Canadian Red Cross goes social for Social Media Week #smwtoredcross

The Canadian Red Cross social media team is one of many emergency management teams using social media to help respond to disasters. In 2012, our own survey about the use of social media in disasters showed us that the majority of Canadians expect emergency responders to monitor social media and expect timely information online in times of an emergency.

During the recent flooding in Alberta, digital volunteers with the Canadian Red Cross helped respond to social media mentions and provide situational awareness to aid the disaster response team provide relief by reviewing almost 50,000 posts that mentioned affected areas. Social media was also used to support fundraising; links shared on social media helped raise an additional $150,000 in donations. During its digital disaster response, the Red Cross was also able to share up to date information, manage reputational threats, offer help to the general public, respond to questions, and engage with online communities.

While disaster response volunteers were busy on the ground in Alberta, digital volunteers took to Twitter to help out.

Using the Alberta floods as a case study, the Canadian Red Cross will be hosting a panel during Social Media Week in Toronto this week to discuss how social media is being used in crisis communications and disaster response. Join Canadian Red Cross' Social Media Manager Karen Snider and Patrice Cloutier, a leader in social media for emergency management who leads CanVOST, a volunteer group that can be deployed to help emergency responders in social media during times of disaster, to learn about how to use social media effectively during emergencies and how to build capacity to prepare for the influx of attention on social media that occurs in times of emergency.

Event info:

11am - 12pm

Windsor Arms Hotel

Toronto

Visit socialmediaweek.org to register for the event or to watch a livestream as it happens. 

You can also follow #smwtoredcross on Twitter to follow and participate in the online conversation.