Season 3 Episode 4: Benefits of Professional Organizations with guest Lee Ann Magoski

In this episode of the CommsCoach Podcast, host Lori Henricksen sits down with Lee Ann Magoski, Director of Emergency Communications for Monterey County, to discuss how professional organizations help 9-1-1 dispatchers, telecommunicators, supervisors, trainers, and ECC leaders grow their careers and strengthen the emergency communications profession.

Lee Ann shares why organizations like NENA, APCO, and other public safety associations are valuable for dispatch professionals at every stage of their career. From training opportunities and standards development to legislative advocacy, technology updates, networking, scholarships, certifications, and access to public safety partners, professional membership can help telecommunicators stay informed, connected, and prepared for what’s next.

Lori and Lee Ann also talk about the power of networking beyond your own dispatch center. Whether you work in a small PSAP, large emergency communications center, law enforcement dispatch center, fire communications center, or 9-1-1 training program, professional organizations give dispatchers a way to share ideas, find support, learn best practices, and bring meaningful improvements back to their agencies.

This conversation also explores practical ways supervisors and ECC leaders can encourage their teams to get involved, including group memberships, training access, webinars, scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and chapter participation. Lee Ann emphasizes that every telecommunicator has the ability to make a difference, whether they are brand new to the profession or already leading at the local, state, or national level.

If you are a 9-1-1 dispatcher, telecommunicator, CTO, trainer, supervisor, manager, director, educator, or public safety professional looking to grow your network, strengthen your career, and better understand the value of professional organizations in emergency communications, this episode is for you.

Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/comms-coach-podcast/

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:11

This is Comms Coach, the podcast that delves deep into the world of 911 emergency communications. Your host, Lori Hendrickson, served more than 20 years as a call taker, dispatcher, and trainer, and started one of the first 911 vocational training programs in Las Vegas. And now, your host of Comms Coach, Lori Hendrickson.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Today we're diving into the world of professional organizations and exploring why they're so important for dispatchers like you. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or just starting out, joining a professional organization can offer a wealth of benefits from staying up to date on industry trends to building a strong network of peers. We'll discuss the various perks available, including training opportunities, support resources, insights into current legislation, technology updates, and so much more. I'm glad you can join us as we uncover the power of professional membership and how it can elevate your dispatch career. I am thrilled to have my friend Leanne Magoski, Director of Monterey County, join us today. Her expertise in professional organizations will undoubtedly provide valuable insights. So welcome, Leanne, and thank you for participating in this podcast. Thank you. Can you please give us a brief description of your background in public safety and what you're currently doing?

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Oh gosh, I feel like you you gave the listeners just this amazing uh update that I'm not sure where I'm going to be able to live up to. For those that don't know me, I'm uh Leanne Magoski. Uh I've worked at four agencies throughout California. And for the last seven and a half years, I've been the director of emergency communications in Monterey County, which is in the Central Coast just south of the Bay Area of California. Throughout my 30 years, and most specifically, probably the last 10 or 15, I've been actively involved in professional organizations. And I am a pretty big advocate for the profession. I'm an advocate for using technology to make things better for dispatchers and just generally making sure that telecommunicators, managers, supervisors, trainers, all of them have a voice at the tables where decisions are made. Since I started in this profession as a teenager, um, and it's the only full-time profession I've known, I've seen a lot, and I just want to continue to be a steward to those out there. So thank you for anyone willing to listen to me.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

And thank you for being here today. You have such a vast experience, again, starting from the high school, the high school level, um, that this is gonna be a great, great discussion today. To give our listeners a little bit of a background, what specific professional organizations are particularly relevant to dispatchers?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Well, I gotta say, I mean, for those that know me, know that I Nina is near and dear to my heart. Um, and I I may or may not be on the current executive board of Nina. But you know, I have been a member of Nina for over 15 years, but I've also been an APCO member, I believe, coming on 19 years right now. So I believe APCO and Nina are the preeminent organizations for telecommunicators. There's a lot of new initiatives out there and a lot of support groups coming out, but I do think that as professional organizations go for emergency communications 911, um, these two organizations are the organizations that advocate for us. But, you know, I really do want to say that regardless of the organization you choose to align yourself with, maybe it's a local law enforcement group, maybe it's a local fire group. As long as you're getting that ability to network with people and understand the issues and express your experiences from your perspective, that's really important.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Absolutely. And for those who are involved or want to be involved in emergency telecommunications training at the high school or college level, um, there's also two great organizations to get involved with in that perspective as well. So there's Lapson, which is the Law and Public Safety Education Network, and then ACDE, the Association for Career and Technical Education. And with ACDE, there's also chapters within each of your states as well.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

