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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

FEMA Basic PIO Day-2 with Media panel!

Posted on April 3, 2019 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA Basic Public Information Officer’s course here in Summit County, Ohio! Starting off discussion on body language and non-verbal cues from Bosso.

I was fortunate to have a few of my media peeps stop by to say hi.

Cleveland 19 News (@Cleveland19news) Director of Digital Content Amanda Harnocz (@AmandaHarnocz)

News 5 Cleveland (@WEWS) Reporter Meg Shaw (@MegDShaw)

So glad to hear their insights to news media engagement and interactions.

We opened the floor to questions and our new PIOs had some deep questions on conflict resolution and maintaining relationships.

Proud to have media members attend all my classes as an integral part of getting the message out.

A hallmark sign of a solid PIO? Always building media relationships BEFORE an emergency.

Thanks you Meg and Amanda!

In the afternoon, we had a quick public safety panel from

Cleveland Police (@CLEPolice) PIO Sgt Jennifer Ciaccia

Cleveland Fire (@ClevelandFire) PIO Lt Michael Norman

Outstanding to hear from working PIOs who have worked so hard to improve the image of their departments during challenging times.

And finally, to close out the day, we had a quick visit from Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office (@CuyahogaSheriff) PIO John O’Brien (@jobjr)!

Providing solid media interactions and being firm on your stance as a PIO is critical in assuring your agency is seen as a trusted and guaranteed source of information. Thankful to hear positive stories from John for all of our class today.

I am proud to be able to share and open connections for these new PIOs from across the state.

Tomorrow we take them from single role PIOs and form up Voltron in the JIC!

@rusnivek

Day-2 of the State of Ohio #Basic #PIO class #Summit

Posted on February 21, 2018 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the State of Ohio Basic Public Information Officers’ Course here in Summit County. And yaaassss, #OnWednesdaysWeWearPink!

Started off the morning talking about interview skills and techniques that are readily used by both PIOs and Reporters/Photojournalists.

Reviewed all oncamera interviews from all the participants in our class.

We want to prepare our new PIOs with the best training so they are capable off hitting the ground running representing their agency positively in a crisis or emergency.

Steve brought in the Team from WKYC (NBC affiliate) Akron Office to be our panel discussion.

Lots of great points including what could make or break a PIO – esp for a close tight knit community like Akron and Summit County. Special thanks to Reporter Amani Abraham and Photojournalist Carl Bachtel on their insight to news media.

PC: Bosso

I was able to get my friend Cleveland Police PIO Sgt Jennifer Ciaccia to give a dual presentation with me on the 2016 Republican National Convention and other Cleveland activities.

As a team, Jen and I are solid, but we recognize that others are needed to establish the efforts of PIOing within their own communities – no matter pre-planned event or emergency.

And yes, we addressed how PIOs need to keep current on social media trends esp on national cool campaigns…like the mannequin challenge.

Again, special thanks to Jen on the support of today’s State of Ohio Basic PIO class.

PC: Bosso

Afternoon was dedicated to the PIO TTX. We setup two groups with all participants for the in class mock press conference and they did a solid job. Both groups worked together…

…and formulated talking points….

…organized and strategically thought out a press conferences agenda…

…prepped speakers…

And of course controlled the unruly fictitious media reps from OZRadio, WTF, and the YellowBrickRoadNews. FEMA Phil and USFA Tom would be so proud of us MPIOs to see us working the press conference part of the class.

Another great day for PIO training in the State of Ohio!

@rusnivek

Showcasing some of the specialty teams in play for the upcoming RNC #RNCINFO

Posted on July 15, 2016 by rusnivek

Press event yesterday morning to showcase all the equipment and teams that could be utilized and deployed out for next week’s Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland.

Cleveland Police Sgt Jen Ciaccia lead the effort that started at 0600.

After events in Dallas, the bomb robot was of great interest to everyone.

If you take the time to understand the technology, this is an invaluable piece of equipment to any police department.

Some reporters wanted to try to wear the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) suits.

NBC Nightly News Correspondent Jacob Rascon even hoped on the Mounted Unit to see what it was like to ride above the crowds.

Nice guy.

Don’t worry, Cleveland Police’s Mounted Unit doesn’t j-walk…

…like you, they use the cross walk.

Bike patrol officers from across the state including Blue Ash Police and Akron Police were out running training throughout the city.

It’s great to have so many law enforcement agencies working together to ensure safety for all participants.

Additionally, lots of pros working behind the scenes making magic happen.

Proud to have a so many Public Information Officers (PIOs) working together in the Cleveland Joint Information Center (JIC).

