We recently competed for a public relations contract in North Carolina for the North Carolina Fire Chief's Association and the International Fire Chief's Association for a recruitment campaign for volunteer firefighters. Nationally there is a desperate need for volunteer firefighters as more than 90% of fire departments nationwide are either all voluntary or mostly voluntary. A startling statistic in NC was recently released: according to the NCFCA there is a fire-related death every 1.8 days in the state. Are the two issues connected?
In order to secure the contract we teamed up with long-time colleague Kelly Walsh who has a more than twenty year career teaching leadership to fire service leaders across the nation. At last count she has trained more than 100 fire departments in skills necessary to lead their departments into the future and remain competitive.
We also teamed up with local NC-based PR firm Clairemont Communications lead by Dana Phelps.
Tony has years of experience working with fire departments and connecting fire department related key messages in economic development recruitment campaigns and in he has served as one of a team of LGBT leaders who serve as a liaison to police and fire in the City of Phoenix.
Using Tony's skills of persuasive messaging he designed this campaign in addition to the public relations effort. In this approach a shift in public perception is achieved.
