Posts tagged change
OEM Fails to Deliver leaves lives in peril
Jul 11th
Offices of Emergency Management , OEM, are set up nationwide as part of American sheriffs departments. They are supposed to co ordinate efforts in disasters such as the recent forest fires here in Colorado. But often times they are the last to know. During the
Boulder Office of Emergency Management in action, but what action?Four Mile fire here in Boulder in 2010 they were essentially clueless as to what was going on in the field. Their media relations was terrible or non existent and their ability to deliver information about the fire did not exist. Information had to be gathered the old fashioned way, sneaking up onto fire lines, phone calls to fire, and sheriff, scanner traffic.
In 2012 during the near disastrous Flagstaff Fire the information from Boulder OEM was better, but still late and it was never distributed. There was no flow to media and the public. OEM did not send out media releases during this life threatening crisis. So for media organizations who depend of media releases sent to their news email, there were none. Why not? OEM decided that they would send tweets to twitter to alert media of new information. The problem with that is that a tweet is not a news release and only 20% of the population including media check twitter. OEM demanded that everyone go to their site instead of having a simple feed to everyone elses email for media updates. The move proved to be incredibly thoughtless and narrow minded. In an attempt to become “new media” Boulder OEM killed it’s ability to get out information.
They then insisted that they were the only ones with correct information thereby putting censorship on all fire information. Being that OEM is usually the last to know and the last to tell you, they are useless is a raging inferno like the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. Only the Fire Department and Sheriffs department officers on the ground can help. For news media it means getting in there to get the story or listening to Emergency scanners.
Boulder OEM tells me that they no longer send out press releases nor do you have the ability for media to sign up to get updates. So they are essentially useless. OEM should have a feed to media. It is a common practice. The city of Boulder and Boulder County made huge mistakes with the Flagstaff Fire by not sending out media releases neither. They make an even bigger mistake by not having an email feed. On top of that their media relations designate KIm Kobel didn’t return phone calls during critical times. An email feed is dead easy to install and can be done on any website. The fact that they didn’t and won’t do it is pure negligence. No one from the city, county or OEM media relations staff would return our phone calls regarding this story. Tells you something right there.
from a city where nanny knows best
Jann Scott
Boulder Colorado
Jann writes to Jane Brautigam Boulder City manager
Dec 20th
First let me say, I think you have been doing an excellent job as city manager. This coming from someone who has been critical of most city officials over the years. In part it is my job. Also, though I have never met you, you have given me nor anyone concerned with free press a reason to complain. It is a far sight from your predecessors. I think you have resolved the public access TV issue remarkably well. Though we don’t have free public access TV anymore , we do have educational access TV and it fills the void for all citizens interested. Having BVSD run it is a good move, because they don’t cause problems.
I also think the city and police have interacted well with the occupy Boulder movement. Tonight they are camped on the front lawn of the municipal building. That’s very nice. They are our children. And they are doing what we did’; protest the injustices of powerful corporations who don’t pay taxes and big banks who attempt to enslave us all. So they need protesting.
Personally, I would have suggested that the kids protested the homes of Boulder bankers who swindle people, rather than the city manager who is trying to keep the lid on all of it.
In any event I support occupys political tactics. I think when a group who are trying to fight for freedom and against greed or intolerance, run into road blocks, they will change the rules in public policy. I certainly did. They people who stood up to the city over lack of free speech concerning public access TV, took radical steps to be heard. I did from 2005 to 2007. The city council and the city manger were under daily attacks by video, blogs and speech at council. Did it solve anything ? It showed without resolution they would remain under siege.
Much holds true with occupy Boulder. Until the banks and corporations are held accountable by the city, occupy is not going away. That is the issue. Not the protesters. They are Boulders children carrying on.
Jann Scott
from Boulder Colorado
Global Business Networking: Accessing High Tech Talent Jann Scott’Journal
Nov 12th
The conference I attend was on immigration. (Boulder Chamber event, Global Business Networking: Accessing High Tech Talent Live at 5:30 tonight, Nov 10, 2011) Specifically why the American government make it is so hard to hire foreign engineers for technology firms. The USA has a shortage of high quality engineers. Tech firms have to look elsewhere to find them but the government won’t allow American companies to hire foreign engineers. Some Boulder companies survival depend upon it. Some have gone broke.
In a nutshell when you have a highly competent foreign engineer working for a tech firm, you can build a division around him and thereby hire a whole slew of less competent American engineers to do the production. So it is a job creator. The problem is that the Bush administration screwed us and congress is too stupid to figure out that we have fallen behind.. They think every immigrant wanting to work here is either a Saudi terrorist or an unskilled illiterate.
To make matters worse we’ll give out education visas like candy but once we graduate a Korean engineer, we won’t let him back in the country to work for us, so he goes to China and works for them helping to build their economy. How dumb is that?
Anyway we televised this conference and you will be able to see it on my 22BOOM Show next week. If you want to see a crappy video stream version of it you can see that on Justin TV Boulder Channel One .
Now, I like going to business events but the business community is divided here in Boulder. The Boulder Chamber is big and old school. But they are very inviting and open too. They will let any community member play. They are the most equal community oriented business group. Downtown Boulder is more selective, elitist and discriminating. They hurt themselves and local business’s continually….. I have beaten them up pretty hard here too for it. They whole Boulder Start Up community headed by Start-Up Boulder and their ilk is by far the most elitist, censoring, divisive, discriminating business group in Boulder. Of course they don’t think so. Most of them are 21 to 32 and they think they invented business and everyone else is stupid.
“This is both a problem and part of Boulders nature” a Chamber Economic Vitality staffer told me. “It is also what makes Boulder a successful business community”. Maybe so, but I hate snot nosed elitist kid know it alls and they make terrible employees.
I did have fun at this event though. It had a mix of old farts ( my people and young punks..them)
Jared Polis was there to speak about how stupid the American congress is. Jason Mendelson was there to help Jared uphold the the “super rich” end. Actually I dunno how much money he has. It’s millions and millions. Jared of course is a billionaire.
I put the tap on them both to help me sell channel One Networks to Google or Face book. A 30 second pitch was too long. I needed a ten second one for Jared. He was like, What can I do? I dunno anybody.” Mendelson was a little more targeted… “Why should I”? he asked. Good Question. Because Jason, C1N is designed to have ad, print, TV offices in every city and is self sustaining. It is a multi billion dollar company and you can make millions right now off of it. It works.
But they ran away from me. I’ll keep you posted on my pitches. But this is the year.. actually 2012 is the year we have large capitalization and plan to plan to open a 2500 person facility in Boulder.