Tag Archives: PIO

FEMA Basic PIO Day-1 at Summit County (OH) Public Health

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Another fine start to the FEMA Basic Public Information Officer class here in Summit County, Ohio!

Many thanks to the pros at the Summit County Health Department who are hosting this week’s class.

Outstanding hospitality as always!

And of course special thanks to Jena Beckett and the team from Summit County EMA for enhancing their team’s knowledge on the fun of being a Public Information Officer!

We are in the command room this week so you know it’s serious!

As always, we lay the groundwork for successful operations for any PIO.

But we also share real-world experiences that could help in their daily routines to better their visibility. And yes, of course we still do all the media mock interviews.

Public health is a great partner when it comes to outbreaks and opioid intervention tactics so many of our participants opted to test their media skills on an outbreak and response.

Also great to have former Columbus newsies Rachel Feeley on our PIO side (now with Ohio Department of Health) as we continue our mock interviews for everyone.

See, deep down inside, some reporters want to be public safety PIOs. 🤣

For those newly assigned PIOs, we get them on camera as soon as possible!

The whole idea is that we expose new PIOs to this kind of media interview(s) so they aren’t shocked the first time they do it in real life. It’s always a bit more nerve racking when you are n00b PIO and have a bunch of mics and high intensity lights shoved in your face during the start of a major disaster or crisis.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand finally, a big shout out to my team across this great nation as FEMA turns 40 this week!

Here’s a quick video that External Affairs put together.

Proud to work along side all of you through countless disasters.
@rusnivek

JIC/JIS Course here at DuPage County OHSEM

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Outstanding day to start the FEMA G0291: JIC/JIS Course here at DuPage County OHSEM.

And a solid Miley way to start the day is a party in the USA!

Awwwwwww yeah.

As always, a fine safety brief from John on class including info on 24/7 PIO support from both of us.

With the upcoming exercises, we wanted to give the participants an opportunity to share their experiences as well as how much training has helped them increase their output and network with others.

In class activities concrete key points so that we can all function well with each other. In the end, we hope that nothing happens…but the reality is that it is only a matter of time before we have to work together.

Train like you fight right?

How is DuPage County OHSEM doing it? We are fostering a workspace for collaboration not only in this area, but statewide. Here’s an example.

As stated before, a rising tide raises all ships.

We will learn/train together and we will enjoy our successes together.

And when a crisis hits or a disaster just happens, it will no doubt be a challenging work environment. But thanks to training and exercises, we as PIOs will be able to function well together and shine.

Reminds me of a quote: “When it rains, we roar.” – PIO Ryan S.

Looking forward to seeing all of you at the next big one….in the JIC!

@rusnivek

 

FEMA Basic PIO – day 2 with media!

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Day-2 of the FEMA Basic PIO course here at DuPage County OHSEM and I wanted to pay my respects…..I mean focus in a bit on press releases.

While just one tool in the tool box, press releases were the primary way to get the info out to media partners about 15 years ago.

Yes, don’t ask. I remember writing my first press release. And no, it wasn’t good.

I am old AF.

However, we wanted to share the dangers of writing bad press releases…so I opted to share one of my favorite ones from Cleveland.

Thanks LeBron.

Mid-morning stop as we open our class up for our media panel.

(L to R)

Daily Herald (@dailyherald) Justin Kmitch (@JustinKmitchDH)

NBC Chicago (@NBCChicago) Chris Coffey (@ChrisCoffeyNBC)

WGN News (@WGNNews) Shannon Halligan (@ShanHalligan)

Lots of discussion including field PIO questions, staging areas, no comment, availability, and of course the dreaded “off the record” conversation. These kinds of conversations are incredibly important as we continue to network with others and enhance our relationships with our partners in the media. Also tweeting from the front of the class is totally acceptable too.

We also had some discussion about the outstanding work that the Aurora Police Department did during their active shooter incident in February. Kudos to all involved including the six new Police PIOs who were immediately pressed into service on their first day of being PIOs.

Literally “Learn it today, use it this afternoon.”

I’ve heard some great panel discussions, but the straight forward information in this panel was refreshing and honest.

I even pressed – if a PIO says to you “No comment” how does that make you feel? Justin’s comment was poignant and worth hearing.

