Big Changes for Brands on Facebook
If you haven’t already noticed, there have been some big changes to Facebook’s design recently. Perhaps you have already upgraded your personal Facebook page to the new Timeline layout. Well now you can upgrade your Facebook brand page too. Facebook recently announced that all Pages will automatically get upgraded on to the Timeline layout on March 30, 2012.
To turn on your preview for the new Pages design, click on the green button at the top of your Page.
Mashable has a helpful guide to the top six changes to be aware of and how they will impact your brand presence on Facebook.
Your first step will be to upload a “cover photo” which will appear at the top of your brand page. Choose a unique photo (851 x 315 pixels) and change it as often as you like.
The Page itself is now separated into two main columns by a dividing line, which represents the passage of time. This format provides brands with the opportunity to outline their corporate history with milestones, such as founding date, major initiatives, public events, etc.
If you used custom tabs, those have been moved to a new location. Your tabs will now appear in rectangular panels underneath the cover photo. Only three tab panels are viewable at any given time, and you can specify which ones those are. To see more, users must expand the tab panel by clicking a drop-down box.
Unfortunately for many brands, the option to set a default landing Page is no longer available. This will dramatically change your options for customizing user impressions when they first visit your Page.
Constant monitoring will be needed to pay close attention to all the top messages in the Timeline, as they will be the first objects seen by visiting users. You have the ability to “pin” certain posts to the top of the Timeline for up to seven days. You can pin only one item at a time, and the pinned item then exists in two locations — as the top item on the Timeline itself, as well as within its chronological place.
Brands will now be able to exchange private messages with users. This can help remove clutter from the Timeline by moving your customer/follower interaction to a more private communication channel that will not be visible to all.
Read the full Mashable article here: http://mashable.com/2012/02/29/facebook-brand-timelines-changes-marketing/
Learn more about how to use the new Pages:
https://www.facebook.com/about/pages/
http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Pages_Overview.pdf
http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Pages_Product_Guide_022812.pdf
2012 Homeland Security Grants
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have released the details on the FY 2012 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP).
Grant guidance and application kits are now available for seven DHS preparedness grant programs totaling over $1.3 billion to assist states, urban areas, tribal and territorial governments, non-profit agencies, and the private sector in strengthening our nation’s ability to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies.
FY 2012 Allocations:
Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP)—provides more than $830 million for states and urban areas to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other threats.
- State Homeland Security Program (SHSP)—provides $294 million to support the implementation of state homeland security strategies to build and strengthen preparedness capabilities at all levels. The 9/11 Act requires states to dedicate 25 percent of SHSP funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention activities.
- Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI)— provides more than $490 million to enhance regional preparedness and capabilities in 31 high-threat, high-density areas. The 9/11 Act requires states to dedicate 25 percent of UASI funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention activities.
- Operation Stonegarden (OPSG)—provides more than $46 million to enhance cooperation and coordination among federal, state, territorial, tribal and local law enforcement agencies to jointly enhance security along the United States land and water borders.
Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) Program—provides more than $339 million to assist state and local governments in enhancing and sustaining all-hazards emergency management capabilities.
Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP)—provides $6 million to eligible tribal applicants to implement preparedness initiatives to help strengthen the nation against risk associated with potential terrorist attacks and other hazards.
Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)—provides $10 million to support target hardening and other physical security enhancements for nonprofit organizations determined to be at high risk of a terrorist attack and located within one of the FY 2012 UASI-eligible urban areas.
Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) Program— provides $10 million to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from terrorism and increase the resilience of the Amtrak rail system.
Port Security Grant Program (PSGP)— provides more than $97 million to help protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness and strengthen risk management capabilities in order to protect against improvised explosive devices and other non-conventional weapons.
Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP)— provides more than $87 million to owners and operators of transit systems to protect critical surface transportation and the traveling public from acts of terrorism and to increase the resilience of transit infrastructure.
It is important to note that all preparedness grant applications are due no later than May 4, 2012. All allocations must be accomplished by September 30th. Final submissions must be made through the Non-Disaster (ND) Grants system located at https://portal.fema.gov.
Further information on DHS’s preparedness grant programs is available here: http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/hsgp/
What is SMS?
