Using Digital Volunteers

Gisli OlafssonEmergency Response Director

NetHope

Volunteers

Why use volunteers?

Innovation

Digital Volunteers

1 Trillion Hours

Digital Volunteer

@redcross pilot

The @redcross digital volunteers are on 4-hour shifts

Role: to monitor questions about resources

track trends

keep track of important search terms related to disaster

At the end of each shift, volunteers then provide valuable disaster operations reporting to improve situational awareness and best affect decision-making for American Red Cross operations and public information strategy.

@redcross pilot

Preferred Capabilities:

You have a personal Twitter account and you’re not afraid to talk with Red Cross stakeholders

You’re adept at searching on Twitter

You’re familiar with Red Cross relief efforts (or you’re willing to study CrossNet to become that way)

Duties:

Monitor Twitter for keywords like Redcross, “Red Cross”, #hurricane, #irene

At the end of each 4-hour shift you’ll provide a short summary of the trends you’re seeing in conversations.

Using your personal twitter account, you are asked to respond to any questions you feel comfortable with (the resources on CrossNet for Hurricane Irene are great for finding answers).

Mass Collaboration

“Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success”

Author Unknown

Information Management

Fostering Digital Volunteers

LOCAL OR GLOBAL?

Organizing

FacilitatedKnowledge Management

CollaborativeWorkgroups

SocialNetworks

Integrity

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is

watching.”

Jim Stovall

http://xkcd.com/386/

"It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years

ago, but will soon be out of date.”

Roger von Oech