Hawaii just had a tsunami scare. The massive earthquake in Chile created a potentially devastating tsunami. Fortunately, the tsunami, when it arrived, was not destructive. The event pointed out some other fundamental issues, however.
As the islands were preparing for a potential disaster, I checked some websites to see what they were saying about the tsunami threat. ETurboNews proactively sent out an email blast to its list of travel professionals early in the event, advising them of links and offering an email address that they could use to get immediate answers. Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau put up a box on its regular marketing site with an update on the event. The Hawaii Tourism Authority site never got around to acknowledging the event. So if you wanted to find out about upcoming meetings ... or their latest research, that would be on the site. But nothing to reassure travel agents, worried relatives, or others about a potentially catastrophic event.
The new reality is that people turn to new media for information. They go to websites. They check out Twitter. They still use the old media, but increasingly the new media are important elements of the communications mix. If you're not there, you're not communicating fully.
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