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I do solemnly swear

I had the pleasure of sharing my "Xbox Live" conversation with virtually the entire membership of the Brighton Fire District a few months ago and they revealed that they've never had a formal swearing-in ceremony for new members. No oath, no standing up in front of the group and raising your right hand. Nothing.

I told them how I've always thought that to demonstrate real brotherhood and to truly welcome a new member: have the new recruit stand up in front of the membership at their first meeting, raise their right hand and state their name — immediately after which the rest of the existing membership stands up, raises their right hand, states their names — and together the membership and their newest member(s) recite the oath of membership together. And in doing so, they rededicate themselves to the department and the people they serve.

What an awesome sight that would be. What an impression that could make on your new member.

Once in a while — an idea sticks.

My good friend, Brighton Capt. Rick Zicari just shared this photo of their entire membership reciting their new oath of membership for the very first time, together. And to top it all off, they had their Senator Joe Robach administer the oath. Truly a hallmark moment in the history of their great fire department. They get it.

Once in a while you have a chance to make a small impact. I'm confident that this was just as proud of a moment for them, as seeing this photo is for me. Thanks so much for sharing, Rick!

Do members of your volunteer fire department take an oath of membership? Do you recite the oath as individuals, or as a group as shown here? Send me a pic of your swearing in ceremony to tiger@tigerschmittendorf.com and I'll post it here.

Let me know how I can be of assistance to you and your fire department.

Stay safe. Train often.

— TigerSchmittendorf.com|FireRECRUITER.com
Author: "From the Xbox to the Box Alarm — Understanding, Motivating, Leading and Training Today's Firefighters"

View the photo: http://tigerschmittendorf.com/files/2013/10/Brighton-Swearing-in-Ceremony.jpg

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Posted by tiger on October 14, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, Public Relations, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

32 Years in the 15032

Lt. John Mitchell of FirefighterNetcast.com fame and Snyder Fire Chief (Ret.) Tom Merrill are just two of the countless friends I have been blessed to gain in my 32 years in the fire service.

Editor’s Note: The Federal Fire Department Identification (FDID) Number for the Evans Center Volunteer Fire Company is 15032, thus the title of this article teaser “32 Years in the 15032.”

++++++++++++

It was thirty-two years ago, on September 2, 1980, when I raised my right hand and said “I will” serve my community as I was sworn in as the first junior firefighter the Evans: Center Volunteer Fire Company ever had. I was 17.

Like the old sidewalk they’re replacing outside our fire station, my path in the fire service has been full of both ups and downs. From the highs of truly helping people and really saving lives — to the agony we face in the streets, and sometimes in the firehouse, when our best efforts just aren’t enough, at least in the eyes of some people.

Through all of it though, I have had the good fortune of always being surrounded by great people who have had a deep and profound impact on both my personal and professional life.

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Posted by tiger on September 23, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Public Relations, Training • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, erie county, fire department, firefighter, firefighter netcast, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, military, motivation, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

@FireRECRUITER: Rise to the challenge

An article recently posted to FirefighterNation.com outlines the challenges faced by volunteer fire departments in Pennsylvania in recruiting and retaining their members. Although these types of articles are becoming all too frequent, this one in particular is better than most in that it focuses on the positives of being a volunteer firefighter — not all the negatives. I’ve cited many examples of what not to say if you’re actually looking to solve your R&R challenges in a previous post titled “Is this our best approach?” Too often, it seems that we hand a prospective candidate all of the reasons and excuses why they wouldn’t join on a silver platter.

I have to tip my helmet to the volunteer fire service in Pennsylvania who is no stranger to these challenges — or to innovative solutions to those challenges. I’ve previously mentioned them in “PA VFDs Dip Into Fountain of Youth” for potential solutions as well as I’ve applauded their efforts in the successful recruitment campaign: “Roll with It!” — the sexiest thing to come to volunteer recruitment I’ve ever seen. It rivals the GoArmy.com and NationalGuard.com campaigns.

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Posted by tiger on November 29, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Videos • Tagged: campaign, fire department, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, marketing, motivation, practices, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, SAFER, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteering

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 recruit new firefighters and to stay connected to their community. There isn't much you can't do with a mobile device today that took a super-computer to do less than 30 years ago.

I recently had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation with a large group of fire instructors titled: "From the Xbox to the Box Alarm" for the University of Kansas Fire and Rescue Institute wherein we discussed today's and tomorrow's generation of firefighters. The conversation focused not only on the challenges in understanding, motivating, training and leading this unique cadre of individuals, but also enlightened the participants as to the tremendous potential they possess for moving our fire service forward.

