A few weeks ago I received my evaluations from participants in my two sessions at EMS World Expo 2011. I presented two sessions:

• Trends in Online Emergency Responder Education (view the slides)
• Using Social Media to Market your EMS Agency (view the slides)

EMS World Expo 2011

The evaluation scores and comments are about what I expected. I thought I would share the responses to the question “Are there any sessions or topics you would like to see added for for future events?” as this might inspire you to submit for EMS World Expo 2012 in New Orleans, LA.

Trends in Online Emergency Responder Education attendees wrote:

• Is online training good for your department?
• How to develop an online training session (framework)
• Would like to see a session that actually teaches you/works with student on how to use technology of online EMS education. Tools, tricks, etc.
• More classes on e-learning (all aspects: CE, initial, etc.)
• More EMS Leadership training
• Empact provider course

Using Social Media to Market your EMS Agency attendees wrote:

• How to build your social media presence from scratch
• Hands-on class about how to set up, upload and tag photos
• More social media sessions
• More social media usage topics

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Last week is still a blur to me. I arrived Monday night and left Friday afternoon and felt rushed for time from the moment I arrived until the moment I left. My schedule was packed with meetings, social events, and presentations. The one thing I didn’t schedule and now regret not scheduling was time to tour the exhibit hall. Although I wore a path from the front door to the CentreLearn booth and the ProMed Network Podcasting Studio I only managed to see about 50% of the exhibit hall. On my quick lap through a portion of the hall I was able to make several important face to face connections including, Alexis at Magnum Boots USA and Ruth from Rip Shears.

I also was grateful to receive product samples from:

• Klenz – makers of the XXL Shower in a Towel (Read a review by the Social Medic
• Glucobrands – grip, rip, and sip Gluco Gel in a conveinent rip to open pouch
• EKG Concepts – now distributing two new education tools the R-CAT-12 for STEMI and R-CAT for Arrhythmias

The acquisition I was most proud to receive was this CREW t-shirt from the First Responders Network.

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Before EMS World Expo I shared a bunch of presentation and PowerPoint tips. After presenting Online Education Trends for Emergency Responders and Using Social Media to Market Your EMS Agency last Thursday I have a few more to add to the list.

1. Arrive early. I heard that the Wednesday morning presenters arrived in their rooms to discover the digital projectors had not yet been delivered.

2. Delete slides during your final preparation. In the final 24 hours before my presentations I removed 6 to 10 slides from each presentation. This tightened the message and ensured I was within the time available (1 hour, 15 minutes).

3. Roll with the tech made available. It has been several years since I have presented without a wireless lavlier microphone so I was pretty surprised to see the lavlier microphone was a wired microphone. The cord was plenty long enough, but it took a bit to figure out how to manage the cord. I looped the cord over my pinky finger in the hand I was using to hold my presentation remote.

4. Connect with audience personally before the presentation. I like to quickly set-up and then wander around getting to know attendees. Some things I learned – it is possible to buy Siberian Huskies while living in Saudi Arabi and Notre Dame football is turning around (this was before their weekend loss).

5. Share some of your passions and interests with the audience during your introduction. I presented on the day the Wisconsin Badgers started their football season and one week before the Packers kick-off the NFL season. Because the Badger game began as my second presentation began I asked the audience to indicate Wisconsin Touchdown by raising their arms in the touchdown signal and then to make a W by putting their arms out at a 45 degree angle. I was tickled to receive three touchdown notifications during the presentation.

6. Upload your slides to Slideshare.com before your presentation. Even though the audience is likely to photograph your slides (see example from the Social Medic) it is reassuring to many in the audience they can view your slides later. I also embedded the slides into blog posts to publish just as my presentation began.

7. Always end on time.

Read related posts and tips:

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Tune in here Wednesday through Friday for live episodes of the MedicCast, EMS Garage, EMSEduCast, EMS Leadership, and Standing Orders from EMS World Expo Las Vegas. The live streams is thanks to ZOLL Medical.