And see, that just really makes a sorry to cut you off, that really makes a great point of while I can talk to you about the benefits of Mina and APCO, there are so many great professional organizations. And I know that this podcast really is focused on pick a professional organization, get out there, do some networking. There's a lot of value there.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Absolutely. No matter what you're in.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

So, why is it important though for dispatchers to join a professional organization? And then what are some of the key benefits that they'll gain from that membership?

SPEAKER_00 7:25

So, you know, when I first started, I paid for my membership the first time I had been to a local, a regional like training symposium, and I had no idea. I had no idea what was out there. This was like, wow, because I can tell you, you know, I'm gonna date myself back in 1996 when you're struggling to be a trainee. You're considering going to the library. How do I survive this job? Right. Well, okay, fast forward, nobody goes to the library to look for a book that says, How do I survive this job? Because I don't know that there's a book on it. But these professional organizations can really help give you career insight at whichever level you are in. The other important thing about professional organizations is the information is a little more tempered and based in some editorialness. Um, maybe editorialness is the wrong thing, but but my point is that it's got some validity behind it because everyone can go on to a social media group and get all sorts of opinions. Those opinions sometimes are not based in policy, legislation, or the strategic planning of the organization that you've joined. And I think that a lot of our younger telecommunicators in the profession tend to sometimes go to these social media groups. And so, you know, to tie it back into your question, what is the value of a professional organization? A professional organization gives you education that you can purchase either through your organization or on your own. They're going to give you what's going on, news of what's going on in the association world and why it's beneficial. It's going to give you information about current legislation and how it may impact you. It also gives you a network of people. And then one of the biggest things is it also allows you to participate in standards work. There's a lot of standards and best practices that your professional organizations will publish on how best to do things so that you at whatever level are not stuck recreating the wheel. And by the way, for Nina, you do not have to be a Nina member to participate in our standards development work. I do have to say that. So if you're not even sure, but you're like, I am have a lot of passion about this um standard, you can join our groups. And we hope that you find the value of it and end up wanting to uh join the association. The other point is professional organizations, they have events. Both large organizations have events, and when you are a member, you get discounted access to those events. In addition, you know, both associations have webinars, they have access to free learning resources, and it's just a wide group of things that you're going to be able to get outside of what your agency may be able to offer.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Absolutely. And again, you and I have talked about it before. I had no idea of the world outside of my dispatch center for many years. And once I found Nina and Apco, um, I was amazed at all the resources that were there and the training. And that's where that really helped me, you know, when I was teaching dispatch. But then the resources that are there are nice. But like you'd mentioned, that networking, that networking helps with knowledge and training ideas, just talking to people at the different conferences or people you meet about, hey, what do you do in this situation? Or hey, how can I train this way? Because the people that are involved have so many different ideas from all facets and different types of centers, from a very small to a huge center.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

So, you know, one point on that is I think the one thing is when you get in your center and you're like, oh my gosh, we we don't do this right, or oh my gosh, this is terrible. I can't believe that we do this. Or we we do this, but gosh, could it be better? Or we do this really good thing. When you go talk to your peers at other organizations and agencies, you don't feel quite so alone. You go, oh, it's that way everywhere, or it could be worse, or oh, that's a really good idea that I can come back and implement. And that truly is the value of associations is that networking and sharing of ideas.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Absolutely. And that kind of brings us to the next question I have is how can professional organizations help dispatchers stay up to date on current trends and legislation?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

