Narrator:  Welcome to the 2013 PIO video podcasts.  This first video features Bill Kaage, branch chief for wildland fire for the National Park Service.  Bill is also the NPS representative to the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group…the NMAC.
Thank you.  Again, I’m Bill Kaage and I’m part of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group at NIFC.  These short videos cover currents topics and issues relevant to PIOs and replace the webinar NIFC public and external affairs has sponsored over the past several years. 
In these video podcasts, you will see presentations about this year’s wildland fire outlook, some tips for telling the story of wildland fire, and an update on some of 2013’s hot topics in fire.  I would encourage you to watch all of the PIO video podcasts and to share them with your colleagues in all disciplines.
On behalf of the NMAC, I’d like to share some thoughts about leadership, safety and communication as we get ourselves ready for the summer wildfire season.  
PIOs play a key role in incident management, as communicators and consultants to team members.   We are all communicators and together we have a great deal of influence on public perceptions and opinions about incident management—particularly wildland fire—and how incidents are handled at the local, regional and national levels.  Your work and your expertise are critical, and they give you a significant leadership role in ICS.  
I encourage you to fully employ the skills of your craft.  Your people skills, your conflict resolution skills, and your ability to negotiate between competing priorities and interests can be vital in enabling a team to meet its objectives on a complex assignment.  The art of being a good information officer is demonstrated by the skill of managing small issues before they become big issues. 
Leaders lead.  That means, as an information officer, you must solve problems, create solutions, and motivate people.  Leaders also influence.  That means it will be up to you to come up with strategies, to figure out how to make the complex simple, and to face hard questions from critical or skeptical audiences.  Your work is important, and we appreciate it!
We all know safety is everyone’s concern.  As a PIO, you can help influence the safety of firefighters out on the line.  Talk with the other members of your team and find out if you can help them with some problems or issues, especially if your ideas contribute to safety.  Be creative!  You do make a difference for safety.
You can contribute to the overall safety of an incident through messaging.  Information officers should develop and disseminate messages to the public that deal with preparing for wildfire, what to think about during an evacuation, and the like.  Public safety messages are critical when fire behavior indices are high.
In closing, I’d like to talk about communication.  You are the experts at communication on your teams.  Most PIOs are skilled at describing a wildland fire situation.   But good communication means more than choosing the right word or phrase.  
It means…
Making sure the right people are in the loop with information about your fire.  
Keeping your cool when you are talking with a frustrated individual.  
Being prepared with a good, clear message when you are doing a live media interview.  
And it often means coaching your IC or other members of the team and when they are speaking with the media and the public.
As a specialist in incident communication, make sure your communication “net” is cast wide enough to do the job.  As popular as social media has become, a lot of people out there still don’t use social media—or can’t use social media when they would like to.  Make sure your communication is as inclusive as possible.  I continue to see outstanding information officers do this, and if you are listening to this video podcast, I know you’re one of them.
As the information officer, you are the public “face” of the incident management effort.  Whether things are going well or poorly, you are the visible representative of the people fighting the fire.  Craft messages and information that satisfies the public’s desire to know what is going on.  The news may not always be good, but the information needs to be up-to-date, clear, and accurate.
Get out there and do great things this coming season.  We have the utmost confidence in you, and we need your expertise.  
Thanks for your work!  Be safe, and take good care of your family, colleagues and neighbors in fire country.