Day-2 at the NE Illinois PIO Symposium! And getting to meet and hear from the Illinois Lt Gov was great!

Her insight to how critical PIOs are to the organization is great to hear as it is crucial to the success of any agency.

We also got a chance to hear from the Chicago Police Department Director of Public Engagement Glen Brooks.

Real world stuff as these community tactics should resonate with so many of us in the public space.

Closing out the day, I persuaded my good friend St. Louis Deputy Commissioner Sarah Gambling-Luig to present on her award winning national social media campaign – #CityHallSelfie

This great campaign was started just a few years ago, but her ability to dominate…

…let me say that one more time: DOMINATE the effort is amazing.

Her efforts have inspired countless other civil servants to take pride in their work, back the city, county, and state initiatives….

…and ultimately have pride in where you work and what you represent.

Amazing campaign and words of wisdom to close out the conference.

Special thanks to Bob and Stephanie for the invite to speak this year.

Looking forward to helping out in the coming years.

@rusnivek

Day-1 of the NorthEast Illinois PIO Symposium and guess who gets to keynote the start….

That’s right, Cleveland Police Department Sgt Jennifer Ciaccia!

Packed house as we continue to tell the story about collaboration and coordination as field PIOs during critical events in Cleveland, Ohio.

Love sharing the message with other agencies as we continue to train with others in the ESF-15 realm.

Also focusing in on the needed equipment and specialized skills that are critical for in field PIO activities during a National Special Security Event (NSSE).

Always proud and honored to present and share with Jen.

Then later in the afternoon, we heard from John Nebl on Crisis Communications.

Timely talk esp since so many of our PIOs were fresh off National Preparedness Month wondering what to do about outreach efforts for October, November, and December.

Following John, I got a chance to discuss the PIO Networks that were used during disasters and emergencies during last year’s horrific hurricane season.

Sharing lessons learned and improvement plans allows us to train/educate other PIOs so they are better equipped to handle disasters of any shape and size across the US.

Even simple things like knowing your audience is critical when communicating with disaster survivors.

Telling the story about various agencies (including our own) is SO important.

We need to not only share that with the community, but also for our internal players as well. They too have families at home who are PROUD of the work and service they are fulfilling for those in need.

Glad to network with so many new PIO peeps!!!!

Definitely a solid Day-1 here at our NE Illinois PIO Symposium.

@rusnivek

G-ride or not, Mondays hit hard!

How do you turn the dang lights off….

@rusnivek

The State of Illinois Governor chimed in on next week’s NorthEast Illinois PIO Symposium.

Hope to see you there!

@rusnivek

Last day of the social media set: FEMA NDPTC Social Media Engagement Strategies!

Lots to share with our audience as we discuss various strategies with participants from across the state of Michigan…

…including bits on freak snow events and all sorts of fun stuff.

Thanks Cheryl.

But along with the freak snow events, we also have real world events that drops us right into the mix on social media.

In reality, it’s just one of the ways that we communicate with our audiences so we need to have a plan on how we are going to talk, coordinate, and share similar messages with disaster survivors.

To help facilitate classroom discussion, we opted to share our most recent Michigan find.

That’s right, it says Cops and Donuts.

Yes, we as instructors shared two large boxes of donuts with everyone here at the Michigan State Police HQ. Sharing a power ring with Police and PIOs…one of my favorite pastimes.

Special Aloha and shout out to our POC Crystal!

As always, great to see you again Alisha.

Reporting live from the State of Michigan!

@rusnivek

Starting out my favorite class today – Social Media Tools & Techniques at the Michigan State Police HQ.

Quick intro and welcome from the Michigan State Police Training Officer…

…and of course about the other classes offered at MSP.

We discussed a whole host of things including Reddit, 4chan, etc….all for the purpose of gathering info.

Yep, I was able to get that into the presentation.

Tools? You know we talked about the famous PIOStick!

Aww yeah baby!

Included were pieces on augmented reality and how we are using technology to better our response during disasters.

That includes working around critical shortages like power, data, etc….Why? Because we as Emergency Managers need to be creative in our exploration of new avenues for our communities and how to better equip our nation and build a culture of preparedness.

As always, group work was essential in social media as we completed the in class activity separating groups into respective factions of Fire, EMS, Police, Public Works, Executive Policy, Schools, Hospitals/Healthcare, Emergency Management, etc….

Lots of great ideas to share and roll out to the community in times of crisis.

In fact, some creative ways to share their messages with each other, amplifying the mission, goals, and objectives of the operational period.

Great day collaborating with each other.

Meanwhile, outside of our classroom, the new cadets were working on vehicle stop and combative training.

Great fun day talking social media.

Reporting live from the Michigan State Police HQ…

@rusnivek

Great start to the morning here at the Michigan State Police HQ!

Lots to share with new peeps including great preparedness tips too!

Oh yeah, Alisha shared Preparedness Pig. At the Police Academy. Zoinks.

So many topics covered today as it’s just the basic class. Looking forward to tomorrow. My favorite class up next!

@rusnivek

Sunday views…

Yes, it’s the Chicago Marathon today!

Mad props to all who are running and supporting today’s Chicago Marathon.

Lots of stuff happens behind the scenes. Here’s one of the many hydration stations w/ logistical challenges similar to snow. Here’s the “before” pic.

And now for the “after” pic.

Whoa mama!

Shout out to all ARES RACES pros out there supplementing the efforts of ESF-2 in the field. Their coordination is a crucial backup and primary communications for support services throughout the race route.

Medical tents were busy supporting not only runners, but also volunteers too.

Lots of other specialized rigs inservice and visible.

Some of them fly….

Some of them come from other jurisdictions too.

Obviously, one agency cannot do this all on their own. Lots of agencies visible and non-visible staged in providing safety for runners and fans alike.

Coordination services make large scale events like this one go over smoothly.

And don’t worry, recovery/mitigation crews were out too!

Planning and coordination can solve lots of issues. Just takes practice.

Reporting live from the Chicago Marathon…

@rusnivek

Don’t worry…this typical.

No, this isn’t the first time, or the second time, or the third time. This happens every year along the route.

Be advised that the same thing happens along high-visibility parade routes too.

Just find another mailbox please.

@rusnivek