A Footnote to CASE Currents Cover, “Caught in Crisis”

This month’s cover story in CASE Currents [October 2013] focuses on an insider’s look at how some of the Boston-area institutions responded in the wake of the horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon in April. (On the web, for CASE members, here [login required].)

There are some terrific insights into how to respond in the midst of an unfolding crisis. The stories from MIT’s chief of police [an MIT police officer was killed by the bombers] and the public affairs chief at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where one of them was a student, are particularly compelling.

One small part of the story that wasn’t told is that several hundred CASE members were at the Social Media and Community Conference in Cambridge as these events unfolded. The conference hotel, the Cambridge Hyatt, is less than a mile from where MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was killed. We woke up on Friday morning — the day when many of us expected to travel home — to a city in lockdown. No trains running, no vehicles allowed on the streets. Rumors that Logan Airport was closed.

The situation was very fluid — no one, including hotel staff, knew whether we were in danger. (Probably not: but in the early hours of the day, it wasn’t clear.) And no one knew when we’d be able to leave or what we’d encounter when we arrived at Logan Airport or at South Station to leave on Amtrak. We locals didn’t know whether or even when we’d be able to drive home.

The lockdown was lifted late morning and we dispersed pretty much normally. And it turned out that we weren’t in danger.

But it was an anxiety-producing situation. (Long overdue) kudos to the staff at the Hyatt and to the CASE staff on site for managing everything so well. I want to especially acknowledge CASE conference coordinator Jen Lichty for keeping everyone at the conference informed and for dealing with a tense, unfolding situation so calmly and professionally.