I have been looking forward to this week for months!
I am heading to Firehouse Expo with Willie Wines Jr. and Kevin Totten. We will be meeting up with many friends and familiar faces…and drinking a few totties!
For some insight on what we got into last year check here, and here.
Here are some of the highlights of what is to come:
Firefighter Netcast – Our home base will be in booth 743 with Firegeezer, Fossilmedic, and Dave Statter. Stop in and say hi!
If you still need passes to the exhibitor floor….they are FREE!
To get free passes just register online…COME ONE..COME ALL!:
Step 2: Fill out the registration form and in the Promo Code Information box, use Promo Code EX 79.
Step 3: Finish out the registration process and you’re done.
Step 4: When you arrive at the convention center, pick up your badge at the registration center. Also…. make sure you stop by Booth 743 and say hello!
9/11 Memorial Stair Climb – Thursday we are climbing the stairs of the Hilton 5 times in honor of those lost on September 11th. I will be climbing with 150 other firefighters…If you didn’t sign up for it, we will climb for you as well.
Kevin, Willie, and I will be meeting up with Thomas Warshaw after the climb. Thomas is climbing as well. We plan on letting Thomas watch us drink a few and then he gets to drive home…sux for him! Let us know that you will be in town and we will meetup…
Speaking of meeting up. After those rounds of beer, we will be heading over to the MEETUP! Every year this thing is a blast!
Thursday Night is the Meetup (Free drink tickets!)- FirefighterNation.com, FireEMSBlogs.com and FireRescue Magazine are pleased to announce the Firefighter Meetup in Baltimore to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The event takes place Thursday night, July 21st at Uno’s in Harborplace, 201 East Pratt Street from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Join many of the web’s top fire service bloggers, firefighters from across the region and around the country, at this special event
The first 50 firefighters to stop by the FireRescue Magazine/FirefighterNation.com (Booth 724), Fire Geezer (with Statter 911, Firefighter Netcast at Booth #743) or National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (Booth 252) booths at Firehouse Expo on Thursday will also receive a complimentary drink ticket for the event.
Uno’s will donate 20% of the proceeds (excluding tax and tip) from Thursday night’s event to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (http://www.firehero.org)
Firefighter Netcast is the leading edge in podcasting and live netcasts for the fire service today. When we began in January 2010, there was one other show “Burning it Down” run by the guys behind The Bravest Online. Unfortunately they closed the door on their live podcast and left us all alone…until recently.
Nowadays there are other options for live fire service podcasting…but lets be clear that we are often imitated but never duplicated!
While we still have a lot to learn, we have continued to broaden our reach, fine tune our delivery, and offer the best fire service podcasting available.
You might ask why you can’t listen in every night to Firefighter Netcast…the answer is because these things take time. Our hosts have to create the shows and the content has to be rich. If we were running shows every night, our content would be watered down and we would begin repeating ourselves. In addition to all of that, we have families and careers.
We will be joined very shortly with host Doug Cline as well.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the tremendous assistance that Willie Wines Jr. has been to Firefighter Netcast. He has helped us out so much and we are very grateful!
We have also done work for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation at Conferences and the NFFF Memorial Weekend. We produce FireHero Radio for the NFFF as well.
But the most important aspect of Who we are is our listeners! We enjoy the live listeners who chat in the chatroom as well as the majority of our listeners who catch up with us on our web site, facebook, twitter, and most importantly itunes!
I must say that I have had a blast since January 2010 when we got started. I have enjoyed all of the people I have met, the ones I have yet to meet, and the places I have been!
In case anyone is counting, we HAVE had more than 100 podcasts, but this is our 100th live netcast! In addition to the live netcasts, we have recorded dozens of other shows at conferences and other places!
Thanks for making Firefighter Netcast the BEST fire service podcast!
Dave LeBlanc is about to set out on his own after being a guest on several Firefighter Netcast shows including Art “Chief Reason” Goodrich’s show “The Voice of Reason”. You can find those shows and all of the archives over at Firefighter Netcast (http://firefighternetcast.com).
Now, DAVE IS BACK and BETTER THAN EVER! Dave LeBlanc is setting out on his own and created his own show on Firefighter Netcast titled “The Front Seat” (previous working title was “Taking Up”).The Front Seat will be airing tonight at 9pm EST. He will be on the air with John Mitchell and I. It has been a while since John and I have gummed it up on The Firefighter Netcast Show as we have been rolling out new shows about every month here at Firefighter Netcast.
This article is going to ramble…I warn you now. It is also not going to be in any particular order of appearance.
I think there is a saying that goes something like…Your character shows in who you surround yourself with. I can say that I am a better person because of the friends that I have. Below are some of them.
