Author: Jim

The 2008 Obama Presidential campaign made waves for a number of
reasons, not least of which was their foray into social media. With an
active Twitter account, Facebook page and blog, the Obama campaign
reached levels of electronic “flesh pressing” never before seen.
Social media watchers are anxiously awaiting what’s next from the
campaign, and indeed the other potential candidates during the 2012
season.

This week we may have seen the first new thing. According to
Mashable, the
Obama campaign has started a
Tumblog.

A what? Tumblr is the hottest new blog
software (which I’ve been pushing some of my posts
to) out there. In fact, the New York
Times recently covered the
software
as it’s collected quite a large following in the fashion industry.

Okay, Jim, now where the heck are you going? Obama, fashion, Tumblr?
What the heck does this have to do with government communication?
Well, very little to do with emergency communication specifically, but
everything to do with improving your relations with your public.
Humanizing your agency. Introducing yourself to your constituents.
Take this quote from the Mashable article about the new site’s goals:

Tumblr has become a go-to platform for publications and organizations looking to show a more human, approachable side. Accordingly, the Barack Obama Tumblr, run by the 2012 election campaign staff, is meant to focus on user submissions, behind-the-scenes shots and grassroots support.

Buried right in the middle there is why this is relevant.
Behind-the-scenes shots. As soon as I read that, I remembered a
monthly fascination I have with the photography of Pete Souza, the
White House’s official photographer. Every month, on Flickr, the
White House publishes some of Mr. Souza’s favorite shots from the
preceding month. These
photos are rarely arranged affairs. They are quiet moments, private
moments, joyous moments, real moments. They serve to humanize the
Presidency. To tell the day-to-day story about governing a nation. So
few people understand what that means that this peek becomes
invaluable. It turns the Presidency into a man, doing a job. A job
that they’ve never seen nor understood.

Much like your job.

Now, you’ll never get Mr. Souza to snap away for you, but there’s no
reason you couldn’t snap away yourself. Tell the story about your job,
your Department. Done in a behind-the-scenes manner, this could be
your public’s peek into the day-to-day. Not official releases, nor
emergency actions, just real men and women doing a job. A job the
public has never seen nor understood.

Maybe once people understand your daily dedication toward public
safety, they’ll be more apt to listen when you tell them that thing
they need to hear.

We’ve all heard the rumors/warnings by now. Not only will you, as a PIO, have to contend with the mass media, but you’ll also have a new breed of “citizen journalists” pounding you with questions. (As an aside, I would add hyperlocal journalists to this list of people we’ll have to deal with.)

Armed with the latest pro-sumer grade equipment, now anyone can report on breaking news, we’ve been told. Well, it’s happening, but not like they told you.

I’ve heard in the past about Neal Augenstein, a WTOP radio reporter who has converted his content production process over to his iPhone–completely. You can read all about his setup (from six months ago!) on this guest post he did for PBS MediaShift.

The reason I bring it up now is that he recently held a one-hour webinar on how to report using just a smartphone (which unfortunately I couldn’t be on). Ladies and gents, your early adopters are now reaching your early majority (five points for getting the diffusion of innovations theory in there).

And if you’d like to follow up on Mr. Augenstein’s setup, he’s got a Tumblog dedicated solely to iPhone Reporting.