Looking forward to more fun tomorrow.

And yes, it’s t-minus 3 days…

@rusnivek

State of Ohio EMA new Joint Information Center class in #SummitCounty #JIC #JIS #PIO #ESF15

Posted on May 5, 2016 by rusnivek

Rolling out the State of Ohio Emergency Management Agency‘s new G0291: Joint Information Centers (JIC) / Joint Information System (JIS) Planning for Tribal, state, and Local PIOs. Luckily, we were in the Command and Control room at the Summit County Health Department.

Command Control room…aka DOC

As always, its great teaching with Sister Michael Marie. Outstanding experiences and great stories from her international work in challenging areas of the world.

Even OEMA was checking in on our progress!

#truelove for us Emergency Management Instructors.

Sister Michael showcased the importance of all-hazard PIO involvement in emergency response to a natural hazard.

Everyone was able to share experiences and help each other improve – esp thinking outside the box on various scenarios.

By the end of this in-class activity, our participants realized that there are so many parts to a “simple disaster” that it pays to build partnerships early.

It’s all hands working in an emergency – so build your relationships early before a disaster.

Remember: At 0300, you ugly, you smell, you stink – and clearly that’s not the best time to meet new people and to function in an emergency at 110%.

“As Emergency Management, we must continue to nurture solid working relationships and common response/recovery objectives with our all-hazards partners in public safety.” – @rusnivek

Best part? At the end of the class, they all applauded.

slow-clap

Awwww yeah!

When was the last time a class applauded your Emergency Management NIMS ICS compliant class?

Heh.

As always, it’s great to teach with OEMA Instructor and consummate professional Sister Michael Marie.

There is so much going on in this picture. I can’t even.

I’m just glad to be a part of something big.

@rusnivek

Day-2 of Ohio EMA Basic Public Information Officer Course in #SummitCounty

Posted on May 4, 2016 by rusnivek

Second day of the State of Ohio Emergency Management Agency‘s Basic Public Information Officer’s Course in Summit County.

Lots of discussion on the changes in public information especially with the use of social media in the 24-hour news cycle. #OMG

We were fortunate enough to hear from WKYC Reporter Jasmine Monroe and Videographer Carl Bachtel (NBC News affiliate) on what the media needs once they arrive on scene. Great insight to breaking news and media notifications.

Special thanks to WKYC’s Jasmine Monroe and Carl Bachtel.

As a class, we reviewed all media interviews and shared positives and points to improve – all geared toward enhancing PIO interview skills.

Reviewing the on camera interview with Twinsburg Lt. Marcus Ketner.

The final activity we broke into various PIO sections. This included an on-camera interview with talking points and bridging.

Jim McIntyre interviewing Elizabeth Foster while Mark Shane handles the videographer duties in the final G0290 classroom activity.

Great way to showcase newly acquired skills!

Jim McIntyre interviewing Elizabeth Foster for the final G0290 classroom activity

At the end of the day, I had a few moments to play our little holiday project aka #CJSavesCLE – just to showcase the power of when PIOs work with local media to make a wish come true for a day.

#CJSavesCLE

Solid day with so many new peeps!

Tomorrow will be G-291 Joint Information Center stuff! #excited

@rusnivek

Media work today with WKYC #PIO #AlohaFriday

Posted on April 29, 2016 by rusnivek

Doing some media stuff today w/ WKYC-3 (NBC Affiliate) in Akron.

Working with WKYC Reporter Jasmine Monroe (@MONROEWKYC) and Photojournalist Carl Bachtel.

Building relationships and strengthening partnerships are easy ways we as PIOs can enhance our partnerships before a disaster or emergency.

Quick side note: They prefer tweets, Facebook posts, and text messages more than the traditional press release.

We discussed so many other challenges PIO and media teams face including telling the truth, don’t hide from the media, and of course professional respect/courtesy on the scene. Yep. All the same things we talk about in class huh?

#ToldYouSo

And of course it’s #AlohaFriday so you know, I gotta share the Aloha spirit.

Thanks again to Jasmine, Carl, and the news team at WKYC.

@rusnivek

August is all about Region V

Posted on August 2, 2014 by rusnivek

After a quick visit to the White House in July, I realized that August will also be a busy month.

Akron, Columbus, Wauseon, Wisconsin, then back to Columbus and then to Geneva.

So yes, all month I will be in FEMA Region-V.

If all goes well, September will include several trips to Region-III, but I’ll keep you posted.

Keep your head down peeps.

@rusnivek