Uses of Social Media to Inform Operational Response and Recovery During an Airport Emergency (2017)

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12 CHAPTER THREE CASE EXAMPLES Six case examples are presented—three airports, one airline, one university, and a major city’s emergency management agency. In addition, two short examples that use volunteers to do social listening on an ad hoc basis are described. In each case example, the main focus is on— • Organizational changes made to manage the flow of actionable information to emergency managers, • Methods of verification applied to convert raw information to actionable information, • Software used, • Practical considerations of adopting social media for emergency management, and • Extraction of lessons learned and how they are applied. The three airport case examples and the airline case example clearly capture the state of the art of airport social media today (December 2016): their focus, which has been on branding, customer service, notifications, warnings, and reputation management is beginning to shift toward the provision of actionable information to assist with command and control in emer- gency situations. This situation is nascent—the three airports used for case examples here plus Toronto Pearson International Airport are the leaders, all having 2 to 7 years’ experience applying social media to emergency management. Perhaps the best indicator of an airport’s progress toward adopting and using SMEM is the extent to which a joint information center (JIC) has become an important member of its EOC (M. Scott, personal communication, Dec. 7, 2016). EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND EDMONTON REGIONAL AIRPORTS AUTHORITY The Edmonton International Airport (EIA) served 7,981,076 passengers in 2015; fifth most in Canada and 51st in North America. If EIA were in the United States, it would be classified as a medium hub, falling somewhere between San Antonio International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The EIA case example models four important options that an organization considering the development of an SMEM program needs to consider: • How to leverage existing SM expertise in an airport’s communications and public relationships to expand into SMEM, • How to adjust the airport’s organization to promote the flow of actionable information to the EOC, • An effective method of verification, and • How building acceptance of the airport’s SM in general pays dividends in emergencies. Table 1 presents the basic parameters of the SM and SMEM programs at EIA. The Edmonton International Airport is strongly committed to using social media to serve its community and to promote communications between the airport and its customers, its tenants, and its neighbors. The city of Edmonton is highly wired, and the airport follows suit. When the airport moved to more results-based operations, efforts were made to improve all aspects of communications. EIA went into social media with limited professional experience with the specific technology, but with excellent skills in communications. By focusing on what works to enhance commu- nications and customer service, rather than on what is trendy in technology, they have created a strong and credible foundational social media presence that benefits the airport. EIA is focused on customer service, which drives all other decisions, including uses of social media. The airport uses social media as a marketing driver and also sees SM as a community investment and branding tool. EIA still uses traditional communications tools such as press releases but is shifting to follow cultural trends.

13 TABLE 1 SM AND SMEM AT EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (EIA) Year Social Media Presence Began: 2009, began using metrics in 2012 Department: Communications & Creative Services Interviewee: Heather Hamilton, Director of Public Affairs Employees: Four or five airport Communications staff have access to SM accounts, estimated; 75 full-time equiva- lents given to SM Monitor: Two to three key managers give approximately 18 hours per day to monitor Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. More coverage during emergencies using volunteers (other airport staff informally watch and flag to the Communications team). Extract/Analyze: Self and subscribe to Meltwater Buzz. Have occasionally contracted some analytics through a consul- tant with social media expertise. Software used for important notification or warning: Twitter for short immediate things; a banner across top of EIA website for ongoing issues Software for social listening: Yes: Meltwater Buzz Uses: Marketing, Branding, Brand Protection, Customer Service, Situational Awareness, Decision Making, Notifications, Warnings, Crowdsourcing, Joint Information Center (EOC/PIO), Resource Allocation Metrics: Klout score, number of likes, followers, impressions, posts, tweets. Also review tone and content (manually as well as electronically given quality issues on electronic). Policies: In process (August 2016) of developing formal written policies Training: Primarily on the job. They have participated in more formal training, such as a course on Google Ana- lytics, and training on the Meltwater Buzz software. The team also attended a half-day Google session. They also consult at times with informal communities of practice (i.e., other airports) on areas of com- mon interest (for example, private transportation providers such as Uber). After action review/improvement planning include SM aspects of incidents or exercises: Absolutely Source: Smith and Kenville data (2016). Note: Items in bold are association with social media for emergency management, not just social media in general. The airport’s three-letter identifier is YEG; however, they do not “own” #YEG, which has come to be used widely as short- hand for the city of Edmonton and its region. The airport differentiates itself by using FlyEIA and is very aware of how powerful that is within the city, region, and country. The airport embraced this popularity when utilizing its own social media accounts. EIA primarily uses Twitter (@FlyEIA), Facebook (/FlyEIA), and Instagram (@FlyEIA). The airport uses Twitter the most, but finds Facebook to be the most useful for in-depth interactions. The airport focuses on making its social media use interac- tive and on creating conversations with the public. See Figures 3 and 4 and note the EIA logo on each message. A year ago the airport split the management responsibility for communications and social media. The manager of com- munications and creative services has primary responsibility for managing the airport’s overall social media presence, and the director of public affairs has the primary responsibility for managing social media applied to emergency and issues manage- ment. These two people work closely together. In order to make social media use more effective, EIA made several organizational changes. It clarified roles and controlled access to social media accounts with support from the airport’s senior management. One unanticipated benefit of the increased use of social media for emergency management has been the breaking down of silos; for example, between public relations, operations, and emergency management. The SM team has preformatted responses to recurring questions and comments. To be more precise, there is a generally standardized body of knowledge about the airport and its issues that the responding person uses in crafting the response in social media. During the business day, one employee is usually assigned the lead for responding to general comments. Outside of core hours, no airport employee is assigned to SM duty: all the employees who have access naturally administer the SM. The airport found that the ad hoc effort exceeded the level that could be scheduled. The team does not seem to suffer any SM fatigue from day to day and in fact finds SM activities quite gratifying. Recently, during the Fort McMurray fires near Edmonton, the airport was able to transmit via Twitter (“tweet”) requests for strollers, car seats, and water. With the solid network and trust the airport’s SM presence has built, approximately 1,200