On a side note: I also bumped into Art “Chief Reason” Goodrich at FDIC. He still has a blog on FireEMSBlogs.com but doesn’t update it anymore. You can now find him at FireEngineering.com. He seems to be enjoying himself! He wasn’t at the meetup…he apparently doesn’t hang with us anymore…
I got to meet with several companies both during FDIC and since. Several of which I hope to be doing product reviews for very soon! If you are looking for having a product review for your product, check out more information here. I spoke with Major Mack of The Bowring today on the phone. They are sending me their product to review shortly. There’s was one of the busier boothes at FDIC. I think the product looks like a potential tool that years from now will be a staple in “What’s in Your Pockets” discussions!
I also have more of a review coming for Foxfire soon!
Black Diamond Footwear will be sending me their brand new X2 boot to review soon as well. You might remember my review of their X boot here and here.
I met the Fire Service Warrior Chris Brennan. He recently had his book published and it was available at FDIC this year. Chris’ name was a buzz word this FDIC…he has a unique perspective of the fire service which goes against the grain of some. This young author is certainly making people take a look. His has some similarities to myself (in my view) that are good and bad…He is young, outspoken, and doesn’t mind telling you what he thinks. I look for a lot more from this guy!
I got to eat lunch and a dinner with Josh Creamer of No Ambition But One. Our time was not ideal for him and I to chat too much because Tiger always has to be the center of everything…the only thing he doesn’t have a handle on is eating his meal…
I spent some time with “The Nick’s” of FDLiveIn.com and Hyattsville VFD. These guys are a lot of fun…and I could not hang with them out until all hours of the morning…wait til Baltimore guys! I won’t have as much on my plate there!
Mike Ward, Bill Carey, Chris Brennan and myself hold court at the floor of FDIC
I got to see Martin Grube of FireRescueTv.com once again this year. It is always a pleasure and he is just so damn nice…he helped settle me in at the classroom ready room when I was preparing to teach my class. He is the coordinator of this area and has been helping FDIC for many years.
I got to meet Kevin Shea. That was pretty cool. The only problem is that I took a pic of Willie and him and didn’t get my photo taken with him. Kevin has a group on the Fire Engineering Community for you hunters out there titled “Off Duty with Kevin Shea. Check it out here.
As always, it is fun hanging out with friends! I enjoyed dinner and more with the guys/gals from Go Forward Media team, Fire Rescue Magazine, and Elsevier teams like Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert, Jeff Berend, Bill Carey, Paul Andrews, Tim Sendelbach, Shannon, Janelle, Cindy, Mary, and others.
I also got to hang out/meet/say hello to Doug Cline, Diane Feldman, Bobby Halton, Frank Ricci, P.J. Norwood, Billy Goldfeder, and Doc Multrup.
name dropping turned off…
I am sure I left plenty of great people off the list. I might have hit on them in other articles about FDIC. Willie and I bumped into people all week long everywhere we went who knew of our sites and recognized Willie. It was a ton of fun and I cannot wait for Fire Rescue International and Firehouse Expo this year!
I consider FDIC 2010 the beginning for me. The realization of the bigger picture. I had worked too long and too hard locally only to find out that wasn’t the focus I should have been spending my time on. In short, I got a rude awakening…a very rude one. However, I am gracious for it. I am actually a better person because of it in too many ways not to realize that it was for the greater good.
And so here I am now…heading to FDIC 2011 a year after the beginning. Wow…this past year has been a blast! Be sure to connect with me at FDIC 2011 if you plan on attending!
Below are just some of the events going on this year at FDIC. I have them listed on the specific days and at the end are events which are open during exhibit hall hours. For a list of the official FDIC events look here.
During exhibit hall hours be sure to check out Firefighter Netcast in the Fire Rescue Magazine booth interviewing some of the best that the Fire Service has to offer! Check out Firefighter Netcast at booth 4244. John Mitchell (FireDaily.com) and Willie Wines Jr. (IronFiremen.com) will be there getting it done!
Sure, there will be a lot going on at FDIC…here are some of the things I don’t think you will want to miss!
Tuesday, March 22
ISFSI Membership Social: Tuesday, March 22nd at Howl at the Moon. ISFSI is at booth #7043! Stop by and see what the ISFSI is doing and has to offer to their members! Feel free to join as well!