So both Nina and APCO um are very active in the legislative space. And I can say that as public safety telecommunicators, we have allowed a lot of legislation 20 years ago to be driven primarily by law enforcement and fire. Having Nina and APCO become an equal partner at the table with these other professional organizations allows our voices to be heard. Now, a lot of people would say, well, we're still not seen as protected service workers at the federal level. Well, we still don't have federal legislation for next gen 911. But I have seen an amazing shift over the last five to 10 years in local legislation because of the efforts of these professional organizations at your state chapter level. For example, here in California, we really learned a lot from our legislative education at the national level. We brought that down to the state level. We worked with our state legislature to get dispatchers recognized as first responders in California. We recently wrote a shared letter and we were on the same level as our police and fire and our chiefs in one letter supporting a piece of legislation. That's gonna really set us forward because of that legislation and advocacy at our level for what we need in the dispatch center, not necessarily respectfully for what our partners in the field may need. We have a different point, and we also have that ability to advocate for legislation. So if any if you had any takeaway from this podcast, remember legislation isn't just about that federal level, it's at your state level and it's also at your local level.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Right. That's what a lot of people don't realize is things do start locally a lot of times. When I first became involved with Nina, it was the time that I went to Nina goes to Washington, and they had they had actually set up the meetings for me with my congressmen and my senators and all of that. And it was the first time I actually got to go in their offices there. And then once I got back to Las Vegas, got to meet with them here. I had the dispatch students actually meet with them, and it was really cool. It was cool for the students to see that, you know what, yes, you can make a difference. And I think Nina and Apco are very good at doing that and make giving us a voice.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

The best thing that anyone can do is if they meet with one of their local elected officials or any elected official or their staff, invite them to your center. Please come to our center. Let us show you what it is we do. That public education of your elected officials will plant a seed that will help you in the future when something comes across their desk as policy or an upcoming law. So it's all about chance and you educating them in that moment. You're open 24-7, folks. Make sure you tell your manager or director that you've invited an elected official, obviously. Right. Invite them. Let them sit down and listen to your calls. They have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Right. No, and that's a good tip because a lot of people don't even think that you could do that.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

At GovWorks, we put all responders first, starting with the first first responders, 911. That's why we built Commscoach, the AI-powered platform designed to help hire, evaluate, train, and strengthen entire teams. With nearly 100% of call and radio QA, you see the full picture of performance, compliance, and reduce the risk of the unknown in your center with train. You turn those evaluations and real events into fully interactive training simulations and automated observation reports. With Hire, you identify the skills and resiliency of candidates before they ever put on a headset. And now, with Assist, ComScoach can be in the call live, transcribing, translating, and guiding in real time. Commscoach gives supervisors, trainers, and QA teams the tools to reinforce strengths, close gaps through coaching, and grow the next generation of first-first responders. ComScoach, because putting responders first means helping you retain and grow your team.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

So I know we talked about training and resources, but what specific types of training and educational opportunities are typically offered by professional organizations?

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Both professional organizations, and I'll say a you know, a shout out to APCO because that's where I started. If you're not in a primary law enforcement agency where you have um post standards for or you have, you know, licensure to become a you know dispatcher, I was at a secondary PSAP San Jose Fire, and APCO had this great public safety telecommunicator course. It was a really great basic high-level course. Nina now has the 40-hour core competency course. So, you know, both organizations have something. That foundation of what it is to be a telecommunicator is very important. You may have agency specific things, but why reinvent the wheel when they have the basic understanding of communication, basics of call taking, basics of liability, basics of radio communication, and then you can overlay your agency specific. So all of the professional organizations are going to have a class on basic dispatch knowledge or telecommunicator. They're going to have a basic course in how to be a trainer, they're gonna have a course in how to be a supervisor, and then there are courses on both sides. There's the CommCenter Manager Certification, CMCP on the Nina side. There's the registered professional leader on the APCO side, and there's the CPE course for APCO for their executive level. So the one thing I haven't talked about, and the one thing that, you know, we'll call Lori out in is the one thing that I'm very proud of in Nina, and she's smiling, so she knows where I'm going, is your emergency number professional certification, your ENP. It requires three years in the profession. Vendors, you are eligible too. Once you've you've uh been with us for three years in the in the telecommunicator 911 space, and you can sit for the emergency number professional exam. Once you sit for that exam, um it demonstrates your ability to do both technical operations, legislation, and management. And then you are deemed an emergency number professional and you can continue to research every four years, either by taking that lovely exam again or by recertifying with points. And that's where your professional organizations come in because you earn points by writing articles for a professional organization, teaching courses, attending conferences, attending courses. So this is where the those professional organizations pay back to these types of certifications.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Well, and yes, I have been promising you for so long that I was gonna sit for my EMP. So the plan is still this fall.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

So we'll you've already hear, folks, it's gonna be gonna be recorded on. So you can ask her if she's gotten her EMP in the fall.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

