From the smallest of state conferences to the larger get-togethers like Be the Difference, NENA and APCO, 911 industry conferences are where dispatchers converge to celebrate, laugh and learn.

Educational sessions, theme nights, parties and excellent food tend to be the big attractions, but the real power of 911 conferences lies with the attendees themselves: the dispatchers and 911 professionals who dot the halls and pack the classrooms, each teeming with untapped knowledge waiting to be plumbed.

Dispatchers from across the country have the same issues you do. The same things keep them up at night. They share the same doubts and concerns. They giggle at the same inappropriate humor.

Some of them have even faced your unsolvable problems . . . and solved them.

I am fortunate in that I get to attend these conferences as a vendor and instructor after having attended them for years as a dispatcher, manager and director – and I tell all the dispatchers that I see the same thing:

Seek out other dispatchers. Start conversations with them. Ask them questions, share stories, laugh at the silliness that so often accompanies what we do. They are, without a doubt, your absolute best untapped resources.

While networking at conferences often comes easily for some in the upper tiers of leadership, many rank-and-file dispatchers stick to their comfort zones, hanging out with coworkers and people that they already know. While there is certainly fun to be had within your comfort zone, incredible rewards await when you step beyond it.

I completely get that many in this industry – somewhat surprisingly – are introverts. This seems especially odd when you consider the frequent use of our “Mom and Dad” voice on the phones and our uncanny ability to take immediate control of any conversation with the many people that we deal with on an average shift. But for most of us, there is comfort in “making our nests” at our consoles, visiting with the handful coworkers that we count as our closest friends and minding our business until it’s time to head home.

The switch flips on at work and off afterward.

To ask someone to step out of their social cocoon and start conversations with people that they don’t know is a lot – but trust me when I tell you: it’s well worth those few moments of discomfort (they won’t last long when you realize that the person you’re talking to has everything in common with you).

I recently spoke to a director who started his upward trajectory in the industry because of advice he received from a director at a conference back when he, himself was a two-year call taker. He saw the director sitting at a table, pulled up a chair and began a rewarding friendship that continues to this day. The advice he received started him on his road to several promotions.

 A few years ago, after many years of struggling with our shift schedules, my operations manager and I approached a couple of groups of dispatchers we didn’t know and asked them about their work schedules. They were eager to share (and they were hilarious) – and because of that conversation, we made some amazing friends and introduced an innovative and very popular schedule at our agency which remains in place today.

A couple of retirees at a recent conference told me how they were forced to share a meal at the conference many years ago because there weren’t any other seats – after they introduced themselves, they quickly found that they had everything in common, from their years of service to recent personal family losses. They became inseparable, and still attend that same conference together every year.

Whether you step outside your comfort zone to expand your friendship group, gain valuable advice or trade ideas to help solve issues in your comm center, that step is a crucial one – and it’s truly what 911 conferences are made for.

Say hi in an elevator. Stop by a table at dinner and introduce yourself. Start a conversation in the coffee line. Most everyone will be wearing a name tag of sorts (assuming, of course, that it hasn’t spun around backwards on its ceaselessly twisting lanyard), so the whole, “What’s your name?” awkwardness is easily replaced with, ‘Hey, Jim! How are things in (squints to see agency under name) Myrtle Beach?”

Not only are fellow dispatchers among the most interesting people you’ll ever meet they are canny, intelligent and full of wisdom and experience that you can use in your center and your life.

At your next conference, dare to take the plunge:

Network.

Mingle.

Hobnob.

In stretching your comfort zone, you’ll expand what is possible.

About Kris Inman:

Kris Inman is the Director of Program Development for The Healthy Dispatcher. A 29-year veteran of 9-1-1, Kris retired in July 2023 as Director of Springfield Greene County 9-1-1 in Springfield, MO. An awarded speaker and instructor, Kris has delivered standout educational sessions, keynotes, motivational talks and yoga instruction to dispatchers across the country. He is also a long-time college adjunct instructor, teaching courses in communication and public safety leadership. Kris holds a Master of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media from Missouri State University. He is also a registered yoga instructor.