Wednesday, March 23
Long-Stretch Solutions Wednesday, March 23, 2011 3:30 PM-5:15 PM. Master Firefighter Robert C. Owens Sr., Henrico County (VA) Division of Fire. Several solutions to enable engine companies to efficiently stretch beyond their preconnected hoselines to reach the seat of the fire, regardless of the number of personnel available, are presented. Proper apparatus positioning, occupancy application, training, and communication are also discussed. INTERMEDIATE. Room 134-135 (more information here)
The Ready Position – Wednesday, March 23, 2011 1:30 – 3:15pm. Engineer Christopher Brennan, Harvey (IL) Fire Department
The Ready Position is the point at which the capacity and capabilities of the Fire Service Warrior are in an ideal state of potential energy. Whether sitting in the firehouse at the kitchen table or in the recliner at home with the pager sitting next to you on the table, ideally, you will be ready to spring into action when an alarm sounds. Learn how to master the physical and mental skills of the Fire Service Warrior: Be 100 percent present when you enter into battle; have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to thrive on the fireground; and be prepared for the unfortunate should the worst-case scenario occur at an incident. ALL LEVELS
Room 234-235
FOOLS Brotherhood Bash: Announcing the 2011 Indy Metro FOOLS BROTHERHOOD BASH @FDIC In Association with RAE Systems & Hooters Restaurants. Wednesday, March 23rd Corner of Jackson St. & Meridian St. Gates open at 1700 hours
Thursday, March 24
“Social Media: The Fire Service’s Next Big Innovation” – Presented by yours truly (Rhett Fleitz) in classroom 134-135 on Thursday March 24 from 1:30-3:15. Be sure to be there if you want a crash course on Social Media! More information on that class here.
Dave Statter will also be teaching at FDIC at the same time I am. His class is titled “The PIO Reporter: Telling Your Story in a World Where “Spin” Doesn’t Work”. Dave’s class is also from 1:30-3:15pm. Being the friend I am, I will give Dave the utmost respect in posting the full information on his class. Unfortunately, the information is in Polish…I guess you patriots will have to come to my class! Really….Who promotes their class in another language?
PIO Reporter: Opowiem swoją historię w świecie, w którym “Spin” nie działa Dave Statter, Statter911 Communications, LLC Co zrobić przed obraz pojawia się problem może być bardziej istotne niż to, co zrobić później. akcji budowanie reputacji w społeczności może być kluczem do przetrwania, gdy coś pójdzie źle. W tym “świecie post-media”, gdzie mogą uzyskać dostęp do publicznej wiadomości bezpośrednio w Internecie, straży pożarnej może łatwo stracić kontrolę wiadomości. Dowiedz się, jak komunikować się tak, że społeczeństwo nie wie, co wiesz, kiedy wiesz, że zamiast czekać, aż wszystkie szczegóły są w Dowiedz się, jak przejąć kontrolę, zgasić złe wieści, budowanie zaufania do społeczności i naprawy działu reputacji . Cena 125-126 POŚREDNIE
Thursday, March 24, 2011 3:30 PM-5:15 PM – Room 105-106APPROPRIATE FOR ALL LEVELSUnderstanding and Motivating Today’s Firefighters Deputy Fire Coordinator Tiger Schmittendorf, Erie County (NY) Department of Emergency Services. “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” addresses the challenges of today’s fire service leaders in attracting and retaining the appropriate quantity and quality of firefighters they need to support the delivery of emergency services in their communities. So, how do we motivate today’s recruits away from the X-Box long enough to answer the box alarm? This facilitated conversation builds consensus that the majority of the challenges we face are in the firehouse, not on the fire scene. Together we’ll learn to combat these challenges with solutions that are right in front of us.
A Firefighter’s Own Worst Enemy. Taught by Jason Hoevelmann from 3:30-5:15pm. A look at how your actions, behaviors, and attitudes can contribute to your problems and those within your organization if you don’t recognize them and control them, and how supervisors’ human dynamics and interactions in the firehouse can transfer to the fireground. Students will be guided in how to ensure that they and their departments can be a fluid, clear, dynamic moving stream as opposed to a stagnant pond sitting in a farm field. INTERMEDIATE Room 123-124 (more information)
Stop, Drop, Rock and Roll is being put on by the NFFF from 7-11pm at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. Get Tickets at Booth# 342, Booth #9900 in Lucas Oil Stadium, and at the door on the night of the event. Featuring: Singer-Songwriter Candy Coburn. (more information here)
Friday, March 25
ISFSI Annual Meeting: Friday, March 25th at 1pm, Room 140 is at booth #7043! Stop by and see what the ISFSI is doing and has to offer to their members! Feel free to join as well!
Battle of the Bands is at Lucas Oil Stadium from 4-6pm
The Firefighter Nation & FireEMSBlogs.com Meetup will be on Friday, March 25th at O’Reilly’s Irish Bar & Restaurant. Tell them you are attending on facebook here. Meet your favorite Fire & EMS bloggers from the FireEMSBlogs.com community and beyond, contributors from FireRescue Magazine, members of FirefighterNation.com, our Facebook Fans and more! To get an event invitation, you just need to stop by one of THESE booths on Friday at FDIC: FireRescue Magazine, FirefighterNation.com and FireEMSBlogs.com: Booth #4244; Black Helmet Apparel: Booth #1903; International Safety Instruments (ISI): Booth #715. Find out more here: http://www.firefighternation.com/events/the-meetup-in-indy-2011
Saturday
I am sure we will be able to find something going on Saturday!
