There are plenty of special events that occur every day, resulting in the need for specialized notifications for populations engaging in those events. Think of sporting venues, concerts, public activities in parks, etc. While we routinely include security and sometimes add meteorologists to the planning, how frequently are alerts and warnings part of this effort? And how often are alert and warning experts included in the process? These are the folks who know how to design messages, the channels that should be utilized, and can work with the rest of the planning team to identify how to reach the most vulnerable in a timely and actionable manner.
In this example, we find a reason that scholars who study alerts and warnings and write about the Warning Response Model recommend to 1) use all 360-characters in a message and 2) don't use acronyms.
This message is missing a lot of information. Who is it from? Where is this hazard occurring? Who is it for? What is ligng?
Looking at the metadata for this message on pbs.warn, we find that it was issued specifically to notify the riders of RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) about potential threats in the evening ahead of them. But the message wasn't so helpful in its original state. We also suspect that message writers chose to leave out important information in order to fit it into a 90-character WEA (both 360 and 90 character messages were the same).
We also know that 95% of phones are now capable of receiving 360-character messages and it's time for alerting authorities to direct their attention to writing for that message length. So, that's what we've done in this revised message.
Special events don't require special alerts, but they do take planning. Being aware of the additional people traveling or congregating in an area, the time during which the events will occur, and the potential threats that could affect their gathering are the top concerns. Beyond that, we can employ the evidence-based guidance that has been gathered over the past 50 years.
We have a lot of work to do... let's get to it.
For more recommended contents, be sure to download The Warning Lexicon - it's free and offers step-by-step instructions on how to write a better warning message.
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