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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

Whoa, that went well… #AlohaFriday

Posted on March 24, 2017 by rusnivek

Whoa….whoa…..whoa……

After getting reassigned from the JIC to the FCO, I was evaluated on my performance.

So yeah, that went well.

Great to support the FCO as well as the FEMA Region-1 Incident Management Team (IMAT) this week.

Trust me, without the support of countless PIOs and numerous External Affairs peeps, we could not have accomplished our tasks assigned.

My hope is that we continue to increase our knowledge and expand on ways that we can serve each of our communities daily as well as during any disaster or emergency.

We must relentlessly pursue knowledge from educators who are willing to share their craft with others.

Listen to all of our communities and share kernels of knowledge with others in an open forum so that other PIOs can learn and make good decisions.

It is incumbent upon us to coordinate the response effort for those who have nothing.

And most importantly, it is our duty to serve this great nation.

Demobing now.

Great week.

@rusnivek

Day-3: 2 PIOs inbound to Branch 2 – south side!

Posted on March 22, 2017 by rusnivek

Day-3: FEMA External Affairs PIOs (MRSP) heading out to the south side!

Nikki with 2 Ks and Kevin with 1 K.

On the docket – coordinated messaging, pressers, VIP visits, and media interviews.

Rolling 2 deep for Branch-2!

@rusnivek

OOO for some Mission Readiness stuff

Posted on March 19, 2017 by rusnivek

I’ll be out of the office this week. .

DHS/FEMA Mission Readiness deployment all week with my DC peeps from HQ.

Alohas from Alabama!

@rusnivek

Marching right in…is March!

Posted on March 1, 2017 by rusnivek

Marching right in…is March!

In the first full week, as 1Q starts to close out, I will be finishing up my yearly requirements including compliance and yearly required classes/re-certifications from the agencies I represent.

Second week, I’ll head to Boise to teach some advanced social media courses. Keep your eyes peeled for me in Idaho!

Third week, I’m headed down to Anniston for some FEMA Mission Ready Training with my favorite HQ peeps. Now you know, I wanted to attend the 2017 NEMA Mid-Year Planning Conference, but I just can’t swing it this year.

Then the fourth week, is packed with teaching some new peeps from Woodlawn, everyone’s favorite, ICS-400: Advanced Incident Command System (ICS).

Is it spring yet?

@rusnivek

Brand new FEMA #NDPTC Social Media Engagement Strategies at State of Colorado EOC

Posted on February 22, 2017 by rusnivek

I am honored to bring a brand new social media course out: FEMA/NDPTC Social Media Engagement Strategies

This particular social media course has been under development for the past few years. With it’s first delivery in the Pacific NW in 2015. But the best part is today’s course is in Colorado!

At the heart of FEMA Region 8 – these peeps know their stuff.

State of Colorado PIO Micki Trost welcoming all the participants in the class.

Many of the PIOs in class today are from almost all ESFs including a strong contingent from ESF-01: Transportation!

Great partnerships with local, state, Federal partners, and DoD representatives in class today.

I also got a chance to share my field deployable PIO Kit (aka my man bag / man purse / European carry all)

Great discussion on social media and how to increase engagement on various platforms including Slackk, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Musicaly, SoundFile, and of course a few tips on how to have a corrrdinated approach to dissemination of information to external partners as well as internal employees. Remember, all internal employees (if they consent) could be brand ambassadors of their agency.

Active in class discussion as well as spirited activity in class w/ EOC and VOST teams can mutually benefit if both understand the needs and requests.

And also a VERY special shout out to the courses creator: Cheryl “HAZMAT MiniVan” Bledsoe. #famous

Obv, MaryJo and I are stoked to be the first instructors to bring this to Colorado!

Stay safe peeps, it’s only Wednesday.

Engage on social media like a MoFo and always do good stuff.

Reporting live from the State of Colorado Department of Homeland Security Emergency Operations Center…

@rusnivek

The smell of fresh EOC in the morning…for a brand new Social Media course in Colorado

Posted on February 22, 2017 by rusnivek

“I love the smell of fresh EOC in the morning…”

Let’s get our social media on!

Say #Aloha to the brand new FEMA / NDPTC Social Media Engagement Strategies class!

Reporting live from the State of Colorado Emergency Operations Center…

@rusnivek

Trust me, I read through ALL my evaluations

Posted on February 20, 2017 by rusnivek

Monday morning..in the office.

As an Emergency Management Instructor, I read through all my evaluations. Like ALL evaluations.

It helps better my instructional delivery as a professional as well gain valuable insight to how participants perceive our enabling learning objectives and key points.

The comments below are from a course I taught last week.

“I have taken a couple dozen or so FEMA classes and these two are the best pair of instructors I have had!”

And of course commentary like this makes me smile.

“More Kevin”

Glad to know the things that we do make a difference.

@rusnivek.

Another G0291 JIS JIC course for PIOs in Athens County #Ohio #AlohaFriday

Posted on February 17, 2017 by rusnivek

Leading off another Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) G-0291: Joint Information System / Joint Information Center Planning for Tribal, State, and Local PIOs.

We have a few new additions to our class – who hail from across Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Glad to have so many pros with us in class…esp for #AlohaFriday – yeah baby!

PC: J. Beckett

Always an Aloha shirt on Fridays.

Lots of group work and discussion as everyone contributes information to better their communities.

It is helpful because our participants have diverse backgrounds.

Almost all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) were represented.

This allowed us to have an in-depth discussion and think outside the box to solve various in class table top exercises.

Instructors we able to facilitate discussion among groups providing the opportunity to enhance their response with immediate communication strategies and tactics for emergency notification.

Also lots of discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of the JIC vs the JIS.

Additionally, the class wanted to see a few pictures from our Joint Information Center (JIC) during the 2016 RNC (2016 Republican National Convention).