And, naturally, you can't have a conversation about today's generation of firefighters without discussing the importance of technology and the impact of social networking.

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Posted by tiger on November 1, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Fire Prevention & Education, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Technology & Communications, technology-communications-ems-topics, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: btfd.org, burlington township volunteer fire department, campaign, curt varone, dave statter, facebook, fire critic, fire department, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, rhett fleitz, rom duckworth, statter911.com, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

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,” the title of “leader” is not something at the top of our list of “I want to be that guy” jobs that we strive for when we first join the volunteer fire department.

Although almost everyone who joins the fire service dreams of being chief one day, they probably don’t dream of being a “fire service leader”; that is, it’s not necessarily an inherent thought process to connect the title of “chief” with “leader.” And while the title of fire chief may conjure up images of flashing lights and standing in front of a burning building barking orders into a portable radio, as we know all too well, being a “fire service leader” requires a lot more preparation and hard work than that.

There is much discussion going on in the fire service today about this "void space" created by the potentially damaging collision of retiring experience and the growing lack of experience of today's firefighters and officers. When I say growing, I'm referring to the fact that as our fire load goes down (that's a good thing), so does our experience level, accordingly (that's a bad thing). Thus we end up with a "growing" lack of experience.

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Posted by tiger on April 19, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Backstep Firefighter, Bill Carey, Chief Jack Snook, Chief Jeff Johnson, fire service, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, motivation, Paul Hasenmeier, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, volunteer

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 presentation titled: “Understanding & Motivating Today’s Firefighters” modeled after my feature article: “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm.”

Some 300 first responders engaged in the discussion at FDIC last April and this year’s conversation promises to be refreshed with my ongoing observational research; new samples of recruitment, retention and leadership solutions and feedback from last year’s participants.

I’ll also be including fresh insight from some X-Box firefighters from Hyattsville Volunteers and FDLiveIn.com I recently spoke with about generational differences and what we can learn from and about them. Some of the information will be pre-recorded material and some of it will be provided by members of our “live studio audience.” (more…)

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Posted by tiger on March 7, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Brotherhood, FDIC, firefighternation, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteering

Not Your Typical “Truckie”

Glenn Usdin was a Run-to-the-Curb kid, growing up in the Long Island New York fire service and rising to the rank of fire chief in Lancaster PA. Like many in the fire service, his career path has taken him in several different directions including a tenure as associate publisher of Fire Engineering Magazine, president of American-LaFrance Used Fire Apparatus, now the owner of a large used fire apparatus company – Command Fire Apparatus and his most recent venture with FireEMS Blogs, founding the FireTruckBlog.com.

Listen in as Chief Usdin shares his story of how he’s made a career out of his fascination with fire trucks with host Tiger Schmittendorf on the Firefighter Storytellers Internet radio show live at 9pm EST on Wednesday-January 12, 2011. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on January 10, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Technology & Communications, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Billy Goldfeder, Brotherhood, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter netcast, firefighternation, FIRETRUCKBLOG.COM, GLENN USDIN, leadership, marketing, motivation, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

It’s that time of year.

A thought provoking article in the Fire Engineering Training Community by my good friend and fellow blogger ChiefReason reminded me to re-post this piece I wrote several years ago titled: “Starting the New Year Right!”

Art’s blog titled “The Day the Passion Died” suggests that we’re all due for a fire service check-up to make sure that we’re physically, mentally, emotionally prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, and just as importantly, that our head - our attitude – is in the right place.

His writings remind us all to revisit our fire department and personal goals and direction every once in a while, and there’s no better time to do so than as we’re about to embark upon a brand new year full of new challenges and opportunities. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on December 20, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire engineering magazine, fire service, FireEMS Blogs, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, motivation, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

What’s your story?

It’s been a great, long, hot summer — causing me to take some time away from blogging to spend with my family and friends. Although I haven’t been writing much, I have been doing a lot of reading and observing. And, it’s my observation that the need for effective story telling in the fire service has never been greater.

This was never more apparent than during my observation of and interaction with recruits participating in the Firefighter 1 Boot Camp at the Erie County Emergency Services Training & Operations Center where I work.

Each day, I had the opportunity to spend time with those 50 recruits from 37 different fire departments across our county, talking not just tactics and techniques, but about life in the fire service. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on September 5, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story

That's me with Past Chief John Latimore, one of my best friends in the fire service and the neighborhood I grew up in.