Millions of people use SMS text messages on a daily basis, but what is it exactly? Short Message Service (SMS) is a method of communication that sends text messages between cell phones, or from a computer or handheld device to a cell phone. The messages are considered “short” due to the maximum size of 160 characters (letters, numbers or symbols).
SMS text messages are not only used for person-to-person communication but also organization-to-subscriber for a variety of services including marketing, promotions, emergency alerts and entertainment services. SMS is also a convenient way for deaf and hearing-impaired people to communicate.
SMS Text Messaging is currently the most widely used data application in the world with billions of users. As recently reported by CTIA – The Wireless Association, in the United States alone there are over 327 million wireless subscribers. 1.14 trillion text messages were sent in the first six months of 2011.
Recent findings from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project state that approximately 73% of adult cell phone owners use the text messaging function on their phone at least occasionally. Text messaging users send or receive more than 40 messages per day on average, and cell phone owners between the ages of 18 and 24 send an average of 109.5 messages per day.
So how does it work?
When your cell phone is turned on, even when not in use, it is constantly sending and receiving cell phone tower information via a control channel pathway. When someone sends you an SMS message, the message flows through the short message service center (SMSC), then to the tower, and the tower sends the message to your phone as a little packet of data on the control channel. In the same way, when you send a message, your phone sends it to the tower on the control channel and it goes from the tower to the SMSC and from there to its destination.
Message data includes not only the message content, but also the length of the message, a time stamp, and the destination phone number. Your cell phone does not have to be active or in range to receive a message. The message will be stored in the SMSC (for days if necessary) until you turn on your cell phone on or move into range, at which point the message is delivered. The message will remain stored on your cell phone SIM card until you delete it.
The Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) protocol is an industry protocol for sending SMS text messages between peer entities like short message service centers. It is used to allow service providers like news organizations and text marketing companies to submit messages in mass format to individuals.
An SMS gateway can allow SMS text messages to be sent and received by email via Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), from web pages or from other software applications. By attaching the appropriate wireless carrier domain name to a cell phone number, it becomes an address capable of receiving text messages.
SMS Advantages
- Allows discreet conversations.
- Does not require access to a computer.
- SMS doesn’t overload the network as much as phone calls.
- High visibility as most phones allow some sort of push notification to alert recipients of message immediately upon receipt.
SMS Disadvantages
- Cost. Some wireless plans only charge for user-originated messages, while others charge for incoming messages as well.
- No guarantee of immediate delivery, as periods of high traffic can delay messages by minutes or even hours.
- SMS does not support sending pictures, video or music files.
Are You Cool in a Crisis?
You can never truly know how you will react in a crisis situation until one actually happens. However, we can plan and train ourselves mentally and physically to anticipate the type of stressful situations we might find ourselves in.
James Grinnell, an Associate Professor of Management at Merrimack College, has written an article entitled “During the Golden Hour of Crisis Will You Be Captain Cool or Captain Coward?” He begins by comparing the actions of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger on US Airways flight 1549 with Captain Franceso Schettino aboard the Costa Concordia cruise ship. One is called a hero and the other a coward, but why such vastly different reactions in a crisis?
How we respond in a crisis can be influenced by many factors, including our personal beliefs and fears. Our bodies kick into high gear when we are in a stressful situation which can product the “fight-or-flight” response. As a result, our physical body undergoes changes including an increase in heart rate and blood pressure as adrenaline pours into the bloodstream.
Most often, people who are able to stay calm in a crisis are those who focus on what it is they need to do rather than what is happening to them. It is an outward focus that shifts attention away from the self to that of others around you.
A quick and effective response is an important aspect of crisis management. Situational awareness is an extremely important factor, and individuals who have it are more apt to respond correctly and effectively when faced with a crisis. Training can greatly increase situational awareness skills, as those who have been exposed to crisis situations are more likely to respond correctly when the real thing occurs.
Team building and good leadership skills are also extremely important. A leader should exhibit openness, honesty and a commitment to others in order to build the level of trust needed to take charge in an emergency.
Some guidelines suggested by the author to help mitigate negative crisis response:
- Establish responsibility for managing the crisis ASAP and establish a decision-making process for dealing with the crisis.
- Commit to making the response to crisis a team effort (to the extent feasible) and determine who will be involved in the crisis response team.
