-to-date information on events, press releases, publications, and expert faculty. Sample pages are proposed that would feature headlines, latest events, an online media guide, publications like ByGeorge! and GW Magazine. The site aims to give constituents like students, alumni and media a central hub for GW news and resources through an interactive and visually appealing design.
The document introduces the Fairfax County NewsWire, a new integrated communications platform to share county news and information through multiple channels. It aims to (1) present all county news in one location, (2) publish content through various tools to engage the public, and (3) create a comprehensive platform to meet changing public needs. The NewsWire will consolidate news releases, web updates, social media posts and more in one list. It will use RSS feeds, emails, mobile apps, social media, videos and more to distribute information. Agencies are asked to contribute content and give feedback to improve the NewsWire over time.
The document discusses the creation of a new "NewsWire" platform by Fairfax County to better communicate news and information to the public. It aims to (1) present all county news in one central location, (2) publish content through various tools to engage the public, and (3) create an integrated news and engagement platform to meet changing demands. The NewsWire will consolidate news releases, events, and other news on its website and mobile apps. It will also engage the public through email updates, social media, and questions/voting features. The goal is to improve coordination of county communications across different channels and audiences.
GW News Center and University Relations Web ServicesGreg Licamele
The document discusses the growing importance and usage of the internet, especially among college students and at GW University. It proposes creating a full-time web editor position in the Office of University Relations to better utilize the opportunities of the internet and web for connecting with constituents. This would include maintaining current websites, developing new sites, integrating digital photos and audio, implementing email communications, and utilizing content syndication to distribute information.
The document discusses how traditional media is declining while social media use is rising, with more people using the internet, owning smartphones, and engaging in content creation. It emphasizes that governments must use today's social media tools to communicate with the public, especially during emergencies. Fairfax County has seen success using Facebook and Twitter to provide information on issues like H1N1 vaccines. Their Facebook page grew from 4 to nearly 3,000 fans in under 2 years, with most fans being older than 25. The document provides guidelines for using social media effectively based on usability studies.
Social Media & Emergencies for the National Capital RegionGreg Licamele
The document discusses the rise of social media and its potential role in emergency communications. It notes that traditional media is declining while social media allows anybody to publish content and engage in two-way communication. Social media is presented as a tool that emergency responders can use to more openly and transparently communicate with the public during all phases of emergency management. The document urges responders to determine their mission and choose appropriate social media tools, and to build social media capacity before emergencies occur.
Fairfax County Web Metrics PresentationGreg Licamele
The document discusses enhancing web metrics for Fairfax County web sites. It recommends using analytics tools to gather real-time data on user behavior to better understand how the public uses the sites and inform decisions. Usability testing is highlighted as important for new applications and key pages to understand how people use the sites and ensure satisfaction. Public feedback through surveys and an online advisory group are also suggested. The goal is to make decisions based on data from these performance metrics rather than personal preferences.
The document discusses how social media is changing the role of emergency management and public information officers (PIOs) by allowing everyone to be a potential "first informer". It provides examples from incidents like the Virginia Tech shooting and California wildfires where social media allowed faster and more accurate information sharing than traditional media. The document advocates for governments and PIOs to actively engage on social media platforms and integrate social media information into emergency response plans to stay relevant in an age where everyone can potentially be a first informer.
1. Metrics Report
Special Edition: Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy affected Fairfax County before, during and after its landfall in
the United States. According to the county’s Emergency Operations Plan, the
Office of Public Affairs coordinates and disseminates all information related to
major incidents.
This metrics report provides a snapshot of how our information was published
and shared during the timeframe of Oct. 26-31, 2012. The stats paint a picture
that confirms the changing way government communicators must think about,
distribute and encourage sharing of information in today’s world.
This report includes some comparisons, too, especially to Hurricane Irene in 2011.
The data show a significant increase in our public seeking and sharing emergency
information from many tools, including social media.
Questions? Contact Greg Licamele (greg.licamele@fairfaxcounty.gov) in the Office of Public Affairs
2. Emergency Information Blog
Our Emergency Information Blog has been live for 14 months now at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency/blog. It serves as our
primary way to share emergency information. During Sandy, we set new records for views and comments.
By The Numbers
• 78,365: from fairfaxcounty.gov
• 384,651: views • 35,936: from Facebook
• 16,042: from fcps.edu
• 11,385: from Google.com search
• 2,260: email subscribers • 6,870: from Twitter
• 5,974: from WTOP.com
• 603: public comments
A new Emergency Web Banner was activated on every
county webpage to help drive traffic to emergency blog.
