Missed out on this year’s virtual Social for Safety Conference? Let’s get you some tips in this Government Social Media Chat, “Best #S4SCON Tips for #SocialGov Handling Crisis.” Welcome, and let’s get started with a recap on Question 1! What’s your best tip on deciphering whether a pic on social media might be real or fake? Here’s some expert advice:

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You & your agency are prepared to take on any crisis, but is your social media able to handle? Get the tools to best prepare your social for any emergency with Nancy Groves, Chief of Digital Strategy at the United Nations, at the virtual Social for Safety Conference, happening Sept. 22-23.

Virtually meet Nancy during her keynote session Wednesday morning where she’ll get you the best...

You heard it right - there’s only one week left until the start of the virtual Social for Safety Conference! Come for the sessions, stay if you can for the direct connections & get the training everyone needs to handle 2020 all in two virtual days, Sept. 22-23. 

All government communicators are invited to attend; whether social media is your primary duty or you wear the hat once...

Being in-person, shaking each other’s hands and building connections is what conferences are all about, so can you even come close to replicating it online? The Social for Safety Conference has all the opportunities to make it truly feel like you’re in person, without having to leave your home or office. What does virtual S4SCON feel like? Let’s walk through your two virtual...

Hello? Is anyone there? When people aren’t listening to social messages anymore, how do you even begin breaking through? Let’s explore & get each other great advice in this week’s Government Social Media Chat, “Staying Relevant on #SocialMedia When People Have Tuned Out.”

Hello, everyone, and welcome to #GSMChat (Government Social Media Chat)! Ever feel like...

You are 100% ready to e-meet your peers at the virtual Social for Safety Conference happening in just 23 days, but there’s just one last thing you need to do: convince your higher-ups. 

It’s been a tough year both socially & financially, and many departments are facing budget cuts. One of the first things to get slashed can be training, especially for positions that might...

In a matter of months, government PIOs all over the country felt more pressure than ever after COVID-19 replaced our sense of normalcy with a constant need to be on, added stress from the financial crisis and exposed racist practices in policing and healthcare, which made national headlines and led to the start of a cultural revolution during an election year. Whew. What a time. Especially for...

Do you have comment overload? During this week’s Government Social Media Chat, we got together virtually to decompress and get some great advice on how to handle comments in, “Keeping up with the Comments! Strategy help for overworked #SocialGov.” Before we jumped in this week, we let everyone know about the Social for Safety Conference coming this September, virtually this...

Words are important. It’s not only what you say, but how you say it. You need to carefully craft your messages with meaningful, clear words with the right tone. During this week’s Government Social Media Chat, we took a look at the best tips & resources for ensuring your messages are written well in, “Find the Right Message: Tips for Words, Tone & Clarity.”

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Contributed blog post by Valerie Walston
Plain Language Editor and Trainer, Write On

If you didn’t know it before COVID-19, you know it now: people process information differently during a crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a crisis, people:

• Don’t fully hear information because we can’t juggle multiple facts;
• Can’t remember as...