We now live in a 24-hour news cycle where everyone with a phone can be the reporter and edit their version of events before your ambulance has even returned to the station! EMS could be at the top of a Twitter feed, on the front page or leading the newscast at any time. Organizations must now be equipped to react to journalists’ questions and to deal confidently and effectively with any media situation before the incident even occurs.

Social media’s around-the-clock activity and direct access to your audiences makes it a platform with both enormous upside and potential for danger. Understanding how to harness the power of social media is also a skill that organizations must master. In this social media boot camp and media master class, our faculty will walk and talk you through the tactics, techniques and procedures of developing a proactive approach to media management; how to develop social media policies and plans; and what to do when it all goes wrong.

In this session, you will:

• Learn how to develop your media and communication strategy
• Create a social media plan and calendar for your organization
• Hear case studies from faculty on difficult and challenging media issues
• Conduct both live and pre-recorded media interviews

Leading the session will be Rob Lawrence, Director of Strategic Implementation with Pro EMS and Executive Director of the California Ambulance Association; Mark Tenia, Public Relations and Media Manager at the Richmond Ambulance Authority; Alexia Jobson, Director of Public Relations at REMSA Health; Colin Parrish, Content Manager at YaJagoff Media LLC; Matt Daugherty, Director of Business Development at LifeFlight Eagle; Jeff Lucia, Director of Marketing and Communications at Falck USA; and Hilary Gates, Director of Educational Strategy at Prodigy EMS.