Christopher Blake Carver, MPA, ENP, CMCP—
Keynotes & Speaking Engagements
Inspire your audiences with a session from Christopher’s catalog of inspirational, informative, and engaging topics that will benefit audiences of all types of organizations and communities
Engage Audiences Through Expert Storytelling
Author of the newly published book, Miracles & Milestones: the Incredible Odyssey of a Fire Dispatcher From Ohio to 9/11 and Beyond, Christopher Blake Carver is a frequent speaker, presenter, and guest on podcasts across North America and beyond. Christopher offers keynotes and presentations centered around multiple areas of interest that apply to any public safety organization, critical control room, organization, or company in mission critical environments that are people driven and outcome centric.
Category: Keynotes
Never Forgetting: A story of September 11th and beyond
Christopher Blake Carver’s 2026 keynote centers around themes concerning the 25th anniversary of September 11th, 2001, and the associated key insights and lessons learned from his experiences at the FDNY before, during, and after that pivotal moment in American History. Areas of focus include the importance of valuing every team member, of acting with purpose and urgency, and the key components of effective teamwork whatever the organizational type or the challenge they face. The topic is both informative and inspirational and a wonderful starting point or closing for an organization’s annual kick-off or gathering of professionals seeking to motivate a recommitment to essential organizational activities.
Tearing Down the Silos: The Essentially Challenging Future of 911
Based on Christopher’s upcoming book, this keynote centers around the future of 911, Critical Control Rooms, and Public Safety Technology. It starts with the belief that today’s ways of operating, collaborating, and funding is simply unsustainable. For many reasons, pressures will force a permanent crack in the way our public safety and other critical control rooms operate. Why is the system cracking? Who will put it back together? And what will it look like in its new form? These questions and more are part of an engaging, dynamic, passionate presentation designed to motivate public safety audiences from any type of organization to think about and then help create the future of public safety technology and communications.
Category:
AI & Cutting-Edge Technology
AI and the Not So Scary Future of Public Safety Technology
In the face of AI and the many advancements underway in public safety technology, is it any wonder that many in public safety feel overwhelmed? This session will offer information and insights to help attendees feel more confident and comfortable with technological trends, centered around AI and how it can potentially improve public safety operations. We will also identify ways to our most pressing industry challenges through blending the potential of technology and human innovation, shaped by engagement and shared experiences.
Category:
FDNY and 9/11
A Bite of the Apple: 15 years with the Busiest Fire Department in the United States
Join a former Director of FDNY Fire Dispatch for a review of his career with FDNY, from day one to the day of his early retirement. Days that included an incredible array of incidents, the transformation of the NYC 9-1-1 system, four years as a dispatch trainer, and his sometimes successful, sometimes challenging efforts to help his agency prepare for the future. These critical insights and experiences will benefit leaders and supervisors from any sized public safety agency seeking to improve operational effectiveness, enhance morale and concerned about ensuring their agency is future ready, while meeting the infinite challenges of the everyday.
Category: 9-1-1 & Dispatch Basics
It’s All About Time: Improving response times through technology, procedures, and training
For Fire, EMS, and 9-1-1 agencies, response times are the most important metrics to qualify success. Improving response times, from the answering of the 9-1-1 call to the arrival of the first unit, helps to create better outcomes, improve relations with the public and improve responder safety. But how can we make that happen? What can we do to lower response times today? And what can we do to make sure our technology partners help us in this critical endeavor. This session will discuss all this and more, helping agencies get better results in this incredibly important component of their effectiveness.
9-1-1 Basics for Non-Dummies: What You Really Need to Know
Designed for public safety professionals without much or any understanding of 9-1-1, this session will walk attendees through the basics of 9-1-1: Its history; organization; key-trends; and the challenges faced by 9-1-1 organizations across the United States as well as actions you can take to both increase your understanding and help improve the 9-1-1 industry.
The Future of 9-1-1: Why it Matters to Everyone!
This session starts with 9-1-1 as it exists today and provides an overview of where 9-1-1 is likely headed over its next fifty years. From challenges with staffing to the roll-out of NG9-1-1; the deployment of 5G to IOT—the future will bring significant changes to 9-1-1 and public safety. The time is now to plan for those changes and identify how the changes will impact your agencies, your personnel, and your community.
Category: Operations & Supervision
Basics of Supervision for 9-1-1 and Public Safety: Starting with Transition
The first promotion is the hardest. Often, we are leading people we are friends with, or those we work side-by-side with just a few days ago. This session will focus on the first year of being a supervisor. What steps can you take to manage the transitions, changes, and challenges of moving into a supervisory role—while still maintaining your humanity, your passion, and maybe even a friend or two?
