Philadelphia Fife & Drum presented the colors.

More than 1,000 people filled the ballroom of the Philadelphia Convention Center for the APCO Opening General Session on Monday morning. The draw: Education, good colleagues and the chance to hear Eagles’ walk-on legend Vince Papale give the keynote presentation.

APCO Interim Executive Director Mark Cannon welcomed all attendees and reported on the successes of the association. On the financial state of the association, Cannon said, “Pay attention, Congress.” He reported that APCO has balanced its budget and ended the 2010-2011 fiscal year with a 2% surplus. He also noted that, thanks to our sponsors, this year’s conference in Philadelphia had already broken the previous record for the most successful APCO conference.

He introduced the APCO Executive Committee, the Board of Directors and representatives from the APCO Global Alliance. The presentation of the colors was made by the Philadelphia Fife and drum, and Kevin Peirce sang the national anthem.

APCO President Bill Carrow

Next, APCO President Bill Carrow took the stage to quickly reflect on the successes and achievements of last year, such as the release of the ProCHRT final report and recommendations, the growing number of agencies getting their training programs P33 certified and the growth and strength of APCO’s relationships with outside organizations. He also pointed to the progress that has been made on public safety’s fight for the D Block, thanking APCO Immediate Past President Richard Mirgon for his leadership on the issue and advocacy in Washington, D.C.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey formally welcomed the attendees and stressed his appreciation of what public safety professionals do every day.  Ramsey also discussed his involvement with the Public Safety Alliance and the importance of interoperability and the opportunity a nationwide public safety broadband network will bring.

“I was police chief in D.C. on 9/11,” he said. “In Washington, D.C., police and fire were not on the same frequency. On that day, we were not able to communicate. Ten years later, we are still not interoperable. It has to end, and it’s because of the efforts of organizations like APCO International and others forming the Public Safety Alliance, that the PSA will truly make a difference. ”

D Block Update
After Ramsey left the stage, two prominent officials who’ve worked towards the goals of the Public Safety Alliance addressed the audience.

The first was Mirgon, who provided the current status of public safety’s fight for the D Block. He emphasized the importance of the APCO membership in helping garner Congressional support for legislation that will reallocate the D Block spectrum to public safety. Specifically, he noted that the efforts of the Texas APCO Chapter members in calling Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who was opposed to reallocation, changed her mind and resulted in her valuable support. He also noted that the members of CPRA helped change the mind of Rep. Henry Waxman.

Conference attendees can help motivate their representatives in Congress by picking up a packet of three letters near the registration desk. It contains a letter for each of your senators and House representative. Make sure to complete the letters and drop them off at the table near the registration desk in the convention center.

“Right now we are sure we can get through the Senate, but it’s the House Energy and Commerce Committee that’s being difficult,” he said.

NYPD Chief Chuck Dowd, who has also testified in front of Congress for the Public Safety Alliance, also took the stage to express the importance of the grassroots efforts of public safety communications professionals.

Invoking the memory of the 9/11 attacks, Dowd also expressed his appreciation for the role of communications professionals.

“10 years later, it is very very difficult to listen to that stuff [the 9-1-1 calls from the attacks],” he said. “One call in particular floored me. It was from a firefighter on the 15th floor of one of the towers. He was in cardiac arrest and couldn’t get through on his radio and had to call 9-1-1. Ladies and gentlemen that has to stop. We need to have this capability so that we can talk to each other no matter where we go, when we go and whatever we go for.”

Awards
The winners of the 2011 Public Safety Communications Awards were honored on stage and presented with their awards:

• Information Technologist of the Year Robert W. Jeffrey, presented by Kevin Kearns from iXP;
• Radio Frequency Technologist of the Year Peter K. Loewenheim, presented by Steve Marschilok from Harris Corp.;
• Telecommunicator of the Year Richard Garman, presented by Bill Hinkel from Intrado;
• Trainer of the Year Connie Felten, presented by Dan Gillison from Sprint;
• Line Supervisor of the Year Shayl McCormick, presented by Angel Archo from Comcast;
• Team of the Year: The 9-1-1 Dispatch Team from Pima County (Ariz.) Sherriff’s office, presented by Tami Timperio from Cassidian Communications; and
• Communications Director of the Year Robin Schmidt, presented by Brenda Herold from Motorola.

Keynote speaker Vince Papale gave an energetic and inspiring presentation.

Mr. Invincible
This year’s keynote presenter was inspiring and fun. Have you ever thought of yourself as a football star? According to Eagles walk-on legend, Mr. Invincible, and APCO’s speaker Vince Papale, you – the public safety telecommunicator, engineer, supervisor and comm center director – are more than that. You can be “invincible.”

His story: In 1976, Papale was 30 years old, unemployed and still dreaming of becoming a professional football player. That year, the Philadelphia Eagles held an open training session, and Papale did so well that he was invited by then-rookie head coach Dick Vermeil to training camp. After being told repeatedly that he was too old and not good enough, Papale made the team. He played four seasons with the Eagles, served as team captain and laid the foundation for the Eagles 1980 Super Bowl team. He now lectures on the importance of education and community involvement — a role model encouraging and inspiring people to achieve.

Throughout his presentation, Papale used the movie about his life, Invincible, to demonstrate that it was about more than just sports. That his story is really about achieving your dream and not giving in to those who say, “You can’t.”

“I just play football. … Every day you make decisions that help people, that save lives,” he said. “You’ve got to be part of a team. What makes you invincible? It’s because you make an incredible impact.”

He asked the audience, how many had saved a life this year. In true communications form, not wanting to take credit for “just doing their jobs,” no one in the room stood up or made a sound.

Papale said that everyone has an invincible moment — a moment when they prove to the naysayers that they were wrong. He said his was when he was a senior in high school running track. During a race at the end of the season, he was up against runners who had scholarships to elite schools that had overlooked his abilities and successes. He beat all the runners by more than a foot, winning the race and a scholarship to college.

He emphasized the importance of your team and the impact it has on your successes and your position in life. For Papale, members of his team include his family and his high school football coach, who also encouraged him to go out for track. For public safety communications, the team is also your agency and the agencies you serve.

“Make sure the people you work with know you care,” he said. “If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be in that job. What tougher a job is there out there [than 9-1-1]? Be a good team. Your seven great examples are your award winners, but they are a microcosm of you. Create an atmosphere that people enjoy working in, know what your mission is and live your mission.”

To get ahead in life he stresses several important aspects that he refereed to as the playbook:

• Make an impact;
• Make effort part f your personality;
• Achieve mind-body synergy;
• Don’t waste your potential;
• Visualize your dream;
• Define your role;
• Play out your role with passion;
• Make it about “we,” not “I;”
• Be a good teammate; and
• Beware of the crab bucket: “If you want to do something different, people are going try to pull you back in, because they think if you succeed, that validates their failure.”

Papale emphasized that public safety professionals instinctually perform white-knuckle drills every day. They analyze, adapt and achieve during every 9-1-1 call. Just like players on the football field, you read the situation and adapt to it to save lives.

He concluded by quoting a poem by Langston Hughes that he found inspiring: “Hold fast to dreams/For if dreams die/Life is a broken-winged bird/That cannot fly.”