Town Criers
The second Monday of July is International Town Criers Day, a chance to celebrate the noble tradition of disseminating important information through yelling. While town criers are no longer commonplace, word-of-mouth remains one of the most potent tools – particularly in emergencies. Information spreads by word-of-mouth regardless of your “plans” and if no information is available, many people will share assumptions and rumors. Bump up your capacity to get information in and out of your agency quickly. Use as many different methods as possible; multiple languages when appropriate; diverse media outlets; high and low-tech options; as well as runners and town criers. We can’t control what some people will actually say, but we can eliminate the familiar breakdown of people not getting the message in the first place.
