Especially after FirefighterNation picked up 5K, it seems like there are all kinds of interesting people on here. It won't be long before we are celebrating 10K. I mean, there's a ton of people who haven't found there way here yet and the whole network provides a way to share ideas and stuff in ways never possible when I first became a firefighter. The hard part is balancing the act of checking in on the Nation vs. making sure I check my e-mails (and answering them), finishing that paper I spoke of last, working on planning issues, and now studying for an upcoming examination. As soon as I sit down to the computer, there's that temptation to just go see who's new and who's got something to say. So if I don't reply to some of you over a period of time, it's not that I am ignoring you. I actually have to work.

But all that being said, this whole experiment is something amazing. This is an opportunity to pick the brains of many people you have never met. It's networking in the purest sense; you get a chance to talk to people you don't actually know and get to learn from their experiences and their opinions and their own education. It seems pretty obvious, but if you stayed at home and never met anyone else, your world-view would be very limited, and in the fire service, there seems to be some pretty parochialized thinking (which may be why we are who we are right now).

For example, in pimping my group Cancel The Engine, I searched for anyone who had the word "truck" in their profile and voila! I had the names of over 200 people who were potential friends, sharing my interest in promoting the beauty of truck work. Can you get that kind of result at a convention or academy? I don't think so. This takes a little of the trial and error out of determining who has something you want to hear. In another way of doing this, I went through profiles of people with interesting pictures (and I'm not just referring to the good looking ones) just to see what they said on their page. Some of them weren't exactly people I wanted to ask more questions of, so of course, you move on. Some had some things to say that I found interesting, so I chat them up. How can you do that in life without offending someone? (Oh, you seem boring/shallow/annoying, I'd like to go talk to someone else now). That's right, you can't.

There have been those who are on here that I just don't get. That's a whole blog or thread of its own. We want to be perceived as professionals whether we are career or volunteer, but we say things that make me wonder how anyone can take us seriously, like the guy who wants to know what state he can move to so he can run lights and sirens in his POV. If that's your criteria for professionalism, I'm at a total loss of words to answer that. This site should delve into some deeper areas, like what we can do to solve the whole vollie/career angst, or how we can better ventilate structures, or sharing knowledge we have that maybe others don't. I'm afraid you won't catch me answering the post about what color underwear I like to wear while fighting fire.

It's a social site; there's room for being less than serious. And despite my credentials, you'll find I don't take myself as seriously as some of you would think. There are some pretty funny moments on these things. However, it's an opportunity to grow that none of you, myself included, can afford to squander. So take some time to meet more people, learn about them, and share what you have, and maybe they'll be kind enough to share back with you, even if that's just by making small talk about the place they live or the things they've seen. Because everyone on here has a story, or they wouldn't be here.