The 140 Characters Conference: Small Town Social Outreach to Joplin, Missouri, and the Nation The 140 Characters Conference: Small Town Hutchinson, Kansas September 20, 2011

Kirstie Smith Communications Director Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce Kirstie has more than 18 years of experience in marketing And communications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree In Business Administration from Ottawa University with a double major in Marketing and Theatre. Her responsibilities include all marketing decisions, media and public relations, governmental affairs, webmistress duties, editing, writing and all creative design for the area’s largest chamber of commerce which serves over 1,000 business members. Originally from New Orleans and raised all over the world as an “Army Brat”, Kirstie and her husband Brady live in Joplin, Missouri with their two children. Kirstie Smith Communications Director Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce

Disaster Communications How do you communicate when a 1/3 of your community looks like this?

Joplin, Missouri - May 22, 2011 @5:41 pm The EF-5 tornado that tore a 14 mile path through Joplin and the neighboring community of Duquesne moved as slow as 10 miles per hour, creating even more extensive damage due to slow movement of the storm. Estimates put the wind speed at 300+ mph when the storm hit St. John’s Regional Medical Center. What began at 5:41 p.m. was over by 6:00 p.m. The Joplin Tornado destroyed nearly 1/3 of the city. 7,500 homes were obliterated leaving almost 18,000 homeless. Nearly 600 businesses were leveled. The tornado took from us 162 of our friends, families and coworkers. …On Sunday night we thought it was the end of the world. By Monday morning, you knew that Joplin would survive. Joplin, Missouri - May 22, 2011 @5:41 pm

Disaster Plan: That’s great in theory… 5-Star Chamber, disaster plan was a model for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Never took the book off the shelf…it was a great plan, if OUR office had been destroyed Don’t rely on what “you’ve always done” to share information with your stakeholders – be flexible First disaster communications class began at 5:41 pm on May 22nd Disaster Plan: That’s great in theory…

Social Media: The only reliable outlet Communications were down throughout the majority of the city Text messages moved better than calls. Land lines only worked intermittently We turned to the only way that we could communicate with our Members and the public Suddenly the community, the state and the entire nation were looking for answers and how to help Social Media: The only reliable outlet

Social Media: The only reliable outlet KZRG – News Talk Radio 6:45 pm Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce 6:52 pm Joplin Tornado Info 7:36 pm Joplin MO Tornado Recovery 8:01 pm City of Joplin 11:26 pm The first post made by the Chamber was hoping for safety of all. At 8:14 pm, we posted critical information that was verified. We posted into night. Monday morning we had no power and no access to our computer data. Network lines were down and remained down until Thursday! Social Media: The only reliable outlet

Email wasn’t the answer Email wasn’t the answer. But we did send out verified information on Monday morning before 10:30 a.m. to anyone who still had access to their email. I used my iPhone as a hot spot to power an internet connection for my iPad to send the email. Two others in our office used the same connection. Reaching out to the local media was not the answer either, though we tried. The media wasn’t ready to share information in the early stages. They were involved with rescue efforts. Finding people, looking for people. Facebook was the best way to share information with our Members and the public at large. We Couldn’t Access Our Data…Neither could anyone else

Look Who’s Talking! Interesting Stats April Facebook Statistics 955 “Likes” 8,824 post views 80 post feedback May Facebook Statistics 1627 “Likes” 116,170 post views 819 post feedback Thanks to COW’s (Cellular on Wheels)and local cell phone providers and repair services, Joplin stayed connected. Look Who’s Talking! Interesting Stats

Important Lessons Learned: Verify. Verify. Verify. Assign task to staff person if possible or trusted volunteer Use established page to share information Set the tone early for your communications, confirms your credibility Did I say Verify. Verify. Verify? Kirstie Smith, Communications Director Pictures and Videos: http://joplinareachamberofcommerce.shutterfly.com/pictures Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce 320 East 4th Street | Joplin, MO 64801 |417.624.4150 Joplincc.com | Facebook.com/joplinchamber | Twitter.com/joplinchamber