Kudos to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
They not only listen to the blogosphere and engage when appropriate, their PR team blogs too. Consider this story.
A blogger who goes by the name of SteveAudio posted a fairly politically charged rant about his dissatisfaction with the LAFD’s slow response when his house was ablaze. Putting the politics aside, it certainly would have been easy for the LAFD to lay low. However, instead the Public Service Officer/LAFD spokesperson chose to respond with this comment.
“Steve:
Please accept our apologies for any perceived delay in our arrival to your incident the other morning. As you know, there were hundreds of responses for your Fire Department that night, and often the closest unit was committed to another emergency, causing Firefighters to be dynamically deployed from Neighborhoods across the City.
While we can’t enter the arena of political discourse, please rest assured that the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department will do everything in their power to remain worthy of your respect and praise.
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department”
That certainly got Steve’s attention. And while it can’t bring back his house, it certainly helps him to know someone is listening. Now imagine that every local government agency followed the LAFD’s lead. Don’t you think the world would be a better place to live? (Special thanks to Matt Lockshin for sending this in)
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.