All Week Long
Bullex Search & Rescue Challenge…Rescue the SmartDummy – win an ipad at FDIC. Take the challenge in front of Lucas Oil Stadium. More info
Fire-Dex Challenge…Stop by theFire-Dexbooth 311 and take the Fire-Dex Challenge for your chance to win big! They are giving away thousands in cash, turnout gear, and leather boots. Be sure to check them out onfacebookas well!
Updated: Here is a great article from BackwardsandStupid.com on Depression in his own words and experiences. Check out how he has learned and copes with depression.
Recently, 4 firefighter suicides in the Phoenix Fire Department have raised eyebrows. The need for counseling and prevention are real and have been identified.
Firefighter Netcast recently had Jeff Dill on a show about a Battalion Chief from suburban Chicago, who holds a Masters Degree in Counseling. Chief Dill has established CSSF, Counseling Services for Firefighters, which offers behavioral health support to firefighters; trains senior fire officers, and educates clinicians on the benefits of understanding the life and emotions- of firefighters. Visit the CSSF here - CSFF Web Page and on Facebook.
This is a topic that needs to be discussed. Listen to the podcast and watch the video. You never know, someone you know might be exhibiting signs and be in need of help right now.
I will be teaching a class on Social Media for the Fire Service at FDIC this year. I am excited for my first teaching engagement in a venue as large as FDIC…does it get any bigger? I have many friends teaching at FDIC as well. I will write about their classes in the near future.
The class is titled “Social Media: The Fire Service’s Next Big Innovation”
Thursday, March 24, 2011
1:30 PM-3:15 PM
Room 134-135
Here is the teaser:
Social Media: The Fire Service’s Next Big Innovation
Lieutenant Rhett Fleitz, Roanoke (VA) Fire-EMS Department
Learn the “in’s and out’s” of social media for the fire service. Many questions about these media (blogs, twitter, facebook, MySpace, YouTube, skype, podcasting, text messaging, and so on) will be answered. Learn to be proactive by developing a social media standard operating procedure. Become acquainted with some of the ways departments are using these media for recruitment, retention, informing journalists and citizens, and publishing news. The benefits and potential consequences for personal use of these media by employees are also discussed. ALL LEVELS
Although that teaser only scratches the surface of the information I will share!
Who should attend? Anyone interested in social media, blogging, and branding their department online. Administrators who want to learn about social media, get examples of social media policies, as well as firefighters who want to brand their companies and departments. There will be information for all levels!
I am still working on the presentation. Since social media changes every day and new ideas, tools, and applications are created every day this is an ongoing project.
If you have a social media policy you would like to share or think your Fire Department excels in the use of social media please contact me. I am always looking for examples to share.
I will also be at the Fire Rescue Magazine booth 4244 set up with Firefighter Netcast. John and I will be recording live netcasts while we are there similarly to last year!
I don’t know what else I will get into while at FDIC, but I am certain that we will have fun! Willie Wines Jr. (IronFiremen.com) will be travelling with me once again!
John and I had a blast with FDIC last year. The event was the first major show for Firefighter Netcast. Since then, we have recorded almost 100 shows. We don’t have a solid schedule yet, but we are expecting to record some podcasts for Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Naum, Doug Cline, Billy Hayes, Dave Statter for FireHero Radio, and much more.
Below are some of the shows we recorded at FDIC 2010:
Chief Ron Siarnicki- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation – This special NetCast was taped live on Friday, April 23, from the floor at FDIC 2010 in Indianapolis. Firefighter NetCast is very excited to have a chance to present Chief Ron Siarnicki to our audience.
EMS Two Dot Oh – On Friday, April 23, Firefighter NetCast had a visit from a couple of leaders in the concept of EMS 2.0. Justin Schorr is an urban firefighter/paramedic in San Francisco and hosts The Happy Medic. Accompanying Justin is Chris Kaiser, a rural firefighter/paramedic in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
Firefighter Storytime! Chief Tom Merrill, Snyder (NY) Fire Dept. – From the floor of FDIC 2010 on Saturday, April 24, our final NetCast from the exhibit floor featured two special guests from Erie County, New York. We began our series “Firefighter Storytellers” with author, presenter, instructor, emergency manager and leader in the emergency services community Tiger Schmittendorf.
From Blue Shirt to Bugle – The Most Difficult Transition in Your Career - This show featuring Billy Goldfeder and Ray Gayk was originally aired as a live netcast from the exhibit floor of FDIC. John and Rhett enjoy discussion about what to do and what not to do when you get promoted. This is great training for you or your company. Listen in at the firehouse!
Challenges on the Modern Fireground – We were eager to turn over one of our shows to the fine folks from FireRescue Magazine, who graciously hosted Firefighter NetCast at their booth along with Firefighter Nation at FDIC. Without their assistance, our live programming from the exhibit hall would not have been possible.
