The blogging buzz continues as loud as ever, one week after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. If you’re wondering what the point is after the hurricane has passed and on-the-scene bloggers can no longer give us a blow-by-blow, consider New Orleans refugee Steven O’Keefe. O’Keefe is a Tulane University professor and also VP of IAOC (International Association of Online Communicators). He writes today: Needed NOW: Neosporin, Batteries, Pre-Paid Cell Phones.
His post continues:
“Today, I sent the e-mail, below, to Hank McKinnell, CEO of Pfizer, Inc., and Loretta Ucelli, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Pfizer, Inc.:
I am a Tulane University professor, Vice President of the International
Association of Online Communicators (IAOC), and a refugee from New
Orleans. I am writing due to an MSNBC news report on Monday, September
5, interviewing a nurse who just spent the last week ministering to the
sick and dying in New Orleans. In his interview HE SPECIFICALLY ASKED
FOR NEOSPORIN to be dropped onto the streets of the Marigny/Bywater
district on the riverfront in New Orleans.Pfizer is the manufacturer of NEOSPORIN. I am hoping that you will do
everything in your power to see that NEOSPORIN reaches the people of
New Orleans TODAY. I know from your track record with Tsunami aid that
you will help the people of the Gulf Coast…”
Crisis bloggers continue to “fill in the gaps”
The point is that O’Keefe is using his New Orleans “insider” contacts and communications savvy to fill in the gaps left by mainstream media. He is appealing directly to significant private sources of aid (like Pfizer) and offering to publicize the good works of these companies. He offers to write about their efforts on the IAOC blog and to pass on the information to the right people. Once again, I see a direct connection between crisis blogging and business, as I wrote a few days ago.
If you’re reading this and think your company has something to offer in the way of relief supplies, you can contact Steve on his mobile phone at (504) 715-3051 or through Patron Saint Productions. (He’s based temporarily in Nashville, TN.)