I figured I would post my final thoughts on the EMS Expo after a few days of being back in the saddle and getting moving again. There is nothing but positive things to say about what was experienced out there, but before I go there let me explain what actually happened. Chris Montera of EMS Garage was contacted by the Cygnus Media Group who owns the EMS Magazine.com and EMS Responder.com. They had asked that Chris come up with some type of media coverage of the expo. Of course he obliged and I got a call asking what I thought about providing video support, what was I to say… no? of course not, so the group of us (Thaddeus Setla, Chris Montera, Chris Eldridge, Carissa O’Brien, Jamie Davis, Greg Friese) came together and provided a new website, social media outreach, video production, live talk shows at the conference and daily uploaded product reviews and commentary from the floor of the expo. This was nothing short of amazing from a media standpoint and I want to thank the Cygnus Media Group particularly Nancy and Judy for their support on this project and we hope that we will corner the market on being able to provide this coverage for many years to come!
From my experience working with many EMS organizations we are still a very conservative group, but there are a few supporters of Social Media in the EMS industry as I learned from Richard M Huff (@richmhuff) Chief of Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey and Journalist for the New York Daily News. We spent a week with him at the EMS Expo and found that there is a growing consensus that EMS truly needs this to improve communication among EMS professionals everywhere! Check him out at http://www.ahfirstaid.org
EMS Expo in Atlanta was a huge success from a marketing, promotion, social media, podcasting, streaming live, video production standpoint. So much was accomplished with such a little crew I still sit back in amazement. Carissa Caramanis O’Brien, Chris Montera, Chris Eldridge, Jamie Davis and Greg Friese all participated to make this a major success. We even were able to host the First Ever EMS Expo Live Tweetup at the STATS Bar in Atlanta on Thursday night. With over 35 people joining the party and more joining online live as we streamed interviews and commentary about the EMS Expo it was apparent that we just made history! Here is another short video clip from the EMS Expo Live!