Something fun for a Saturday. Make a photo collage of your social networking profile using the profile photos of your friends with Frintr.com. This is my Twitter profile (@gfriese).

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Last night I gave an EMS Week talk to about 60 EMS professionals from north central Wisconsin about using social media and social networking to build their personal brand. I talked about things that have worked for me, some of the social networking tools that are available, and how other EMS professionals like Jim Hoffman, David Konig, Jamie Davis, Steve Whitehead, Natalie Quebodeaux, Chris Montera, Chris Kaiser, Justin Schorr, Ted Setla, Mark Glencourse, Jeremiah Bush, and many others are using social networking to achieve their professional goals.

I am well aware of, and regularly reminded, that social networking involvement only involves a small percentage of EMS professionals. Last night’s audience at the EMS week event ranged in age from early 20s to late 60s. Attendees were first responder volunteers, paid on-call volunteer EMTs, full-time paramedics, critical care transport nurses, and EMS medical director physicians. By show of hands I asked them questions about their use and knowledge of different social networks and social media content.

• Facebook - about half the audience has a Facebook account

• EMSUnited.com, EMSConnect.com, JEMSConnect.com – no one has an account on one of these Ning powered social networks sites that are moderated just for EMS professionals

• TheEMTSpot.com – no one in the room reads Steve’s fine blog

• ChroniclesofEMS.com – no one present had heard of the Chronicles or watched the pilot episode

• MedicCast – only one attendee listens to the Jamie Davis’ weekly podcast

For those of us creating social media this speaks to the tremendous opportunity to grow our audience. Keep sharing the amazing resources available on EMS blogs, videos and podcasts with other EMS professionals, but you will probably need to do it face-to-face and not with a “share this” button.

How are you telling other EMS professionals about the value of EMS Social Networks and EMS related social media?

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About a year ago I dove into different social media tools. I think my first foray was Facebook. Then before I knew it I had multiple Twitter accounts, several blogs, profiles on five Ning social networks, a LinkedIn profile, a YouTube channel, a Flickr account, and RSS subscriptions to dozens of blogs.

Based just on user numbers most Everyday EMS Tips readers are using Facebook for their only social media presence. A few of you might have LinkedIn profiles, and a very small number of you are using Twitter or have joined the EMS Ning networks (EMSConnect, EMSUnited, orJEMSConnect).

If you are uncertain how to get started visit PIOSocialMediaTraining.com and enroll in the social media boot camp. You will learn about social media tools and actions you and/or your organization should be taking.

One of the trends that has begun in the last few years and will continue to build momentum in the 2010 is the importance of building your own personal brand. Like it or not you are leaving foot prints as you wander the web commenting or writing on blog posts, uploading videos and photos, and creating social networking profiles. When was the last time you Googled your name? Were there any results? Are you proud of those results? Will those results help you when you apply for your next job or promotion?

In 2010 commit to positive “oversharing” online that demonstrates your curiosity, willingness to share with others and learn from others, and commitment to the EMS profession. Ways you can begin to “overshare” and build your online brand include:

1. Comment on blog posts by other EMS professionals. Listen to and comment on podcasts.

2. Create and maintain social networking profiles at places like LinkedIn.com, EMSConnect.com, and Twitter.com. Once you have a profile send me an invite to connect. I can also introduce you to other professionals.

3. Start your own blog or ask to contribute posts to established blogs. I accept guest blog posts and I know Chris Kaiser of LifeUndertheLights.com also considers guest blog posts. Jamie Davis also accepts guest posts for the MedicCast blog.

4. Create a series of videos about assessment and treatment procedures you excel at. Ask your friends and family to star in the videos as patients and rescuers.  Upload your videos to YouTube and then tell people in your network about those videos so we can embed them in blog posts or link to them from Twitter.

Do you think having a personal brand matters for EMS professionals? Tell me why or why not.

This is the 7th installment of the 31 Days of CE series for Everyday EMS Tips.

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I saw some great products at the EMS Expo 2009 exhibit hall in Atlanta last week. If you saw something you liked, use these Everyday EMS social media Tips to learn more about the company and their products.

1. E-mail the vendor and ask for hyperlink(s) to customer print, audio, and video testimonials about the products that are not on the vendor’s Web site.

2. Search social media sites for comments about the vendor and their products. Start with search.twitter.com. Set-up an RSS of the Twitter search in your RSS reader.

3. Set-up a daily Google Alert e-mail for the product to find posts about the vendor and product.

4. Search the more than six billion YouTube videos for videos showing the product in use at actual incidents or during training scenarios.

5. Ask the nearly 20,000+ members of EMSConnect.com, JEMSConnect.com, or EMSUnited.com members for their opinions and experiences by starting a discussion.

Finally, browse the archives of MedicCast and EMS Garage podcasts. These shows review and discuss products for EMS professionals. If the product you are interested in has not been reviewed or discussed, contact the show hosts – Jamie Davis and Chris Montera – and ask them to check out the product.

Which products and services caught your eye? How are using social media to learn more about those products?

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At EMSConnect.com a student going from EMT-B to paramedic asked for ideas and resources to supplement the material and information he is receiving in the classroom. It is great that this student is taking the initiative to find helpful information on the web.

The web is chock full of free information. Sorting the wheat from the chafe is what makes it difficult. A few favorite websites from Everyday EMS Tips to get him started include:

1) EverydayEMSTips is a tips website is for EMT students, practicing EMTs, and EMS managers.
2) paramedic.alltop.com is an aggregation service of all the top paramedic websites.
3) the EMT Spot - this is one of my favorite blogs and has a lot of great information for students.
4) The MedicCast is a podcast and blog for EMTs.  Much of the content is directed to students. The MedicCast extra (not free, but less than a $1 a day) has a ton of great resources for EMT and paramedic students
5) Use EMSConnect to connect with paramedic instructors. Ask them good questions and look for their responses to questions from other students. There is already a lot of great information there.
6) Another resource is the Turbo Medic content bundle. Like the MedicCast Extra this resource is not free, but it is packed with content to help build knowledge and confidence.

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