When we sit down as PIO’s  to write at work we are confronted by a million distractions. Cell phones ringing and sending out a variety of tones to indicate emails, text messages etc., computers whistling out their own tones when Twitter posts are received, someone is IMing us or email has arrived. A lot to absorb simultaneously. No wonder many old starchy grammar police types bemoan the disappearance of sound standard writing styles and a good grasp of the gramatic. With all these distractions we can no longer pay as close attention to the importance of the standard rules of English and writing. Or should we throw away style books and concentrate on the present? With all the complaints that no one can “write” anymore, we might actually be living in an age of need for the greatest writing skills of all time.

Social media is changing the skill sets needed to succeed. That said I think writing is more important than ever. From long form to short form, from using text speak to fitting something into 140 characters — the better you can communicate and write for a specific style, the more successful you will be.

With that said though, if you are a traditionalist and yearn for your days in grade school when you started with a blank piece of loose leaf paper and were expected to use your imagination and literary skills to create – a new fangled program might be right up your alley.

One Page Per Day is a great easy to use program that challenges you to do something the old fashioned way. It eliminates excuses not to write by being an easy to access spot for creative writing. Add the fact that all the pages stay where you create them and its utility makes One Page Per Day a great daily writing habit to form to assist you with honing your traditional literary skills.

 Try it, or you might actually find it too boring in an over stimulated world or writing styles.

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A few years back I had the opportunity to visit and tour the Microsoft House of the Future on their campus in Seattle. The house, which looks like the interior of a real house, thrusts you 20 years into the future to show you how Microsoft products in R&D will help enhance our lives. One of the recurring themes during the visit was how “smart phones” would become the virtual nerve center of our daily life. The phones would open our front door, scan merchandise in stores, act as the remote to our electronics and do all the functions of our PC’s. Sort of like the famous Honeymooners episode where Ralph is the Chef of the Future selling one kitchen gadget that does the work of many.

Strangely, I make this visit to Microsoft just post of the smart phone era, but what they said is certainly becoming reality. Using a smartphone as a cell phone is now just one of numerous choices, all equally important.

Smartphone technology has always interested me in relation to our duties as PIO’s. Since we operate in the field and on the fireground a good amount of the time, these technological wonders will become our virtual field command centers.

I just came across an interesting article on SellingPower.com that says smartphones are now becoming more popular than PCs. This is not the first time that I have heard this prediction– I recently listened to a Ziff Davis webinar on security solutions that said smart phones will become the primary Internet access point by 2015.

Here are some interesting facts from the article to consider. The article obviously was written regarding applications for business, but still interesting reading:

• Worldwide sales of desktop PCs are expected to top 138 million in 2010, a yearly growth rate of 8%. Portable PCs are expected to top 217 million this year, a yearly growth rate of 29%. Smartphone’s are supposed to top 249 million with a growth rate of 57%.
• The corporate adoption of smartphones is largely being driven by the needs of field organizations, including outside sales teams.
• Today’s smartphones now provide additional functions, such as GPS. A smartphone can also access information including corporate CRM data that was previously only available on a network-connected personal computer.
• Applications are often easier to use and more informative than traditional websites.

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When I need to scour lists for media contacts I use Cision. At a cost of $3,000 per year it creates a perennial sweat for me worrying whether the funds will be in the budget to cover this relatively large expenditure the next fiscal year.

I’m always on the lookout for new ways to reach out to the media. A new FREE way to gather information comes from MBlast who this month introduced MediaSync. The website helps users find relevant journalists and outlets, keep current on editorial calendars, and organize media campaigns. Although geared for marketers I have been playing with the service and find it relevant for PR use.

The homepage, like Google’s, is a simple one to navigate. If you search a topic – for instance, “fire department” – results offer a list of publications that cover the topic, reporters who have written stories about it (currently the site has more than 500,000 media contacts), and the future editorial opportunities available. “Fire department” lists 1492 publication sources and 1205 journalists who wrote on the topic. The two most important areas for me to gather information would be a profile of the writer and future editorial opportunities. Unfortunately a journalist must register to fill in their own profile and for their publication to list upcoming editorial opportunities. For the vast majority of listings these two key components have not been filled in by the writers or their publications.

This service has to be looked upon as a “community” effort to make it work. Nobody gives you something for nothing. To make this work I have registered and encourage you to do the same so MediaSync, if we give it our patience, will evolve into a valuable media generating source.

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It’s kind of strange. For all the technology I employ on the fire ground – digital SLR camera, Flip HD video recorder, Blackberry for contacting the media, Tweeting and having the media contact me, the one area I lack in is logging the written word with ease.

Currently I still rely on my old reporter’s notebook (often soggy) a pen (often lost or soggy) or notes scrawled on anything I can find that resembles paper to record what I will need to later address the press or write a release.

I noted a few posts back that I am leery of using advanced technology that can break unexpectedly on the fire ground from heat, water, debris and shock.

One area I have been researching is the possibility of purchasing a rugged convertible notebook to use on the fire ground to both record and send information about the incident I am working.