Stay tuned for that interview to be published on #MediaMinutes.

We closed out the day reviewing the interviews and had solid conversations around social media.

Special thanks to our Media Panel guests from the media,

Outstanding class with all our participants!

@rusnivek

 

 

FEMA Basic PIO Day-1

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Starting off another FEMA G0290: Basic PIO course with our public safety pros from across the state!

I am fortunate to grab a few other PIOs for class today – suit up!

Aside from sharing concepts and theory, we also focused on interview skills…

…you know we did the oncamera interviews.

No bones about it, our mantra is to provide the best real-world training out there.

Lots of discussion on staging as well as single role PIOs and what they can do to get the ball rolling.

We also integrated a few activities and exercises into the mix too.

Don’t worry, we took some time to discuss communications strategies. We shared the 8-step communications model and introduced StratComms!

Planning ahead is always a good thing – esp for PIOs. Preparedness is essential in being a good PIO.

Successful first day with everyone. Looking forward to a solid day-2!

@rusnivek

February 2019 with 14 classes?

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How is it already February?!? Gawd!

First week will be a double serving of radio intraop comms training. However, we will be rolling out our first ICS-402: ICS for Executives/Senior Officials course. Looking forward to a diverse group of leaders from across the state.

Second week will be back-to-back ICS-400 courses as well as a PIO Awareness course on AlohaFriday.

Third week is another ICS-400 course with heavy focus on AAR/IP and resource coordination.

Fourth week we are rolling out the basic weather courses starting Monday and then Tuesday right into the FEMA Basic PIO Course with JIC/JIS class on Thursday.

Candidly speaking, February is really the calm before the storm. Wait till March 2019. Yikes.

Are we there yet?

@rusnivek

PIO Awareness course at DuPage County OHSEM

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Popping another FEMA G0289: PIO Awareness course today at DuPage County OHSEM with a welcome from Corey!

And you know it’s Friday….so happy AlohaFriday!

Lots to share including new information about our Public Information Assistance Team (PIAT) as a great resource for any of our partner agencies. Here’s John on the quick overview and briefing for this course.

Special thanks to everyone who attended from across the state in sharing information and PIO tips.

Looking forward to working the magic onscene with all of you.

@rusnivek

Reporting live from the ABC7 studios in downtown Chicago!

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Good afternoon from the floor of the ABC7 studio here in Chicago!

A much more compact location, ABC7 does an excellent job in maximizing space in their main studio area.

Also got a chance to chat w/ a few reporters in the bullpen as we took the time to see how the TV magic (aka sausage) is made.

It was satisfying to see all the TVs and monitors in one of the control rooms. Soooooo many buttons to push….

I doubt they would let me touch anything in here.

It honestly intrigues me…isn’t the news room kinda similar to the EOC? Desk assignment is kinda like the Operations Section Chief (OSC) right?

As an example, the OSC assigns tasks to the single resources (reporters aka MMJs) and then they do stuff. The desk assignment editors listen and find out what’s going on around the area (aka situational awareness) right?

Then they send the appropriate amount of resources needed to cover their story. DUH! It IS a good example of ICS. And you know I was closely looking at what they were watching and listen into right?

Obvs!

Special thanks to the entire team at ABC7 for the tour of their crib! Great to see so many different pros at work and major kudos to those who take the time to create a great story and maintain the integrity of a journalist.

Looking forward to working together!

@rusnivek

Morning meetings w/ Chicago Police PIOs at CPD HQ

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Morning meetings today with all the Chicago Police Department Communications Team at HQ!

Sharing some tips and news in workshop format about ongoing public safety operations as well as coordinated efforts will help all of us as PIOs. #PIAT

All the coordination enhances our ability to be a more prepared deployable asset to support other agencies of the like.

And for those wondering, the world of PIOs, PAOs, and ESF15 is very small. No matter the size of the disaster or hurricane, every good PIO knows other good PIOs.

Great to meet the team from CPD and looking forward to working with each other to support the mission of public safety for municipalities across this great country.

Special shout out to the CPD team Anthony, Tom, Michael, and Luis.

Me? Yep-proud to continue to serve so many great communities.

@rusnivek