How To Utilize Strategic Campaigns To Educate, Inspire And Engage Your Employees So They Are Prepared To Respond To A Disaster – SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (SFPUC)

With over 2,000 employees spread across California at various offices, strategic internal communication is vital to maintain operations and respond to disasters. In early 2013, SFPUC Communications launched an employee emergency response campaigned called You are the Vital Link. Working closely with the Emergency Planning & Security Division, the campaign educated and inspired employees to embrace resiliency and utilize tools to ‘prepare, respond and recover’ using various disaster related scenarios.

In August 2013, the Rim Fire, California’s third largest fire on record, burned into the SFPUC’s watershed, hydroelectric power systems and threatened the water supply of 2.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area. An immediate, coordinated response by SFPUC employees and local, state and federal response agencies ensured delivery of high quality water to the Bay Area and kept the public aware and engaged during the disaster.

The session will provide you with first-hand experience during a disaster and how you too can create awareness and engagement with your community, including how to:

• Creative internal communication tools that educate and challenge your employees to prepare for a disaster
• Develop a well-branded internal campaign
• Utilize Sharepoint, social media and other innovative tools to educate employees before, during and after a disaster
• Measure employee engagement and participation
• Use social media and video to educate and calm the public during the fire

Suzanne Gautier, Manager, Communications and Public Outreach, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (SFPUC)
Alison Kastama, Manager, Communications Manager, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (SFPUC)
Amy Sinclair, Public Relations Office, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (SFPUC)