Getac just announced today that its new V200 rugged convertible notebook computer, the world’s most powerful fully rugged convertible notebook to date, coming in at just 6 pounds, will be released in October. 

The V200 is powered by the advanced Intel Core i7-620LM processor running at 2.0GHz, MAX 2.8GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which helps the V200 outperform other rugged convertibles by up to 47 percent!

 The V200 convertible also features a 12.1-inch wide screen display and comes standard with Getac’s exclusive 1200 NITs QuadraClear™ technology, enabling users to easily read and operate their computer under direct sunlight.  The display also offers a resistive multi-touch capability enabling you to manipulate the screen by a series of single and multi-finger gestures even while wearing gloves.

Price has not been announced. Visit Getac for more information.

A new possibility to add to my 2011 department budget wish list.

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I do a lot of photography work for my Department and wish I had the budget to purchase a really good SLR digital like the Canon EOS 50D. Unfortunately two things are in my way. First is the price. At over $1,000 I would have to baby the camera at a scene which would not allow me to get the aggressive pictures I want. Secondly, with the dynamics of the fireground an “injury” to the camera must always be considered.

 Last month we had a barn fire. It was muddy and smoky on the fireground. My poor Canon Powershot S90 got hammered with smoke and a shower of debris and water from a deuce and a half. I mourned this LODD because this camera had done me great service for more than a year.

I recently replaced the Powershot with an Olympus Pen E-PL1. I’m happy with the results to date and am still getting familiar with all the settings and feature.

When I was looking for a new $300+ “disposable camera” a salesman asked me if I need to instantaneously download photos to the web via Facebook etc. When I told him yes, he showed me the new Kodak EasyShare M59

As we all know, currently when we take fire shots with a decent camera, not a cell phone job, we have to go back to the firehouse to download them on the computer before disseminating them.

The EasyShare M590 is an impressive 14 megapixels and is the world’s thinnest 5X optical zoom digital camera, which means it will fit nicely in a turnout coat pocket. But the best part is that you can instantly e-mail your pictures and video or upload them to YouTube, Facebook or Flickr from the fireground.

It’s a neat little camera that takes some great pictures. I opted out because I wanted a camera that I could grow with and buy interchangeable lenses, but if you are looking for a little workhouse that can access the internet instantaneously, for under $200 the EasyShare might be worth a shot.

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As a volunteer fire department PIO, and not in house based, I have to be prepared to respond from wherever I am in the community when an alarm is toned out. Since my main PIO “toolbox” is located at the main house, I need a fully redundant system that can duplicate some of the items I keep in the firehouse.

At the firehouse I have a large camera bag that holds the following items –

Digital camera

Camcorder

Kodak Xi8 pocket camcorder

Flip camcorder

PIO Armband

Extra batteries

PIO baseball cap

Reporter’s notebook

Pens

Business Cards

All of my media contacts are on speed dial on my Blackberry which I always carry.

I don’t always carry the camera bag when I go on calls. If I anticipate an alarm is going to be pretty much status quo I don’t bring the bag. As a result I have some backup in my turnout gear. In my pockets I have –

A small digital camera

Flip camcorder

Reporter’s notebook

Pens

Business Cards

My department does not allow turnout gear to be stowed in your vehicle. If I’m tooling around in my truck when an alarm is toned out and I pass the scene on the way to the firehouse, and it appears that sufficient manpower is on the fireground and I do not have to be a PIO/firefighter  I keep the following in my truck –

A digital camera

Flip camcorder

Reporter’s notebook

Pens

PIO vest

PIO baseball cap

Business cards

Extra batteries

In my jacket or pants pocket, all the time I keep a Flip video camera.

With this redundant system I am confident that I always have the tools needed to do my job, wherever I am.

The one reoccurring item I have in all my backups is a Flip cam. They are inexpensive, lightweight, can shoot both video and stills, have rapid edit capability, replay on any computer and quickly download to YouTube and other video sharing Website. In my estimation the quality is as good as or better than many full sized camcorders and is so inexpensive you can carry multiple units such as I do.

If you don’t use a Flip, Kodak Zi8 or other similar camera, you are missing out on a simple way to collect scene video.

Here’s a quick overview on the Flip –

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Awhile back I came across a dozen tips for Google searches. The information has made my life easier as a PIO. Features I never knew existed such as Exclude Words, Specific Document Types and This OR That has helped me save valuable time when I need to refer to Google for a search.

12 Google Search Tips

1. Explicit Phrase:
   Let’s say you are looking for content about internet marketing.  Instead of just typing internet marketing into the Google search box, you will likely be better off searching explicitly for the phrase.  To do this, simply enclose the search phrase within double quotes.

Example: “internet marketing”

1. Exclude Words:
   Let’s say you want to search for content about internet marketing, but you want to exclude any results that contain the term advertising.  To do this, simply use the “-” sign in front of the word you want to exclude.

Example Search: internet marketing -advertising

1. Site Specific Search:
   Often, you want to search a specific website for content that matches a certain phrase.  Even if the site doesn’t support a built-in search feature, you can use Google to search the site for your term. Simply use the “site:somesite.com” modifier.

