The Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) is announcing a Call for Proposals for the Dr. William F. Jenaway Seminar Program that will be conducted at the 2025 National Fire and Emergency Services Symposium and Dinner scheduled for February 12th-13th in Washington, DC.
This year, CFSI is soliciting seminar submissions for the following topic areas:
- Fire Department Participation in Research
- Marketing the Fire and Emergency Services Occupational Roadmap for Recruitment and Retention
- Open Call: If your topic does not fit into the above categories, please submit a proposal under our Open Call.
We are seeking presentations from fire department and national organization representatives. If your department has a program or initiative that is relevant to one of the topics, we want to hear from you. Similarly, if you are a non-departmental organization spearheading efforts in these spaces, please let us know about your work and how it fits into our topic areas!
The Topics
1. Fire Department Participation in Research
Description: Research is critical to ensuring that fire departments, national fire service organizations, and government at all levels have the data needed to make informed decisions. Proposals should address how fire departments have successfully worked with researchers on specific projects that have an impact on improving the fire and emergency services in the areas of health, safety and response. How were the connections made between departments and researchers? What were the challenges for departments and researchers in conducting the research and how did they work collaboratively to overcome these challenges? What are the lessons learned and how can they contribute to improving future fire and emergency services research?
Please ensure that all submissions are in panel format. For your submission, please ensure that the panelists/moderator include the principal researcher and one representative from at least two departments showcasing different department types, sizes, and/or geographic locations (if not all three). The project must have outcomes that have contributed to a national-level understanding of the topic.
2. Marketing the Fire and Emergency Services Occupational Roadmap for Recruitment and Retention
Description: Given the perennial challenges of recruiting and retaining both volunteer and career personnel, including personnel to serve in EMS positions, what can fire departments do to recruit and retain personnel? Part of the answer can include marketing the various occupational trajectories and the various roles within a department including fire and EMS response, training, prevention, CRR, and more, so potential recruits and volunteers understand the opportunities in the fire service.
This seminar is designed to share successful market strategies from departments across the country that have taken a holistic approach to marketing for recruitment and retention, focusing on the various occupational pathways and opportunities within both fire and emergency services. How does your department market the various occupational trajectories when recruiting? Has your marketing program contributed to success not just in recruitment, but also in retention? Describe the successes and challenges you have encountered? How have you overcome challenges? What lessons did you learn and how could other departments across the country apply them?
We are seeking presentations of 10-12 minutes from departments that will be compiled into a 3-person panel. We are looking for marketing programs from departments of different types, sizes, and geographic locations to share how their department approaches and markets the various occupational opportunities. National organization submissions will also be accepted. If your department would like to share your story at CFSI, please apply!
3. Open Call
If your presentation topic doesn’t fit into one of the above categories, we welcome your submissions under our open call. Please provide a description of your topic and explain how it is national in scope and application. What are the challenges and opportunities for the fire service nationwide that you will address in your presentation? How do you define and measure success? Tell us about the work you are doing and the specific action items you would recommend.
For All Seminars
All seminar proposals must meet the following criteria to be considered:
SCOPE: Your seminar submission must:
- Be Relevant. Explain what your program, initiative, study, etc. is and how it is relevant to one of our topics.
- Be Current. Presentations should address issues that occurred over the last two years, are occurring now, or will occur into the future.
- Be Measurable. Your seminar submission should explain how you have measured the success of your program, initiative, study, etc.
- Be Actionable. How can other departments, organizations, etc. take what you have learned and implement it in their own work? Provide concrete suggestions and action items.
Seminars intended solely to promote for-profit programs and activities that benefit an organization will not be considered.
PRESENTERS:
Presentations may be made by an individual presenter or a panel. If submitting on behalf of a panel, please provide a complete list of panelists and the moderator.
ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
Where applicable, proposed presenters, panelists, and moderators should represent a diversity of national organizations and fire service disciplines.
LENGTH:
Seminars are limited to 50 minutes in length. Where noted, we are also requesting presentations of no more than 10-12 minutes to create a panel.
DUE DATE: Proposals must be submitted to CFSI no later than October 30, 2024.Â
All proposals will be reviewed by CFSI’s staff and the Programmatic Subcommittee of CFSI’s National Advisory Committee. Incomplete proposals will not be considered. Applicants must agree to work with CFSI to finalize seminar participants, produce relevant materials, and promote the seminar series. CFSI reserves the right to make changes to panelists and seminar content.
Individuals who are invited to present at the CFSI Annual Symposium will receive a complimentary registration which includes access to all symposium sessions and the National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner. CFSI does not reimburse travel and expenses or compensate speakers for their presentations.
Please contact CFSI at [email protected] or (202) 371-1277 with any questions regarding the Call for Proposals.
