Drew sits down to chat with Shawn Mullen, Chief Energy Officer at Protex Central, about the new NFPA code on hybrid water mist systems and how a new code develops through the industry. NFPA 770 has been in the works for years and a lot of fire protection professionals have been heavily involved in the adoption.
Full Transcript
Drew Slocum: (00:09):
This is episode 8 of the Fire Protection Podcast, powered by Inspect Point. Today, my guest is Sean Mullen. Sean is the president and Chief Energy Officer of ProTech Central. We get into the Chief Energy Officer right off the bat, but Sean was a great guest. He's been an integral part of NFPA seven 70. NFPA 70 70 is the new Water Mist hybrid, uh, technology that is coming about the new standards, uh, being introduced, uh, later this year. So, pretty topical with N F P A coming up, uh, next week in San Antonio. Speaking of that N F P A in San Antonio this year. And Spec Point will be there with a booth. Uh, I'll also be recording a live podcast as well from N F P A. So feel free to stop by our booth. And, um, yeah, please enjoy the podcast with Sean Mullen.
Drew Slocum: (01:05):
Wanna welcome in, uh, Sean Mullens. Uh, what is, what is your actual title at, at, uh, at pci?
Shawn Mullen: (01:14):
My actual title is President and Chief Energy Officer. And, um, the only reason that I chose Chief Energy Officer was because, um, I felt that, um, and unless I designated myself as the engine, uh, president and chief, you know, executive officer was, I don't know, boring
Drew Slocum: (02:05):
No, that's great. I, I figured it had something to do with that. And, uh, you know, again, it, it gets a conversation stirred, you know, when you first meet somebody. Yeah. So it really does. Yeah. So I kind of we're kicking that off right away. So, uh, yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Sean, for being on the podcast. This is, uh, it's a new avenue for us, you know, from Inspect Point, but also just, I wanna get more knowledge out there from fire protection. Um, usually, you know, you have to go to a trade show or be a part of a specific webinar to really learn about, you know, different types of fire protection out there and, and different aspects, how to run, run your businesses better. So, um, you reached out to me pretty early on, probably a couple months ago, a month ago, um, you know, very interested in, in, uh, coming on the podcasts.
(02:56)
I did a, I did a little research behind you, uh, with the F S S A, all my, all my buddies over there. So they, they gave Sure, they gave a big thumbs up to you. So let's, uh, oh,
Shawn Mullen: (03:40):
Right. Yeah. So the, the technology is, um, really an interesting one in that it essentially fuses, um, two different media water mist at less than a hundred micro micron droplet size and, uh, an inert agent. And it fuses these two, uh, existing extinguishing media into a single hybrid media, which essentially suppresses and extinguishes the fire from, uh, two different elements of the old fire triangle, of course, with the, with the water miss, because of the increased surface area created, uh, by all those little water droplets we're clearly, uh, addressing the heat side of the fire triangle,
Drew Slocum: (04:32):
Right?
Shawn Mullen: (04:32):
Yep. And then with the inner agent, we are also addressing the oxygen, uh, level or the oxygen availability, um, uh, to the fire. And so we're really knocking, knocking that fire down, suppressing and ex and extinguishing from two different sides of that. It is a technology that's been around for several years. Um, there are, uh, domestically, there are, uh, two, uh, manufacturers, uh, Ansel makes the Aquas so Yep. Product. Yep. And Victaulic, uh, makes their vortex, uh, hybrid fire extinguishing system. So these two manufacturers ha, have been promoting, um, this technology. And as they approached the N F P A, um, they said, Hey, we don't think this really falls into the water mist N FPA seven 50, uh, guidelines, because we are actively using inert agent as a mechanism of suppression, right? And they said, we also, we don't think we fit into the NFPA a 2001, uh, area of clean agent suppression systems because we're using Mist, uh, you know, again, as an active element of the suppression.
(06:01)
And so, uh, the first time, uh, they went up to N F P A, um, the, the, um, powers that be there said, well, that's not there, there doesn't seem to be enough interest. We think that N F P A seven 50 is sufficient. And, uh, much like the, uh, dejected crew going before the Wizard of Oz, they said, you know, come back later, bring us the, the broom of the wicked witch of the West to these manufacturers. So they, they regrouped, uh, got involved in, uh, trade association, and I'll make a shameless plug for the Fire Suppression Systems Association. Yeah. Yep. And, um, began to get involved, uh, built up more of a rapport and an understanding of where this technology can be used. And here, uh, several years ago, uh, 2015 or so, they came back to N F P A and again, solicited, um, a, a a request to create a separate standard.