Example: “internet marketing” site:www.smallbusinesshub.com

1. Similar Words and Synonyms:
   Let’s say you are want to include a word in your search, but want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms.  To do this, use the “~” in front of the word.

Example: “internet marketing” ~professional

1. Specific Document Types:
   If you’re looking to find results that are of a specific type, you can use the modifier “filetype:”.  For example, you might want to find only PowerPoint presentations related to internet marketing.

Example: “internet marketing” filetype:ppt

1. This OR That:
   By default, when you do a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search.  If you are looking for any one of one or more terms to match, then you can use the OR operator.  (Note:  The OR has to be capitalized).

Example: internet marketing OR advertising

1. Phone Listing:
   Let’s say someone calls you on your mobile number and you don’t know who it is.  If all you have is a phone number, you can look it up on Google using the phonebook feature.

Example: phonebook:617-555-1212 (note:  the provided number does not work – you’ll have to use a real number to get any results).

1. Area Code Lookup:
   If all you need to do is to look-up the area code for a phone number, just enter the 3-digit area code and Google will tell you where it’s from.

Example: 617

1. Numeric Ranges:
   This is a rarely used, but highly useful tip.  Let’s say you want to find results that contain any of a range of numbers.  You can do this by using the X..Y modifier (in case this is hard to read, what’s between the X and Y are two periods.  This type of search is useful for years (as shown below), prices or anywhere where you want to provide a series of numbers.

Example: president 1940..1950

1. Stock (Ticker Symbol):
   Just enter a valid ticker symbol as your search term and Google will give you the current financials and a quick thumb-nail chart for the stock.

Example: GOOG

1. Calculator:
   The next time you need to do a quick calculation, instead of bringing up the Calculator applet, you can just type your expression in to Google.

Example: 48512 * 1.02

1. Word Definitions:
   If you need to quickly look up the definition of a word or phrase, simply use the “define:” command.

Example: define:plethora

Web Search Strategies in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

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The critical eye of the electronic media will view us in greater real time as more and more outlets start using the LiveU system. The system bridges the bandwidth gap needed for live video transmission by “bonding” together multiple cell phone circuits, and according to many news outlets, could substantially reduce the cost of newsgathering and increase their amount of live coverage at breaking scenes.

While the LiveU system doesn’t guarantee a fixed or minimum amount of transmission bandwidth, users  report that they have been generally obtaining between 1.2 Mbps and 1.5 Mbps, with sometimes a dip below this. Such bit streams won’t bring back HD images, but there is sufficient bandwidth for delivery of breaking stories to the newsroom without the delay involved in dispatching an ENG truck and having its operator line up microwave dishes or boresight a satellite connection. Another plus is that there are no spectrum management issues.

I have seen the LiveU unit in action in Las Vegas. The camera operator and crew were weaving effortlessly across the floor of a major trade show broadcasting live with no cables or additional bulky equipment. I have not seen the LiveU employed at a local fire scene yet.

The LiveU units will also open the door to more websites that will be able to now afford live streaming coverage from a breaking story. Also look for the LiveU and its web based competitors to get into the hands of more and more freelancers and stringers because of its affordable price.

Currently a 1 Mbps uplink (internet video quality) will cost around $1500 a month with a mandatory one year contract ($18k total). 2 Mbps (broadcast TV quality) costs around $2500 a month ($30k/year). For those prices the media outlet gets a LU-30 transmitter and 30 hours of connectivity per month. Compare this to a full blown satellite truck at approximately $3,000 per day and you see the value.

Another piece of new media technology that can produce the good, bad and potential ugly for our Public Information Offices

Look for the increased use of LiveU at a fire ground near you.

LiveU Overview from a camera operator during a California wildfire.

Demo video of another system called Livestream, more geared towards web applications, that shows the quality.

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Believe me, I am not shilling for any business, but I find great value in a number of the free webinars that are held by Cision.  I have used Cision services since they acquired Bacons.

Their media database is the worlds largest and most comprehensive. There media contact lists are constantly updated so you know your release or advisory is getting in the right hands. You can find more info about Cision on their website.

Two free tools I use from Cision on a frequent basis are their blog, which does an excellent job covering a full spectrum of public relations topics, and as mentioned, in their webinars. They held a webinar on social media last month that offered world class advice with no registration fee. The time they discuss Cision is limited and pretty much a soft sell. No obligation to buy products or hear a pitch about their value.

Their next webinar is taking place Tuesday, February 23^rd. It is a demonstration of their CisionPoint software. Not the most compelling topic, but if you are not interested in this one, at least get on their e-mail list so you get notified of subsequent webinars.

Here’s the registration page for next week’s session.

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 I have posted about the logistical problems of occasionally getting transportation to a scene forthwith. How can I not envy the deluxe digs the PIO staff travels in when heading to a scene in Los Angeles.

FDNNTV did a video piece on this superb piece of equipment. Here is the skinny on the rig and a video tour of the layout.

Oh, by the way, if you have PIO wheels send me a picture we can post – jeff@thefirepio.org.

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