In Conversation with 911der Women: Building Authentic Connections Between Public Safety Professionals

As the conference season approaches, we decided to reflect on how connections can enrich our professional and personal lives. Cultivating meaningful connections through conferences and events is especially important within the public safety community, where the sense of “we’re all in this together” can make all the difference amid the growing pains 911 centers are facing today.

Enhancing The Whole 911 Professional

Verint’s Public Safety team is attending the 911der Women’s Empower Conference next week (May 5-8) in Indianapolis. In preparation for that, Casey Rives (Verint Solution Consultant, NENA Wellness Co-Chair, ICCRA Advisory Board) sat down with key figures in the 911 community, including:

• Sara Weston, PMP, ENP – Founder/Executive Director, 911der Women, Inc.
• Nancy Lockhart, ENP – Board of Directors, 911der Women, Inc.
• Col. Brenda Dietzman (Ret.) – Wayfinder Consulting, LLC

In a lively and insightful LinkedIn Live chat, these wonder women shared their very first experiences of attending conferences, and discussed “social wellness,” introspection, and the real value of networking and making connections with other attendees and even vendors. Let’s see some of the highlights of this empowering conversation.

It’s All About Leaving 911 Better Than We Found It

Casey: Could you share what “social wellness” means to you, and why you think it’s essential for personal growth and self-development?

Sara: I was hired right out of college into a public safety technology consulting firm. My first month on the job (…), I got sent to national APCO. (…) I’ve never been to a conference before; I’m 21 years old. (…) It wasn’t fun. It was a sink-or-swim situation. (..) Having that experience first, every single conference after that just seemed really great and a lot easier. I think a lot of times, we learn from what has happened to us and we start to develop passion when we figure out, we don’t want other people to go through that unnecessarily. (…) When we, at 911der Women, were deciding if we should or shouldn’t do a conference (…), we really wanted to make this an experience for the attendee. Every decision, every session, event, every detail is focused on what the experience would be like for the people there.

Casey: Do you think that networking and connections play a more significant role in females that are in public safety?

Brenda: “I really love it when men can come to things like that because it gives them a different perspective, especially in the law enforcement because usually they’re the ones that are the vast majority in the room. But letting guys in and letting them see us “in the wild,” it is important to let them see us where we’re comfortable. (…) Getting outside of your four walls and seeing what other people are going through and experiencing in today’s world, I think is really valuable. Because we have a tendency, if we work with the same people and in the same place all the time, that we think we’re the only ones that are having these issues. And we’re not. You’re not. So, getting out, finding different solutions is just really valuable.”

Casey: How do you think networking and personal growth come back to the 911 center to really grow the team to be better, as well?

Nancy: From my perspective, one of the really cool things about conferences; it’s about leaving 911 better than we found it. That’s all our mission, and 911 dispatchers are truly my heroes. (…) Because what I see in the classroom is passion. I see will, I see want. They want to get better; they have the will to take back great ideas (…) I think one of the most incredible things that can happen at conferences is introspection. (…) I think that a lot of topics cause a great deal of introspection, and we send back a healthier telecommunicator. Or at least somebody that realizes that maybe I’m the problem and there’s some work to do, as well. Or I’m better off than I thought I was. (…) There’s nothing more important than that human that’s sitting inside that 911 center. And so that resilience, that growth, all those things they can get especially from networking with others I think is really crazy important.”

Watch the Full LinkedIn Live

It really is a true VIP pass to hear the inspiring women talk, so make sure to give the full, 35-minute discussion a listen here.

And we look forward to seeing you at the Empower Conference on May 5-8 in Indianapolis, Indiana, where we can continue building meaningful connections between public safety professionals and vendors. Verint is dedicated to providing public safety answering points (PSAPs) with the cutting-edge technology 911 telecommunicators deserve.

Learn more about Verint’s solutions for public safety here.