It’s been more than a month since my presentation at FDIC and my live Internet radio talk show on FirefighterNetcast from the show floor, but a lot of exciting things have happened since then.

Feedback from my show about the importance of storytelling in the fire service with special guest Chief Tom Merrill was tremendous and it’s amazing to see the influence that the Run-to-the-Curb (RttC) concept has had on people. Several firefighters have since shared their own personal stories of growing up in and around the fire service. In fact, so many have responded that it’s tough to keep up with and more of their stories are pending publication here.

Read more at: http://runtothecurb.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/run-to-the-curb-is-top-story/

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Posted by tiger on June 7, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Technology & Communications, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire department, fire rescue magazine, firefighter, Generation Y, kids, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: Make the Right Investments

The following article tells of a small city that is threatening to stop collecting a voluntary public donation that has brought thousands and thousands of dollars in mission-critical equipment to their combination (paid/volunteer) fire department.

Apparently, the threat is in response to a dwindling number of volunteer firefighters in their department, between 5 and 10, as the article points out. Without a lot of volunteers, they apparently don’t feel it’s appropriate to collect a donation on behalf of the volunteer side of their fire department. This situation seems to be causing quite a riff in the department.

Is it just me, or does any one else smell opportunity?

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Posted by tiger on May 24, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: campaign, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, tweets, twitter, volunteer

Live, from Indianapolis, it’s Saturday Morning!

ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy

ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy at FDIC 2009

Join Snyder NY Chief Tom Merrill and I for a live broadcast from the show floor of FDIC on Saturday-April 24 from 9:30-10:30am CST. We’ll be special guests of FireCritic Rhett Fleitz and FireDaily John Mitchell — hosts of the new hit Internet talk show series: FirefighterNetcast.

We’ll be discussing my FDIC presentation, my www.runtothecurb.com project and the importance of storytelling in the fire service. Chief Merrill will be sharing some of his own stories and who knows, we just might drag some unsuspecting passerby into the conversation.

A full schedule of Netcasts are being hosted at the Fire-Rescue Magazine / FirefighterNation.com / Fire-EMS Blogs.com Booth #3755 throughout the week.

I hope you can join me for my conversation titled: “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” on Thursday-April 22, 2010 at 10:30am in Room 127-128; and most certainly at the MeetUp at Indy. You do not want to miss this gathering:

When: Friday April 23rd – 8pm
Where: Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery just blocks away from the Convention Center at 10 West Washington.
What: Blogger/FireEMSBlogs.com/Firefighter Nation/Fire Rescue Magazine meetup.

The event is being sponsored by the great folks at: Fire-Rescue Magazine / FirefighterNation.com / Fire-EMS Blogs.com booth #3755. Hit me up at the show for some free drink tickets. However, I can’t be responsible for your resulting actions!

Even if you can’t physically be there, I’ll be Tweeting, updating my status on Facebook and maybe even blogging throughout the show as I meet and greet some of the biggest names and greatest faces in the fire service. It’s gonna be cool. Very cool.

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Posted by tiger on April 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Technology & Communications, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: blog network, Brotherhood, campaign, clean the litterbox, Clearinghouse, facebook, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, fire-ems blogs, firecritic, firedaily, firefighter, firefighter netcast, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, kids, leadership, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

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 friends so there’s really no excuse for not joining me! LOL (more…)

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Posted by tiger on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Featured, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, campaign, clean the litterbox, Clearinghouse, erie county, FDIC, fire department, fire department instructors conference, fire engineering magazine, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, kids, leadership, marketing, motivation, practices, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, SAFER, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

@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 becoming more the norm

The approach and image of the volunteer fire service portrayed in this article is in sharp contrast to the news articles I highlighted in “Is This Our Best Approach?”

In fact, I came across a similar article today that raises the exact same question:

Fire Companies Struggling to Get Volunteers.

I think we can do better. Let me know what you think.

Read the whole story at FireRECRUITER.com.

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Posted by tiger on April 6, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: Brotherhood, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

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…”

It fits right in line with my theory on the importance of story telling in the fire service and even includes my own personal story of how it was others who forecasted that I was going to be a firefighter one day.

Take a peak at Run-to-the-Curb.com and be sure to stop back there to tell your story.

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Posted by tiger on March 24, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

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.

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Posted by tiger on March 18, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: billboard, campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

Re-Enlist.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m posting this blog literally minutes after completing my first NetCast on the topic of volunteer recruitment and retention, compliments of FireCritic and FireDaily at www.firefighternetcast.com. What a tremendous opportunity that was to connect with so many people via the live chat and simultaneous telephone call-ins.