14 strollers and car seats were brought to the dropoff points away from the airport that EIA announced on social media. The story of the Fort McMurray fire is told in EIA social media posts and tweets in Appendix D. The airport has reduced SM employee engagement in evenings and off hours, which are covered collectively by the team on a voluntary basis. If issues arise, other employees will flag items and refer them to the director of public affairs. If the matter appears sensitive or controversial, or has the potential for escalation, it is sent to the director of public affairs. This two-pronged approach is very cohesive and works well for EIA. The airport’s senior management and social media team are quite proud of their SM presence and the level of trust they have built within the airport, community, and country. As of September 2016, EIA was in the process of writing a formal written policy for social media use including SMEM. The current practice is that the airport responds to comments and to factual tweets and Facebook posts. Only a limited number of people have access to the airport’s social media accounts (that is, possess the passwords and are authorized to post). Anyone else wishing to post on behalf of the airport must go to the director of public affairs or the manager of communications and creative services for approval (see Figure 5). FIGURE 5 A relationship-building conversation on Twitter (Source: Twitter.com/flyeia). When the EOC is activated, the PIO who is stationed in the EOC manages incoming information from social media and outgoing offices, but the social listening and message sending happen outside the EOC in the airport’s public information office. Outside the EOC, a senior communications advisor supports the PIO role. During an emergency, all airport commu- nications (including social media) must go through the Public Information Office—all other pathways are cut off. The EOC uses SMEM for situational awareness, resource allocation, decision making, notifications, warnings, and crowdsourcing (H. Hamilton, personal communication, Aug. 24, 2016). EIA played an active role in both SM and SMEM during the Fort McMurray fire in 2016. EIA’s social media presence is so powerful that the airport willingly lends its social media platforms to other organizations that need to reach the public. During the Fort McMurray fire, government and other response organizations sent messages via EIA’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. The airport views this as part of its commitment to the community (see Figures 6 and 7). The primary SM metrics used by EIA are KloutTM software and advertising value per tweet. Klout (https://klout.com/corp/ score) score tracks penetration and interaction on a range of zero to 100. EIA’s score is 72. A score over 68 puts an organization in the top 5% in its market. EIA typically outperforms the city, mayor’s office, and three out of the four major media outlets in Edmonton. The advertising value to EIA is $1,200 per tweet issued by the airport. EIA issues five to six original tweets per day and responds to many more. EIA’s subscription cost for analytical software is approximately $6,000 per year on a flat-rate contract. The staff cost is estimated to be $60,000 per year, based on .50 to .75 full-time equivalent (FTE) effort given to social media.

15 FIGURE 6 EIA lending its SM platform to another agency in an emergency, example 1 (Source: Twitter.com/flyeia). FIGURE 7 EIA lending its SM platform to another agency in an emergency, example 2 (Source: Twitter.com/flyeia). Lessons Learned: The lessons that EIA would like to share with organizations implementing social media programs are as follows (Only lessons pertinent to SMEM are listed here; lessons pertinent to SM use in general are listed in Appendix E. This is true of all six case examples.): • Lead from a communications perspective, not from technology: have a message and a brand, and then learn how to use new tools. • The stronger an airport’s SM presence is, the more effective it will be in an emergency. • Reorganization and breaking down silos will probably be needed to ensure the smooth flow of actionable information to the EOC.