Changes in Building Construction and Fire Behavior – John and Rhett are joined with Chris Naum to discuss Changes in Building Construction and Fire Behavior. Chris is a a fire service leader in the field of building construction and fire behavior. Chris addresses the need to re-visit these core subject areas to bring us up to speed with the many changes facing us today.
I will also be teaching the same class at Kean University in New Jersey (dates below):
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - Somerset County Emergency Services Training Academy
402 Roycefield Rd Hillsborough, NJ 08844
Thursday, April 21, 2011 - Middlesex County Fire Academy
1001 Fire Academy Dr Sayreville, NJ 08872
These will be more in depth 5+ hour classes on social media in the fire service. For more information check out KeanFireSafety.com. However, I don’t believe the classes are posted yet.
It was a hard fought battle on both sides. This year there were around 90 nominations for 42 blogs and during the votes there were almost 5000 votes. All of the numbers were an increase from last year. Congratulations to both of you!
Iron Firemen won with 36% of the votes for fire blogs. Ambo Driver won with 37% of the votes for EMS blogs. It should also be noted that while Iron Firemen won with a sizable lead, Rescuing Providence gave the Ambo Driver a run for his money!
Thanks so much for the diligent voters and all who nominated their favorite blogs! Feel free to give me any feedback on what I can do to make it better! Next year I am looking at a few changes…but it will definitely be back!
This year, our winners will walking away with a brand new pair of Black Diamond X2 fire boots as well as bragging rights for the next year!
You can see the Black Diamond X2 Boot below as well as check them out via links below!
Tonights lineup on Firefighter Netcast includes the announcement of the Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year Winners as well as a brand new show hosted by Chief Billy Hayes.
Tune in tonight (February 2, 2011) at 9pm EST for a live show.
Stop, Drop, and Roll with the Punches will will focus on prevention and risk reduction in the fire service. His guests tonight included Mike Love, Jim Marva, and Dennis Rubin.
Tune in tonight to see what is new on Firefighter Netcast!
If you have never listened in to a show on Firefighter Netcast you should check it out! You can even call in and share your stories!
Tiger’s guest will be retired Lt. Patrick Coghlan from the Buffalo Fire Department. Pat is a 34-year veteran of Rescue One and Vice President of the Buffalo Fire Historical Society. More than that, Patty is a real character with a bit of a crusty exterior — but when you peel that away — you find a big guy with an even bigger heart and a very special fondness for telling stories and preserving the rich history of the fire service.
Chief Kelly Edmison of the Union City Fire Department in Tennessee. will be joining John Mitchell, Art Goodrich, and myself Thursday night live at 9pm on Firefighter Netcast.
Chief Edmison has been following the story and has been trying to educate others on what exactly is going on down in Obion County.
If you haven’t seen the latest news on Obion County, check it out on Statter911 here.
Chief Kelly Edmison has been in contact with Dave Statter discussing the latest developments in Obion County that effect all of the Municipal FD’s in the County.
Thursday night at 9pm, Chief Edmison will be joining John and I on Firefighter Netcast.
We will be discussing the dilemma. We will also be joined by Cheif Reason Art Goodrich of ChiefReasonArt.com and fellow podcaster on Firefighter Netcast who hosts his own show The Voice of Reason.
We will be rolling out some audio today. However, things just haven’t gone quite as planned. Luckily for us, we are back on track.
Yesterday at FRI we were busy. As luck would have it our entire system was down for recording first thing in the morning. We have a secondary “remote” set up however, and we put it to use. Our Zoom h4n came in very handy. It would have been a lot more handy if we didn’t then let human error in to ruin our first couple of podcasts. They are salvageable and we will be working to remedy that first thing this morning.
John and I learned early on that you have to roll with the punches, learn from our mistakes, and always have a backup plan.
The day wasn’t an entire spoil though. We did have fun!
We were able to record about 10 individual podcasts. Many were produced for Tim Sendlebach and his crew at Fire Rescue Magazine. A couple others for Dave Statter and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
The audio for the NFFF will be available later on Firefighter Netcast.
Art Goodrich was able to record a couple as well. He actually got to interview Rob Schnepp (Cyanokit) and Steven Pasquale. You might know Steven from his roll as “White Sean” or Sean Garrity on Rescue me.
Sean was a blast to talk to, and Art got to shoot the shit with him for a while after the interview.
All of that audio will be available later.
Here are some photos from the day. We have Willie Wines Jr. (IronFiremen.com) helping us out and he has been a huge help. He has been snapping the photos.
The Pink Heals Foundation
Steven Pasquale and Rob Schnepp
Art Goodrich and Steven Pasquale
Willie Wines Jr. and Steven Pasquale
Art Goodrich, Rob Schnepp, Steven Pasquale, John Mitchell, and Rhett Fleitz
Art interviewing Rob Schnepp and Steven Pasquale.
Steven Pasquale (Sean Garrity on Rescue Me)
Fire Rescue Magazine
The FRI Exhibit Hall Floor.
