Last year, 45 editors from Primedia's Business-to-Business Division (trade magazines) came together for three days. Among them were editors from American City & County, Fleet Owner, MIX and Waste Age, to name a few.

We learned about new technology in media and shared ideas on how to provide better information to our readers. As the largest publisher of trade magazines in the nation, Primedia is a leader in innovative media delivery. (Don't give up on me! This isn't a commercial!)

Andrew Zolli, a columnist for American Demographics and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, was one of the speakers we heard. Zolli was introduced as the "resident futurist" for Primedia. We waited for him to roll out a crystal ball, but he quickly dispelled that picture.

Zolli explained to the editors that by looking ahead at trends versus fads, we could better understand the future. It's sort of like the old Smith System of Defensive Driving, which teaches you "Get the Big Picture" and "Keep your Eyes Moving." Our world is shrinking with a fusion of technology and information.

As Zolli leap-frogged to the future, he used a diagram of an upside-down pyramid to illustrate how population control in Italy will result in a significant increase in the older generation, with less youth to support the aging seniors. Likewise in the United States, as baby-boomers age they're shifting the bulk of the population to the large side of this upside-down pyramid, and fewer babies are being born to support them.

The fire service is already feeling these shifts in population today. FDNY's culture is changing because one-third of its firefighters are new to the profession. As baby-boomer fire chiefs and officers hit 30 years of service and take their pensions, some may or may not move on to another chief's job. New officers are promoted who have not experienced a lot of real-world live fires.

The incoming officers and firefighters are a reality. They are tech-savvy; they've grown up playing mixed sports and didn't "date" like we did many years ago. Computers and electronic games have enhanced their visual-manual dexterity. They are a generation that had more than four television stations to choose from and a newspaper (USA Today) geared for a quick, colorful read. Their attention span is shortened.

Boys and girls were not separated as much as they were 25 years ago and have more education. They are much more open about sex, alternative lifestyles and what they expect from a career. Will they stay in one job, with one department for 25 years? We'll see.

Hearing Zolli's talk was like looking through a pair of binoculars backwards. The future he describes will affect our children or grandchildren. The reality of fewer fires is here, as is the dramatic increase in emergency medical calls and other types of rescue and response incidents.

Recently I heard the worn-out comment that the fire service is "One hundred years of tradition unchanged by progress."

Give it up. It's not true. If anything, it should be "Two hundred years of tradition shattered in a decade." Look at the last 10 years, 1995 to 2005. Not one area of fire and emergency services hasn't been touched or changed -- apparatus, equipment, technology and diversity. If not dramatically changed, each area has been uprooted enough to force new growth.

We live in exciting times.

Janet Wilmoth, Editor