Selected Blog Post Topics:
• 10 Ways to Get Ready for Hurricane Sandy
• County Government Preparations for Hurricane
Sandy
• The Importance of Neighbors During Hurricane
Sandy
• Help Distribute Hurricane Sandy Information
• Hurricane Sandy Online Discussion Set for 6 p.m.
Sunday
• Move Cars and Belongings in Low-Lying Areas
Ahead of Hurricane Sandy
• Fairfax County Government Closed Monday
• Stay Informed on Your Mobile Device
• Traffic Updates for Hurricane Sandy
• Tree Hit Your House? 4 Steps to Follow
• Tell Us What You See on New Crowdsource
Reporting Map
• Hurricane Sandy is About to Get Worse
• Shelter Now Open at Lee District RECenter
• Huntington Area: Immediate Evacuation of Two
Streets
• Traffic Lights Out; Obey Four Way Stops
Compared to Hurricane Irene
Sandy Irene
Views 384,651 50,668
Comments 603 77
Subscribers 2,260 75
3. Facebook
The county’s main Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fairfaxcounty continues to serve as a primary way many people connect
with us for information.
By The Numbers
• 3,011: likes
• 10,175: likes, comments and • 1,434: comments
shares • 5,730: shares
• 1,057: new fans • 587: by desktop
• 397: by mobile
• 73: by other
• 145,523: daily total reach*
• 127,254: daily viral reach**
This blog post
was shared
more than
2,000 times on
Facebook.
Compared to Hurricane Irene
Sandy Irene
Likes/ 10,175 869
Comments/
Shares
New Fans 1,057 379
Total Reach 145,523 42,768
Viral Reach 127,254 30,809
Compared to County Facebook 2012
Sandy Jan.-Sept.
Likes/ 10,175 8,418
Comments/
Shares
* The number of people who have seen any content associated with your Page. (Unique Users)
Total Reach 145,523 643,279
** The number of people who saw your Page or one of its posts from a story published by a
friend. (Unique Users) Viral Reach 127,254 272,078
4. Twitter
The county’s main Twitter account at www.twitter.com/fairfaxcounty also continued to serve as a primary way for people to get in-
formation about Hurricane Sandy. Facebook and Twitter have different audiences, purposes and cultures, so we utilized the platform
in many effective ways to share our messages -- and people also became our information ambassadors through retweets.
By The Numbers
• 1,494: retweets of
county updates
• 1,127: new followers
• 997: instances of the
#ffxstorm hashtag
As Hurricane Sandy approached we openly advocated for people to
use the hashtag #ffxstorm so we could see localized information. Other
hashtags such as #sandy and #VAsandy were simply too wide and included
too much noise for us to sort through to find Fairfax information. The use
of this hashtag was adopted by many and we plan to continue advocating
for a more specific hashtag depending upon the incident (as one may have
already bubbled up from the community).
Compared to Hurricane Irene
Sandy Irene
Retweets 1,494 333
New Follows 1,127 292
5. Mobile
Most of the information we publish can be viewed on smartphones, while all of our messages can be published to any type of cell-
phone through text alerts. To address this shift in consumer behavior, Fairfax County has begun implementing a mobile strategy to
ensure our information is compatible and usable for our residents, especially during emergencies like Hurricane Sandy.
By The Numbers
• 1,700: # of county iPhone app
downloads
• 9,551: # of county mobile
emergency page visits
Mobile Emergency Home Mobile County Facebook Mobile Emergency Blog Mobile Road Closures
Compared to Hurricane Irene
Sandy Irene
Downloads 1,700 289
6. Maps
During Hurricane Sandy, we introduced two new mapping options for our community: a road closures map that we updated with
hourly status changes and a crowdsource reporting map for people to submit what they were seeing to give us better situational
awareness.
By The Numbers
• 12,752: views of
crowdsource map
• 111: crowdsource
reports
• 16,473: road closure
map views
7. YouTube
We often publish videos to share on the county website, emergency information blog, Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
By The Numbers
• 3,063: video views
on YouTube
Compared to Hurricane Irene
Sandy Irene
Videos 5 5
Views 3,063 1,863
8. Ask Fairfax!
Ask Fairfax! has been one of our key engagement tools to connect our residents with county experts. On Sunday, Oct. 28, we hosted
an online discussion with the Board of Supervisors chairman, county executive, deputy county executive for public safety and
emergency management coordinator.
By The Numbers
• 346: questions from
the public for
Ask Fairfax!
This discussion is one of many examples of how we use multiple tools to communicate the same message:
Compared to Hurricane Irene
Sandy Irene
Questions 346 121