Where am I? Is anybody out there? I have spent the last 6 days of my life on the Internet and on the phone to New Orleans, relaying information about stranded hurricane victims between Internet message boards and Coast Guard dispatchers, and while it has been an eye opening experience, I do have the following observations to make and questions to ask.
- Several days after the hurricane, I spoke ON THE PHONE with many many victims who were trapped in their houses. Yes, this means their phone lines were working! And they could call out!! Since the only number people have had drilled into their heads, 9-1-1, was constantly busy, how hard do you think it would have been to set up a phone tree system so that all outgoing calls sounded something like this:
Press ONE to let the Coast Guard know you are TRAPPED IN YOUR ATTIC.
Press TWO if you are trapped in your attack AND are out of insulin, heart medication, food, and/or water.
Press THREE to give a brief confession, and speak with a priest.
Or press FOUR to call your family in California to let them know you are trapped in your attic so they can post your name and address on an Internet message board that someone may or may not be reading in a bleak attempt to rescue you.
Have a nice day, and please do not drink that entire bottle of water Mayor Nagin threw your way during an observatory fly-by in one sitting, as you may be trapped for several more days. We care about you, New Orleans. Goodbye.”
I’m pretty sure our IT team at work could have figured out how to set this technology into motion. Instead, people like me were asking hurricane victims if they could FIND SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH, so that they could jot down a list of alternate numbers and possibly even speak to a live human being who was not sitting on a sun porch in South Carolina drinking diet Pepsi and watching TiVoed Dr. Phil episodes in the background, but may actually be like a MEDICAL WORKER, and in a position to be able to. um. you know. save their life.
- I also was able to TEXT MESSAGE some victims who were trying to be evacuated. And it struck me. I remember back in 1999 or so, when I got my first cell phone, my business partner Michael and I were chatting over coffee about how text messaging could be the next great tool in direct marketing. Think about it! You could blast a TEXT MESSAGE to every cellular customer in an entire zip code. Or better yet, you could blast a message to an entire CITY. And someday…maybe even….every cellular customer in the grand United States of America.
___________Well, let me tell you, FEMA. You guys need to get on the phone and call Michael and I up because you need some serious marketing professionals on your staff. We could have sent out the mother of all “What to do if someone e-mails you, text messages you, or calls you while TRAPPED IN THEIR ATTIC!” text messages. You know, those handy little devices aren’t just for designer ringtones anymore. They could actually be used for measures of National Security, if there were a couple of whippersnapper Internet marketing types on board at the White House. But no. Let’s just fly Airforce One overhead, and not even bother to put a giant banner behind her aft wing instructing victims trapped on their roofs of ways to better their chances of survival.
I think it’s time somebody do a little skywriting over Washington.
SURRENDER GEORGE!
- In a matter of hours after the hurricane hit, there were Katrina websites popping up all over the Internet. Message Boards for missing persons, found persons, stranded persons, stray pets, and ways for families to reunite. Forums got heated with debates over who had dropped the ball here, and who had picked it up there. Donation buttons landed on the pages of practically every blog on the web. RSS feeds were chock full of up to the minute information, and webcams were broadcasting live from inside the chaos. People went online to offer rooms in their houses to strangers. People set up web communities to take donations, and cafe press stores popped up all over the place to start selling t-shirts and coffee mugs with proceeds going to needy charities and families.
___________CNN, Nola.com, and other news websites became more like community centers than newspaper stands. And one thing was for certain. There was no delay online in people’s efforts to jump in and do what they could to stop the nightmare that was unfolding right in front of our eyes.
My mind has been bent over the past six days. I’m kind of in a stupor, because I’ve become aware that simple everyday technologies that have become as common as a q-tip or a paperclip are still being used as if they’re non-essential luxury items.
I can’t figure out if it’s a generation gap, or just a bricks and mortar mentality meltdown. But this I know for sure. We should never vote again for a president without a blog. And we should ammend the constitution to include that comments should always be opened, and that moderation should be allowed ONLY for getting rid of pesky online poker spam.