(07:02)
And they had more support from the industry end users, um, distributors, uh, installers like our company, PROTEX Central. And, uh, that time around the, uh, N F P A, uh, powers that be said, yes, we, we think that now this has traction. We think this has viability. And so, uh, the standards Council of N F P A, uh, created the N F P A seven 70 standard on hybrid fire extinguishing systems. And, um, I submitted my name as a representative of the Fire Suppression Systems Association to sit on that new, new standards committee. Right. And, uh, and part of a group of about 15, 16 individuals from all different stakeholder elements, from professional engineers to subject matter experts, to the manufacturers to, uh, end users, um, authorities having jurisdiction, uh, military, uh, and in installer, uh, installer distributors. So it is a, uh, well represented cross, unlike other n FPA committees. And to me, uh, having never sat on a, uh, national Standard Standard making council or a committee or a, or a code committee, uh, it was a new experience. I had been involved with state regulations and state, uh, licensing issues and things of that nature, but never on a national basis where you have Sure. A much wider, much more divergent, uh, set of views, uh, on on the technology Yeah. On the industry and the applications. So, um, yeah. So we started in, uh, working on the, the standard way back in 2016. So,
Drew Slocum: (08:57):
Uh, let me, let me stop you real quick. Uh, back to that, and I, I kind of wanted to highlight that, you know, hybrid mist is, is great. I was involved with it, um, when I was in my Tyco days with aquas and Aqua Mist two different, right. You know, one's high hybrid one's not. But, um, you know, just from the N F P A side, it sounds like they, you know, N F P A does a great job in, in, in bringing a lot of different viewpoints into these different standards and, and, and code committees, uh, whatever you wanna call it. Uh, w what, I guess what is, what has been your experience and, you know, are there, are there any pros and cons to, to, to bringing those together? I know N F P A does take a while to, to push anything through. I remember, I remember talking about seven 70, almost 10 years ago now, or at least the hybrid mist, not seven 70 specifically, so, right. Yeah. What's your, what was your experience with that? Just that whole process, and maybe explain to that, to the, to listenership.
Shawn Mullen: (10:00):
Sure. And, and I think, I think that's a good, it's a good thing to focus on. Um, it's much, it's much like, uh, laws and sausages. It's not a, um, it's not the fastest means to promulgating consensus standards and codes. And I think, you know, quite honestly, that, I think that's a good thing. Um, it, you know, much like you, um, I'm sure that you're much like, uh, everybody else in the industry, kind of a belt and suspenders kind of guy. I mean, if you're in the fire business, uh, you gotta make sure it's right and it's gonna work when it needs to. So, speeding through any type of standard development code development probably is not a, is probably not a good thing. And the way that N F P A has set up these stakeholders within the, the committee structure and the deliberative nature that occurs, um, you've got to work through and find consensus.
(11:00)
And so when you have these different voices at the table, you are not going to be all yes men. And, uh, not every idea is going to be met with uniformity. And when you have, uh, subject matter experts, you have professional engineers, you have end users, um, there are any number of viewpoints on any particular subject. And I would tell you that in our particular case of N FPA seven 70, um, we just had a heck of a time just getting our, our minds around defining what this hybrid media, uh, really is. Um, because it, it, it exists in two different elements and then it comes together. Um, and so we struggled long time to refine work on, uh, you know, put up trial balloons of definitions of what hybrid media, uh, really is. And so, um, once we finally got worked through that, where everybody was comfortable, uh, the rest of it started to fall in line pretty quickly.
(12:13)
Um, but when you have engineers who have a great depth of experience with, uh, you know, traditional, uh, fire sprinkler systems, clean agent systems, right? Uh, those types of things, you know, they, they have, they, they want specificity a as everybody else, but you grapple with the technology to understand how can we best define this, and at the same time, not play favorites. Uh, N F P A is, is very sensitive to giving any type of commercial nod intentionally or otherwise to any one particular manufacturer's type of, of solution. So, right. You have to kind of dance around that a little bit at the same time as well.
