Adapting to now: Managing government communications in times of crisis

Morgan Zerr

Principal Business Value Analyst at Hootsuite

Details

18 June 2020 - 16:00 UTC

Amid the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have scrambled to respond. The initial shock of a pandemic led to reactive emergency communications, which led to a steep increase in the use of social media as communities look for information and support.

Today, we are facing multiple layers of uncertainty. From anti-racist protest movements to the economic downturn, communities are asking to be heard, to be served, and to be helped. Every day presents new changes and challenges on how to respond.

In this webinar, our panelists with work experience from the City of Boston, the NYPD, the US Department of the Interior, and the White House will open a discussion on what doing the right thing on social media looks like. Together, we will explore the role of listening vs. acting, and will identify how to remain flexible in order to adapt to now.

The critical role of social media as a listening tool
Frequent conversations governments are having with their constituents
How social media can help government agencies be more responsive

Industries:

Government

Morgan Zerr
Principal Business Value Analyst at Hootsuite
Morgan consults with Hootsuite’s most strategic customers to align social media to their business success. She works through their unique social marketing challenges, and provides strategy and technology recommendations to help them reach their objectives.
Follow Morgan in LinkedIn
morganzerr
Nick Sinai
Senior Advisor at Insight Partners, Adjunct Faculty at Harvard Kennedy School, and former U.S. Deputy CTO
Nick is a Senior Advisor at Insight Partners, a leading venture capital firm investing in software companies. Nick is currently a board member at BrightBytes, a SF-based data analytics company serving K-12 schools. As Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Nick teaches “Technology and Innovation in Government” at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to Insight and Harvard, as U.S. Deputy CTO in the White House, Nick led President Obama’s Open Data Initiatives to harness the power of data to fuel innovation and economic growth, and helped start and run the Presidential Innovation Fellows program.
nicksinai
Yael Bar-Tur
Former Director of Social Media for the New York City Police Department (NYPD)
Yael served until recently as the Director of Social Media for the New York City Police Department (NYPD), where she created the digital strategy and oversaw the Department's social media outreach and decentralized communications.
Born and raised in Israel, Yael served in the Israeli Army as a foreign press liaison, and holds a Master's Degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she wrote her thesis on police use of social media.
She lives in NYC and has been granted a lifetime approval to pet all police K9s.
yaelbt
Jeanette Falvey
Chief Digital Officer, City of Boston
Prior to joining the City, Jeanethe worked in public engagement for the U.S. EPA. and led the Digital Team at the National Geographic Society. As Boston’s CDO she leads an incredibly talented team in multimedia production, engagement strategy, and product development. A believer that a small group of dedicated people can indeed change the world—she’s always looking to grow that momentum through new partnerships with passionate humans.
In the in between, she can be found with animals (any), exploring outside, or scuba diving.
Danielle Brigida
Deputy Director of Digital Strategy, Department of the Interior
Danielle works to support the important mission of Interior and its bureaus through strategic communications, technology, and industry best practices. She loves connecting people to wildlife and public lands. As an early adopter of social media with creative, engaging campaigns, Danielle has been interviewed about her social media experience by USA Today, The New York Times, Fast Company, Washington Post, and Mashable.