How the State of California rapidly deployed learning to save lives

How the State of California rapidly deployed learning to save lives


All it took was a simple shift: delivering vital preparedness information on the tools people used most

Size

>20,000

Industry

Government

Location

California, USA

Core impact

Rapid accessibility to safety

Time to impact

2 weeks

93% of learners felt more prepared

10+ languages deployed

The story

The client

Every year, the State of California faces danger from countless natural disasters, particularly wildfires. The wildfires get worse every year, with over 200,000 acres burned in 2023, up from 143,000 in 2022.

The challenge

With support from Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) needed to rapidly modernize their disaster preparedness training and keep thousands of residents safe. Unfortunately, many residents - especially farm workers - have limited access to the internet, speak over a dozen different languages, and are widely distributed all over the state.

The solution and implementation

Luckily, Cal OES found Arist just in time. In 2 weeks, the team was able to deploy critical disaster preparedness information - including how to pack a Go Bag, vital safety procedures, and early warning signs - to thousands of residents. The courses were delivered entirely over SMS and WhatsApp, making them accessible to anyone. The team was also able to deliver courses in over a dozen languages, including Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin, and have residents sign up by simply texting a single word to a short code on their phones.

The Impact

For residents

California residents, especially farm workers with limited access to the internet, now had vital safety information that met them where they were. The course had over 90% satisfaction rates and 93% of residents felt far more prepared for wildfire season after the course.

For the response team

With no time to spare in saving lives, the team was now empowered with a 2 weeks set up time and was able to rapidly reach over 20,000 people in over a dozen languages.

For the state

For the State of California as a whole, they were able to save lives just in time for wildfire season, and built a rapid response capability for the state as a whole, making safety accessible to people they previously had a hard time reaching.

>90%

learner satisfaction

2 week

total setup and launch time

93%

of residents felt far more prepared

In today's world, it’s rare to find a partner such as Arist — one that offers an outstanding and effective product, but more importantly one who truly cares about their customers.

Brent Bernier

AVP of Talent, MAPFRE

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FAQ

FAQ

Is Arist an LMS or an LXP? Can I use it instead of my existing tools?

Arist has all of the functionality of an LMS and LXP, including course creation, hosting, assignment, learner management, and analytics. But it's an entirely new category.

The main difference between Arist and a traditional LMS is that Arist uses Stanford research to deliver interactive content via existing messaging tools like SMS, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams instead of traditional video courses and e-learning modules that don't get adoption.

By meeting learners where they are, Arist sees much higher completion, adoption, and satisfaction rates than courses delivered via an LMS (over 90%). Arist is also far more behaviorally effective.

Some of our clients use Arist alongside their existing LMS and LXP, and Arist can easily integrate with your existing learning ecosystem. Some of our clients replace their ecosystem with Arist — it's up to you.

My employees are hourly or don't get work devices. Can they use Arist?

Yes. Arist has industry-leading technology that enables employees to securely and compliantly learn on their personal device. This includes seamless opt-in and opt-out features, automatic phone number encryption, toll-free message delivery, and FLSA-compliant shift locking for hourly employees.

Arist also has built-in wage & hour compliance and shift scheduling integration, which lets hourly employees use their personal devices for learning in a compliant and secure way without incurring additional costs.

Arist works with carriers to ensure that all messages are toll-free.

Do certain age groups prefer Arist more than others?

No. Our research has found no meaningful difference in adoption or satisfaction rates by age group, with older learners enjoying Arist courses more by a few percentage points.

The core reason: nearly everyone uses texting or email to communicate with their friends, colleagues, and loved ones, making messages a comfortable medium for all.

The tools we already use — like Slack, Teams, SMS, and WhatsApp — have the lowest barrier to entry or adoption. Learning and comms become accessible in 1-click to everyone, versus 7 clicks in an LMS or portal.

Is Arist an LMS or an LXP? Can I use it instead of my existing tools?

Arist has all of the functionality of an LMS and LXP, including course creation, hosting, assignment, learner management, and analytics. But it's an entirely new category.