16 MINNEAPOLIS–SAINT PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THE METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) served 36,582,854 passengers in 2015; 16th most in the United States, 17th in North America, and 50th in the world. Its National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems category is large hub. The MSP case example models three important issues for an organization considering the development of an SMEM program: • How actionable information from SMEM can be applied to enhance emergency management in real time in an actual incident, • The advantages of incorporating SM and SMEM in an airport’s comprehensive crisis communications plan, and • The importance of keeping up with changes in the uses of various SM platforms by the public. Table 2 shows the basic parameters of the SM and SMEM programs at MSP. TABLE 2 SM AND SMEM AT MINNEAPOLIS–SAINT PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT & METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION (MAC-MSP) Year Social Media Presence Began: 2011 Department: Public Affairs and Marketing Interviewee: Amanda Greene Guentzel, Manager Public Affairs and Marketing Employees: Eight in department and three assigned to social media Monitor: Three employees monitor in shift assignments Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Extract/Analyze: Self, do not use contractor Software used for important notifications and warnings: Twitter—quick method, media typically sees it and picks up on it; airport website (mspariport.com)— reach potential same-day visitors Software used for social listening: Yes: Geofeedia, Tweet Archivist, Semantria, Hootsuite, Facebook Pages Manager Uses: Customer Service, Situational Awareness, Joint Information Center (EOC/JIC) Metrics: Number of likes, followers, impressions, posts, tweets Policies: No formal written policies Training: On the job After action review/improvement planning include SM aspects of incidents or exercises: “This is something we plan to start doing now that our social program has been exercised a couple of times and is incorporated into our crisis communication plan” (A. Greene Guentzel, e-mail, Dec. 23, 2016). Source: Smith and Kenville data (2017). Note: Items in bold are association with social media for emergency management, not just social media in general. Social media are included in the Metropolitan Airports Commission/MSP comprehensive crisis communications plan. In August 2016, the plan was tested in a combined table top and functional exercise that stood up the airport’s Joint Information Center and Joint Family Support Operations Center (JFSOC). The exercise was designed to simulate communication efforts between the airport’s EOC, JIC, and JFSOC. The exercise was successful and produced several lessons learned. When the exercise began, the three centers were stood up, but it became apparent they were working independently when instead they needed to be able to work in concert to deliver a timely, unified message across all communication platforms (press releases, social media, etc.). Previously, MSP had experience using SM to inform decision making in an emergency. On December 23, 2015, a Black Lives Matter demonstration was planned at the Mall of America, which is close to MSP. When it was determined that the protest could not be carried out at the mall, the demonstration organizers quickly decided to move it to the airport property. The MSP public affairs and marketing staff were monitoring social media and were able to alert the EOC to deploy the neces- sary staff and inform the traveling public that the airport was not closed; flights were on time, but the inbound roadway was experiencing congestion. In this incident, MSP’s SMEM program used all five methods described in chapter one by which emergency managers can obtain and disseminate information using SM. The airport firmly believes this social media effort aided in keeping the event peaceful. After the event, the airport received praise from the traveling public and media outlets for being able to accurately inform the public of the events affecting the airport, which is a high travel time for any airport. Major media outlets and citizen journalists were reporting

17 the airport was closed, but in fact, only the inbound roadway was. With the use of social media, the MSP team was able to communicate directly with the public that the airport was open though it was experiencing traffic issues, and for the public to be patient. This effort has enabled the airport to build a level of trust with the community and maintain its high standards of customer service while respecting freedom of speech and assembly. The course of the incident on social media can be followed in the screen grabs shown in Figures 8–11. FIGURE 8 Black Lives Matter demonstrations at MSP (Source: CNN screen capture by Amanda Greene Guentzel, MAC/MSP). The SM program at MSP has seen incremental increases in its budget and personnel since its inception, but the department is still small (three people) and budget expenditures have been utilized to upgrade technology and software subscriptions and agreements. Some benefits the airport has realized are the ability to receive more online compliments and the ability to respond more quickly to media relations issues. When asked if the airport has a social media policy, MSP’s Director of Public Affairs A. Greene Guentzel responded, “Frankly, the way we attack the social beast changes so often that we’ve never had time.” This is an important factor to think about when trying to develop specific policies regarding SM: technology, responses, and situations change so rapidly, an airport would be constantly updating its policy—if it chose to have one. This applies to all uses of SM including SMEM. Currently, MSP measures the effectiveness of its SM program by the reach, which is the number of people who received an impression of a page post. “Reach might be less than impressions since one person can see multiple impressions. For

18 example, if a person sees a Page update in News Feed and then sees that same update when a friend shares it that would repre- sent a reach count of one. MSP’s Facebook reach for the months of January–April 2016 for the airport was 17,946,863—which exceeds the total populations of Minnesota and its neighboring states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa) combined” (A. Greene Guentzel, e-mail, Dec. 28, 2016). Training for social media employees is done in house and on the job; no formal training curriculum is utilized. Lessons Learned: The lessons that MSP would like to share with organizations implementing social media programs are as follows: • Keep up with algorithm changes because they can greatly inform your strategy; • Spread the load of social media over numerous people: it’s a heavy load for one person to handle 24/7, 365 days a year. FIGURE 9 MSP SMEM tweets during airport response to Black Lives Matter. demonstration (Source: Fox9 screen capture by Amanda Greene Guentzel, MAC/MSP).

19 NEW YORK CITY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT New York City is America’s largest city, with a population of more than 8.4 million in 2016. Approximately 325,000 municipal employees work for more than 50 agencies. The city occupies a critical position in the global financial, transportation, com- munications, information, commercial, fashion, and entertainment industries. It is the center of the Northeast Megalopolis that stretches from Virginia to New Hampshire and contains 17% of the U.S. population. The New York City Office of Emergency Management (NYC OEM) handles approximately 200 incidents per day and chose not to identify any single incident as most typical or as the trigger for beginning SMEM (I. Tannebaum, personal com- munication, Nov. 25, 2016). FIGURE 10 Black Lives Matter demonstrations at MSP: MSP tweets and CNN coverage (Source: CNN screen capture by Amanda Greene Guentzel, MAC/MSP).

20 The NYC OEM case example models four important issues for an organization considering the development of an SMEM program: • The decision to seek interactive conversations with the public or not to, • The importance of close coordination with other responders and stakeholders, • How to manage the flow of actionable information to the EOC, and • A system for verification of information from SMEM. FIGURE 11 Minneapolis Star–Tribune retweet of MSP tweets at conclusion of Black Lives Matter demonstration at MSP (Source: StribeDrive screen capture by Amanda Greene Guentzel, MAC/MSP).

