Navigator 2011

I spent the last few days in Las Vegas at Paris Las Vegas (hotel and casino) at the Navigator conference. Navigator is probably my favorite conference, though I will admit that I have yet to attend the NENA National conference. Navigator is put on by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (formerly known as National Academies of Emergency Dispatch and formerly, formerly known as National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch).

It's a fairly typical industry conference, with conference sessions in several different learning tracks, a vendor hall, and a number of activities for conference attendees to choose from and participate in. What makes Navigator so much more interesting to me is the number of folks who attend from every level within public safety communications: line dispatchers and call takers, training officers, supervisors, managers, directors, doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, public sector and private sector. There are folks from around the world at Navigator conferences: China, UK, The Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Canada, etc., etc., etc, as well as all corners of the United States.

I love conferences because of the opportunities to meet new folks, network, learn new things, pass on my own knowledge to others when I can, see products in the vendor hall (and get the free stuff), and just because it's awesome to get outside your own agency for a bit and talk to folks who do things maybe a bit differently.

16 years in, and I've only been going to conferences for about 8 years now--if I could change anything it would be to have started earlier. That said, it's hard to get out of the office--if you can't afford to go on your own dime and your agency can't (or won't) send you, you have to figure out a way to make it work. We're all busy in our own personal lives and it's hard, if not downright impossible sometimes, to get away. But if you have the chance--take it. There are some great conferences out there. Your own state chapters of NENA and APCO typically have state conferences; in Texas, APCO typically has two per year and NENA has one, though there is talk of a joint conference, which I think would be really awesome. NENA National has a yearly conference which moves from state to state in June of each year and APCO International's conferences, which also move, are in August. (Navigator being held in April is another reason I like it so much.)

Next year, Navigator is back in Baltimore--the inner harbor is really a neat place to be in April.