Baltimore Meet-up

I absolutely love waking up in a hotel room! I'm not sure what it is though; maybe it's just knowing that I don't have to make my bed if I don't want to. Oh shoot, who am I kidding, I don't make it at home if I don't want to.

Now that I've had a few hours sleep, maybe I can try and channel my thoughts about the happenings of last night at the EMS Today Expo here in Baltimore, Md.

We didn't get to see too much of the floor displays since we didn't get here until a little after 1:00pm. What we did see was noting short of a living combination of a JEMS, Galls, Boundtree Medical or any other EMS type catalogue. Everybody has something they want to sell that is going to make our jobs easier. I feel so loved! It's almost like they care or something, because surely they don't think that we actually have funding for any of this in these hard times. I say this with love :)

The highlight, and of course the purpose of this trip was to go to the meet-up of the Chronicles of EMS, EMS 2.0 and the bloggers of all things Fire and EMS.

Who knew that I would ever be in the good company of the guys and gals that have become like an extended family over the past five months. It was awesome to sit and talk one on one with Chris Montero from EMS Garage! I never knew they made medics in bite size.

And of course there was Justin and Ted who took the time to to really spell out the vision and offer ways to make it happen in the trenches. The heart felt sincerity of these guys and the dedication of their spirit to making EMS work for everybody was almost magnetic. Even if you hated your job now you came away with a whole new perspective and appreciation for what we all do. Better than that though, you (I) came away with a more clear vision of where this is going. Rhett Flietz was just super; he really brought the involvement and application of social media down to my level. This guy is like a guru or something and a wealth of knowledge to boot.

I would be remiss if I tried to mention everyone who was there; just so many well knowns from our little circle. Good thing this blog has an edit feature.

But more than all the people who were just great to be around, there were the people who made this happen. I'll come back later and link names and organizations this weekend and post pictures. But JEMS and Goerge Washingtom University went A-L-L out with the party. I really expected to look up at any minute and see to big guy walking in at any minute, because I thought I was in heaven. Free beer and wine; and the food just kept coming!

There's just sooooo much more I need and want to mention, and I will later when I have more time. For now I though I need to get checked out of this room at the Sheraton on the 18th floor and get to the exhibit hall and try to take in some sights. Then it's back to work and out on the streets of Henry County tonight; but the lights will seem a little brighter this time.

Be well!!