21 Table 3 shows the basic parameters of the SM and SMEM programs at NYC OEM. TABLE 3 SM AND SMEM AT NEW YORK CITY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (NYC OEM) Year Social Media Presence Began: 2011 for SMEM Department: Watch Command Interviewee: Ira Tannenbaum, Assistant Commissioner, Public/Private Initiatives Employees: 10 FTE for social listening Monitor: Continuous social listening and social monitoring; no engagement/interaction sought Extract/analyze: In-house; do not use contractor or bundler Software used for important notifications and warnings: All of NYC OEM’s social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram Software used for social listening: Dataminr Uses: Branding, Situational Awareness, Resource Allocation, Decision Making, Notifications, Warnings, Crowdsourcing, limited use in After Action Reviews/Improvement Planning Metrics: Track tweets, retweets, likes, and follows Policies: Written protocols and standard operating procedures Training: On-the-job training After action review/improvement planning include SM aspects of incidents or exercises: Always Source: Smith and Kenville data (2017). Note: Items in bold are association with social media for emergency management, not just social media in general. NYC OEM has a powerful presence in the social media space. No specific incident triggered its interest in SMEM. Instead, the interest grew from technological developments, cultural changes, and the skills and interests of new hires, particularly young people. OEM is unique among the six complete case examples in this study in that it operates SMEM without attempting to engage the public in conversations. The two main activities of NYC OEM in the SMEM realm are the collection of incoming situ- ational information and intelligence and the dissemination of outgoing notifications and warnings. The advantages of this approach are clarifying the purpose, promoting the traditional response roles of 911 and 311, and enabling a relatively small staff for SM in OEM. By sticking to listening and monitoring, issues that might arise from an unanswered request for help over SM are avoided. Liability issues of this type were resolved for 911 long ago. OEM maintains New York City’s main SM outlet for information for citizens, the Twitter account NotifyNYC. OEM maintains this account on behalf of all city agencies that deal with emergency situations. Major city agencies’ communications and operations center groups meet frequently and regularly to develop pre-scripted messages for all to use, with NotifyNYC being the city’s main voice. NotifyNYC has more than 800,000 followers, which is nearly one out of 10 city residents. Having pre-scripted messages for most types of emergency situations allows quick notifications over NotifyNYC and other SM tools (Figures 12–14). Control and responsibility for SM in OEM are split. The OEM director of watch command handles social listening and analysis operations, situational awareness, and outgoing warnings. All other SM functions belong to the OEM director of communications. The Watch Command space, which is staffed 24/7, is adjacent to the EOC. When the EOC stands up, a Watch Command representative is on the podium and is responsible for passing information from the Watch Command’s SMEM sources to the EOC, which makes resource allocation and other decisions. When desired, information from SMEM can be displayed in the EOC but they are not routinely displayed. Verification and validation of incoming SM information is performed by the Watch Command SM monitoring group. NYC OEM uses the Dataminr software package for which the city has a single contract that serves not just OEM but also the other city departments, including Fire Department of New York and New York Police Department. Dataminr was chosen after a 2-year procurement competition. The subscription cost is approximately $1 million per year; OEM’s share is approxi- mately $150,000. Each department applies Dataminr independently, having a dashboard that allows entry of key phrases and geofencing to scrape and display real-time data. Geofencing is the process of using a global positioning system or other locational information to include or exclude inputs from a social media platform.

22 FIGURE 12 NYC OEM tweet (Source: Twitter.com). FIGURE 13 NotifyNYC tweet (Source: Twitter.com).

23 OEM’s total annual budget for SMEM is approximately $150,000 for their share of Dataminr and $500,000 for staff. This is approximately 1% of OEM’s total annual budget of $50–60 million. The SMEM budget has grown slowly since 2011. Lessons Learned: The lessons that NYC OEM would like to share with organizations implementing social media pro- grams are as follows: • Verification of information from SM is essential because of the minimal limits on what can be posted. • Having pre-scripted messages for responses, notifications, and warnings is essential, both to ensure timeliness and to maintain consistency. • Make thorough use of hashtags and other pointers to sources for further information for citizens, and make sure that the information sites pointed to are prepared. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Southwest Airlines (SWA) carried more than 100,000,000 passengers in 2015, which makes it the largest U.S. airline in terms of number of passengers carried. The airline serves 101 airports in the United States and eight additional countries. Southwest has more than 53,000 employees. The company headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. FIGURE 14 NYC OEM tweet and reactions (Source: Twitter.com).

