Latest / The Wilmac Wire / Live from NENA 2026
Transcript
- Emily Miller: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Welcome or welcome back to the WilmacWire. I am here live at Nina 2026 in Columbus, Ohio, from what are the dates? June 28th to July 1st, representing the Wilmac team. I am currently standing in the Wilmac booth recording this intro after wrapping up a a bunch of really fun, really quick, quick hitting clips with with some of our previous guests and some new folks who we got to meet at the conference. I wish I could have interviewed them all and and recorded it, but hey, if you've been to a conference, if you know, you know it gets crazy quickly. so appreciate everyone who who joined us. And for our listeners, I hope you enjoy this episode and have been able to follow along to the wonderful thing that things that the 911 community is is doing and how that's been represented at Nina 2026. So hopefully hoping to do this again at ApGode 2026 in San Antonio. In about a month. So all right, I'll I'll wrap this shindeg up and we'll hand it over to the clips that I was able to record during Nina 2026. All right, let's do it. Okay, I'm here at Nina 2026 with Melanie Jones, the immediate past present of Nina. She's wrapping up her four-year term. So, Melanie, my first question for you is what are you most proud of from your tenure? So I think the most most important thing was how my campaign on be the reason people trust 911 really took off. we had apparel, we had stickers. And the 911 community really embraced that. And and I think if people start to live that, be the reason people trust 911. Yeah, that is wonderful. And we talked about it on your episode about kind of that motto and how powerful it can be. So and last quick question I have for you is what do you hope the next chapter of Nina leadership carries forward? I think the continuing wellness initiatives that that we are pushing for all of our Communicators, supervisors, managers. Wellness is not just a tagline. Yes. It's something that I hope they keep the needle moving forward so that everybody knows it's okay not to be okay. 100%. Yes. And we just want to keep bringing a spotlight to that and celebrating our telecommunicators every day in this community. Wonderful. Well, thank you, Melanie, so much for joining me. It was lovely to meet you in person. It was so nice meeting you in person, too. Thank you. Hi everyone, I'm here at Nina 2026 with Ivan Whittaker, who came all the way from Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center in Utah. So Ivan, you're speaking kind of in multiple capacities at Nina this year. So what are you excited and bringing to those those educational sessions? Yeah, so I'm mostly serving in a moderator role this year based on the podcast that beyond the launch. I've been asked to do some moderation. And what it's done for me is allowed me to be able to sit back and look at what some of the vendors are bringing to the table that I could take back to my team for what's happening in the future. So I think that's the biggest piece for me. Wonderful. Yeah. I was about to say I sat in one on Monday and it was and you did a wonderful job. And you had a full room. So all very exciting. Okay. And then last question for you. What are you most excited to take back from this conference to your your center in in Utah? Think there's a lot here about the progressiveness of what's coming out in the future. And when we say future, I'm talking next couple of months. And so some of these vendors are just on the cutting edge. They have kind of a different mentality on innovation and creation. And to be able to sit at the table and talk about these innovations and bring them back to my team. I'm very excited about that. Wonderful. Well, thanks, Ivan. And for our listeners, make sure you t check out Ivan's podcast Beyond the Launch. Ivan, thank you. All right. All Hey everyone, I'm here with Roxy Van Gundy, the incoming president for Nina. Roxy, thanks for stopping by the Will Mac booth. We're pumped for you to be here. How are you feeling? I am feeling very excited because Nina is always such a great time and we're so glad to have everybody here with us. yeah, I'm pumped and excited for the next year, and hopefully we'll have a great time. heck yeah. We're already having a great time. We were just chatting about it. But let me ask, so you're heading into your presidency, you're Getting sworn in on Wednesday. Yes, yes. What are your some of your top priorities going into the next year? So we're really focused as a board on sticking with our strategic plan. But my goal is that everybody knows that they always have a home at Mina. I think for a lot of people, they go into their centers and they think that nobody cares about them or nobody notices them or nobody even knows they're there. Right. And I just want everybody to know, regardless of what their situation is. Whether they've retired, whether they're separating, whether whatever. You always have a home here. We would love to have you and we'd love to have your skills and just to be with our family. You're always welcome. That's wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Roxy, for