Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with Ike Pigott, who is the communications director for the American Red Cross’s Southeast region. He also is a blogger at Occam's RazR.
Under Ike's direction, the Red Cross is starting to use blog engines to communicate critical information to the media and the general public in the midst of a disaster situation. And the volunteers don't have to be in the field to participate.
Shel Holtz also interviewed Ike a few days ago, so if the 3 minute video isn't enough for you, you can listen to Shel's 24-minute, in-depth conversation with Ike about how the Red Cross is embracing social media as a tool during disasters.
If you are interested in being a volunteer, leave a comment here, or e-mail me at kamichat [at] yahoo.com and I will get you in touch with Ike. [Disclosure: I have been a Red Cross Public Affairs volunteer since 2001]. You can also see a sample disaster page about the 2007 Tornadoes in Georgia. The portal page, where you can check for new pages and general information is on the Red Cross Online Disaster Portal Page.
tags: Ike+Pigott, Red+Cross, Blogging, Volunteer, Kami+Huyse, PR, Public+Affairs, Public+Relations, San+Antonio