L-R Paul Andrews, Willie Wines Jr., Chris Naum, Rhett Fleitz, Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert at the White Sox vs. Orioles Game on Thursday.
Art interviewing Rob Schnepp at Firefighter Netcast in the Fire Rescue Magazine Booth.
Firehouse Expo has been a blast so far.
John and I have recorded some great audio for Firefighter Netcast. We have been inviting various guests into our area within the FireGeezer/STATter911 booth for short interviews. The guests are usually on for 5-15 minutes.
Some of our guests have included:
We will be posting audio as soon as possible. We have a bunch to edit and then we will get it online. The internet connections we are finding are less than ideal.
We have a lot of thanks to give to Bill Schumm and Mike Ward of FireGeezer and Dave Statter as well. They have been more than gracious sharing their space. They have also been sending us some great guests!
Cathy Hedrick and Ron Siarnicki of the NFFF with John Mitchell of Firefighter Netcast
Sal Mazza an FDNY Fire Buff and Vito Maggiolo a DCFD Fire Buff with Jon Mitchell
The FireGeezer and STATter911 booth right next to the Firefighters for Christ Booth
Dave Statter with Lieutenant Tony Carroll of DCFD and John Mitchell
I have been busy with Firefighter Netcast and some of my other sites.
If you have a guest who wants to be on Firefighter Netcast, an idea of a topic or guest, or good or bad things to say about it we want to hear it!
We have been wrestling with going to 1 hour shows instead of 2 hour shows. More than likely this will happen soon because we are going to start producing shows for other people soon.
The first of those will be on May 17th when we turn over the mic to Chief Reason Art. More information will follow!
Let us know what you think!
We just recently posted an article on Firefighter Netcast about our shows, check it out here.
Firefighter Netcast is the most downloaded Fire Service related content on itunes!
Spread the word, follow us on facebook, and catch us on twitter. All the links are on the top of FirefighterNetcast.com!
Yeah, I know that I have not been posting much. I have plenty of articles to write I just need to get them done! Some great stuff coming soon!
Tonight I will be LIVE on Firefighter Netcast with my co-host John Mitchell. Our guest will be Jason Hoevelmann of FirefightersEnemy.com (A Firefighters Own Worst Enemy).
Bill over at Backstep Firefighter just published the 2nd episode of the First Due Blog Carnival. He did a superb job with his topic as well as capturing the essence of each article in episode 2…did I just use the word essence?…sorry about that!
There were some new blogs in the mix and some non-bloggers who submitted their articles to be posted on blogs as well! It seems as though this thing is catching on. Episode 2 titled “Influential Fire Reports” struck a cord with a lot of people and really helped put a thumb on what has influenced many firefighters! I must say that the best part of episode 2 is the thought that a family member may come across it and see that their relative’s death/injury resulted in a positive learning experience for someone else. It also proves that no one is forgotten…
Episode 3 is being hosted by Fire Daily. He is quick on the draw with getting the information out quickly! Especially after doing a ton of editing to finish up Firefighter Netcast’s audio from FDIC! Great job John! Get your submission in by May 26th to be included!
You can view the “call for submissions” for episode 3 titled “Share the Wealth”. This is a great opprotunity for more blogs to get involved in the First Due Blog Carnival…cough cough…Traditions Training…Vent Enter Search…Irons and Ladders… That is right, the topic is inclusive of just about every Fire and EMS blog out there! There is no reason why all you narcissistic bloggers don’t hop on board to get more readership and share your stories with everyone!
John has also offered anyone who doesn’t have their own blog and would like to contribute to post their article on his site! See, us bloggers are very friendly!
I look forward to seeing more and more bloggers getting involved in the First Due Blog Carnival!
The FireEMSBlogs.com meetup was a huge success. The event was hosted by Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com. The event was also sponsored by Black Helmet and Black Diamond Boots.
My time at FDIC was a blast. We managed to pack the week full of friends, fun, and work (Firefighter Netcast). The people I have met through this blog, twitter, facebook, etc. will stay with me for a long time. Our occasional chance to meet is always fun!
L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Tiger Schmittendorf, John Mitchell, Justin Schorr, Chris Hebert, Mike Ward (if you look close between Chris and Dave in the back), Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey
Whether it be through commenting on each others blogs, following each other on twitter, being friends on facebook, or any other of the many social mediums we stay connected. We know when each other are having a bad day, working, having a birthday, or whatever.
There may not be an exact core of the fire/EMS interwebs, but it grows daily. Mostly it is championed by several leaders. And yes, the Fire and the EMS interwebs are connected. The leaders are not self proclaimed or “formal” leaders. They might not even realize they are leaders. However, they have a following and stay connected to others through social media. These leaders have “tribes” or followers and the various tribes are interconnected as well. I would name a few but I would probably leave out many. The point isn’t the leaders, but the followers. Most of the leaders are followers in other tribes and so on… You get the point.
