FEMA OEMA G0291: Joint Information Center/System class at the Cleveland EOC! #PIO

Happy AlohaFriday and a great start to the FEMA OEMA G0291: Joint Information Center / Joint Information System course here at the Cleveland EOC!

So naturally, we talked a bunch of JIC stuff including our third guest VIP – day shift Cleveland JIC Manager of the 2016 RNC and the led JIC Manager of the Christmas plane crash in 2016, Beth Zietlow DeJesus!!!

Not only sharing stories about coordination amongst local, county, and Federal agencies on the recovery process, Beth was able to share a few stories about the media on controlling the message and handling mis-information.

Great experiences to share with out new PIOs!

Outstanding class this week. Proud of the work and collaboration in class shared by everyone. Great to see these new PIOs as they increase their organization’s visibility.

Now go forth, and use your new PIO skillz for good!

Also, yeah.

@rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA OEMA G0290: Basic #PIO at Cleveland EOC

Day-2 of the FEMA Basic PIO Course in Cleveland, Ohio!!! Starting out the day with one of the best JIC Managers in the biz, ladies and gents, one of the orig FEMA Master PIOs put your hands together for ERICA CREECH!!!!!

Sharing her experiences with the class on PIOs and coordination was critical in countless EOC and JIC activations.

In a heartbeat, I’d work for Erica any day in the JIC.

Don’t worry, we jumped back on the train (FEMA’s powerpoint slides) to talk and debate about press releases.

Since Steve is from media, he loves his inverted pyramid. But are press releases valuable? Needed? Seems we had quite the spirited discussion on the necessity and timely appeal of press releases.

After lunch, we were fortunate enough to grab, IMHO, the best of the best media talent in Cleveland.

Fox8: Jennifer Steer (@jensteer)

WOIO-19: Chris Tanaka (@Chris_Tanaka)

WEWS-5: Homa Bash Ball (@HomaBashWEWS)

WKYC-3: Barry Wolf (@photowolfTV)

Cleveland PlainDealer: Ginger Christ (@GChristCLE)

These pros not only talk a good game, but their social media skills are top shelf! I submit to you Barry’s fashion selfie from the front of the room.

Solid!

These folks were able to dedicate their time to answer any I mean ANY questions that our new PIOs had.

Proud to see new relationships and transparency with all parties involved.

Why? We hear of soooo many bad interactions and exchanges with the media. This kind of engagement showcases that if we work together and we share our knowledge of ongoing issues, we can help each other out.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to see this kind of action happening in class.

Like nurturing new PIOs and helping them network…OMG THIS IS WHAT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS ALL ABOUT!!!!!!!!

Yeah yeah, I’ll get off the soapbox now.

But seriously, this media panel has been one of my absolute favorites to have because….well, because of this…

Brah, Tanaka’s got some seriously good selfie skillz. Many mahalos to all of my media panel that showcased the best of TV news media.

After the media panel left, we reviewed all of our on camera interviews.

Sharing our challenges but learning from others in a productive and positive way increases participant on camera skills.

To close out the day, we also had our second and most lauded PIO stop by. Ladies and gents, the orig filmmaker himself, raise the roof cause it’s Cleveland Fire very own PIO Mike Noooooooooooorman!!!!!!!

Glad to spend a few minutes with fire’s new PIO who jumped head first into the role for CFD. FYI-Mike was a participant in a class that Steve and I taught in Summit County Ohio so we are proud to see him flourishing in his role at CFD.

Outstanding and super fun day with everyone. Back at it tomorrow with another special guest and to talk about JIC/JIS!

@rusnivek

FEMA OEMA G0290: Basic #PIO at the City of Cleveland EOC!

Outstanding start to this week’s FEMA G0290: Basic PIO course sponsored by Ohio EMA and the City of Cleveland Emergency Management!

Special thanks to CEM Alex Pellom for the invitation to hang for a few days in the Emergency Operations Center!

Guess who I get to teach with this week? Fresh off the disaster wheel, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Bosso!!!

Don’t mind his grumps face, you’d be a bit tired if you were EMACed to work Hurricane Florence too. I’m excited to hear about his experience working with South Carolina’s Emergency Management Division PIO Derrec Becker.

And yes, if you were wondering, we are holding class IN the actual City of Cleveland Emergency Operations Center!

Interviews? Heck yeah – you know we did!

Incredibly valuable time on camera.

Spent some time doing group work and communications strategy with many partners from across the State of Ohio and the State of Pennsylvania.

Showcasing partnerships and strengthening collaborative messaging during the preparedness…

…will help during response phase planning and support for ongoing operations.

Additionally the blending of resources embodying the all-hazards mentality, is critical when dealing with larger disasters/emergencies. Here’s Police, Fire, EMS, Health, Public Works, and Executive Policy working together for a coordinated message.

Steve had a few injects too…like branding. Steve is a former photojournalist so he’s got the photog eye for these kinds of things with some fancy camera work…

And not to worry, in order to share real world experiences, we had our first subject matter expert – Cleveland Police Public Information Officer Jennifer Ciaccia stop by to talk about her experiences as the PIO for CPD.

So many issues to deal with esp during a National Special Security Event (NSSE) – the 2016 Republican National Convention! And of course a whole bunch of other cases including the 3 girls missing for 10+ years (Castro case), Facebook killer, CJ Saves CLE, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, etc….

