NB: This is a guest article by Stuart Lodge, director at RoundTheWorldFlights.
In the last few years we've had tsunamis, Sars, earthquakes, floods, terrorism, country-wide strife, strikes and, of course, Eyjafjallajoekull, which created a worldwide ash cloud panic.
The world seems to be getting smaller and more dangerous every day, and moreover these so-called "travel shocks" seem to be amplified by a relentless 24 hour news cycle that seems to demand bad news as it's raison d'être.
To deal with these ever increasing incidents we have travel alerts from state or foreign affairs departments of most of the major countries with numbers of outbound travellers. However these systems of alerts have not changed a huge amount over the years.
Which is why the Know Before You Go event at the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London this week threw up an interesting question from it's new director.
How could the FCO improve their message through technology and social media?
Well, I've had a think and here are my suggestions (plus a very rough cost estimate for Her Majesty's Treasury, or any government agency)
More local tweeting
Local is good. People trust local. Timely information from consular or embassy staff, a lot of whom already have access to specially modified FCO Blackberrys, seems to me to make sense. Maybe a quick training session would be needed on proper use, but a better strategy is probably just to say the following:
- Never tweet something you wouldn't be happy for a parent to read
- Remember that every tweet is like a postcard - everyone can read it
Total cost:
- Slight modification of existing Blackberries.
Better collation of listsOrganise trusted tweeters into lists - this way people can follow one public list. It would certainly have helped in Japan and Thailand earlier this year.
Maybe collate and update on a national, regional or city basis; Might also be worth adding honorary councils, prominent expats, NGOs, local journalists or local friends of the government agency. But keep it open and transparent.
The cynic in me sees this as a bit of carrot for local folk. Like a double helping of Ferrero Rocher at the ambassador's Christmas cocktail party.
Total cost for the Treasury:
More Facebook groupsIn the words of That Petrol Emotion, you've got to "Agitate, Educate and Organise". Might seem odd to quote a band with distinct Irish Republican sympathies at the FCO this week, but the message is right.
Every consulate and embassy should have a Facebook page. The smarter abassadors and staff will use it as a focal point and hub of the local community, but they can also be "liked" by travellers passing through.
In fact the "likes" give a useful metric as to its popularity. Certainly a lot cheaper than the FCO's latest initiative with the controversial Vodafone mobile phone company.
Total cost for the Treasury:
More live bloggingInserting a live blog into an embassy's page need not cost a fortune. In fact there are plenty of plugins such as CoverItLive that are free (with ads).
The other option is for the the FCO to have one on its homepage. Thus avoiding any nasty blocking or downtime that may occur in emergencies and in certain zones of conflict or strife. Or if Mr Putin wakes up one morning with a sudden mistrust of the internet (perish the thought).
Total cost for the Treasury:
- Zero (or get advertisers to pay - choose some good ones though. Avoid Big Oil)
More video bloggingMost travellers don't want to see a video of William Hague being interviewed after a particularly full and frank luncheon in downtown Kiev.
However a video of how to get to our local consulate from the nearest metro is useful. Or video tips from local staff on ten things to enjoy in-country that are just great. Flip video cameras are under £100 each. Or send in pro teams once a year. Video is good...
Total cost for the Treasury:
- £100 per camera (more if you do it right)
A star system - with email alerts/tweets when they changeAt the moment the system used to advise travellers is a blunt weapon. Go, don't go or go under advisement. I realise that this weapon is very much used as a political tool. But surely a more subtle, effective and pro-active system is a star system.
Perhaps where 0 = Stockholm and 10 = Timbuktu.
Think about the effect of ratcheting up the numbers. There could be tweets when the stars change plus auto email alerts (a system you have at the moment). I could imagine that a change in a country's status might make front page news locally. You could call this the Lodge Scale™. After me.
Total cost for the Treasury:
More complex information - with email alerts/tweets when risks changeMost travellers are not stupid. Give them detailed and intelligent advice and they will listen. However I would like more constructive and practical advice. In other words:
- Don't Tweet in certain countries
- Don't use Facebook in certain countries
- Travel in pairs in certain countries
- Don't take photos at certain times
I would also like a clearer indication of the the risks if this advice is not followed. As a footnote I also think it's terribly important to put the same amount of effort into ALL SOCIAL MEDIA when a situation, like a natural disaster, has passed.
Total cost for the Treasury:
- Two extra writers on the government site
In a way, local social media from the FCO, could be a perfect example of soft power, if used correctly. But it requires trusting in individuals. I do wonder if ministers or those in charge have the wherewithall to take a risk and trust the people.
To me it's a bit of a no-brainer. Over to you Mr or Mrs Government.
NB: This is a guest article by Stuart Lodge, director at RoundTheWorldFlights.
NB2:Image via Shutterstock.