Notes from 53rd International STC Conference
Las Vegas, Nevada, May 7-10, 2006

Closing Address: Just a Drop in the Bucket: Technical Communication, Hurricane Katrina, and You

Anita Salem

The presenter is an independent contractor and president of SalemSystems, Inc. As a volunteer for the Red Cross, she went to the Houston astrodome a week after Hurricane Katrina forced thousands of evacuees to seek shelter there. In a situation where entropy and exhaustion overwhelmed volunteers' efforts to establish order, Anita discovered that her skills in information design and usability were a rare and valuable resource for those attempting to help people in need. At the closing session, Anita shared her insights about the value of technical communicators' work and, via an interactive exchange, encouraged attendees to find ways to use the unique skillset of the profession to improve many kinds of user communities.

Session Description: The presenter explained how the basic procedures and skills of technical communication were extremely effective in helping the Red Cross assist victims in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

• Technical communicators have far more power, ability to have impact, than we might imagine.
• Anita worked at a refugee center in Houston (the Astrodome) which experienced an influx of 25,000 people in one day.
• When she was assigned to the coordinator's desk, responsible for matching Red Cross volunteers with various areas of expertise with hurricane victims with differing needs, she created a simple form to govern her role.
• Lesson 1: We are needed.
• Tasks are at the core of what we do. The simple form tracked tasks and tied them to goals (matching volunteers to client needs).
• The form also defined and governed a process (sequencing, structuring).
• Ripple effects of the form:
   
• Personal: helped her organize and remember
• Interpersonal: facilitated handoffs at shift change
• Organizational: matched volunteers to client needs (vetting)
• Humanitarian: empowered Red Cross workers to be more effective in providing relief to the hurricane victims
• Lesson 2: Design intentionally. Small things can have a big impact.
• Public affairs aspects of the situation in the Astrodome:
   
• Internal communication to a city of 25,000
• Media visits
• Anita moved to information sheets: a needs-based document (as opposed to an alphanumerical list of relief agencies)
• She then extracted the items into a pocket guide index, alphabetized by need
   
• The task: organize information
• The goal: help Red Cross volunteers match specialized needs to relief agencies
• Process: efficiency
• She then switched to Excel spreadsheet (a rough tool, but it added sortability, ability to extract reports, etc.)
• Next, she used simple manila folders to control the business process: new requests, requests to be validated, validated requests to be assigned, requests in process, results. The "embedded help" consisted of simple 1-2-3 instructions on the cover of each folder governing the steps that had to occur during that stage of the process.
• Next, she developed a simple process flow chart depicting the entire sequence of events governed by the folders and facilitated by the pocket guide index.
• How technical communication made a difference: Red Cross established an Operations Information Division as a direct result of what happened at the Astrodome!
• As the effectiveness of the basic process became evident, Anita experienced huge "scope creep." To make sure the limited resources were properly applied, she went by one basic purpose: "Provide information for the Red Cross staff to provide efficient response to clients." Anything that did not serve that purpose had to wait.
• Model for assessing the impact of a technical communication process upon a client community.
   
1. What task is accomplished?
2. What goal is met?
3. How does it operate as a process?
4. What personal effect occurs?
5. What interpersonal effect is there?
6. How is the organization changed?
7. How is humanity served?
• Examples from the audience (applying the model)
   
• Training state food stamp agencies to design more efficient forms at a usability level appropriate for the audience.
• Providing a radio/wi-fi device linking hospital nurses to support services via a centralized data processing capability
• Welcoming new members to the AccessAbility SIG rapidly after they are identified, providing online resources, learning their areas of interest and expertise, pairing them with like-minded SIG-mates, and encouraging them to become active participants in the SIG's mission of universal accessibility.
• Offering a basic geophysics model for locating minerals in the earth (e.g., oil) that did not require arcane, highly sophisticated computer protocols that only a few Ph.D.'s could understand.
• Lesson 3: Remember how cool we are – our skills ARE needed!