That's the plan. So that's the goal. And I like what you with what you said because the the initial 40-hour courses I totally believe in. And I think that that every agency and even the the high school and college programs, it's a good, solid, general, hey, this is what dispatchers do, because it's it's a little bit of everything. I totally believe in those. And another thing to say on training and education is all of these things are available and the world that we live in now, they're offered in so many ways. So there's really no excuse to, you know, to not get training because there's in-person, there's virtual, there's conferences, there's the on-demand, there's so many reasons. So you can't say, well, I wasn't able to go four hours away and attend this eight-hour course because the availability is there. And if you want to be trained, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

And I'll say the value of a Nina membership is we have webinar Wednesdays, and you'd be like, I work night shift. I can't do that. Well, great, you can register for it and then it goes into your Nina Plus account and you can go back and review those at any time. So, yes, our online learning access for both ACCO and Nina has expanded greatly. And these courses get updated regularly. Here's one liability, liability in the 911 center. Now, if you have an EMD certificate, you're like, I know my liability, I know, I know this, I know that. But there are some other stuff you may have never thought of. And there's a class for that. There's a class on policy development. So there's all these very simple uh eight-hour courses that you can take in person or on um online learning in a classroom setting and really get a lot of information to help you move forward. Um, so it's not just like you need a 40 or 80 hour courses. These are very simple one-day courses for a very reasonable amount that you can do to not only help you in your organization, but help boost your career.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Absolutely. So I know we've talked a little bit about this, but specifically, how can networking with other dispatchers benefit both individuals and their organizations?

SPEAKER_00 21:57

So I would say at this point in my Career, my closest friends I developed because I met them and related to conferences or working groups. And you start out as, hey, we're working on this project. And then you realize that these are your people and they really understand. And sometimes when you are talking to people in your organization, you may be a middle manager, you may be the director. You can't always speak freely because you are a cog in this organization, paramilitary or organization. You sometimes can't think out loud because they're like, oh, Leanne said this. We have to do it. No, I was thinking out loud. But professional organizations and friendships and colleagues, when you can go, I'm thinking about this. Does anybody else have experience about this? And that kind of information sharing and sparking creativity and ideas to get things done can really change how you see things. I mean, I think the biggest thing is you are never alone in the in in this profession. And these professional organizations give you the tools and resources and access to other people that can help you move forward with whatever you need to move forward with.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Right. Absolutely. And I share those sentiments because I mean that's how we met even. And you met my husband even at the conference, and we're great friends now.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

And the thing is, is everything that you said is true and and you know, insight into recruitment and retention and training. But another thing too that that is out there is it's an opportunity to share even equipment and resources. So if this agency has some old radios or they have these excess materials too, um that's come into play with a lot of centers. Um, even at the at the school level, uh, you know, the last part of my career was I would go to some of the different um people that I met and said, hey, you know, hey, do you have this? Yeah, we're getting rid of these uh radios because you know, we're getting something new. Okay, then send them to the school. So there's a lot of resources that way on materials that you can share with each other besides training and ideas and and and those types of things too.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Yes. And unfortunately, as our systems age and we government loves to not change things, some of us are looking for parts to furniture that may or may not uh be useful anymore to others, but others still have it running. And that is an actual thing that we're looking for. The the controller for our sit stands no longer is being manufactured. And you know, we put all calls out to see if somebody else could could help us with that. Sometimes it's successful, sometimes it's not. But those professional organizations have ways to share that information. You know, and I'm gonna say this, and and I know this is, you know, podcast by GovWork, so Lori won't say it. The other value to professional organizations is your access to your private sector um expertise and your vendors. There are solutions out there, and you don't know what's right or wrong for you. Not wrong, but that's not a right fit. And access to professional organizations, those vendors that choose to also be involved in the professional organizations and take the time to understand your operation and not just try to sell you something and move on. That should be a really big tell to you as a decision maker in your organization. Professional organizations have conferences. Vendors and public private sector partners, that's what we like to call them. They are partners to us, are there to help you learn about what's new and how you can make things improve for your organization. So the other plug here is make sure that you are attending courses, but also going into your vendor hall and learning about something new. Because again, just like inviting that elected official into your center and then letting them see something and leave and with no expectation, go into that vendor hall and learn about something new with no expectation. Later on, that's going to pay it forward for you in your profession because you've seen something and you understand it. And maybe you can explain it to somebody later and that's going to make a difference.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Absolutely. I like that. So, how can supervisors encourage and support their dispatchers in actually joining and participating in these organizations?

