A  little over a year ago the town of Marshall, Michigan and the Kalamazoo River got a hard and fast lesson in oil spills and communication. In this blog post we’ll look at how Calgary, Alberta, Canada based Enbridge Liquids Pipeline handled the communication aspect surrounding the July 26, 2010 oil spill.

Here are a few facts about this oil spill:

• State of emergency was declared in Kalamazoo County.
• More than 800,000 gallons of oil were spilled into the Kalamazoo River.
• Largest oil spill in the history of the midwest.
• 65 kilometers of the Kalamazoo River were soaked in oil.

Before this oil spill, the Kalamazoo River was home to numerous wildlife including turtles, fish, muskrats, and Canada geese. As well this river was popular with Marshall residents as a peaceful way to get out on the water in their kayaks and boats.

Now, a little over a year later, the clean-up of the river is largely completed and residents are optimistic that the river habitat can return to its original status. What is interesting about this oil spill is how well the news surrounding it was handled. A search of the Internet shows very little negative news about Enbridge and how it handled one of the largest freshwater oil spills in American history.

This is a true testament to a strong and cohesive communication plan.

Managing Communication

With an oil spill, there really is no way for a company to hide. The mistakes and the oil are there for everyone to see and smell. In the past, companies really haven’t handled similar oil spills well - attempting to shield the media from the damaged sites and even trying to cover-up such environmental disasters.

Well, kudos to Enbridge - they did a good job of managing this oil spill. In fact so well that many of us likely didn’t realize that an oil spill of such a large magnitude had occured.

The keys to success for Enbridge in this matter were consistent communication and controlled messages. Yes, there were initial newspaper reports where citizens were quoted as stating that they really didn’t know what was going on and what would happen to the area.

But, Enbridge officials were quick to get their clean-up staff and public relations officials on site. With honest and open communication - they told the entire story about the spill and on the anniversary of the spill they were obliging to journalists interested in the clean-up progress one year later.

Consistency Prevents Panic

The lessons learned from this oil spill, which could have resulted in a  public relations disaster for Enbridge, include:

• A consistent message must be communicated on all platforms.
• You cannot hide from mistakes - particularly those which result in a disaster.
• Public perception will very much determine how your company is portrayed in the media.
• It is okay to admit your mistakes but do so only when you have a solid plan of action to present.
• Brag - yes - talk about the strides your company has made in recovering from a disaster and how you have worked with the community.

Through-out this entire one-year process, Enbridge has worked with the community of Marshall and environmental agencies to ensure that as much damage as possible was prevented. In addition, Enbridge has purchased a number of homes that were damaged as a result of the oil spill. And for those homeowners who were not happy with the Enbridge settlement, the company reacted proactively with confidentially agreements being signed upon further settlements being reached.

Enbridge is not hiding behind its mistakes and the crack in the pipeline. Rather company officials are quick to tell the media and public about the 3,200 animals that were affected and how the company managed the care of 400 turtles this past winter.

Ultimately, it is the honest approach taken by Enbridge officials that has worked to keep this story largely unreported and from causing mass panic and rumors from breaking out among Marshall citizens and others. Jason Manshum, an Enbridge official, was quoted recently as saying, “We have made a mess in this area, and for residents and businesses in this area. We have been working extremely hard over the last year to clean up.”

Communication Lessons for You

Ultimately, what can you take away from this? Remember that the keys to effective communication in the event of a disaster or threat are:

• Consistency at all times.
• Manage the message across all platforms - newspapers, television, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
• Honesty is your best policy.
• Follow-up with the media to demonstrate your progress in handling the disaster or threat.
• Work with community members and others to get involved and make sure everyone feels they can have input on how to respond to the situation.

To learn more about how vital a strong communication plan is - with respect to social media, be sure to register for the Social Media - What is Your Strategy webinar on August, 24.

A while ago, we found a post on EmergencyMgmt.com called “Emergency Notification AFTER the Emergency".   We thought it brought up an excellent point.  Most business continuity  and disaster recovery managers are focused on making sure that the  right people are alerted to the situation, whatever that may be – a fire  in building 4, a product recall, a snow storm, etc. – but post-event  information is equally important.  The people who were in building 4, or  that have been long time buyers of that product, or that are on that  flight delayed due to weather all want to know when the situation has  been remedied.

The post on emergencymgmt.com lists great channels for issuing the  post-event information – press releases, the media, the web, etc. – but  we think there’s an opportunity for it to be even more personal.  Send  the people who were affected a notification letting them know the  situation has been resolved in whatever format they want – a phone call,  an email, a text message, etc. And equally important, leave out the  people who are not affected by this situation, whether they are on  vacation, not at that location or  not in the immediate vicinity.  It’s  all about mass personalization, and with the aid of a relevance engine,  both the initial alert and the post-event notification can be  simplified.

Last week we found an article by Dawn Foster on WebWorkerDaily.com about handling information overload.   Dawn provided some great tips for managing the massive amounts of  information that each of us receives on a daily basis – she talks about  filtering and prioritizing the emails and RSS feeds you get, and  embracing skimming to get through the information faster.  All sound  advice.

This article really struck a chord with us here at xMatters. There is  an insane amount of information coming at each of us at any given  moment and we think that how the information is handled is all about the  individual.  The individual is the one that should define what matters  to them – what topics they’re interested in, what areas of the business  they work in and for, etc.  They should also define how they want to be  interacted with – do they want emails, phone calls, text messages,  etc.?

