The Power of the Tweet
Why do we believe this stuff anyway?
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In Alexandre Dumas' classic novel of revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist, Edmond Dantes, bribes a semaphore operator on the border between Spain and France to send a single false message. That single message severely but temporarily disrupts the French bond market. This largely destroys the fortune of one of the Count's enemies, leaving him vulnerable to further manipulation.
Since the publication of The Count of Monte Cristo in 1844, we've come a long way in secure communications technology. There is absolutely no way our markets could be manipulated by such a single point of failure. Or is there? Technology may have changed since Dumas wrote his novel almost 170 years ago but human nature remains the same.
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If you are having trouble viewing my featured article, try clicking on the link at the top of the page. You can always find my articles in the white paper section of my blog site, Canton on Emergency Management.
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Australian Metro PSA
 | | Dumb Ways To Die |
Who says public service announcements have to be boring? I'm not sure how effective it is; the message is buried deep in the video. But I guarantee you'll have the tune stuck in your head for the rest of the day!
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Newsletter Archive
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Greetings!
Welcome to the April issue of Emergency Management Solutions. One of the aspects of the tragedy in Boston was how poorly information was provided by the media. Rumor and guesses drawn from social media were presented as fact in a race to scoop each other. The result was a further reduction in the media's reputation. But why were they so quick to believe? I offer some possible reasons in this month's whitepaper. Remember that in addition to this monthly newsletter, you can also follow my personal blog Canton on Emergency Management or my new blog in Emergency Management Magazine Managing Crisis. |
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Regards,
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Professional Development By now you've probably heard the news about FEMA's decision to cancel this year's Higher Education Symposium. The Symposium is a little-known but important conference that has been taking place at the Emergency Management Institute since 1994. It's goal is to bring together educators, researchers, and practitioners to discuss curricula for college courses for emergency management. Participants share ideas and best practices and identify research gaps. FEMA, citing reduced budgets due to sequestration, has canceled the conference and will substitute three online discussions. They must be hurting for cash - participants pay their own travel and expenses and volunteers support the small Higher Education staff in running the conference. As I have said on many occasions, the emergency manager of the future must be educated and not just trained. The Higher Education Symposium is vital in developing the future leaders of our profession. Please read my blog post on this issue and that by my colleague, Valerie Lucus-McEwen. If you feel as we do, please send an email to the Superintendent of EMI and share your opinion. |
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Are you afraid of change? Many people believe that change is a bad thing, that it is disruptive. But we only progress through change and ultimately we are the some total of the experiences brought about by change, both the good and the bad.
What people are really afraid of is uncertainty. We don't know if change will be good or bad and so we hesitate to make changes.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately because a year ago a friend made the decision to move to a new city. She had no idea what to expect but she knew she wasn't happy with where she was. That move took considerable courage but the reward was substantial. The new location allowed her to shed a lot of the financial and work-related worries she was experiencing which in turn allowed her to focus on her health and work. She's on the verge of launching a new business and is completing her dissertation for a PhD in psychology.
All this was possible because my friend embraced the need for change and had enough faith in herself to see it through.
There are no guarantees that change will be for the better but without taking a chance we remain stuck in place and can't progress. Get out there and shake things up!
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From the Bookshelf
Against Security: How we go wrong at airports, subways, and other sites of ambiguous danger
Harvey Molotch
This is one of those books that I can't make up my mind about. I found much to criticize in Molotch's book. On the other hand, I agreed with much of what he has to say about how we let our own bureaucracies and rules get in the way of true security. Of particular interest was the way in which low-level employees actually work outside the system to do the right thing.
Molotch starts by using our anxiety over public restrooms to make his points about how irrational fears make us create security that actually increases risk. He then looks at the New York subway system and aviation security checkpoints to expand on his premise. Later chapters talk about recovery from 9/11 and Katrina.
One major weakness is Molotch's recommendations in each chapter. Unfortunately, they struck me as naive and very general. Still, I think there's good information in this book, particularly references to other research. Not one I'd add to my collection but worth checking out.
Looking for more books? Check out
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Looking for a Speaker?
Need a speaker for your next conference? I offer keynotes, seminars and workshops. You can find more details on my website or on my SpeakerMatch page.
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