joining me. Yeah. It's an absolute pleasure and excited to see what you guys accomplish next year. So excited. Yeah. Wonderful. Thanks, Roxy. Hi everyone, I'm here with Katie Decker, who works with Nina. Katie, thanks for joining me on the Wilmacwire. I'm curious, Katie, we were just chatting about your experience with Nina. Can you reference a little bit of that and how you've been with Nina now for three years? and then just to talk a little bit about kind of what this means to put this sort of conference size together. Yeah, of course. So, like I said, I've been with Nina for three years, and before that I worked in the PCEP for 16 years. So it's it's exciting to be able to work for an organization that supports the industry that I was raised in, so to speak. For sure. you know, my experience at the conference is different from a lot of people's, like I mentioned before. But one of the things that I always say about conference week is it's my favorite week of the year. some of the staff members think I'm a little crazy because it's like Christmas week to me. Yeah. But I will say that the Nina staff loves putting on the conference. They love interacting with our vendors, they love interacting with the 911. professionals, we are mission driven and member driven. So it's exciting for us to be able to work hard for the members, for the vendors. it's all about connection. And we kind of talked about that with my experience and kind of falling into my role at Nina. you're here to make connections. And we all have experienced that for ourselves and The gal that we were just talking to, she's like for her, she's a recent grad. Right. she doesn't really know where she's going, she doesn't know where she's gonna end up, but it's events like this where you make those connections that are gonna shape your future. So that's yeah. Yeah, it's such a powerful community. And I think like you kind of talked about, it's all about collaboration here. Like there's not a lot of competition. It's how can we uplift each other and help get back to our communities? Yep. So wonderful. Well, thank you for sharing your perspective, Katie. I really appreciate it. Thank you. All right. I am here at Nina 2026 with Julie and Tracy from British ApgO. Thank you both for joining me on the podcast. New friends being made at Nina. a quick question for you both. So this is the first day. How are you feeling so far? Has it been enjoyable? You're coming over to Ohio for the first time. How has that been? Yeah, it's first time in Ohio. Very welcoming, lovely. Very conference is amazing. Nina's done well. So yes, it's been headed. It's been good. New people to meet, new things to see. 100%. And keep the working relationship going with Nina and British APCO. Definitely. So that was my other question for you both. So British Apco, obviously, based in Europe. how do you interact with Nina and Apco in the United States and Canada? Or what would you like to share with our listeners who are more based in the United States and Canada about what you're doing in British APCO? Well, we try to do exactly that, collaborate with the other ones like Nina. Ina in Europe. Yeah. We've got APCO International, APCO Canada that we all and we come together as a group, as a collaboration, and we try to help each other out as see how next gen nine nine nine's going to go, or how can we help with legislation? Doing a big piece at the minute collaboratively with with everyone regarding the loss of two G, three G, what does that mean for international travellers? Right. it was actually gonna be a test for the the World Cup and for here to see whether know, some older model phones would you know not work. Yeah. so there's a lot of collaboration across this all. Very cool. I love it. Well Julie Tracy, thank you so much for joining me on the Will Mac wire. Appreciate it. Thank you. Hey everyone, I am here with Nick La Montia. Almost almost had it. Close enough. LaMontia. but former Will MacWire podcast guest here with him now in person at Nina twenty twenty six. Nick, you're wrapping up your one year term on the executive board of Nina. What's been your biggest takeaway after your your term? The the thing I really enjoyed was you you see a lot well, actually you don't see You You meet a lot of people through their their virtual monthly state chapter meetings, that kind of thing. You in as par for the course you get a lot of new friends on Facebook and that kind of thing. Only just by virtue of your position. But you come to things like this and you get to meet the people in person and it makes all the difference. You can see them as as human beings, you can see how driven they are, that you realize that they're not they're not trying to find you just because of your position. It's like, okay, we are all part of the same team. We're all part of the same family. We can help each other with things. So it's I feel like my family has become immense over the last year. And I'm praying it doesn't end when I roll off the board in a couple of days. I'm hoping that family continue to grow. Yeah, it's it's been amazing. It's funny you say that 'cause that's been been a very consistent topic of