Information should only be delivered to them when a match occurs – a  piece of information or an event that is relevant to their subscriptions  – that’s when they’ll get the email, the phone call, the text message;  whatever it is they want in whatever format they want.  Information  should never be sent to someone who doesn’t want it, or shouldn’t get  it, and it should always be sent in the format they want to receive it.

We also think that part of the problem with information overload is  that almost all of the information that people receive doesn’t provide  them with a way to act.  The information that is sent to individuals  should provide that ability – whether that be accessing a system,  purchasing a product, or approving a business process or event – the  possibilities are endless.  It’s time to stop sending static information  and ensure that the information being sent out gives people options to  move forward.

Our mantra is “what matters to you now?”  We understand that what  matters to you today at 3pm is different from what’s going to matter to  you on Saturday at 9am.  That’s why we created the The specified blog post was not found. – so you can take a look at what matters to the rest of the world at  any given moment and see how it compares to what matters to you.  But  more importantly, that’s why we changed the name of the company and why we’ve spent so much time and effort getting the “what matters to you now?” message out there.  Foster’s article definitely stirred up some food for thought.

Last week, xMatters CEO, Troy McAlpin, was in London talking to the  British press about our change.  He kept a log of the conversations he  had and the questions he was getting:

May 31.  What’s involved in change?  A lot.  Day one  as xMatters, changing from AlarmPoint, required our entire team to work  together to make the transition.  Lots of work but everyone willingly  jumped in, assisted, and even seemed to enjoy it.  The best reason I can  assume is because this change is a good one.  We’ve seized the  opportunity to change the name of our company to better reflect what we  do and what’s important to us.  xMatters is a reflection of our belief  that by helping our clients focus on the needs of their customers, our  clients will succeed. What matters to their customers is the hard part.   Knowing what people want, when they want it and providing it to them so  they can act and be more capable than before is difficult.  But it’s  what we do well.  We know that by adding our relevance engines to any  product or service, our clients can connect with their customers when it  matters.  It’s a pretty exciting time.

June 1.  On a plane to London.  We chose London to  kick off the press tour for xMatters for several reasons.  One, we have  over 150 clients in England.  Two, several of those clients are pushing  the boundaries for their use of relevance engines.  What’s a relevance  engine?  Ah, good question.  In my words, it’s a technical capability  that allows people to receive what matters so they can do what matters,  when it matters to them. And when it doesn’t matter to them, they aren’t  bothered.  For companies who embrace this brave new world it means  processes are more efficient, internal operations more effective and for  those that care about customers, your customers will receive what they  want, when they want it so they can do something.  They will appreciate  your service and they will buy more from you.  It’s a cool concept.

June 2.  Ah my first day on the ground in sunny  London.  And it is sunnier than San Francisco.  I picked the right spot.  Fresh off the plane on Wednesday morning and our calls start.   The  questions range from inquisitive to skeptical.  Why is this different  than mass notification?  Who uses it and why?  Is this marketing or is  there really something there?  All very good questions. Mass  notification is just what it says.  Everyone is treated the same,  everyone is aware but no one knows what to do.  Call it mass panic,  everyone is just worried.  Mass personalization is what results from the  use of a relevance engine.  It treats each person individually  considering their position, role, location, language, requests,  interests, skills, and whatever else makes sense and provides each  person with individualized information.  To immediately collaborate with  others or access more information or systems from their smart phones so  they can act.  It’s a breakthrough.  It’s different and it will change  the way we live, work and play.

June 3.  More good interviews with great  publications here in the UK.   More questions around relevance engines.   Are they like search engines?  Yes and no I say.  A search engine is  there for you to find information when it matters to you.  A relevance  engine finds you, with information, when it matters so you can do what  matters to you.   So it’s just alerting?  Of course not, just alerting  is the problem not the solution.  What about the British government?  Could they benefit?  Of course.  Relevance engines are proven efficiency  tools.  The UK government needs to reduce it’s IT spend by over 6  billion pounds.  Relevance engines can be added to just about any  existing system to make that system more effective, without replacing.    The savings can be used to deal with new projects or help with the  deficit.  So many places where it can help retain services by helping  people be more capable and less frustrated.  Good weather holds out.  No  ash clouds.  Funny, if all the travel companies used relevance engines  millions may have been saved.  Imagine if.

June 4.   Friday has arrived.  Great interviews  today - thoughtful questions.  I’m starting to see the wheels turning.   Can this automate product recalls?  Yes.  Can it inform citizens of  safety issues?  Yes.  Can it help IT service be more efficient.  Yes.   The fun is just starting.  The reality is relevance engines help because  we are mobile, we want access to information now, and we expect to be  able to get it.  One of our clients chatted to the press today about how  a relevance engine is helping them communicate with their customers and  the result is that customers are happier.  That is great news.  I love  that. What matters to me now? Family and getting home to them.

June 6.  Well on day 6 I’m the victim of mass  notification.  As I arrived in New York from London I had a voice mail.   “Hello this is XYZ Airline, your flight is cancelled, thank you.”   Seriously, is that of any help?  I have a daughter’s birthday I’m  rushing home to and all I know is, “my flight is cancelled and thank  you.”  Mass personalization would have given me my alternatives and an  option to bridge to an agent to book. Instead I had to wait 90 minutes  in line.   Today I’m a customer of an airline, and I’m not looking to  continue flying an airline that doesn’t want to connect with me.  The  good news of course, what matters is a six-year olds birthday and I’ll  find a way home.