Skip to content

Posts Tagged: Generation Y

Train Your Replacement. Bob did. Paul does.

It's been 5 years since I wrote "Missing a Mentor: What about Bob?" -- a tribute to someone who I admittedly under-appreciated until it was too late. Read More »

Video Killed the Recruitment Star

In his February 17th Morning Lineup features (and updated on February 20th), FireGeezer.com's Bill Schumm discusses and demonstrates the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of using video as a recruitment tool. While his perspective on why we face the… Read More »

Impact of the Digital Age on Recruitment and Retention

The world is changing rapidly and the fire service is getting caught up in the tornado effect of technology on our society. More and more fire departments are smartly using web sites, e-mail and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to … Read More »

Void Space

Firefighter, officer, chief—these are the titles of the jobs we sign up for. But just like “bingo chairman,” “corresponding secretary” or “roads and grounds committee member,” Read More »

X-Box Live

That's right! "From the X-Box to the Box Alarm: Motivating and Leading Today's Firefighters" is back by popular demand at FDIC 2011. I hope to see you in Indianapolis March 22-26, 2011.  Look me up if you plan on attending and look for my presentatio… Read More »

Run-to-the-Curb Radio: Chief Tim Sendelbach

It’s like “Run-to-the-Curb Radio” — but better! “Firefighter Storytellers” is a natural outgrowth from my popular “Run to the Curb” series — as it offers a radio show designed simply to facilitate kitchen table type discussions bet… Read More »

Get Fit. Get Safe. Make It Personal.

[caption id="attachment_1745" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="My Three-Part Risk Management Plan: Alex, Laurie and Kathleen"][/caption] Despite the fact that I wrote this piece for Fire-Rescue Magazine last year, I'm pretty sure its content is … Read More »

Raising a flag about lowering THE FLAG!

It's after Memorial Day-2010 and I've been working on this blog for about a week, in hopes of having it finished prior to the start of the holiday weekend but life got in the way and that didn't happen. In retrospect, I'm glad I procrastinated. I'm gl… Read More »

Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story

[caption id="attachment_1811" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="That's me with Past Chief John Latimore, one of my best friends in the fire service and the neighborhood I grew up in."][/caption] It's been more than a month since my presentati… Read More »

@FireRECRUITER: It’s EMS Week – Roll With It!

From www.FireRECRUITER.com: In honor of EMS Week-2010, I thought I’d promote the (dare I say) sexiest video I’ve ever seen come to volunteer recruitment and retention. “Roll With It!” is a part music video, part movie trailer — full-on hig… Read More »

Tis’ the Season

One student was D.O.A. and the other seriously injured, requiring extrication and transport to the trauma center by helicopter; while the teenage driver was put through a full set of field sobriety tests, arrested and hand-cuffed in front of his peers. Read More »

@Run-to-the-Curb: Planting a Seed.

It should be no secret by now that I have a passion for story telling, and especially telling of the importance of sharing stories in the fire service as a means of passing down our history, traditions and values. It's almost an obsession. It's got… Read More »

The FDIC Experience: Returning Home

For the next four long hours I felt like I was in a scene from "The Terminal" --- the movie about an eastern immigrant stuck living in the airport with nowhere to go and unable to leave because he had no country to return to, and therefore no official citzenship anywhere. Read More »

Live, from Indianapolis, it’s Saturday Morning!

[caption id="attachment_1732" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy at FDIC 2009"][/caption] Join Snyder NY Chief Tom Merrill and I for a live broadcast from the show floor of FDIC on Saturday-April 24 fr… Read More »

Going to the Show! See You in Indy.

I hope to see all of my loyal followers (both of them) at FDIC in a few short weeks. I'll be presenting "From the X-Box to the Box Alarm" on Thursday-April 22, 2010 at 10:30am in Room 127-128. There's room for 308 of my closest, most personal friend… Read More »

@FireRECRUITER: Recruiting in a Gray Area

My helmet is off to the folks in the Syosset NY Fire Department for recognizing 40+ aged recruits as a viable part of the solutions to our recruitment and retention challenges. Age is Nothing But a Number at Syosset Fire Dept. Joining later in life is… Read More »

Run-to-the-Curb Kids: Collect the whole set!

Rhett Fleitz at FireCritic.com has compiled one of the greatest collections of firefighter stories in hosting his first edition of the First Due Blog Carnival which asked our brothers and sisters to answer the question: "I am a firefighter because..." … Read More »

FireRECRUITER: The Art of Speed-Recruiting

If you had just 30 seconds to convince someone why they should join your volunteer fire department, what would you say? What would your message be? Do you have a standard sales pitch that you use for just such occasions? Can you even say hello in 30 seconds? I recently had the opportunity to coach and practice some speed-recruiting exercises with the Doyle Hose Co. 1 in Cheektowaga NY. They had been invited to be a part of career day at the local high school in their response area and they invited me to join them. Read More »

Re-Enlist.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that my father served in the US Army in two wars, my self-inflicted guilt for not serving in the military, or simply my love for country; but over the past several years I’ve experienced a growing appreciation for – OK, almost an infatuation with – our US Military and the men and women who serve in it. My logical side admires these ordinary people who perform extraordinary missions in defense of our freedom. My creative side is in love with the marketing machine that is the US Military. Read More »

LIVE: Casting a Net over Recruitment and Retention Challenges

I've been asked by FireCritic and FireDaily to join them as their special guest on this week's edition of Firefighter NetCast. Naturally, we'll be discussing volunteer recruitment and retention along with an overview of my presentation at FDIC in April and my cover story in the March edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine featuring my online book project: Run-to-the-Curb.com. Read More »

RuntotheCurb: Everybody Loves Sparky

[caption id="attachment_1648" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Everybody Loves Sparky the Fire Dog!"][/caption] Just as much as kids love firefighters, every kid (well, almost every kid) loves Sparky. Recently I had the chance to catch some R… Read More »

@FireRECRUITER: Big Win for the Youngins’

While I haven't had the chance to read the entire 52-page report cover-to-cover, I can tell you that it's comprehensive in scope and a well organized resource for anyone involved in creating or maintaining a fire department sponsored youth program. It holds something for everyone including chief officers, youth leaders, fire department administration, parents, support liaisons and the youth themselves. Read More »

@FireRECRUITER: 10 Step Guide to Volunteering

I feel that overall, the guide offers valuable insight into the world of volunteer firefighting and any effort to draw attention to the opportunities available to serve your community — are good efforts. The guide outlines 10 individual tips for preparing to join our ranks. Read More »

@FireRECRUITER: SAFER App Period Extended

In order for all potential applicants to have sufficient time to consider this revised policy guidance, DHS will extend the 2009 SAFER application period. The new application deadline will be 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Friday, January 15, 2010. Read More »

@FireRECRUITER: VFDs Get Creative About Recruiting

I applaud their efforts to diversify their membership, both in age and in function. Fire Explorers, Junior Firefighters, and FireCorps members are a great way to expand your work force. Read More »

Featuring WPMU Bloglist Widget by YD WordPress Developer

Better Tag Cloud