SPEAKER_00 26:57

You know, it really is at whoever the decision maker is in the organization. Buy that group membership, advocate for your staff. There are also now state memberships available. The state of Maryland has APCO and Nina statewide membership. Push your state officials to offer membership to everyone in the state. Back down to what you were asking at the supervisor level. First of all, the supervisor has to know about it. The supervisors also have to be encouraged to be able to use those organizations. But I do think a gift, uh, a gift of a membership or a group membership is the way to get started. Hey, we're going to give this to you for a year. See if you find value. Dispatchers, check your emails. Okay, I'm a director talking, I maybe I've gone full administrator. Check your emails because sometimes you've been registered for a group membership, and in the best of intentions, nobody told you you were a member. It happens. Okay. Right. Because they're like, buy a group membership, give these people membership. And then you're like, what are these emails? I don't want these. Stop it. Read those emails, make a folder, put them away. Because I'll tell you, sometimes those emails, sometimes they feel 24 and 36 inches long. I'm not joking. But all the way at the bottom, there will be some very interesting information. And maybe you're not in the mood to read them right now. Save them and go back to them later.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Absolutely. And I like what you said about making sure that the floor personnel are made aware of it because that's the thing, is a lot of times if if you are, you know, a call taker or a dispatcher, you feel like this is my only world. I'm here by myself. It's me against all these callers, and that's it. Being a part of an organization like this shows you that, again, there's a world outside and there's other people going through those same things. And it's really good for support and for wellness, um, knowing that that there is these organizations or there are these organizations, and there's other call takers out there in the world besides you you just sitting at the console by yourself.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

And you know, you you you marked on something that I kind of want to expand upon. If you are the dispatcher sitting in your console, thinking that your supervisor, your manager, your director doesn't know what time it is and they don't know about X, Y, or Z, you can get on your professional organizations, go to their standards page, go to their best practices. There are wellness standards, there are things there. And it's like, I want to implement this. Now, if you go to your person and go, We need $500,000 to implement X, yeah, it's probably gonna be a very hard road in these budget times. But if you very thoughtfully go, I was looking and I found this standard, X, Y, or Z professional organization, and it says that we should do X, Y, and Z. And I've taken a look and I believe that we can accomplish this. If you take those standards and you tie it in and you send a very formal email, memo, or whatever via the chain of command, and you have a solution with a well-thought out plan tied back to a standard. No supervisor, manager, or director is going to dismiss that without at least talking to you. There may be reasons, but help, help them do the work. And I think that's the real value of professional organizations. It helps you find ideas because the one of the biggest challenges is you sit in your center, you're frustrated, someone just frustrated you, you feel very irritated by X, Y, or Z, and you throw your hands up and go, nothing's ever going to change. My supervisor won't do this, my manager won't do that. So, you know what I'd say? You can be bitter or you can be better. Be bitter for a second and then go, you know what? They don't have to do anything. I can make a recommendation. And if you make a recommendation with an actual plan, there's a higher chance that it will succeed. Maybe not in the perfect idea you thought of, but there's a better chance that you've done something to improve things, not only for yourself, but for others.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Absolutely. I love that you said that because everyone can make a difference. You don't have to be at the supervisory level, you don't have to be at the administrative level. Everyone can make a difference for themselves and for their center as a whole. Because maybe, maybe that supervisor has been busy and has been overwhelmed. So, you know what? Yeah, look into it and and um do all of those steps that Leanne just mentioned, and you can make a big difference for again yourself and for the center and and all of your colleagues. What are some of the challenges that dispatchers might face, though, in joining or staying active in these organizations?

SPEAKER_00 31:38

When you get involved in organizations and you might get active at your chapter level or at your national level, there will be your peers, your supervisors, your subordinates, whichever, that say, hey, you're not paying attention to us, or you need to focus more on this and not that. So you do need to find a balance in how you focus on professional organizations and make sure that you remember that you do have a paycheck from a you know, from a place and and you do need to not lose sight of that. That being said, I'm working 20 hours mandatory over time. I can't possibly do X, Y, or Z. So I can't do anything. So why bother? I'm gonna have the reverse answer to that as well. If you want to read an email during your downtime that has to do with a standard and add in some information, if you want to be involved in looking up some information to help you not have 20 hours of overtime, so there are so there's the balance of both ways. I love chapter leadership, I love national leadership, I love development standards, I love it all, but it does take time that you have to be willing to invest. And sometimes that means that you are doing it on your day off, or you're doing it in extension to the duties you already have. So you do sometimes you have to find a balance in all things.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

