I spent most of last week exhibiting at the new FDIC East event.( http://www.fdiceast.com ) FDIC East is PennWell’s attempt to bring their very successful program from FDIC Indy to the east coast. From talking with attendees, PennWell seems to be taking steps in the right direction, even with some tough problems this year.
For those of you who missed it, the housekeeping and culinary staff of most casinos have been on strike for the past month. So when I showed up at my room at the Showboat, I found a picket line, rooms that weren’t ready, and no way to switch to another casino. (ugh) I didn’t see any broken knee caps, but the strike was very obvious.
The new convention center was very nice. VolunteerFD.org had a booth with our good friends from PhillyFireNews.com. ( http://www.phillyfirenews.com ) There are quite a few small websites and we should all work togehter. JD over at PhillyFireNews.com is doing a great job covering Philly and Southern New Jersey and it was a pleasure exhibiting with him.
I went to the show to talk to departments, vendors, and to promote Cruisin for Solutions. The feedback from departments was very interesting. There seems to be a lack of information for volunteers that is not being addressed. Those who are familiar with VolunteerFD.org were very free with their praise, but it seems that we all need to work harder to get the word out.
The consensus from the attendees I talked to was that there was a lack of volunteer sessions and focus. I guess that just goes to prove that the VolunteerFD.org Roundtables are needed across the country. I am looking forward to presenting the roundtables at the Fire Rescue Expo in Vegas athttp://www.ems1.com/custom/FRM_EXPO_2.html
I also announced at the show a special offer that members can sign up for Cruisin for Solutions for only a $100 per person deposit! ( http://cruise.volunteerfd.org ) This offer is good until the close of the Fire Rescue Expo in November.
The other interesting thing for me was speaking with other vendors. There are quite a few good products out there but a lack of ways to reach volunteers. Over the next few months I will do my best to work with these vendors and help get the information out to you. Be sure to update your profiles at http://www.volunteerfd.org/profile.php so that you do not miss out!