This year’s trip had the same purpose as last year…network, meet people who I know from blogs, facebook, twitter. Willie had the same reasoning for going. We got out of town later than we wanted, but I am learning to let go of schedules and go with the flow….so that is what we did. We left when we could and we arrived when we did.
Not even 10 miles out of Roanoke, I spotted something that resembled a fire engine but seemed out of place. After all, this was the area where I live…I think I would recognize a fire engine like this one. Hell, there are only a few in the area that don’t have tailboards…and this one had ladders up the back? As we got closer, more and more of the engine resembled something from across the pond.
And it was…a Mercedes Fire Engine being driven around the World. We got some photos. They are…
Connect with them on facebook andtwitteras well. They will be in NYC on March 7th. They are currently in/near DC.
That is a pretty neat idea with a great purpose!
Willie snagged the photos while I drove.
It would have been nice to catch up with them some other way…but it wasn’t in the cards. They are moving on and will eventually drive 26,000 miles in 28 Countries covering 5 Continents in 1 fire engine over the span of 9 months. They are doing this for 3 charities.
Godspeed!
EMS Today
And eventually, Willie and I found our way to the Baltimore Convention Center.
We got in, and secured our room. After that, we contacted some friends about getting us some credentials (we worry about those details once we get there). While getting those, we bumped into @scoolgirl101 and @leatherheadff. The bad thing was that I kinda missed the introduction and didn’t realize who the were at first…the good thing is that I found out later who they were for sure!
Some Aussies with Willie and I
Soon after, we met up with Dave Statter. Someone at EMS Today asked me if Dave and I really hated each other…the answer is yes. We cannot stand each other. He hates me because I am a firefighter and he is not. I hate strongly dislike him because…well because he is Dave Statter. Does anyone else need another reason? If he weren’t Dave Statter I think we could be friends!
After that, it was over to the meetup. We had a blast. I got to see a lot of my friends again and meet some new ones for the first time. I would list them all, but then I would leave out some so I defer to others. However, I did get to meet up with Russell Stine who I was looking forward to meeting as well as others.
I got to network with plenty of people.
Probably the biggest joy of going to EMS Today is seeing what the EMS bloggers and podcasters are doing. EMS is a little different than Fire in blogging and podcasting.
In many ways, EMS is a little ahead of Fire in blogging and podcasting. However, as far as blogging goes Fire is making some headway.
Check out the Podcasting set up by the ProMed Network. They did a great job. There was also a good bit of video available by the newly formed First Responders Network. They do a great job!
Willie and I had a blast.
Here are some other images from the weekend.
Chris Montera and Carissa O'Brien competing in the cookoff
The ProMed Network Podcasting booth
Willie is ate up with EMS
a rather large rescue/medic unit
Some Aussies with Willie and I
@MsParamedic and @Medic61
Willie Wines Jr. and Kelly Grayson...the winners of the Black Diamond Fire/EMS Blog of the Year contest
Me talking to some Roanoke County guys
Me talking to PGFD PIO Mark Brady, Chris Hebert, and John Mitchell
Willie Wines Jr. and I are heading to Baltimore for the Meetup at EMS Today. Our stay will be short and we aren’t even sure if we will make it to the exhibit hall on Friday or have to head home early yet.
However, if you are in Baltimore and want to catch up with us and network with so many other bloggers and EMS professionals plan to attend the meetup.
These meetups that are at the various Fire and/or EMS conferences are a blast. They are typically hosted by JEMS, Fire Rescue Magazine, FireEMSBlogs.com, or Firefighter Nation and are well enjoyed by many.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a member or blogger of those networks…just plan on coming and having fun!
Connect with hundreds of EMS professionals at the Meetup, Thursday night during EMS Today
Stop by Uno Chicago Grill at Harborplace in the Inner Harbor from 8pm-11pm. Enjoy beer, wine, soda, appetizers and tons of connections. Plus, meet your favorite Fire & EMS bloggers from the FireEMSBlogs.com community, contributors from JEMS, our Facebook Fans and more!
Pick up your invitation to the event at one of these booths in the exhibit hall on Thursday, March 3rd (5:00-7:30pm):
JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services)Booth #1801
Physio Control: Booth # 2907
Free drink tickets are limited to the FIRST 300 people who come to the event. One FREE drink ticket per person.
Win FREE Prizes: We’ll also be holding a raffle for those who attend, that includes the chance to win an Apple iPad, Monopoly: EMS edition games…and more!
The event is sponsored by Physio Control!
Last year, I made the trip to Baltimore and had a blast! I met so many others who I had known for a while but had not met in person!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet up with so many great bloggers, twitter friends, and other acquaintances. We were at the EMS Today conference.
I would like to give you the rundown. If I leave anyone out please let me know and I will add you in. There are some I may have met but not realized your other identities online.
I also got to meet Mark Brady (@PGFDPIO) the PIO for PG County, Md. Great guy…I think I bored him.