24 The SWA case example models five important issues for an organization considering the development of an SMEM program: • The choice of platform used for SMEM should match the severity of the incident. • Superior emergency management coordination is part of superior customer service. • A written policy for SMEM use is possible. • Formal in-house training for SMEM use by employees is beneficial. • Using the company logo on all outgoing SM posts and tweets including those for SMEM has value. Table 4 shows the basic parameters of the SM and SMEM programs at Southwest Airlines. TABLE 4 SM AND SMEM AT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES LISTENING CENTER Year Social Media Presence Began: 2014 Department: Social Business Team, which is embedded in Scheduling Operations and Control Center (SOC) and Cus- tomer Care Interviewee: Brooks Thomas, Social Business Advisor, Strategic Execution and Delivery Employees: 31–45 in Listening Center (Customer Care + Social Business) Monitor: Self, do not use contractor, continuous—24/7/365 Extract/analyze: Self, do not use contractor Software for important notifications and warnings: “It depends on the severity of the issue, but any time we have an important notification that warrants pro- activity, we will post it to Facebook and Twitter, as well as on our Southwest Community (forums and blog located at http://southwestaircommunity.com). As the severity or urgency of the situation increases (either in importance or by Customer volume regarding how many people are talking about it), we might expand to Instagram and LinkedIn.” “Why? Facebook and Twitter earn the largest share of our audience. Longer-form messaging opportuni- ties are available on our Southwest Community, since that is our own real estate and we can be more dynamic there. Further, we’re able to post to the Community and use it as a link-back on the other chan- nels. We expand our channel proactivity dependent on magnitude, because every channel becomes a Customer Service channel during a crisis” (B. Thomas, personal communication, Dec. 9, 2016). Software for social listening: Yes—proprietary Uses: Marketing, Branding, Reputation, Customer Service, Customer Response, Sale Items, Situational Awareness, Justification of Resource Allocation, Decision Making, Notifications, Warnings, Crisis Communication Metrics: The more data to quantify, the more buy-in from internal departments to allocate personnel and budget by showing the value of the information gathered via SM Policies: Company Social Media Policy (written) Training: Internal training program After action review/improvement planning include SM aspects of incidents or exercises: “Yes, social media is a vital cog in our crisis post-mortem meetings and during our quarterly and annual crisis drills” (B. Thomas, personal communication, Dec. 9, 2016). Source: Smith and Kenville data (2017). Note: Items in bold are association with social media for emergency management, not just social media in general. Southwest Airlines indicated it was the first airline to fully integrate its social media listening center into its network opera- tions control. The social media department at SWA began with three employees in 2007 and has grown to include between 31 and 45 employees utilized by several departments within the airline. As the value of working with social media has become known throughout the company, it has enabled the team to grow its department by operating a hub-and-spoke model that con- nects the Social Business Team with existing departments within the airline. The airline prides itself on being on the “cutting edge of customer service” (B. Thomas, personal communication, July 2016). Figure 15 shows how SWA retweeted a user-submitted image regarding the dedication of its Baltimore mechanics and the tweet received 1,100 “likes.”

25 FIGURE 15 Southwest tweet illustrates use of SM for human interest to build public interest and credibility of site (Source: Twitter.com/SouthwestAir). On a daily basis, the Southwest Airlines SM group responds to customer inquiries via social media and tries to populate SWA sites with a positive tone. In a micro sense, group members will answer typical “taxiing to gate” chatter. In a full-scale incident such as the recent alleged active shooter at Dallas Love Field, the airline focused its SM listening and was able to assist law enforcement and the airport, stay abreast of the incident, and provide timely information to customers by using its social media presence. Southwest also uses its total SM platform to communicate travel advisories (Figure 16). FIGURE 16 A travel advisory tweet from SWA (Source: Twitter.com/ SouthwestAir). Recently, SWA had an engine issue, and did not shy away from posting what it could on its Facebook page. As Figure 17 shows, 2,200 people responded, along with more than 180 shares (as of September 1, 2016). Candid posts such as this also build credibility that will benefit the company in a serious emergency.

26 FIGURE 17 SWA Facebook post on engine issue (Source: www.facebook.com/ SouthwestAir). Southwest has developed an internal computer-based training module for employees (ramp, gate, pilots, etc.) who would like to use social media to further engage with the airline’s customers. The airline has created social media professionals by identifying gifted amateur SM practitioners within the company. Lessons Learned: The lessons that Southwest Airlines would like to share with organizations implementing social media programs are as follows: • Master one space at a time, • Temper expectations, and • Use training and feedback to maintain consistency of message and spur employee evangelism. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT The University of North Dakota (UND), in Grand Forks, has nearly 15,000 students and offers more than 3,000 courses in more than 225 fields of study. UND’s faculty has approximately 650 members and the university is the second largest employer in the state of North Dakota. The UND Police Department provides SMEM services to the entire university, not just relating to law enforcement–related incidents. The UND case example models three important issues for an organization considering the development of an SMEM program: • An SMEM program can be scalable to fit a wide range of incidents. • A strong day-to-day SM presence will pay off in an emergency. • SMEM is ultimately about communicating with people.

27 Table 5 shows the basic parameters of the SM and SMEM programs at UND. TABLE 5 SM AND SMEM AT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT Year Social Media Began: 2013 Department: Department of Public Safety/University Police Department (UPD) Interviewee: Sgt. Daniel Weigel Employees: 3–5 employees; (Operations Center + 1 police officer) Monitor: 24/7 by University Emergency Mgmt. Ops. Center plus UPD daily monitor Extract/analyze: Self Software used for important notifications and warnings: “We would utilize both Facebook and Twitter for an important notification or warning. We would use our Sprout Social Media Management Software to issue the warning because of the fact that you can issue it through both Facebook and Twitter at the same time thus saving us time in getting the notification out to the public” (D. Weigel, personal communication, Dec. 26, 2016). Software used for social listening: HootSuite Uses: Situational Awareness, Resource Allocation, Decision Making, Investigations, Warnings, Crowdsourcing, Information Requests, After Action Reviews/Improvement Planning Metrics: Number of followers, likes, impressions, profile clicks—working for quality interactions with students, faculty, and staff Policies: Written policy (Appendix B) Training: Self-taught, on the job. Currently provides social media training for North Dakota Law Enforcement Officials (Appendix C) After action review/improvement planning include SM aspects of incidents or exercises: Yes Source: Smith and Kenville data (2017). Note: Items in bold are association with social media for emergency management, not just social media in general. The UND Department of Public Safety (DPS) and University Police Department (UPD) jointly utilize social media plat- forms along with the University’s Public Affairs unit. Primary responsibility for utilization of social media for emergency management lies with the DPS and UPD. At any given time, there are three to five personnel utilizing, viewing, and respond- ing to social media on campus. The main location for monitoring is in the University’s Emergency Management Operations Center, which is staffed 24/7. The public safety and police units began social media implementation when the current Chief of Police was hired in 2013. Since then, social media use for the joint departments has grown and a senior sergeant at UPD is currently the officer in charge of monitoring, analyzing, and responding to social media for public safety issues. The budget implications have been minimal to date, as no additional employees have been brought on board to manage social media for the department. Overall, the effort devoted to UND’s SM initiative is likely 1 FTE. As the program has grown, it has been helpful to assign a particular staff person to monitor SM for DPS so that there is ongoing, predictable coverage. The majority of software used is freeware so the budgetary impact has been minimal to date. UPD have made positive inroads with the students on campus. The department makes positive, informative posts and measures its successes by the number of retweets, likes, and followers. To have students follow the campus police is a success in itself. The idea is that if a student is following the campus police, he or she is more likely to trust the department and can ask for assistance very quickly, which may in turn help avoid the need for a larger response. An example of positive engagement was #bestcopsaround, started by the sergeant to engage the students of UND and community of Grand Forks. Figures 18–20 are screenshot examples from Twitter of how the students and community interact with the Police department in a positive atmosphere. In the future, the University Police Department would like to have a full-time position dedicated to SM/public informa- tion for the department so it can have a larger, more impactful presence on campus and within the Grand Forks community.

