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?