Managing The Crazy Days: Organizational and Operational success no matter how busy it gets
Based on the presenter’s experiences in agencies ranging in size from a one seat Fire Department Dispatch Center to the nation’s busiest Fire dispatch center, this session will offer a how-to-guide on how 9-1-1 and other public safety agencies can handle whatever operational challenges come their way. From policies and procedures, to training and supervision, this session will identify best practices for achieving better results and suggested pre-planning actions to take to help make sure you can handle whatever crazy is thrown at you.
Category: Leadership
Leadership for 9-1-1: How creating a better organization starts and ends with YOU
One of the greatest mysteries of effective leadership is realizing where it starts and what actions are most important—the answer is with YOU! Based on thirty years of industry and leadership experience, this presentation will help provide a roadmap for current and future leaders to be more humble, more focused, more people oriented, and, ultimately, more successful.
Building a Better Fish Tank: Building Better Public Safety Organizations in this Crazy Time
Starting with the efforts of Public Safety agencies to respond to the pandemic, this session will help attendees understand how to meet the operational and administrative challenges of today and tomorrow. From valuing those on our team, to identifying what it means to truly be successful, attendees will come away with specific items to work on in their own agencies and a starting point to ensure they cannot just survive but thrive!
People First Public Safety: How to make it work for your organization and your people
Diversity is so much more than a buzz-word, Understanding it is one of the keys to making sure our teams, organizations, and communities are successful. All the players on the football team should not be quarterbacks, right? The same is true for our organizations. Recognizing, celebrating, and encouraging diversity in many ways is the key to our success today and in the future. This session will highlight how to take diversity from buzzword to an essential element of your organizational success.
Category: Technology and Change Management
Public Safety Project Management: Keys to Success
With the roll-out of NG9-1-1; efforts to build new Emergency Communications Centers, deployment of new radio systems, and purchases of new CAD and RMS solutions, most agencies are managing projects constantly. These projects have the potential to impact your agency for years or decades to come and, ideally, help your agency be more successful in your core mission. But what does it take to ensure you get the most out of your project? This session will offer tips and tricks to help your project be successful and avoid the most common issues that derail even the best intended efforts.
Back to the 9-1-1 Future: What Will the PSAP of 2050 Really Look Like?
This is one of the most exciting, transformational, and challenging times in the history of 9-1-1. From the move to Next Generation 9-1-1 to the arrival of 5G, the difficulties staffing 9-1-1 and changes in public expectations, it all seems to be coming at once. That makes today difficult, but what about tomorrow? What really is NG9-1-1? Why does it matter? What will the 9-1-1 centers of a few years from now look like? And what can we do now to help ensure the success of our agencies today and tomorrow? This session will address those questions and more, helping you to have a firmer foundation as the 9-1-1 community moves into the Next Generation.
Consolidation and Co-location
PSAPs, ECCs, and other Critical Control Rooms are increasingly co-locating or consolidating. This is not an easy decision and certainly not an easy process. This session will highlight how to help ensure that your move is successful for your operations and your staff by sharing real world experiences and insights from efforts that worked well and ones that were—challenged. Related technology and funding trends as well as management and supervisory processes that can help ensure a more effective transition to your new environment will also be highlighted.
Christopher’s Biography
Mr. Carver is 31-year public safety veteran who has served in agencies and roles ranging from dispatcher in a one seat fire/EMS center to Director of the nation’s largest and busiest Fire Department Dispatch Operation—the FDNY. Along the way he has worked for some of the most significant emergency events in American History—from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.Â
After his time in FDNY, Christopher served as Director of PSAP Operations for the National Emergency Number Association, supporting the roll out of NG9-1-1 as well as other technological and operational enhancements for the nation’s 911 centers. Following NENA, Christopher transitioned to Octave (formerly Hexagon SIG)—the leading global vendor of public safety technology solutions. There he serves as Director of Market Development, connecting the needs of the public safety and government industries with technological advancements, marketing, and sales processes. Â
Christopher is also the current president and executive director of the North American chapter of the International Critical Control Rooms Alliance—a global organization devoted to connecting those who work in and serve critical control rooms of all types—from 911 centers to air traffic control facilities, transportation management to nuclear power and beyond.Â
 Christopher has served as an adjunct professor and per-diem instructor, teaching courses on communications, leadership, change management, and crisis operations. He holds a BA In Geography from The Ohio State University, a master’s in public administration (concentration Emergency Management) from Jacksonville State, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Public and Non-Profit leadership also from Ohio State. He is an ENP and a CMCP as well as a Certified Sales Leader.Â
Today, Christopher Blake Carver resides with his husband Jayce in Columbus, Ohio, where he is active in the Broad Street Presbyterian Church and a member of multiple community, professional, and social organizations. Chris has presented at dozens of conferences around the world as a breakout and keynote presenter.Â