We all have a stake in this and we are all working towards the same goal…connecting.
One way of connecting is by meeting up. One of those meetups was held this past weekend at FDIC.
The night began with a get together for several of the bloggers. Consider it some down time for the guys/gals to network before the crowd arrived.
I had a great time meeting and talking to everyone!
I was honored to be asked to announce the winners of the raffle items. There were Black Helmet Hats, $100 gift certificates to Black Helmet Apparel, Firefighter Monopoly, and a pair of Black Diamond Boots given away.
A lot of thanks from John and myself to Chris, Dave, Bill, Paul, Jeff, Tim, Shannon, Olga, and everyone else!
All in all it was a huge success… I will give the rest via photos of the night!
Here is an overhead shot of the crowd! It was a great time!
L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey
Some guys I met...I told them I wouldn't remember their names but that I would post the picture!!! I am a man of my word!
The same booth babes from Black Diamond Boots who were hounding me apparently were also into the owner of BD! I knew it was too good to be true!
James from Black Helmet Apparel and firefighter Carrie McAtee (not one of Black Helmet's models as we previously posted...but she could be!!!)
An anonymous blogger behind Justin Schorr, Chris Kaiser, April Saling, and ?
Rhett Fleitz, Susan (@SusanABI), and Peter Kirk from SaintGobainOneSuit
Mike Ward, John Mitchell, Chris Kaiser, Tiger Schmittendorf, Justin Schorr, and Dave Iannone (in the back)
Here is the fun pic...I was never in drama in high school. Actually I was taking the photo.
This is the entire crew of bloggers, Fire Rescue Magazine, FireEMSBlogs.com, and more! I will not even attempt to identify everyone.
Chris Hebert, Tiger Schmittendorf, Art Goodrich, John Mitchell, Bill Carey
Tiger Schmittendorf, Rhett Fleitz (in the back), Shelly Wilcoxon, John Mitchell. Tiger and John are sporting the Black Helmet hats they won!
If you have not seen it yet, Firefighter Netcast is the home of live radio and podcasts on the internet. We were at FDIC and recorded many great topics with great guests.
The guests include Chris Naum, Billy Goldfeder, Ray Gayk, Tim Sendelbach, Mike Kirby, Scott Shaw, Fred Simon, Tiger Schmittendorf, and Tom Merrill.
Rhett Fleitz, Deputy Chief Ray Gayk, Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, and John Mitchell
The training value of some of our podcasts from FDIC are great. Much more is great for conversation.
Take some time to check out our podcasts and listen to our live netcasts in the future!
Here are the links:
Challenges on the Modern Fireground with Tim Sendelbach (Editor in Chief of Fire Rescue Mag), Captain Mike Kirby, and Firefighter Scott Shaw. Mike and Scott work for Cincinnati FD.
More coming too! We still have to finalize editing on our discussion with Ron Siarnicki and Cathy Hedrick with NFFF/EGH, discussion with Justin Schorr and Chris Kaiser, and discussion with Tiger Schmittendorf and Tom Merrill.
I managed to attend FDIC this year for the first time. I was there in the official capacity as co-host of Firefighter Netcast along with John Mitchell (FireDaily.com). I was also there representing The Fire Critic and many other projects I am in.
I must state first and foremost…
Tim Sendelbach, Shannon Pieper, and Paul Andrews at the Fire Rescue Magazine Booth
A sincere thanks to Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com for sharing their booth with Firefighter Netcast. Special thanks to Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert, Tim Sendelbach, and Jeff Berend as well as the rest of the crews of the aforementioned companies. The hospitality, networking, assistance, and conversation was very much appreciated!
Firefighter Netcast made its debut at FDIC pulling off 2 live netcasts from the show floor as well as around 10 hours of total audio. The first live netcast featured Ray Gayk and Billy Goldfeder and the second with Tiger Schmittendorf and Tom Merrill. We had to scratch on the live netcast with Ron Siarnicki and Cathy Hedrick on Friday, although we did tape the podcast. The netcasts are online and the other audio will be presented as podcasts and should be published on FirefighterNetcast.com once we complete editing this week.
The rundown of the week…
Rhett Fleitz, Jason Quimbly aka @Fire_Captain (twitter), Chris Kaiser, Justin Schorr, and John Mitchell
The hijinx began with John picking me up at the airport…. This guy is like my wife (not always right, but never wrong). We get a long well and it only took a little while for me to piss him off! Then again, and again, and again!
We had lunch with Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, and Bill Carey and enjoyed the company. These guys are a riot to hang out with unless you get Bill riled up and he starts yelling!
John and I picked Tiger up at the airport where the real fun began. John and I were both meeting him for the first time. If you were in the truck with us, you would think we had known each other for years (years I will continue to try to get back).