Streaming video by Ustream

To learn more about upcoming shows visit MedicCastLive.com.

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I am EMS World Expo in 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This morning I wrote (yes, with a pen and paper) these lists of 3 things, people, places, objects, resources.

3 NAEMT Courses Taught at EMS World Expo
1. Emergency Pediatric Care
2. Advanced Medical Life Support
3. Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support

3 More NAEMT Courses Taught at EMS World Expo
1. Tactical Combat Casualty Care
2. EMS Safety
3. PHTLS Instructor

3 Can’t Miss EMS World Expo Events
1. ZOLL EMS Blogger Bash
2. Physio-Control Social Media Lounge
3. EMS World Party

3 Big Topics in 2011 at EMS World Expo
1. Capnography
2. 12 Lead
3. Airway Management

3 Ideas for EMS World Expo 2012
1. Track for short presentations (15-30 minutes max.)
2. 5K fun run
3. Social spaces for talking to people

3 Topics that will be Big in 3 Years at EMS World Expo
1. Community Paramedicine
2. Chronic Disease Management
3. Data Driven Continuing Education

3 New EMS World Expo Presenter You Should Meets
1. Kevin Collopy
2. Michael Fraley
3. Justin Schorr
4. Richard Huff

3 Speakers Every EMT Should Hear at Least Once
1. Bryan Bledseo
2. Ken Bouvier
3. Bruce Evans

3 Social Media for EMS Evangelists You Should Know
1. Carissa Obrien
2. Rommie Duckworth
3. David Konig

3 Top EMS Bloggers You Will Find at EMS World Expo
1. Kelly Grayson
2. Scott Keir
3. Patrick Lickiss
4. Tom Bouthilet

3 Top EMS Podcasters You Will Find at EMS World Expo
1. Jamie Davis
2. Tim Perkins
3. Chirs Montera
4. Jim Hoffman

Business Travel: 3 Reasons it is Glorious
1. Meeting new people
2. Eating out
3. Not having to clean-up dishes or make the bed

Business Travel: 3 Reasons it is NOT Glorious
1. Ironing my pants and shirts
2. Living out of a suitcase
3. Lots of germs

3 Great Things about Coming to Las Vegas
1. Early morning run on the Strip
2. Great people watching
3. Sensory overload

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It was a hot weekend as I busily prepared for EMS World Expo where it will be truly hot.

Three things that made this weekend a scorcher.

1. I participated in the Portage County United Way Run, Bike, Unite Duathlon. I was very pleased with my 16th overall finish which include a blistering (for me) 2.2 mile first running leg at 6:40 pace. Full race recap to come.

2. The US Pro Cycling Challenge was awesome to watch on television. The final stage roared through Denver and Levi Leipheimer, my favorite pro cyclist, was the overall winner.

3. The grease trap under my gas grill caught on fire Friday night. Fortunately, I had already removed fresh corn on the cob and a giant sockeye salmon fillet that had been hand delivered to our home by friends from Alaska before the fire began. Flames were roaring from under the grill and up through the burners. I was able to turn off the grill and gas and then had to use a fire extinguisher to vanquish the flames. Fortunately my grill is on a brick patio and well clear of the house. Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep!

But the hotness of my weekend is nothing compared to the heat I will experience in Vegas when I step off the plane this afternoon. Today’s high is double the temp I woke up to this morning. Bring it!

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Video tour and showcase of new Burbank Fire Department Ambulance that will be showcased at EMS World Expo next week. I really like videos and social media efforts like this that give EMS agencies and Fire departments an opportunity to:

1) Showcase the work we do

2) Explain the important features of an ambulance or fire truck

3) Discuss all-hazards response

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I was asked by a first-time EMS World Expo presenter for presentation tips.