And how could I forget a highlight of mine. I got to meet Dennis Rubin, the Chief of DCFD. It was an honor to chat with him. I have been a fan of his for a long time. I have enjoyed watching him work in the various roles and departments as well. Great chat and thanks to Mike Ward for introducing us! Justin and Mark got to meet him as well. You might see Chronicles of EMS in DC sometime in the future.
I also added a video below from Dave Statter that showcases Justin Schorr, Mark Glencorse, John Mitchell, Mike Ward, and myself!
Many of the photos below were taken by me. Others have been collected from facebook and other sites. I apologize for not giving credit for each photo. Be sure to scroll down for video and photos!
I hope for many more meet ups like this in the future! Who is going to be at FDIC?
Many of the Bloggers/Twitterers at EMS Today
I got into Baltimore around 1am on Friday morning. My first meetup was with John Mitchell (@FireDaily) of FireDaily.com and my co-host on Firefighter Netcast. We roomed together for the weekend and got to chat a little bit before calling it a night for the events of Friday. John and I have talked on the phone, through email, and even done some video skype sessions. We are great friends and have finally been able to hang out in person.
When Friday morning rolled around we hit the exhibit hall floor at EMS Today. Our first stop was the Zoll booth. Unfortunately I decided to listen to John on where the booth was and we walked a mile in the exhibit hall before realizing it was right near the front. John was adamant it was in the back. Our first disagreement…awe.
Walking up to the Zoll booth, we saw Justin Schorr (The Happy Medic and @TheHappyMedic) and Mark Glencorse (999 Medic and @UKMedic999). I didn’t expect either of them to pick out the two of us (who probably come off as a David Spade/Chris Farley looking duo). Justin quickly came right for me introducing himself. I introduced myself and hugs ensued. Justin is another guy I have spoken with a bunch, blogged about, and consider a brother. We were finally able to meet…in person. I introduced John (John had already realized that I love talking…). We then met Mark Glencorse.
Justin Schorr getting FireGeezer Bill Schumm to sign his mug
Right after meeting Justin and Mark we met Ted Setla (@setla). The stage was set. I had now met the main components of Chronicles of EMS. I would later meet Chris Eldridge (@thedridge), a cameraman who works with Setla and did wonders for Chronicles of EMS.
After chatting with Mark, Justin, John, and Setla we headed to the JEMS booth where we ran into Dave Iannone (@cooldavej) and Chris Hebert (@chebert13). These guys are huge entrepenuers in the Fire/EMS Service and I have learned a lot from them. I have spoken to both of them through email and phone and was thrilled to meet them. I have been a long time fan of both of their work and look forward to following them in the future! They both are with Go Forward Media and bring you FireEMSBlogs.com, FirefighterNation.com, and many other sites. They are formerly of Firehouse.com.
Dave and Chris were a lot of fun to hang out with. Chris and I had fun busting each others chops…just like at the firehouse! They shared the tab of the meetup later that night with George Washington University.Thanks for lunch as well guys!
Things just kinda fell all together after meeting Chris and Dave. The rest is not in chronological order necessarily.
Mike Ward, Rhett Fleitz, Dave Statter, and John Mitchell
We met Chris Montera (@geekymedic) of the EMS Garage and Jamie Davis (@podmedic) of MedicCast. These too guys put on great podcasting shows and put on live shows during the conference. It was great to see them in action and learn about what John and I hope to be doing in the future at Fire Conferences!
Jamie also runs the ProMed Network (an EMS podcasting hub).
Some of the rest of this may or may not include real names. I may refer to them as their twitter tags and/or blogs. I will do this in case of outing an anonymous blogger or because that is the only way I know them.
I met @nateemt_b while talking to some other guys. He was excited to be there and I had fun talking to him.
Soon after,April Saling @Epi_Junky showed up. She runs the Pink Warm and Dry blog. Very cool person and I enjoyed talking to her later at the meetup. Small World…she lives very close to my grandparents!
@Epi_Junky picked up Chris Kaiser (@CKEMTP) of Life Under The Lights. Chris and I hit it off well. He has been a guest on Firefighter Netcast and again it was like I knew him for years! Great guy, very articulate and speaks with words I do not know!
FireGeezer Bill Schumm, FossilMedic Mike Ward, Fire Critic Rhett Fleitz, and Fire Daily John Mitchell
I met Tom Bouthillet (@tbouthillet) of EMS12lead.com. Very cool guy. I know nothing about 12 lead anything, but he apparently does…and enjoys it enough to write about it. He posted about EMS Today here. Tom is a Fire Lieutenant / Paramedic for Hilton Head Island Fire & Rescue and works for Chief Mick Mayers of Firehouse Zen (Mick was not present).
I met up with Mike Ward, the Fossil Medic (@FossilMedic). He runs FireGeezer with Bill Schumm (@FireGeezer). I would finally meet Bill on Saturday. He made the trek up to Baltimore to meet me…ok not really. He came to meet Justin and Mark…and the rest of us. Justin and Mark were thrilled to meet Bill and had him and Mike sign their FireGeezer mugs. Bill and I go back to the beginning of FireGeezer. I caught up with him when I was still going strong with RoanokeFire.com (my first blog). We have talked on the phone and email ever since. Great guy!
