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 recruitment and retention challenges we do are certainly part of puzzle, the value of his commentary lies in the subliminal call to action that we need to be more creative in creating the solutions.
Certainly, a recruitment video with appropriate visuals and a good, solid message can be effective, but FireGeezer proposes that we need to do something about our culture, our society, to inspire and perpetuate volunteerism. I couldn't agree more.
As I've said before:
“Simply put, it’s my belief that the survival and success of the volunteer fire service relies on our ability to create more opportunities – for more people – to volunteer less time.
Our success depends on our ability to effectively plan for, lead and manage people; whether you don’t have enough – or you have more than you can handle.
The possibilities for their involvement are only limited by our imaginations.”
- Tiger Schmittendorf – From: "A New Pyramid Scheme for your Volunteer Fire Department"