At EMS World I invariably have found myself in a massive room with 400 seats which dwarfs the size of the audience for my niche topic presentations. Usually my room is bordered by Steve Berry and Ken Bouvier and their audience is lined up in the hall trying to find the seats. Instead of worrying about how many people are in my room I reassure myself with these thoughts: 1) EMS World wanted me to present because they believed my topics would be of interest to some attendees. 2) The people in the room are interested and I have a chance to give them ideas, resources, and inspiration to help them as an EMS professional.

Presentation Tips

1. Arrive early so you can set-up your computer, connect to the projector, and put on your lavalier microphone

2. Use the microphone. Even if the size of the audience is small the room is large.

3. Before you start work the room to find out why people chose the session, what they are hoping to learn, and what questions they hope to get answered. Ask their name and organization and if you can work that into the presentation.

4. Move around the room as you present. The podium is usually very far from the audience. Get closer to the audience by moving around the room as you present.

5. Ask “What questions do you have?” and count silently in your head as attendees compose the question they want to ask.

6. When someone leaves the room re-focus on delivering outstanding content to the people in the room. There are lots of reasons people leave a session. I would rather be focused on the people in the room instead of being distracted and worried about the people that leave.

7. Bring your own Wireless Presentation Remote (Amazon affiliate link) for advancing slides.

PowerPoint Slides

1. Use slides to support your presentation with keywords, images, or animations that help reinforce your important points.

2. The number of slides isn’t important. The quality of the information on the slides is important.

3. Increasingly attendees are photographing slides instead of asking for a copy of your slide deck. Use a large font, a text color that contrasts with the background, and move to the side to allow a decent photograph.

4. Invite attendees to connect with you after the session while still at the conference and after on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.

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Paramedic and educator Rom Duckworth is writing a series of articles for EMSWorld.com on the theme of “Why won’t they learn.”

Part 1: How course content and student attitudes impact performance outcomes

Part 2: Getting to know the large group of people facing you

Part 3: to be published soon …

Rom also discussed this topic on episode 101 of the EMSEduCast – the podcast by and for EMS Educators.

Check it out and share your thoughts on why students resist education with Rom in the comments.

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Dave Konig, the Social Medic, has written a great article about using Social Media tools and networks to prepare for and make the most of social media tools at EMS World Expo.

I have one contrary comment – Put your #$%@! phone back in your pocket and talk to people. You just traveled across the country at considerable time and expense so take advantage of this time for face to face communication. Put your phone on silent, bury it under several flaps, buttons, and zippers, and look for the people you only know through social media and then …. gasp … talk to them.

When you aren’t engaged in face to face communication consider these additional tips for how you can bring EMS World Expo home with you and to EMS professionals that can’t attend:

1. Use your smartphone’s camera to take pictures of slides during presentations that include key points and summary information. This is faster and easier than writing notes. Position yourself well for photos.

2. Participate in backchannel communications by Tweeting or posting to Facebook or Google+ during the presentation. Share useful tips, insightful quotes from the speaker, and even your opinion of the quality of the presentation. Use hashtags like #EMSWorldExpo to help others find your posts.

3. Use your Smartphone to video tape and post conversations with other EMS professionals and presenters you meet at EMS World Expo. Do some pre-planning of what you want to discuss and record. For example, think of one question you want to ask 5 people at EMS World Expo. Introduce yourself to the interviewee, explain what you want to do, get their permission, and start recording a short video with your phone. I would like to watch videos of other EMS professionals and presenters answering questions like:

• Why should an EMT attend EMS World Expo in 2012?
• What is the top product in the exhibit hall?
• What is your favorite tip for EMS newbies?
• Who is one of your EMS mentors or heroes?
• What is something you learned from a patient recently?
• What is the best EMS smartphone app?
• How can we make EMS continuing education better?

Post the videos individually to your YouTube channel or mash them together into a compilation video. I will be watching for your videos so I can post them here.

P.S. I think this is such a good idea that if you find me at EMS World Expo and can prove to me you have already recorded at least 5 videos I will buy you dinner.

How else can you use your Smartphone at EMS World Expo?

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