Whew – full day! Great dynamic class.

Solid first day. Looking forward to day-2 of the Basic PIO!

@rusnivek

Unidirectional mics and keeping it up! #PIO P26

Hello AlohaFriday!

Mic check! Sibilance. Sibilance. Check. Check.

As part of the ongoing P26 push…I thought this quick video about field mics might help out a few public safety colleagues.

Mainly designed for PIOs, PAOs, and External Affairs Officers….I think anyone could utilize these easy tips.

Reporting live from the 24-7 SEOC…

@rusnivek

Day-3 of the APIO course with the Master PIOs at FEMA’s EMI

Day-3 of the Advanced PIO course and today, we see some structure!

No doubt there was going to be some stuff on ICS forms because we got some…

…ICS-215s forms for the win!

And of course more interviews because evacuation and shelter information is super important. So bring on the interviews!

And yes, it’s not easy being green!

BTW-human with pet sheltering is totes important so make sure you know exactly what kind of message you want to pass on.

Lots of work on camera esp focusing in on joint press conferences…

…and of course solid reporter questions too.

#WeWearPinkOnWednesdays

At the end of the class, MPIOs initiated a panel discussion with Rita and I on public information.

PC: Joe

PC: Joe

Yep, an unfiltered look into PIO stuff for anyone. We as PIOs should not remain silent.

I am convinced that we are to share knowledge and enhance other PIO’s skills. Because “a rising tide raises all ships” right?

Reporting live from the External Affairs side of the house at the Emergency Management Institute…

@rusnivek

 

State of Ohio EMA G291 Joint Information Center / System class at Medina County EOC

Packed State of Ohio EMA Joint Information Center / Joint Information System course today!

Started everyone into group work as well as ongoing discussion on the role of SMEs at a press conference.

Just in case, we also tasked participants to start thinking about a policy/protocol for their agency on sneak attack aka ambush interviews.

We found as we leverages our strengths and capitalize on our skills, we as JIC Managers can better meet the needs of any situation – we just gotta find the right PIOs for the job.

As our groups collaborated, we found that despite crossing state lines, we still have the same problems as other areas – thus proving our point that we need to consistently train together and exercise our plans together.

Many of our participants enjoyed working in the JIC setting and were excited to work in a JIC during the next activation. Most excellent as we build a strong cadre of PIOs across this great state.

My Ohio Peeps!

Reporting live from Medina County’s Emergency Operations Center….

@rusnivek

State of Ohio EMA – Basic Public Information Officer’s Course in Medina County

Day-2 of Ohio EMA’s Basic Public Information Officer’s course here in Medina County EMA welcoming participants from two different FEMA Regions to our class!

We have representation from almost every ESF – outstanding to see that kind of participation in our state class.

It’s going to be a packed two days of training including classroom discussion…

…complex in-class activities…

…on-camera interviews…

…engaging (and crazy reporter) type questions…

…and of course we had several contentious mock press conferences.

Train like you fight right? We also discussed how our varied experiences lends a ton of expertise to our ongoing operations in any community across this great nation.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s JIC/JIS course!

@rusnivek

 

Great first day of Basic Public Information Officer #PIO Course in Athens County Ohio

Kicking off another solid FEMA / Ohio EMA Basic Public Information Officer’s course.

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We have participants from across the state of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia!

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So Region-5 and Region-3 are well represented.

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Proud to have a diverse class this week in Athens County, Ohio.

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Lots of class engagement with several opening activities assessing preparedness levels as well as gaps in PIO responses.

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Addressing difficult situations (aka anticipating media questions) with PIOs or agency heads before they happen is a critical skill that every PIO should master.

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Deep discussion on how all-hazards PIOs could support various operations with public safety. Also dissecting how Strategic Communications play a crucial role in planning.

#StratComms4Lyfe

#StratComms4Lyfe

On camera mock media interviews in the afternoon with focus on answering questions, talking points, redirects, and of course preparedness. Great time to hone the skills of every PIO and agency head.

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Show and tell on preparedness kits and PIO go readiness kits.

PC: E. Creech

PC: E. Creech

Including my famous “PIO stick”

PC: J. Beckett

PC: J. Beckett

Looking forward to day-2!

@rusnivek

 

 

Prepping for next week’s PIO classes and exercises

Prepping for another Public Information Officer, Crisis/TV interviews, and Social Media Courses next week.

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Reporting live from LEX18…

I am definitely using a few examples to help break the ice.

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Talofa from TALA FOU News!

But don’t worry, I have a whole library of examples to share – basically, what I’ve learned through experience.

One of the basic tips I talk about is RBF.

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WKYC-3 (NBC Affiliate) in Cleveland, Ohio Photo Cred: Adam Gercak

Posture is important especially since I look super small behind a podium.

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NBC24 (NBC affiliate) in San Francisco

One thing is for sure, on camera, I need to smile more.

HAZMAT-05

Fox-8 in Cleveland, Ohio

#Yikes

Who is attending? I have the Mayor, entire City Council, Safety Director, Public Safety Chiefs, Health Department, Emergency Management, etc….So yeah, it should be fun.

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Have a great long weekend peeps. Please take time to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms in this great country.

@rusnivek