Vaisala is a company based in Finland that develops, manufactures and markets products and services for environmental and industrial measurement. It has nearly 1,400 employees and serves customers in more than 140 countries. In 2011, the company recorded net sales in excess of $350 million.
One of Vaisala’s leading product lines is lightning detection equipment. Lightning is considered to be a significant weather hazard with lightning strikes to people being one of the top storm-related killers in the United States inflicting serious injury every year. Fortunately, lightning safety education is useful in reducing lightning casualties.
In a conference paper published on the Vaisala website titled: Lesson Learned in Community Lightning Safety presented at the 2012 International Lightning Detection Conference in Broomfield, Colorado, our Millersville University research experiment that I help co-author is discussed.
The Vaisala paper investigates the basic elements of a public safety education efforts and how tailoring a message to the specific audience is critical to the success of a campaign. The paper discusses effective slogans such as: When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors! and Don’t Be Lame, End the Game. Leon the Lion, a character who appears in an interactive online game and coloring book used by the National Weather Service is part of the slogans.
It is always interesting to see the ways in which academic research findings are incorporated and used by business and industry in terms of intellectual and technological artifacts.
Visit the Vaisala.com website or click to read the paper and learn more about the educational campaigns: Lessons Learned in Communicating Lightning Safety.PDF