28 FIGURE 18 Community-building conversation on Twitter by UND Police Department (Source: Twitter.com/bestcopsaround). FIGURE 19 Relationship-building conversation on Twitter by UND Police Department (Source: Twitter.com/bestcopsaround).

29 FIGURE 20 Conversation on Twitter by UND Police Department (Source: Twitter.com/bestcopsaround). Lessons Learned: Lessons that UND would like to share with organizations implementing social media programs are as follows: • The people you serve are changing so you need to change with them; • Accept changing technology and communication styles; • Be social: interact with people to “humanize” your organization/entity; • A strong day-to-day SM presence will pay off in an emergency. VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Vancouver International Airport (YVR) served 20,315,978 passengers in 2015; second most in Canada, 28th in North Amer- ica, and 95th in the world. If it were in the United States, it would be classified as a large hub, falling between Washington Dulles International Airport and San Diego International Airport. The YVR case example models five important issues for an organization considering the development of an SMEM program: • How an airport can apply actionable information from SMEM for the full range of emergency management purposes: situational awareness, resource allocation, as one input to decision making, investigations, notifications, and warnings; • The importance of after action reviews and improvement planning; • The importance of social media delivering the same level of customer care online that a customer would get in person; • The importance of correcting misinformation immediately; and • How to match airport organization to flow pathways for actionable information. Table 6 shows the basic parameters of the SM and SMEM programs at YVR. In 2009 YVR began systematic development and use of social media. Preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics triggered a massive examination of YVR’s approach to social media and SM uses for emergency management. Additionally, in January 2009 the Vancouver area experienced a massive snowstorm that affected the airport’s operations and required a broader use of social media to manage traffic, passenger, and access information on a broader basis than the Monday–Friday, 9–5 model (see Figure 21). Shortly after that, a plane arrived at YVR in the middle of the night that was rumored to have sick people on it. The press, which does work 24/7, got hold of the story and began creating an emergency regarding a quarantined plane.

30 This was all misinformation but because YVR was not actively monitoring its SMEM system 24/7, the story intensified before the airport engaged. The airport’s senior management and communications staff had to spend the better part of the next day trying to correct misinformation and rebuild the airport’s reputation. After that incident, the 24/7 model, which blends Com- munications and Operations resources for nonstop monitoring, was put in place and it continues today. One unanticipated benefit of the increased use of social media for emergency management has been the breaking down of silos; for example, between public relations, operations, and emergency management. TABLE 6 SM AND SMEM AT VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (YVR) AND VANCOUVER AIRPORT AUTHORITY Year Social Media Presence Began: Began limited managing and monitoring social media during working hours around 2001 and became increasingly active after starting Twitter account in 2009. A number of events in 2009 caused YVR to examine its use of SM in general and SMEM in particular. Department: Marketing & Communications Interviewees: Steve Hankinson, Vice President for Operations and Maintenance; Robyn McVicker, Director, Marketing & Communications; Cal Currie, Emergency Manager Employees: One full-time Communications Specialist position dedicated 100% to social media strategy, leadership, execution, and monitoring supported by Manager, Communications and Director, Marketing & Communications Five full-time Communications Specialists and Senior Communications Specialists, all trained in social media. These positions support monitoring, uploading, and content development, and they are trained to lead in a crisis. Monitor: 24/7/365. The Communications Specialists monitor social media during normal workdays. From 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. and on weekends, a team of Operations Assistants working in the Inte- grated Operations Centre are tasked with monitoring social media and responding on Twitter in line with training and pre-formatted messaging provided by Communications. An on-call media relations team member is contacted in emergencies or with questions. Extract/analyze: Self and use software tools for support Software used for important notification or warning: Everbridge to EM partners; all social media platforms to public (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) Software used for social listening: Hootsuite (real time), Meltwater, Media Miser (monitoring and analytics), Google Analytics Uses: Marketing, Branding, Brand Protection, Reputation Monitoring and Protection, Customer Ser- vice—Complaints, Customer Service—Answering Questions, Customer Service—Wayfaring, Cus- tomer Service—Special Sales Promotions (especially on Chinese media), Situational Awareness, Resource Allocation, Decision Making, Investigations—Accidents, Liability, Safety, Investiga- tions—Loss Prevention (reactive only), Notifications, Warnings, Information Requests Metrics: Number of likes, followers, impressions, posts, tweets, retweets, benchmarking against other airports, Google Analytics, click-throughs for campaign tracking and media management Policies: No written policy Training: On the job After action review/improvement planning include SM aspects of incidents or exercises: “As a rule we do not. The after action reports or improvements include detailed information and potentially sensitive data that require specific handling. After action are context sensitive and generally detailed knowledge about airport operations and regulation are prerequisites to receiving after action reports. Therefore, social media is not used” (S. Hankinson, personal communications, Dec. 12, 2016). Source: Smith and Kenville data (2017). Note: Items in bold are association with social media for emergency management, not just social media in general. The main organizational changes that YVR has made to make social media use more effective deal with resourcing. “We have been lucky that the organization understands the impact, opportunity and threat that social media poses and provides the resources necessary to develop a system for monitoring and response—for example—operations monitors social media after hours and on weekends—taking first call/comment and escalating to the Communications on-call person as needed” (R. McVicker, interview, Aug. 18, 2016). Social media programs for all uses at YVR make up 2%–5% of the total marketing and communications budget not includ- ing labor. The social media cost has grown significantly since 2009. Part of the growth has been caused by YVR’s role as a major port of entry for international flights. Currently, YVR is served by more mainland Chinese carriers than any other North American airport. In order to have a voice in the Chinese media and deal with the challenges the time difference creates for immediate response, YVR in 2015 hired an organization to monitor social media 24/7 in China and provide the same level of response in Chinese social media in the Chinese language as YVR provides in the western media.