Mm-hmm. Now, what would you say to somebody that said, well, because of the money, I can't, I don't have the money to join, or I don't have the money to be able to attend one of these conferences.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

So, you know, that happens. I can remember early on the the money to to join APCO at the time was like a lot. And I decided this was important for me to invest in myself. I decided to make a personal investment. But I also know that that that may be difficult. That's where you really start pushing on your agency to do group membership. It is cheaper. There, there is there is balance. Now, I will say that you know, those aren't always voting roles, they're telecommunicator roles, so it's like an online access only. That's okay because you get access to everything that you need. Now, scholarships. We haven't mentioned that lovely word scholarships. There are so too many scholarships out there. Nina has the gold line. We just launched the gold line leadership scholarships. Apply for scholarships, put them in, but don't put it in at the last minute, don't put it in with any thought, and don't use AI to do everything. I read a few scholarship entries, everyone. Be genuine, you know. And don't say, I want to go to Florida because I haven't been to Walt Disney World in your scholarship application. Just saying, oh no. You know, there. So I mean, like, be sincere, be thoughtful about, you know, why you want to go to something. Professional organizations offer scholarships, private sector partners offer scholarships. So social media, LinkedIn, they'll say, hey, we've got a scholarship opportunity, apply for it. Some scholarships get overwhelmed, other ones, barely anyone applies. So there's a balance there. And I would really recommend that. The other way to sometimes um get a reduced price for registration is you volunteer. And so sometimes they will give you uh a date for for every four hours you work, you get a four, I think you get a day pass. So those are those opportunities. Or hey, if you join and you become part of chapter leadership or you become part of national leadership, there's a budget from your chapter sometimes or national leadership to send you places. True. But you have to be an EMP to be in the national Nina board. There's another plug, Lori.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

Okay, this fall. This fall. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us uh today before we uh conclude this?

SPEAKER_00 35:46

I think that if you're sitting here listening to these podcasts and you're really, you know, digging deep to try to uh find something new, I really do want to encourage you to invest in yourself and join a professional organization, whichever one it is. Participate in the classes, go to the webinars and and and really try to um immerse yourself in it. Anybody on the national level of either board, if you go up and introduce yourself, I guarantee you you're gonna have a great conversation. And you know, um I don't know if this part will be edited out, but those people with those name tags on, don't ever think they're too busy for you because they are not. Maybe in the moment when they're getting ready to walk on stage, because that's what I'm gonna have to do here, you know, be the MC for our national event. Might be busy in that moment, but never think that we're not too busy to talk to you because we want to hear from you and we want to come up with ideas to support you. But in all things, you can't just give ideas and walk away and expect them to get executed. If you want to see things done, you need to be a player on the team. Because, you know, one of the things that I've been pushing this year as part of our general strategic plan is together we. So, for all of you listening out there, if you want to be a part of something, it's together we join a professional organization.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

I love that. So, Leanne, thank you so much for taking the time to discuss such an important topic with me today. I have been in awe of your dedication to your center and to your involvement with Nina and APCO, and of the support that you provide to others as you promote the benefits of belonging to professional organizations and in getting the EMP. You're a superstar in my book, and I am really appreciative that we were able to discuss such a great topic for our listeners today. So thank you again.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Uh one more plug. Um, if you guys don't know, Lori is amazing when it comes to her training simulations and micro micro learnings. That's the word micro learnings. And if you have not had a chance to see how many micro learnings, or you will eventually and hear her voice in the in the comms coach world, pretty amazing uh resource of trainings for yourself, your trainees, and others.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. So, as we wrap up, though, I hope that you are all inspired to explore the incredible benefits of joining a professional dispatch organization. From staying informed to building connections and accessing valuable resources, the advantages are immense. By investing in your professional development, you're not only empowering yourself, but you're also contributing to a stronger and more connected dispatch community. So take the leap, get involved, and unlock the power of professional membership. And remember to come back to Comms Coach Podcast for more great topics to help ensure that your center is the very best that it can be. If you have ideas for any topics that you would like to know more about, it or if you are willing to share your expertise on future episodes, please email me at laurie at comms dash coach.com. That's Lori at C O M S dash Coach.com, or Lori at GovWorks, that's G-O-V-W-O-R-X dot ai. Thanks again for listening and until next time.