Are You LinkedIn?
by Alan Beadle, PCI #484/EMSCI #076
City of Sylvania (OH) Police Division
IPMBA Membership Coordinator
In July 2020, during some of the most difficult and challenging times of our lives, I had the honor of being elected to the IPMBA Board of Directors. During my interview, I suggested that one of the ways we might better serve our membership is through an increased use of social media.
Public safety personnel today use different social media platforms while performing their duties as first responders. It may be as part of an investigation using open source investigation techniques, researching products to use while on patrol, or communicating critical information during an emergency. As a first responder’s tool, social media is here to stay.
Shortly after I was appointed Membership Coordinator, the board tasked me with expanding IPMBA’s social media footprint, starting with LinkedIn. LinkedIn is similar to Facebook, but it has a more business-focused image and attracts professionals who may not be on Facebook. While IPMBA has a presence on LinkedIn, we are currently only truly active on Facebook, which we use to broadcast news and updates. We also have a YouTube channel with a series of playlists. IPMBA will continue to use both Facebook and YouTube, but will strive to expand our presence on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is listed as one of the top 20 social media sites. It is the number one professional social media resource. It currently has close to 700 million users and continues to grow. 60% of the audience is between the ages of 25 and 34 years old (Statista). While it began as a job search site, it has evolved into a platform on which industry experts share content, network, and build their personal brands. It is also used by businesses and organizations to establish themselves as authorities within their fields and attract talent as well as customers.
Thanks to Jason Schiffer, who created the IPMBA Group in 2008, IPMBA is on LinkedIn; however, we have not actively cultivated a community. I intend to start.
The IPMBA LinkedIn group currently has nearly 600 members. It is a closed, “request only” group for public safety cyclists and related businesses. The LinkedIn group provides IPMBA members and associated individuals with an online forum in which to ask questions and share information related to bike patrol. At this point, IPMBA is restricting users to first responders and relevant industry representatives. We believe that this will keep the group focused on public safety cycling while limiting outside influence and excessive marketing.
LinkedIn has a number of features to help pass along content related to IPMBA’s mission. SlideShare is LinkedIn’s built-in professional content sharing tool used to upload PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and OpenDocument files to share with IPMBA group followers. 90% of professionals rank LinkedIn as their preferred platform for professional content sharing (Hootsuite).
The ultimate goal of using LinkedIn is to provide content to the IPMBA community quickly and efficiently, supplement our use of Facebook, and reach members who are on LinkedIn but not on Facebook.
If you are on LinkedIn, look for our group (International Police Mountain Bike Association, https://www.linkedin.com/groups/66176/) and ask to join it. And if you are a group member, please initiate and contribute to conversations. We cannot have a dialogue without you.
As Membership Coordinator for IPMBA, my responsibility is to attract and retain members. I look to the IPMBA instructors to be the organization’s ambassadors in this cause. When you teach Basic Cyclist Courses, Bicycle Response Team Training, and the E-bike Training Module, emphasize the importance and benefits of becoming a member. Beyond the obvious (certification), membership provides access to resources, discounts, and advanced training. It also enables us to better fulfill our mission and counter calls to defund bike police with information about the many positive ways in which public safety cyclists engage their communities.
As we make progress on our pending projects and programs, we will be making announcements to our membership via our social media platforms. Stay informed! Get active on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/66176/) and follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IPMBA.org) for updates.
And remember: keep riding and stay safe during these challenging times.
Alan has been with the City of Sylvania Police Division since 1996 and is currently working at Sylvania Southview High School (Ohio) as a School Resource Officer. He joined the Bike Patrol Unit in 1997 and has been an active IPMBA member ever since. In 2001, at the IPMBA Conference in Cincinnati, Alan became an IPMBA Instructor and has taught Police and EMS Cyclist Courses to hundreds of officers. He has taught at past IPMBA Conferences, including his workshop, Simunition® for Bike Patrol. Alan was elected to the IPMBA Board in 2020 and currently serves as Membership Coordinator. He can be reached at southviewsro@gmail.com.
(c) 2020 IPMBA. This article appeared in the 2020 Board Issue of IPMBA News.