The main difference between Arist and a traditional LMS is that Arist uses Stanford research to deliver interactive content via existing messaging tools like SMS, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams instead of traditional video courses and e-learning modules that don't get adoption.

By meeting learners where they are, Arist sees much higher completion, adoption, and satisfaction rates than courses delivered via an LMS (over 90%). Arist is also far more behaviorally effective.

Some of our clients use Arist alongside their existing LMS and LXP, and Arist can easily integrate with your existing learning ecosystem. Some of our clients replace their ecosystem with Arist — it's up to you.

My employees are hourly or don't get work devices. Can they use Arist?

Yes. Arist has industry-leading technology that enables employees to securely and compliantly learn on their personal device. This includes seamless opt-in and opt-out features, automatic phone number encryption, toll-free message delivery, and FLSA-compliant shift locking for hourly employees.

Arist also has built-in wage & hour compliance and shift scheduling integration, which lets hourly employees use their personal devices for learning in a compliant and secure way without incurring additional costs.

Arist works with carriers to ensure that all messages are toll-free.

Do certain age groups prefer Arist more than others?

No. Our research has found no meaningful difference in adoption or satisfaction rates by age group, with older learners enjoying Arist courses more by a few percentage points.

The core reason: nearly everyone uses texting or email to communicate with their friends, colleagues, and loved ones, making messages a comfortable medium for all.

The tools we already use — like Slack, Teams, SMS, and WhatsApp — have the lowest barrier to entry or adoption. Learning and comms become accessible in 1-click to everyone, versus 7 clicks in an LMS or portal.

Is Arist an LMS or an LXP? Can I use it instead of my existing tools?

Arist has all of the functionality of an LMS and LXP, including course creation, hosting, assignment, learner management, and analytics. But it's an entirely new category.

The main difference between Arist and a traditional LMS is that Arist uses Stanford research to deliver interactive content via existing messaging tools like SMS, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams instead of traditional video courses and e-learning modules that don't get adoption.

By meeting learners where they are, Arist sees much higher completion, adoption, and satisfaction rates than courses delivered via an LMS (over 90%). Arist is also far more behaviorally effective.

Some of our clients use Arist alongside their existing LMS and LXP, and Arist can easily integrate with your existing learning ecosystem. Some of our clients replace their ecosystem with Arist — it's up to you.

My employees are hourly or don't get work devices. Can they use Arist?

Yes. Arist has industry-leading technology that enables employees to securely and compliantly learn on their personal device. This includes seamless opt-in and opt-out features, automatic phone number encryption, toll-free message delivery, and FLSA-compliant shift locking for hourly employees.

Arist also has built-in wage & hour compliance and shift scheduling integration, which lets hourly employees use their personal devices for learning in a compliant and secure way without incurring additional costs.

Arist works with carriers to ensure that all messages are toll-free.

Do certain age groups prefer Arist more than others?

No. Our research has found no meaningful difference in adoption or satisfaction rates by age group, with older learners enjoying Arist courses more by a few percentage points.

The core reason: nearly everyone uses texting or email to communicate with their friends, colleagues, and loved ones, making messages a comfortable medium for all.

The tools we already use — like Slack, Teams, SMS, and WhatsApp — have the lowest barrier to entry or adoption. Learning and comms become accessible in 1-click to everyone, versus 7 clicks in an LMS or portal.

Get a demo


The world's leading teams use Arist's platform and AI to train faster and drive real performance impact. See why first-hand.


© All rights reserved.

2261 Market Street #4320. San Francisco, CA 94114

Get a demo


The world's leading teams use Arist's platform and AI to train faster and drive real performance impact. See why first-hand.


© All rights reserved.

2261 Market Street #4320. San Francisco, CA 94114

Get a demo


The world's leading teams use Arist's platform and AI to train faster and drive real performance impact. See why first-hand.


© All rights reserved.

2261 Market Street #4320. San

Francisco, CA 94114