First of all, Fast Company [www.fastcompany.com] is the only magazine I read cover-to-cover every month. That says a lot considering all of the firefighting trade journals I read monthly.

I use Fast Company for my Fire Company. Without fail, I find useful ideas to make our fire department a better organized, more efficient and more effective emergency services provider.

You'd think in an industry where we pretty much "enjoy" 100% market share that we would want for nothing. Despite that, many if not most of the fire departments in our area and across the nation are habitually underappreciated, understaffed, and underfunded.

Fast Company provides me with a seemingly endless supply of ideas to better promote everything our fire department does and the opportunities we offer to be a part of our volunteer team.

The following article touched on the topic of how we live, learn, digest and understand messages. It inspired me to create some trigger statements that we can use in the recruitment of volunteer firefighters, which is critical to the safety of our communities.

Time to Get Trigger Happy struck a chord with me: [http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/119/time-to-get-trigger-happy.html]

After reading the article, I'm thinking:

• The next time you hear the wail of a fire engine's siren: Make the Call. Volunteer Today.
• The next time you see the flashing lights of an ambulance race past: Make the Call. Volunteer Today.
• The next time you see a story of tragedy on the news: Make the Call. Volunteer Today.

While the slogans are rough cut, I'd love to hear your opinion on the subject.