31 FIGURE 21 YVR SMEM tweets in aftermath of medical diversion (Source: Twitter.com/yvrairport). During normal operations, staff in YVR’s Integrated Operations Centre have the Hootsuite social listening software up monitoring all social media feeds, primarily Twitter and Facebook. When an incident is occurring and the EOC is activated, a Communications team member is stationed in the EOC. The Communications team member will have Hootsuite active on his or her mobile phone and laptop. The EOC shift supervisor can elect (and usually does) to put Hootsuite on the video board in the EOC. The Communications person will set up specific threads and searches to track the specific incident. If the incident is of a medium to major level, the Communications Operations Centre (COC) is also activated and staff are pulled in to support the response using traditional media (e.g., press releases, press conferences) and social media. In the COC a large video board shows social media live. Figure 22 illustrates outputs from the COC during an emergency. FIGURE 22 YVR customer service information tweet (Source: Twitter.com/ yvrairport). Social media inputs to the EOC—that is, SMEM—are used to varying degrees, depending on the type of use: 1. Fully used for situational awareness,

32 2. Used for resource allocation with respect to road access and traffic coordination, 3. Used as one input to decision making, 4. Used for investigations under the direction of Communications, and 5. Fully used for notifications, warnings, after action reviews and improvement planning. Communications will identify and share all direct feeds with Operations as necessary; however, Communications retains the role of responding publicly, or deciding not to respond, and determining the message. Message discipline is thereby maintained. YVR seeks to make social networking a 100% interactive process with the public. “[Social media] is only as successful as your online community is engaged. We need a two-way conversation. Typically what will happen is someone will make a comment, complaint or question on social and we will respond publicly and then direct them to a direct message approach so we can manage their question/concern personally. At first, YVR began using social media for listening, then we moved to speaking then we moved to a two-way conversation.” The bottom line for YVR for social media is, “The philosophy that drives our approach to social media is that an individual will get the same level of care online, that they would in person in the terminal. A huge task but clear requirement.” Figure 23 illustrates this level of care. FIGURE 23 Using SM as part of a comprehensive communications system (Source: Twitter. com/yvrairport). During the interview, the airport managers and research team considered why Canadian airports appear to be more advanced in use of social media in general and SMEM in particular. YVR’s managers suggested four possible reasons that this may be true: 1. Canada is a more wired nation, so citizens and customers expect airports to communicate better through all available channels. 2. Canada’s geography and population distribution encourage telecommunications innovation, dependency, and early adoption. Internet and SM are just the latest manifestations. 3. Canada’s self-funding airport system forces/encourages greater airport engagement in the community. 4. Early successes with SM have fed further use and innovation. When asked if YVR’s social media and SMEM strategy was driven by technological change or by customer service culture, the airport answered emphatically that customer service drives everything; however, customer choices in communications technology cause airport choices in communications methods including social media platforms (Figure 23). Concerning barriers encountered in using social media at the airport, YVR noted two. “The primary barrier will always be resourcing—how to effectively manage social media 24/7. Secondly, it’s about assessing and dealing with new tools. We will not join a tool and have a presence unless we can monitor and manage it at our desired 24/7 level. For the past few years, we have studied and identified which new channels to join, and have developed a solid management plan before joining and making our presence known.” YVR was unable to provide metrics purely for SMEM, but it does track metrics for its overall social media program: • Number 1 airport in Canada on Twitter

