Summer in Chicagoland doesn't get any better than it has this week. The Fourth of July falling on a Tuesday also means that just about everyone is on vacation. It's quiet, making it a good time to catch up and update.

Good show: Massachusetts has received more than 20 inches of rain in two months versus the state's annual total rainfall of 40.9 inches. However, the drizzle and sporadic downpours certainly didn't detract from the 84th Annual Conference of the New England Fire/Rescue & EMS Service organizations last month.

The IAFC's New England Fire Chiefs Section, together with the New England Fire Chiefs Association, offered a good, solid and well-attended regional exposition. With more than 300 exhibitors, it was one of the best regional conferences that I've visited in a couple years.

A particularly appealing element was that you could see what was in each booth. The exhibits were well-staffed, making it easy to talk to people to get information. Too many times at the larger shows, even if you pre-plan your route and try to efficiently see what's in each aisle, let alone each booth, you miss something. The increasing advertising overload at big trade shows also makes you numb.

NEFCA was a good, clean, back-to-the-basics show with lots of friendly people. One chief said that he had spent time with his local dealer, who would take the order, deliver the product and provide customer service locally. Parking was plentiful and cost only $5 a car, and food was reasonably priced, too. Well done, and well worth a visit next year.

Unique: Speaking of smaller conferences, the Chicago Fire Department's Life Safety Conference will be held Aug. 16-19 at Navy Pier and will offer a number of unique programs and speakers. Not only will the Chicago Fire Department share its lessons learned on large-scale and high-rise incidents, but Chief Jay Reardon, president of the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, will talk about "41 Things to Do: Katrina and Mutual Aid Deployment." All this educational information and the Chicago Air Show overhead!

Last call: Fire Chief of the Year nominations are due July 11! State and national organizations and associations listed in Fire Chief and at FireChief.com are encouraged to submit their nominations by Tuesday!

Reminder: Entries for the 2006 Station Style Design Awards are due Aug. 15! This is the sixth year of the first and only program in this industry to recognize exceptional stations across North America. Don't miss the opportunity to have your new or renovated station considered for this prestigious award. Visit FireChief.com for more details.

Finalized: Save the date! Next year's Station Style Conference will be held in Denver on April 29-May 1, 2007. Based on the feedback from attendees and the incredible success of our first Station Style Conference, we've added a number of programs and options that will help you design and build the best response facility for your department and community. More details to follow!

Lastly … and sadly: Why are we still hearing of firefighters — last week a chief — dying in emergency vehiclen accidents because they weren't wearing their seatbelts? DUH: Didn't U Hear? Seatbelts work if you buckle them! I can only imagine the families' grief compounded by "if only…."