My helmet is off to those two gentlemen for harnessing that technology to accomplish something that they may not even realize they’re doing: Telling Stories.

Storytelling is important to the survival and success of the fire service. Very important. As I wrote in my article: “Saving Stories,” in this month’s edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine, storytelling “passes on our traditions, conveys our values and protects the rich heritage of the fire service.” Thanks to Rhett and John for doing just that through the tales shared on FirefighterNetcast.com.

At the end of the Netcast, I let the cat out of the bag about a new partnership I created between our volunteer fire service and the National Guard. Look for more info on that coming soon. In the meantime, the following is a story that is a little bit about my love for my father, my passion for the fire service and my appreciation for the military men and women who protect our freedom every day. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on March 11, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

LIVE: Casting a Net over Recruitment and Retention Challenges

I was in Texas for Advanced Unified Incident Command training last week (which I’ll tell you about soon), so I’m late getting this out.

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 “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” at FDIC (Thursday-April 22nd at 10:30am) and my cover story in the March edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine featuring my storytelling project: Run-to-the-Curb.com.

I hope you can join us at 9pm ET this Wednesday-March 10, 2010 at Firefighter Netcast for a lively discussion of challenges and solutions to the volunteer fire service’s survival and success.

Stay safe. Train often.

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Posted by tiger on March 8, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: Big Win for the Youngins’

The Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the IAFC recently released a new and long overdue guideline focusing on the proper and safe operation of fire department youth programs.

It holds something for everyone including chief officers, youth leaders, fire department administration, parents, support liaisons and the youth themselves.

Read more at FireRecruiter.com>>>

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Posted by tiger on February 21, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: Brotherhood, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

@RttC: Remember as a Kid…

The title of this discussion on FirefighterNation.com really caught my attention as I remember a lot of things as a kid — and many of them are related to the fire service.

This particular discussion revolves around the author’s childhood memories of hearing the fire siren sounding and then tuning to a particular AM station on his radio dial where they would broadcast the call location for all to hear.

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Posted by tiger on January 23, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: Brotherhood, discussion, fire department, fire service, firefighter, FirefighterNation.com, kids, motivation, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: Who can afford to volunteer?

Who Can Afford to Volunteer?

That’s the question asked by Don Grogg, a commissioner for Harris County Emergency Service District No. 9 in Texas in this article titled: “Suburban Fire Districts Sound the Alarm” in the Houston Chronicle.

While I understand that they have somewhat unique staffing and support challenges, when you ask it like that, who could expect anyone to answer with: “I can. Pick me. Pick me.”

Other than a closing remark about one department who expanded their boundaries for joining, the article does a great job at identifying the problems — but few if any solutions.

As I’ve asked before, “Is this our best approach?”

Here’s the link to the article at FireRECRUITER.com. You decide.

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Posted by tiger on January 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News • Tagged: campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

@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. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on January 4, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, FireRECRUITER.com, Generation Y, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: SAFER App Period Extended

DHS has revisited the existing policy on supplanting for the 2009 SAFER funding cycle. The Secretary has decided that DHS will consider petitions for waivers on supplanting from 2009 grantees on a case-by-case basis and under certain conditions.

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.

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Posted by tiger on December 18, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: campaign, Clearinghouse, erie county, FASNY, fire department, firefighter, Generation Y, grant, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, SAFER, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

@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.

Allowing interested candidates to specialize as fire police or pump operators is a great way to spread the work load. As the article says, not everyone needs to be the person running into the burning building as all the sane people are running out. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on December 15, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, grant, leadership, marketing, motivation, practices, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, SAFER, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

This Week’s Run-to-the-Curb Kids

What kid doesn't want to be a firefighter?

What kid doesn't want to be a firefighter?

I was a Run-to-the-Curb type kid. What’s your story?

I’ve created a page at RuntotheCurb.com that will feature future firefighters — what I call ”Run to the Curb” Kids.

This week’s RttC Kids include 2-1/2 year old Collin Manning, son of Williamsville Firefighter Chris Manning as well as a photo of my daughter Kathleen and her friend taken about 15 years ago (don’t tell her I posted this.)

Visit RuntotheCurb.com to meet this week’s future firefighters and tell us your story.

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Related Posts with Thumbnails

Posted by tiger on December 14, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations • Tagged: adventure, Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, future firefighter, Generation Y, kids, motivation, Public Relations, retention, RttC, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

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