17TH ANNUAL FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY EDUCATORS' CONFERENCE: "EDUCATING ON THE BRINK"

The Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM), Niagara Falls Fire Services and the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council are pleased to announce the 17th annual Fire and Life Safety Educators' Conference. Titled “Educating on the Brink”, the conference will be held in Niagara Falls on November 4 to 6, 2009.

The topic of this year’s optional pre-conference workshop on Wednesday, November 4, is the use and impact of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach audiences with fire safety information. While older people may still depend on traditional media such as television and newspapers for their information, younger people are much more likely to turn to the Web or other alternative media. It is important that fire service educators keep current with this trend and adapt their traditional educational approaches to these emerging technologies. The Niagara Region’s new direct-to-web fire injury prevention program is one example of taking a new approach that will be examined during the workshop.

Other conference topics include:

Fire Marshal's address: "Smoke on the Water";
Fatal fires in retirement residences: what can be done?;
It’s all in the delivery: What’s Cooking – for Teens!;
Media partnerships that work for all;
More lessons learned: a fire investigator's point of view;
mportant considerations: working with people with disabilities; and
Urban fire safety project.

The conference will be held at the Doubletree Fallsview Resort and Spa, 6039 Fallsview Boulevard, Niagara Falls. The pre-conference session begins at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4. The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. on November 5 and ends at noon on November 6.

The conference fee is $200 for those who register before October 1, 2009 and $250.00 for those who register after this date. This fee includes all seminars and workshops, as well as lunch and banquet dinner on November 5. Breakfasts are included in the room charge. Additional banquet tickets can be purchased for $55.00 at the time of registration. Accommodations are available at the conference hotel at a cost of $109.00 per night, plus applicable taxes. To make reservations, call (905) 358‑3817 and mention the Fire and Life Safety Educators’ Conference group code: FLS. For online reservations, visit doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/IAGDTDT-FLS-20091103/index.jhtml.

A registration form for the conference is attached, or can be printed from the OFM Web site, www.ofm.gov.on.ca. Please fill out the form and fax it to Niagara Falls Fire Services at (905) 356‑1583 as soon as possible.

To obtain further information on the Public Fire and Life Safety Educator’s Conference, contact Ben Trendle, Niagara Falls Fire Service, by telephone at (905) 356‑1321 ext. 2211, or by e-mail at btrendle@niagarafalls.ca.

Attachment

Registration Form ( HTML, PDF 274 KB )