On September 16, 1999, Carol A Spencer was the mayor of Denville Township NJ when Hurricane Floyd, then Tropical Storm Floyd, slammed New Jersey. Six people died in NJ. Denville suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years. An IT professional, Spencer had put Denville on the web in 1996, but few had home computers in 1999. Sharing information with citizens and vice versa was problematic at best.
Using Facebook to communicate with her college age daughter, Spencer quickly realized the benefit of its use for government – citizen communication. As the Web Manager for Morris County NJ, developed and launched Morris County’s initial Facebook presence in August 2009. One year later, she developed and launched the Morris County Office of Emergency Management page. As Hurricane Irene bore down on central NJ in 2011, Spencer joined the Emergency Operations Center to share critical information with residents via social media. With no prior advertising, citizens found MCUrgent (Morris County Urgent). They flocked to the site to find factual information. With massive power outages, mobile became the only functional communication method for most. In just 6 days, Morris County had nearly a half-million views of online information, most of those on social media.
Realizing the lifeline provided by social media during disasters, Spencer began training municipalities on how to set up and use social media. Spencer’s background gives her a unique perspective on the issues faced by municipalities when a natural disaster or emergency strikes. She understands the needs of elected officials and understands the challenges faced by digital communicators.
She has presented to NJ municipalities, the NJ Association of Counties, the National Association of Government Web Professionals, NJ GMIS, the Government Web Professionals of NJ, PA Parks & Recreation Society, the NJ Mosquito Control Association, Northwest Ohio Public Health & NACCHO, St. Elizabeth’s Police Studies Institute. She has been a guest lecturer at Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, and County College of Morris.
To contact Carol Spencer, please email carol@stormzero.com.