33 • Number 2 airport in North America on Twitter (behind only Los Angeles International Airport) • Number 1 in Canada and top 10 worldwide for airports on Instagram • Number 2 airport in Canada on Facebook • First North American airport on Weibo in China • In terms of impressions, one of the top brands in British Columbia • In 2015, 10.5 million impressions of YVR-produced content on Twitter. Figure 24 illustrates the reach and level of penetration of YVR’s SM programs. FIGURE 24 An airport’s SM program’s reach and penetration (Source: Twitter.com/yvrairport). Lessons Learned: The lessons that YVR would like to share with organizations implementing social media programs are as follows: • Correct misinformation immediately. • Resource (support) your desired level of involvement in social media adequately. • The 24/7 model that blends Communications and Operations resources for nonstop monitoring of social media is essen- tial. “Build community, build trust, and build credibility.” • Social media should be made as interactive as possible—build community, build trust. • Strict message discipline is essential for SM including SMEM. USING VOLUNTEERS FOR AD HOC SOCIAL LISTENING DURING EMERGENCIES In addition to the six full case examples, the research team found two examples of organizations that use trained volunteers for social listening operations that stand up only during emergencies: the American Red Cross Digital Disaster Operations Center (DigiDOC) and the state of Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) and its partner the Florida State University Virtual Operations Support Team (FSU.VOST). These two examples illustrate— 1. Standing up SM monitoring only during emergencies, 2. The role of volunteers, and 3. Pros and cons of corporate or other outside partnerships in SMEM. AMERICAN RED CROSS DIGITAL DISASTER OPERATIONS CENTER Working with Dell Corporation, the American Red Cross developed its Digital Disaster Operations Center during 2010–2012. Dell contributed the software (Radian6, now SalesForce Social Cloud), and the Red Cross established the volunteer program to stand up during a disaster. “The use of social media during disasters has grown exponentially in recent years, and this part- nership with Dell will enable us to better understand and anticipate disaster needs and help connect people with the resources they need during emergencies,” said Gail J. McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross. “Our goal is to become a social liaison for people, families and communities to support one another before, during and after disasters” (American Red Cross 2012). Specifically, the Digital Disaster Operations Center was intended to help the Red Cross— • Source additional information from affected areas during emergencies to better serve those who need help; • Spot trends and better anticipate the public’s needs; and • Connect people with the resources they need, like food, water, shelter, or even emotional support. In conjunction with the Digital Disaster Operations Center, the Red Cross also announced the creation of a Digital Volun- teer Program. Volunteers from across the country will be trained to respond online to questions from the public, distribute critical information, and provide comfort and reassurance during emergencies. The digital volunteers will play a critical role

34 in working to verify and curate an incredible volume of data during disasters, notifying Digital Disaster Operations Center staff of online trends and situational information that can inform disaster-response efforts. Equally important, they will engage with people affected by disasters, providing them with critical safety information, resources, and comforting mes- sages. Published accounts did not give any details of the nature of the training of the volunteers. There was no mention of the DigiDOC from 2012 until 2016 when RedCrossNorthTexas blogged on October 7, 2016, that it had launched its Dallas Digital Disaster Operations Center in response to Hurricane Matthew (American Red Cross North Texas Chapter 2016). The blog entry did not specify what software was used but did clearly state that trained volunteers manned the Dallas Digital Disaster Operations Center. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY VIRTUAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT TEAM The Florida Department of Emergency Management has an arrangement with the Graduate Program in Emergency Manage- ment & Homeland Security at Florida State University so that when the state EOC in Tallahassee stands up for an emergency, the Florida State University Virtual Operations Support Team will be activated if requested by FDEM (D. Merrick, personal communication, May 31, 2016; FSU 2016). In addition to course work, graduate students receive training in social listening. FSU.VOST operates in a space at FSU, not at the state EOC. However, FSU.VOST coordinates closely with the EOC and is viewed by FDEM as a success, a force multiplier, and a low-cost solution. FSU values the experience and connections that its graduate students gain. USE OF VOLUNTEERS FOR EMERGENCY DUTIES BY AIRPORTS Airports such as Reno–Tahoe International Airport, Mason City Municipal Airport, and Asheville Regional Airport depend on trained volunteers for important duties sometimes including emergency functions (IEM et al. 2014). For example, the Community Emergency Response Team at Reno–Tahoe International Airport could, with appropriate training, assist with the flood of calls, e-mails, and social media posts from all over the world (M. Scott, personal communication, Dec. 7, 2016). The two examples, especially FSU.VOST, may suggest a solution for airports, especially smaller airports. PRICES OF SOCIAL LISTENING SOFTWARE As noted in the case examples, annual subscriptions for social listening (data scraping) software can be expensive, with exam- ples of $6,000 per year at EIA and $150,000 per year at NYC OEM. However, much more economical options are emerging with much lower purchase or subscription costs. For most airports, assuming up to three users at each airport, representative current costs (December 2016) are $120–$600 per year (Zoho), $420 per year (Hootsuite), and $1,188–$2,388 per year (agora pulse). These are software subscription prices and do not include training costs or staff time to manage and use the software. However, the three sample programs all assert extreme user friendliness on their websites. What these prices mean is that social listening is financially feasible for any public use airport regardless of its type or size. IMPORTANCE OF VERIFIED ACCOUNTS AND RECOGNIZABLE LOGOS In order to reduce the chance of authorized persons misusing an airport’s social media platforms, airports need to have a veri- fied account on each platform used. Furthermore, a recognizable logo needs to be used (J. Valadez, personal communication, Dec. 7, 2016). The importance of these two safeguards cannot be overstated. During the November 1, 2013, active shooter incident at Los Angeles International Airport, the airport discovered that it had not claimed the @LAXAirport twitter handle and had to create a new account (@LAX_Official) on the fly to control the message (M. Grady 2015).