Below is the text of thie Webinar invite ...

I'm really pleased to have Patrice Cloutier, one of the most respected voices in the emergence of social media in crisis communication and emergency management, present our next PIER Strategy Forum webinar.

Webinar: "Social Convergence--How Citizen Involvement is Changing Crisis Communication and Management"
Thursday, June 30, 2011
1:00 PM EDT, Noon CDT, 10:00 AM PDT
Presenter: Patrice Cloutier, former CBC broadcaster; Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
Cost: Free

Registration Link Here (You must register to receive call-in information. Participation may be limited to facilitate discussion.)
or email: [email protected]
or phone Gerald Baron @ 360-303-9123

About Patrice Cloutier

Patrice Cloutier is currently Team Lead for strategic communications in the Communications Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. As such, he plays a key role in the planning and delivery of emergency information at the provincial level and in crisis communications planning.

 Patrice spent close to 10 years as a reporter and broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation across the country and as a freelance journalist for the BBC and Radio-Canada International.

 For the last 10 years, he's been involved in strategic communications and media relations in the Ontario Public Service and has led teams of public relations and organizational communications professionals in the private sector.

 He's an avid blogger and social media enthusiast. Patrice is a member of various groups sharing crisis communications and emergency management expertise and best practices. He's a guest instructor at the Canadian Emergency Management College and at the Ontario Provincial Police.

Patrice recently participated in the SMEM (Social media in emergency management) camp as part of the National Emergency Management Association conference in Washington, DC. He will also share some of his learnings from this gathering of experts on the issues of social media in emergency managment.

About this Webinar

Recent events in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and others have demonstrated we have entered a new era of citizen involvement in major events. In the first few hours after the Japanese earthquake a half million people signed up for Twitter accounts to get the fastest information. "Crisis mapping" is evolving as a volunteer activity conducted by people around the world to assist the victims of disasters. "Crisis commons" is an emerging volunteer community aimed at providing victim support through social media and digital technology. As an avid observer of these new developments, Patrice will provide a valuable perspective on how these are changing crisis management.

Social convergence refers to the merging of mobile devices, phones/video campers, GIS, geo-tagging, and many other technologies. Along with the technology, citizens are eager to become involved in information sharing and distribution, victim support, helping to connect families, and serving as eyes and ears for media reporters as well as emergency management. This convergence is dramatically changing how both emergency management and crisis communication is done.

Patrice will provide examples of this social convergence at work in major events of the last few months. His presentation will last approximately 30 minutes leaving ample time for questions and discussion.

About PIER Strategy Forum

PIER Strategy Forum began in 2008 as a way of bringing users of PIER System together for shared learning and to provide mutual support. It is emerging as valuable channel for leading communicators to interact and learn from each other about the pressing issues of communication strategy and technology. If you are not currently a member and would like to receive Forum invitations, please complete this request form. If you know of other communicators involved in crisis management, emergency communications or issue management, you are encouraged to let them know of the Forum and send them this link:

PIER Strategy Forum Membership Request Form