Drew Slocum: (12:57):
Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure you know, NFPAs, you know, non, they have to be pretty vanilla when it comes to that, which is, which is good. That's what they need, that's what they need to do. So, that's right. Yeah. Um, I guess back to the hybrid mist, you know, I, I was involved in a lot of water mist in that technology, you know, 10 years ago before right. When Vortex really came out. Um, what are the, what are the best applications from a con from your perspective, a contractor's perspective? Sure. Cause you know, you have all the different tools out there to put out a fire, to put out a, you know, uh, to put a suppression system, a sprinkler system, alarm system in place. What are the best applications for that, that hybrid water mist and how it's being pushed at N F fpa?
Shawn Mullen: (13:44):
Sure. Um, well, the technology has been, uh, deployed in, in, uh, applications where you would have normally thought, well, that's a good clean agent type application. That might be a good water mis application. That might be a good CO2 application. And so, um, it, it has had, uh, different applications, but a, as a practical matter, we see a lot of, um, industrial applications where, for example, um, CO2 may have been more widely used and prescribed in the past, but because of the nature of CO2 and the exposure, uh, elements that come into play when you have personnel in correct in, in there, um, these types of hybrid systems have a legitimate and, uh, well, uh, well documented and success in those applications where low pressure co2 or high pressure CO2 may have been used. Uh, so you're looking at enclosures, uh, you know, flammable liquid storage areas, um, you know, power gen, uh, those types of things.
(14:59)
Yeah. And, and also in, in industry as well, um, any type of, of area that, uh, could have had clean agent, uh, might be a candidate as well. Because when you're looking at these hybrid agents, uh, the inner element of them, uh, at least in the vortex, uh, equation, uses an nitrogen. Right. And so the requirements for sealing of the hazard are not as rigorous as they would be if you were using a traditional, uh, you know, hydrocarbon type clean agent. Right. And so we have had applications in, in our experience, uh, of, of using the hybrid systems when the cost of a, uh, clean agent system gets, gets a little pricey because, not of the system itself, but because of the modifications that have to be made to the hazard, uh, construction wise in order to seal it up Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (16:00):
Vent or even venting from the, from the inert side where you have to vent, you know, pressure venting, you're
Shawn Mullen: (16:06):
E Exactly. Right. Uh, and so again, um, having the availability, having the tool of the hybrid systems, uh, gives owners, end users, AHJs engineers, um, another option to consider. Right? And the other, uh, attractive element, um, is that when you're using water and nitrogen, uh, your, your cost of recharge is a fairly low impact, right? It's not going to be sticker shock as you might have with an unexpected discharge of the clean agent system.
Drew Slocum: (16:39):
Sure, sure. Yeah, it was interesting. Uh, you know, we brought up Bermuda before, um, when we originally, when we started off the podcast, and, uh, when I was down there, uh, you know, vict gave a presentation on Vortex. But, you know, because of the, first of all, the recharge, uh, cost and just availability of a, a clean agent or whatever, uh, everything's pushing towards Vortex, but on top of that, they have a big water issue because it's an island without a lot of, um, you know, natural springs or natural water. So, uh, you know, that that mist style, whether it's regular mist or hybrid mist is, is a lot more powerful down there because they don't have the water supply. So,
Shawn Mullen: (17:26):
Uh, and it's, it's been huge. It's interesting. Yeah, it's interesting that you should mention that because we have had applications here in the Midwest where water pressure is not sufficient, uh, for protection of a particular area. And, um, so rather than, you know, bringing in, you know, six eight inch water mains and having to put in a fire pump, uh, we, we've been able to go in and provide the hybrid system with its own, you know, uh, water supply, its own nitrogen supply, and, uh, boom, we've got, uh, reliable, accurate fire protection, which I'm happy to say has actually put out a couple of fires, uh, really in some, yeah. In some engine test cells, uh, wow. Where the water pressure in the, in the city was too low to meet the demands for sprinkler. Um, and, uh, we, we were able to move forward with a hybrid system and, uh, put it in, and I bet it was in, in place for maybe, uh, three or four months, and one of the zones popped off and put out a fire in an engine test cell.
(18:32)
So, um, the, the systems do work, uh, when installed design maintained, uh, correctly. And, uh, you know, the, the obviously end user is very happy. The fire department's very happy, um, and, you know, they're back up in business and, uh, running with it. So, um, it does have its place. It's not for every possible application. Sure. And, you know, um, but again, it's a tool and it's another mechanism that's available, uh, to, to fight, uh, fires when they do occur so that they minimize, uh, you know, uh, loss of life and, and loss of property damage, so, right. Uh, that, that's why I'm kind of interested in it, because it is yet another option available, um, in, in the toolbox.
