The U.S. Department of Defense communications arsenal

On Friday, I spent the day in Washington D.C. meeting with people from the U.S. Department of Defense to discuss how social media is now an important component of their communications arsenal. The DoD is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military, including the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and much more.

Since there is so much I am eager to share with you, I'll devote this entire week to videos and blog posts highlighting some cool things going on the communications front in the military. I've got a bunch of stuff to share: videos shot at the Pentagon, links to many interesting sites, and discussions about strategies to get the word out.

A highlight of my visit was two hours spent with the All Services Social Media Council, comprised of about 50 people from across all services, components, and several outside government agencies. The group meets monthly to share best practices and discuss social media. You can see my computer in the foreground as I prepare to present. I really enjoyed the open discussion for the last 40 minutes – a lively back and forth about the future. Expect much from the military in all aspects of social media.

I also had a chance to spend time with Price B. Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, at his office in the Pentagon. Mr. Floyd is the top communicator in the U.S. DoD, an organization so huge, I can’t think of an equivalent Public Relations position anywhere in the world. The U.S. DoD employs approximately three million civilian and military personnel and has an annual budget of $650 billion dollars. There are well over a thousand professional communicators in the organization. And you think you have a complicated job!

Managing Fear of Social Media - Learning from the U.S. DoD

Let's kick off the week with two interesting blogs. As I read these blogs, I'm struck by how the U.S. Military is effectively communicating on the Web. At the same time, at organizations all over the world, people are fearful. I constantly hear things like "what if people say bad things about us?" and "Only kids are on Facebook." I do love to point people to the military and say, "Hey, if the organizations responsible for national defense can overcome fear, so can you."

I really like the Armed and Curious blog, home of the heavily armed tourist, written by LTC Fred Wellman. Colonel Wellman, a public affairs officer currently working as Deputy Commander of the Defense Media Activity, an organization delivering multimedia to inform, educate, and entertain Department of Defense audiences around the world. Col. Wellman served three Iraq tours flying or working with the Iraqi Security Forces. This is his personal blog, but of course has a great deal of interesting information about his roles in the U.S. Army. His engaging personality that I experienced firsthand comes through in the blog and this serves to humanize the Army for anyone who read the blog.

In a terrific example of targeting a particular buyer persona, the Family Matters Blog, written by Elaine Wilson, editor and writer for American Forces Press Services, provides resources and support to military families, as well as to encourage a dialogue on topics ranging from deployments and separations to the challenges of everyday life. For those with a spouse, son or daughter serving overseas, the blog provides information and a level of comfort.

Here are great images on the DoD Flickr photostream.

Watch this blog over the next week for much more on what the U.S. Military is doing to communicate with people around the world.

Armed and Curious photo via LTC Fred Wellman
U.S. Navy family photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jake Berenguer

Disclosure: I am volunteering my time to work with the U.S. DoD.

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=832255633]

David, I'm delighted you had a good visit to Washington. I've lived in DC for decades and, as part of the tech community, I'm RELISHING all that's happening these days. I like to say that DC is the new "It" city for all things tech and social media.

http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/washington-dc-the-it-city-in-2009/

Between the White House, the federal agencies, the military and intel communities, the startups and the nonprofits, there's so much going on here. Look forward to your posts this week updating us on your visit. Next time be sure to give me a call so I can take you to one of our trendy coffee/wifi hangouts. :)

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks Debbie. I did this one as a day trip and was with DoD people all day. Next time.

[Laurie Dunlop]

David, this is great coverage on your part! Thank you for covering this topic. As a 20-year Army spouse I was interested in how the Army PAO dealt with OPSEC (operational security) and interviewed LTC Kevin Arata in the Pentagon for my blog and Internet Marketing TV last spring. I was highly impressed with their approach to social media and focus on training soldiers and families to practice good OPSEC in this arena. LTC Arata spoke of his participation in the All Services Social Media Council and the wonderful experts they've hosted. I'm very glad to see you shared your expertise too! Once again, thank you for donating your time to the military.

[twitter.com/marketingfails]

David, I'm really looking forward to your report and data results for this project. Sounds like you really went deep into some of their operations and would be such an eye-opener to know how our military communicates these days. The old tactics of a recruiting table in the middle of campus is so 1990 (even though they still go for them) but there has to be something more. Hopefully you'll be able to shed some light. See you soon!

[David Meerman Scott]

Laurie and Paul - Thanks! Yes, I really had a great day. Laurie I also interviewed LTC Arata and will post the video later in the week.

[Amelia Vargo]

It always amazes me when people say they can't connect with others on socoal media platforms for daft reasons such as the perception that 'only young people are on facebook' or that there will be negative things written about the organisations involved. I can't help but think that negative press, though damaging initially can help enormously as one can learn from your mistakes and turn the negativity around into something positive. It just depends on whether you are willing to listen and learn from others.

[Anthony DiMaio]

You David, are a patriot. Great information and understanding about how the country gets into the conversation. Wow. $650 billion for a budget is inconceivable (two-thirds of a trillion).

[craigspr]

great job indeed!

http://www.craigspr.org

[Joni Geels]

What an awesome story. As a civilian "marketeer" for morale programs over the past several years, I have been wanting to dive into social media to promote our programs and services locally but have been met with many choruses of "DOD will never let you do that." HA!!! Now who's armed and curious. Thanks for the info!!!

[David Meerman Scott]

Joni - Damned right. That's why I love this example. For all those scardycat bosses out there, let what th U.S. Department of Defense is doing.

David