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!
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
It is my honor (or honour) to announce Medic 999 as the Fire/EMS Blog of the Year for 2009. Medic 999 is run by Mark Glencorse who is a Paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service in England.
Mark has run Medic 999 since December 2008 and discusses the times and tribulations of being a medic in England as well as hot button topics of paramedicine and prehospital care.
Mark has recently enjoyed the spoils of being featured in the Chronicles of EMS. Chronicles of EMS was born from the efforts by Mark and Justin of The Happy Medic (San Francisco) to dissect the differences and similarities in EMS services at their respective departments.
I have a lot to say about the contest…what I learned, what I didn’t learn, what I will do differently, and how this contest will be over the top next year!
Unfortunately for Mark, the only prize this year is BRAGGING RIGHTS. However, I predict there will be more in the future!
Thank you for competing, thanks to those who nominated and voted for Medic 999, and thanks to everyone for publicizing the event!
I would also like to thank the judges who narrowed down the 23 nominated blogs down to 10 by judging on certain criteria…
2009 Fire/EMS Blog of the Year Judges
Marty Martin
Search Engine Optimization Consultant
Marty Martin is an Internet marketer and search engine consultant with over 12 years experience in the web industry. He has consulted for companies and government organizations across the USA and Europe and has been a guest speaker at business organizations, colleges and universities. http://mear.is/me http://twitter.com/mosquitohawk
Kirke Phillips
Kirke Phillips, known as ‘Mookie’, is a Firefighter/Paramedic/Web Designer in Texas. Mookie has been a firefighter since 1991 and is currently employed by the City of Leander. In 1997, he founded a personal website that has grown into what is today known as Texas-Fire.com, which provides news and community to Texas emergency services professionals. In 2001, along with his brother (also a firefighter) he founded CenTexFIRE Web Designs which hosts and designs websites. As of December 2009, Texas-Fire received over 3 hits a day, which includes Mookie, his brother, and their mother. On FaceBook
Andrew Catron
Andrew Catron is a career firefighter for the city of Kingsport in Kingsport, Tennessee. He entered into the fire service in 2005, and has been fulltime with KFD for two years. He is a member of the Town of Chilhowie Fire Department as well and maintains their website – www.chilhowiefire.org. Once he realized he enjoyed managing a web site he decided to start one of his own. Recently he began a web site for Tennessee Fire News. The web site is growing and he realizes nothing is built overnight. Check out TNFireNews.com – www.TNFireNews.com.
Medic 22
MEDIC 22 is a Radio DJ turned Paramedic Student in the Pacific Northwest. After over twenty years of working in the broadcast industry, M22 decided to quit his full time job, return to school full time, switch careers and write about it. His website, strangely enough called www.medic22.com details the trials and tribulations of a middle aged guy going through paramedic school. His website is full of polysyllabic words and sometimes people actually even read it. Oh, and he doesn’t like biscuits. Be warned.
Setla Films has uploaded the trailer for Chronicles of EMS. The trailer is but a taste of the larger pilot to come in the future. I must say that a trailer like this should have sponsors knocking down the door to get involved.
The filming of “The Project” and the subsequent creation of “Chronicles of EMS” seemed to be a snowball effect which really took on a life of its own. The whirlwind of social media that surrounded the buildup of “The Project” was a marketing wet dream! What a dream to have all of that free publicity, some great industry social media geniuses involved, and more and more people getting on board every minute.
What I really don’t understand is why companies which spend tens of thousands of dollars (probably a lot more) in advertising on industry websites and mags couldn’t come up with a marketing strategy to advertise on Chronicles of EMS. That is just amazing. That being said, they did have some great sponsors most notably Zoll.
I guess it just goes to show that many industry leaders still haven’t wrapped their heads around the capabilities of social media.
If you haven’t heard, The Happy Medic and Medic 999 are embarking on an educational on-the-job meet up. Justin Schorr, whose name I knew before it was cool to know his name, will be having Mark Glencorse over for eight days in San Francisco. The San Francisco Fire Department being the place of Justin (The Happy Medic) Schorr’s employment. Following those eight days, Mark will go swim home and Justin will head to England a couple of days later to have tea and crumpets and a ride along with Mark. The North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust being the place of Mark’s employment.
Follow down to the bottom of the post for important terms, how to follow, and where to follow regarding the project!
This whole “Project” came about after a “courting” period between the two bloggers. They often discussed clinical applications of pre-hospital emergency care. Justin being a Firefighter/Paramedic on an engine and Mark a Medic in a car for the North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
Through comments on each others blogs, email, and phone calls they hatched The Project. Originally, the BBC was going to follow along and film The Project but they pulled the plug in negotiations with Mark’s employer.
Now, Ted Setla (@Setla)is working on filming of The Project (at least State-side).Link
The Project is a unique endeavor planned and executed by the two. The promoting,discussing, and marketing has been a free for all by many top names in the EMS industry! The Project has been dissected, boasted, envied, and examined by many through twitter, facebook, and blogs.
Justin and Mark promise blogging, tweeting, videos, emails, carrier pigeons, smoke signals, and messages in bottles to get their project out to the masses as it happens!
Many industry professionals (EMS, Medics, PIO’s, Social Marketers, Fire, etc.) are watching and maybe even holding their breathe a little to see what will become of this.
On the heels of a very successful twitter/blogging/video social media marketed EMS Expo, many are wondering what is next…We will just have to wait and see.
If you would like to follow along, keep an eye on the links below throughout the next 3 weeks and beyond!
Important terms
Justin Schorr = The Happy Medic, Happy Medic, HM. Located in San Francisco.
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