Duane's Dartboard

I spent the first half of November in New York City helping people affected by Superstorm Sandy. I was proud to be part of the impressive disaster public affairs team of the American Red Cross.

Since I’ve returned home, many people have asked what I actually did. They are curious about the role of public affairs and how it fit into the overall disaster relief efforts.

To answer those questions most completely, I like to talk about what our entire team did. Working together, we created a synergy greater than any of us individually.

Here is what we did, and why public affairs was an essential part of the disaster relief efforts in New York and beyond:

Role of Disaster Public Affairs

1. We shared information. We told people where Red Cross services were available and how they could receive help. We knew that some were individuals asking, “Where is the Red Cross?” so our role was to share inform and help them access our services.
2. We told stories. We were surrounded by thousands of stories illustrating how the Red Cross fed the hungry, sheltered the newly-homeless and gave hope to those in such dire circumstances. People genuinely care about other people, and the community likes to hear stories about how their friends, family and neighbors are being helping. Volunteers and donors also need to be shown how their contributions of time and money yield an impressive “return on investment.”
3. We engaged people in conversations. During disasters, people have lots of questions. They also like to share what’s going on in their neighborhoods. They feel a need to connect with relief organizations. In the field, our public affairs team members conversed with the various people we met. Also, through social media, we engaged them in conversations and talked with them one at a time, person-to-person.
4. We were the eyes and ears on the ground. Those on the operations side of the relief effort sometimes relied upon our public affairs team to relay real-time information about what was going on in the affected areas. Occasionally, as with any massive relief effort, we experienced temporary breakdowns in service, and our public affairs team would quickly relay that information to the right people so we could better respond to meet the needs of those looking to us for assistance. Read the rest of this entry »