conversation. It's the community building. yeah. absolutely. This c the the Nina community is so powerful because everyone just is working towards that. Same vision, the same goal of better serving their community. so yeah, I couldn't agree more. and then second question for you, what's been the most eye-opening part of being in a national leadership seat? It it it's been interesting in the sense that you really and I and I hate to use the industry buzzwords, but you've I've really seen how the sausage is made. Yeah. So I you you see things like Nina that are are such a a well-oiled machine and so impeccably run. But being on the board, I was actually part of that process. You know, everything from event planning to the financial angles to, you know, standards development, that kind of thing. You really see how those things are done. And you I've seen that They are not taken lightly. They're they take what they do very seriously and they want it to be done right for everybody's benefit. Yes. So and that's been very fulfilling to me. Yes. Being able to be in on that process. It's been amazing. One hundred percent. I know yesterday on on Monday morning, John, the president of CEO of Nina, talks about the new strategic plan. And you were, I'm sure, a huge part of that. That was probably a a lot of conversations were had. I won't pretend that I had some big deal to do with it or you know, offered anything. interesting in the least. Yeah. But starting that from the ground up, yeah. Getting a a a streamlined vision that that will benefit everybody was hugely rewarding for me. Yeah. Hugely rewarding. Yeah. Wonderful. Well Nick, thanks for meeting me in person here at Nina. Absolutely. And coming back on the Woolmac wire. It was a pleasure. Yeah. Anytime you want to have me back, I I I'm going to have a whole lot of free time here in a few days. So feel feel free to reach out. Wonderful. Thanks, Dick. All right. Thank you. hi everyone. I am here with Sam Hawkins from this Gen 911. You might recognize her face from LinkedIn. But Sam, thanks for joining me on the Will McGuire. I'm excited to have you here. Woman, it is amazing to be here. Pleasure. It's so lovely to meet you in person, too. Shame, shame. Okay, just have a couple quick questions for you. The first one being you're a very regular conference goer. You travel a lot for your position. I get to chat with people. How has the conference been so you for you? how has the conference been for you so far? my word, it is incredible. And then I tell you what, although this is gonna sound like a broken record, because when is it not an incredible? But this is the networking, the sharing of ideas, the exchange of love. It's just been awesome. It's always awesome. And truly, it is y'all who make it awesome. It is the front line and the reason why we are here. So it's been awesome. 100%. And when we are beautiful. We were chatting before I told you this was my first first Nina National and it's just been an awesome time, just awesome vibes. Like you said, a lot of opportunities to connect with this community. It's beautiful. so okay, and then second question for you is if there's is there a message that you'd like to give to the the 911 community after after being in it for a while now and working with them? absolutely. It's a two-part message. Take it as someone who has worn the headset, I'm not in the trenches any longer. You, those of you who still are, number one. You are worth it. You are worth it. And you are worth being here, connecting, networking, getting to see that you are not alone. Everyone here, even on the vendor side, we're here for you. For sure. We care about sharing solutions for you because we love you, all of you. Frontline admin, supervision, leadership. We're here for you. And the second message is this: please, I hope you leave this conference. If you are here, leave with at least five new names. Contact information. Just know you're not in it alone. And you need to be able to share that back with those folks and know you have a tribe. Leave with new members of your tribe. Yes. Definitely wonderful, Sam. I appreciate you joining me so much. We'll have to get you on like a full episode. Girl, just speaking my language. I love it. Thanks, Sam. Thank you. All right, I'm here with Haley Gunther, the new marketing coordinator for conferences and events at Wilmac in the new addition to the Wilmac pack. So, Haley, this is your first conference with Nina 2026. How are you feeling? How have your first few weeks been? Just let us know what's going on. Good. I feel very excited. I feel like there's a lot of adrenaline going on surrounding like the things that we've done to plan. and then seeing it all come together in execution. And I'm just excited for What's to come and keep to be able to keep meeting people and learning more and more every day about everything that this community has to offer and all that. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, we're excited for you to be here, Haley. And just there's it's only up from here. Every conference we get better and better. So glad to have you here. Thanks for joining us on the pod, Hayley. Yes, I'll be back. Love