Tiger’s wife couldn’t understand how he would just get off a plane and into a vehicle with people he has never met. That is how we are. We wondered the same thing… especially with us! We were going to take him to dinner at Chucky Cheese! That would have sealed the deal!
Rhett Fleitz, Ron Siarnicki, Cathy Hedrick, and John Mitchell
We also met up with Fred Simon (FirstResponderLiablility.com). He is a lawyer and a firefighter! Our first show on Thursday was with him and we plan on having more commentary with Fred in the future!
Just to show how well we get along with others… I ended up sharing my room with Fred for two nights. He had intentions of commuting back and forth to Louisville, but I wouldn’t have it. Fred is a great guy and we had a great time hanging out with him!
John and I had a very busy show. As a matter of fact, we were so busy that we only had a little bit of time to get around to many other exhibitors at the show. I never did make it over to the Lucas Oil Stadium to see all of the apparatus. That was a bummer.
Rhett Fleitz (The Fire Critic) poses with the booth babes at Black Diamond Boots!
As I said before, I did make it to one spot and these booth babes hounded me to have their picture taken with me! What can I say… The Fire Critic is on the up and up!
Sorry I wasn’t able to get around to taking a ton of photos with the babes…work had to be done.
However, you can check out the following links for more pictures and information on our time at FDIC!
Justin Schorr (The Happy Medic) and Chris Kaiser (Life Under The Lights) met up with us and became part of the entourage that is many of the bloggers, followers, and twitter friends of FireEMSBlogs.com blogs.
Chris McCorkle (BlackJack Holder) and Rhett Fleitz
I also got to meet and hang out with Chief Reason Art Goodrich (ChiefReasonArt.com). To me, this guy is somewhat of a Fire Service Legend. He is one of those guys who emboddied the great things about Firehouse.com forums, then a creator (If I am not mistaken) of IACOJ, then on to Firefighter Nation, and finally culminating with his own blog. Art is a GREAT guy! He is opinionated and sticks to his guns. He is very articulate with his comments and his depth of knowledge shines through when he talks. You would think this guy has an entire research team that provides him with a thesis before he opens his mouth… It is that good! Many thanks to Art for snapping a lot of the photos we got at our booth!
The team at Fire Rescue Magazine was very helpful with Firefighter Netcast. I am not sure they understood what it is we were planning on doing, but they seemed to be impressed with our delivery!
Brandon Roark and Rhett Fleitz
I got to meet up with a ton of guys who stopped by to see me and what we were doing as well. Some of these guys I have known through the internet for years. Guys like Brandon Roark (South Bend Indiana), Jason Quimbly (@Fire_Captain on twitter), Robbie and Danny Owens (Henrico Division of Fire, VA), Some guys who know me via VAFireNews.com from Portsmouth, Chris McCorkle of BlackJack Holder, Martin Grube (FireRescueTV.com), David Furtado (The Battalion), and many others.
I was able meet up with Jason Hoevelmann (FirefightersEnemy.com), who presented his class and actually had to turn people away it was so packed. Jason will be a future guest on our show!
Tiger Schmittendorf took John and I to the ISFSI party and I got to meet Dan Shaw and Nick Martin (Traditions Training). We recently had them on Firefighter Netcast and enjoyed meeting them in person!
At the ISFSI party, I got to meet Billy Goldfeder for the first time as well as Christopher Naum (CommandSafety.com and TheCompanyOfficer.com). Chris was a guest of our show on Friday and has been on our show as a caller in the past. I spoke with Doug Cline who will be presenting in my area in September.
The Wild Beaver...Our office in the late night!
Our late evenings were spent at the Wild Beaver. The Wild Beaver is kinda like a Coyote Ugly and was packed with firefighters! Plenty of networking and drinking went on there!
If you are in Indianapolis, the best steaks we had were at St. Elmo’s and Harry and Izzy’s.
Not to worry, if your name doesn’t appear in this post it will in the future. I still have to do a post on the FireEMSBlogs.com meetup! That will be coming soon!
Then we will have several posts up here and at Firefighter Netcast on the netcasting and podcasting that was done! Come back often to check it out! There are also a ton of other photos to share!
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
You can follow Firefighter Netcast on twitter and facebook as well. The links are at FirefighterNetcast.com.
Doctor Anonymous uses Blog Talk Radio just like we do on our netcasts.
You can read more about our show tonight here including a video preview of the show.
It will be new to us being featured on another show. We have called in before on others shows, but never featured!
From Doctor Anonymous:
So, I hope you’ll be able to join us live on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 9pm Eastern Time for Doctor Anonymous Show 147. For those who may be new to the show, there is a chat room during the show. You can also call in to say hello. There is even a webcam so that you can see me do the show live before your very eyes. Don’t forget to become a Facebook Fan of the show. Also, check out the video promo below. Hope to see you for this week’s show!
If you still need passes to the exhibitor floor….they are FREE!
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