Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
Yeah that is right…I headed up to the EMS Today conference with Willie Wines Jr. We were there for Thursday/Friday.
Check out what Willie had to say about the weekend here.
You have to remember that this event last year was the first time I met most anyone who I knew online.
View last years article with photos here
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 and twitter as 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!
Actually, we sat down and had a small dinner before the meetup. Willie shared a poorly edited video by Dave about our meetup here. He also wrote about our visit prior to the meetup here.
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.
