This event is created to help Firefighters, EMS, and volunteers hone in on soft skills. Soft skills are defined as a set of personal attributes, behaviors, and social attitudes that enable individuals to interact effectively with others in a workplace or social environment. There are so many traits that fall under this category, but we chose three to start with. These are not skills that are inherently taught in schools or training, but through experience. In this symposium, we hope to give you the resources needed to help you become experts in these skills. We hope you will join us!

10 am: Opening remarks by Buckhall’s own Chief Trammell and MC Chief LaBelle

10:15 am: Tiger Schmittendorf 

Registration link: https://form.jotform.com/262007303413139

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Tiger Schmittendorf has dedicated his life to the survival and success of fire and emergency services in the United States. He is a writer, recruiter, emergency manager and frequent presenter on the subjects of personal and organizational leadership, connecting generations, responder safety, and large-scale incident and event management. He is considered a national subject matter expert on Fire/EMS retention and recruitment.

He is actively serving as a firefighter and Retention & Recruitment Officer with the Evans Center Volunteer Fire Company in Angola NY since 1980, having served as Chief of Training, Public Information Officer (PIO), and as his department’s first-ever junior firefighter.

He served the County of Erie (Buffalo NY) Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Services for 26 years before retiring as Deputy Fire Coordinator in 2018. There he led 50 instructors, managed three training campuses, and was responsible for the recruitment, training and mutual aid operations of 97 fire departments and more than 6,000 first responders. Connect with him at: tiger.schmittendorf@gmail.com, at FireRECRUITER.com or on social media.

Chris Bellios is the Chief Executive Officer of BE, bringing more than 40 years of leadership experience across the U.S. Marine Corps, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the private sector. He has held senior executive roles at Hexagon US Federal, Cubic Corporation, and BAE Systems, where he unified complex organizations, led teams through major change, and built training programs that strengthened mission outcomes for Defense and Intelligence customers. He also serves on corporate and advisory boards.

Chris holds a B.A. in History from Mary Washington University and an M.B.A. from Averett University, and completed executive leadership training at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Married for over 35 years, he is a father of two sons and a proud grandfather.

Vickie H. Taylor, LCSW, is the Director of the Prince William County Public Safety Resilience Center, a wellness promotion and counseling unit created in 2016 and funded by Prince William County government to serve law enforcement officers, corrections, firefighters, paramedics and 9-1-1 telecommunicators and their immediate family members. Prior to assuming this position, Ms. Taylor worked in community behavioral health for 36 years at Prince William County Community Services. As part of her work at Community Services, in 1985, she began providing behavioral health consultation/support to the public safety agencies in Prince William County, VA. She has provided support to public safety personnel and their families following line of duty deaths and numerous major disaster events, including assisting the FDNY following the 9-11 terrorist attack. She also works on a contract basis with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation as a trainer, behavioral health consultant, and the coordinator of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Week-end Family Day. She is a contributing author and trainer of Stress First Aid for Firefighters and Emergency Medical Personnel and Stress First Aid for Law Enforcement Personnel. For more information about the Resilience Center and the services offered, contact Vickie Taylor, LCSW at  vtaylor@pwcgov.org  or 571-373-6241