Mike Ward was a lot of fun too! He enjoyed the banter between myself and Dave Statter (@STATter911) of STATter911.com. I got to meet Dave at the meetup on Friday night. Needless to say, I feel like I know Dave really well! Anyone you can say “Nice to meet you, you son of a bitch” and them NOT get mad is alright in my book! Dave and I hit it off really well (at least that is what I thought..he may hate me now). Actually, Dave and I share a similar sense of humor.
Dave and I have talked on the phone and through email for years as well. I remember when he started STATter911.com and have enjoyed reading his site daily. His site is probably one of the most read in blogs in the Fire Service. Some love Dave, some love to hate Dave, but they all come back to see what he is writing about next. I cannot wait to hang out with Dave again in the future!
You might know Dave Statter as the blogger with the longest post titles in the world!
I got to meet @NJDiveMedic. He hung out with Me, Justin, Chris, John, and @Squirrl325 for drinks after the meetup.We had a blast and enjoyed some brews. @Squirrel325 was a blast to hang out with and was able to hunt down a great Irish pub when our first idea folded. Kaiser ended the night with an offer for all of us to do shots….I can’t hang like that anymore!
I got to meet Carissa O’Brien (@Carissao). She is really cool people and seemed to stay busy during the events. I also got to chat with Sebastian Wong (@SebWong). He is the EMS Chief (pretty sure that is his title) for the San Fransisco Fire Department. He just started a blog here. Great guy, easy to talk to, and fun to be around.
The interesting thing about David and Greg is that they have never met. Much like Justin and Mark before they finally met for Chronicles of EMS and John and I before this weekend. It just goes to show how friendships are born, partnerships are created, and businesses are started via networking through social media. Great guys and great ideas…forging ahead!
I also got to meet up with Ronnie Grubb, his wife and a friend. Ronnie lives near me and blogs. Ronnie runs The Gatekeeper. He gave his view of the events at EMS Today here. Ronnie was a blast to talk to. His excitement for EMS, firefighting, and other things we talked about was awesome. I look forward to more from Ronnie in the future…
I am sure there are plenty others out there whom I met and others there I did not get a chance to meet.
Chris Eldridge
Geeky Medic Chris Montera
Mark Glencorse, Justin Schorr, Michael Kurz MD, and Chris Montera
Justin Schorr
Justin Schorr getting FireGeezer Bill Schumm to sign his mug
Mark Glencorse
Justin Schorr and Mark Glencorse
Mike Ward, Rhett Fleitz, Dave Statter, and John Mitchell
Jamie Davis...The PodMedic (on the right)
Ted Setla
Rhett Fleitz and Justin Schorr
Justin Schorr and John Mitchell
John Mitchell, Mark Glencorse, and Rhett Fleitz
Many of the Bloggers/Twitterers at EMS Today
David Konig and Mark Glencorse
Rhett Fleitz, April Saling, and Jared Scott
FireGeezer Bill Schumm, FossilMedic Mike Ward, Fire Critic Rhett Fleitz, and Fire Daily John Mitchell
There will be a blogger meetup at the EMS Today Expo in Baltimore next Friday (March 5th). The meetup will include many big names in EMS and Fire blogs. The crew from Chronicles of EMS will be there as well. Fans, readers, friends, and many more will be there!
The Fire Critic will be there!As a matter of fact, I am riding the medic truck tomorrow just to get in the right mind set to hang out with so many needle throwers!
Let me know if you will be there in the comments section. I am looking forward to rubbing shoulders with many whom I have never met and would love to know who to look for!
Join John Mitchell of Fire Daily and myself for the next installment of the fastest growing firefighter netcast/podcast at 9pm EST.
We will be discussing many topics including:
The upcoming EMS Today Conference – Both John and I will be there!
The meetup at the EMS Today Conference on Friday…more info soon
The First Due Fire Blog Carnival
FDIC – John and I will be there.
Firehouse Expo in Baltimore – John and I will be there
And many news topics.
The theme for tonight is open mic night. Feel free to call in and discuss what is on your mind.We are looking forward to hearing from our listeners tonight!!!
The First Due Fire Blog Carnival is the first of its kind for the fire service as far as I know. The idea comes from some of the greats in the Fire/EMS Blog community. If you have a blog and would like to get involved in the Blog Carnival just leave a comment. More on that tonight at the live Firefighter Netcast. Be there!
Not even 10 miles out of Roanoke, I spotted something that resembled a fire engine but seemed out of place. After all, this was the area where I live…I think I would recognize a fire engine like this one. Hell, there are only a few in the area that don’t have tailboards…and this one had ladders up the back? As we got closer, more and more of the engine resembled something from across the pond.
It would have been nice to catch up with them some other way…but it wasn’t in the cards. They are moving on and will eventually drive 26,000 miles in 28 Countries covering 5 Continents in 1 fire engine over the span of 9 months. They are doing this for 3 charities.
Probably the biggest joy of going to EMS Today is seeing what the EMS bloggers and podcasters are doing. EMS is a little different than Fire in blogging and podcasting.
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