- Develop a communications strategy clarifying what will be communicated and to whom.
- Balance need for information with need for reassurance; don’t lie, play down the situation, or speculate.
- Gather situational intelligence and be sure to adaptively align actions with emerging situational clarity.
To read the full article, visit: http://www.pmhut.com/during-the-golden-hour-of-crisis-will-you-be-captain-cool-or-captain-coward
New Monthly Training Sessions
For customers who are interested in refreshing their skills with the Rapid Notify system, we will be hosting free online training sessions every month, beginning in March. These web-based training sessions will be an excellent way to refresh and enhance your knowledge of the Rapid Notify system. We try to accommodate different schedules and time zones by offering multiple training webinars monthly, varying from 30 to 60 minutes in length, as refresher courses for seasoned users or as comprehensive introductory sessions for new users.
Online training sessions will cover a variety of topics as determined by customer feedback and interest. Instructor-led sessions include topics such as:
- User training
- Administrator training
- Best practices
- Reporting
- Open Q&A session
Exact dates and times are still being determined. A follow up announcement will include instructions on how to register for the training date and time of your choice. If you need assistance immediately, please feel free to email our outstanding Customer Support team to schedule a training session at your convenience.
Rapid Notify 2011 – A Retrospective
On behalf of our entire team, I want to take this opportunity to wish all our valued clients a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year, and to thank you for giving our team at Rapid notify the opportunity to serve your Mass Notification needs over this past year.
2011 was an exciting year for Rapid Notify. We have implemented a number of recent system enhancements and exciting new options that you may not be aware of.
Our brand new Automated Severe Weather Warnings option delivers precision-targeted alert notifications via SMS Text and/or email just moments after being issued by the National Weather Service.
The new optional Inbound 800 Number feature provides customers a dedicated 800 number for callers to hear your latest recorded message.
SMS Text Messaging is now fully enabled for all of our Canadian customers. Contact us for current pricing.
Rapid Notify now offers you the ability to have an Alert Summary PDF and CSV file sent immediately upon completion of an alert process to the email address you specify. When setting up a New Alert, look for the field just below the Alert Description to enter an email address for delivery of the completion report.
Additional system enhancements include:
- Customizable reply-to email address for email alert responses
- Up to three phone numbers for a single contact record
- The addition of a “last modified” date to lists
- Faster alert completion process with reduced message repeating and re-tries
- The “re-send” option allows you to send the same alert or a new message to successful deliveries, failed deliveries, or both
- Create new messages and contact lists on the fly during the alert creation process
- Self-Registrants can now use the same login credentials for multiple customer self-registration lists
As an added measure of security and assurance, Rapid Notify customer service can not make changes to user roles or reset passwords without prior authorization from the Primary Point of Contact for a customer account. As a reminder, those with the user role of Customer Administrator have the ability to manage user roles and passwords from their login accounts.
Look for more exciting enhancements in the future. In the meantime, please let us know of any features or options that interest you.
Looking forward to 2012!
Steve Sipe
President, Rapid Notify, Inc.
Grand Jury Warns Against Overly Cautious Emergency Communication
There have been several recent incidents involving emergency communications that were too little too late. Illustrating this rising problem, the Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury in California recently expressed its concern regarding limitations of an automated telephone call-out system and the internal communications required prior to an emergency notification being issued.
After Santa Barbara County faced a series of devastating wildfire emergencies in the last five years, the 2010-11 Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury conducted an investigation.
According to the Grand Jury “many officials in the various emergency information organizations seemed reluctant to release information to the media and public because of ‘verifiability’ issues.” In addition, the Grand Jury expressed concern that the verification process “significantly slowed alert and follow-up information needed by the public – in some cases from 30 to 60 minutes.”
As for the potential cause of these communication problems, the Grand Jury cited “an overly cautious culture when it came to communication among emergency agencies” as well as jurisdiction issues.
Recommendations from the Grand Jury included encouraging county and city officials to require emergency agencies to pass emergency information to adjacent jurisdictions and the County Office of Emergency Services without delay and specifying that the OES should be placed in charge of emergency education development and distribution, and should receive funding for such.
Read the entire report here: http://www.sbcgj.org/2011/EmergencyAlert.pdf