Drew Slocum: (19:17):
Yeah. No, it's, it's, it's great that there's, there's something else. And, you know, technology's pushing forward. It is, uh, you know, I, I always thought, I, I always questioned back in the day when, when, uh, you know, water mist is big, and even the hybrid was, was coming around. It's a great technology. Why was it never adopted? And, you know, I think the, the, the code of NFPA seven 70 coming out, uh, will help that along, obviously. When, when do you think that will, uh, when is that gonna be published? Or is it, is it already published? I know, maybe it's not finalized yet.
Shawn Mullen: (19:54):
It is not published, but, uh, at the N F P A conference that is, uh, coming up, I, I believe it's next week in San Antonio. I, I am not able to attend.
Drew Slocum: (20:06):
Yep. We'll be there. Uh,
Shawn Mullen: (20:07):
Um, but I believe that the, uh, the second, uh, the second draft is up and it goes to a floor vote for approval. And if it gets past there, uh, it goes to the standard council and, and final doc document review and the timeline that we looked at earlier this year, uh, assuming there's no, uh, no hue cry on the floor at N F P A, uh, should be, uh, released in early 2020, and then we'll be into that, uh, cycle, that three year cycle of rotation. But, uh, so far, uh, we have addressed all of the public comments that have come in mm-hmm.
(21:04)
So that's kind of the timeframe. And, um, I know that I am, I am eager to have it out. Um, and then we've got a living breathing document, and it's not, you know, it just doesn't exist in a tentative stage Sure. But in approved stage. And, uh, and then, you know, obviously the next, the next element is getting it out there in the public, uh, having the uses for it, uh, have people interact with it. And then that's really when, uh, when it comes into play to understand where are the areas we're gonna need to address, you know, in the next revision, or are we gonna have to, you know, in, you know, issue, you know, temporary, um, amendments, interim amendments, uh, for things that we may not have clearly understood the impact of, and those types of things. But, um, I think once we get the boat in the water and it's floating, then we'll understand better how to, how to improve that standard going forward.
Drew Slocum: (21:59):
No, no, it's interesting. And, you know, from, from start to finish, uh, and I would, I might get somebody from N F P A Ja James, either from, uh, N F P A or somebody else that understands the process really well. Uh, James Gvo, uh, the ceo or a president of Viking, Viking Corp. Uh, you know, when I was, when I was back at Viking, gave a great presentation on kind of the start to finish of, of an N F P A cycle and just development of a code, and, you know, how the revisions come into pace, how public opinion, and even how to submit. A lot of people don't know how to submit for public opinion sometimes.
Shawn Mullen: (22:40):
That's right.
Drew Slocum: (22:40):
Which I think, I think needs to get out there more. Maybe that's a, it actually spurs on a, an idea for myself to maybe have a podcast about just that whole process to, to get people to comment, you know, the more people commenting, obviously, yes, N F P A has to go through all that, but the more people commenting, the better off for the standard. At the end of the day.
Shawn Mullen: (23:01):
You are, you are exactly right. And, and that's a very good, um, that, that's a very good comment from the standpoint that, um, the, the process relative to, um, making public comment, quite honestly, I think it's pretty easy once you understand where to go, right?
(24:00)
Inputs, uh, public comments, um, they have to be addressed by the committee. And so anyone who takes the time to, uh, submit a, a, a comment or an input, um, you know, they're gonna get, they're, they're, it's either gonna be accepted as written or if it's going to be, uh, rejected, it has to have a reason why did you reject it? Right? Or if there, if there's a modification, again, it has to be documented. So I, I like that part of it. And I think pe people who would, who would be interested in that type of thing, uh, might find that process, um, you know, very, uh, fair, transparent and open. Yeah. Um, I would say as far as our committee, um, we have a, um, a staff liaison who is a professional, uh, engineer. His, his name is Barry Chase. I don't know if you know Barry or
Drew Slocum: (24:52):
Not. No, I don't know Barry. No.
Shawn Mullen: (24:54):
But, uh, just a really, really sharp individual, um, very, very fair and also very encouraging. Um, Barry also is the, I believe, the staff staff liaison for 2001. And, uh, so his knowledge of that standard and knowing what we were trying to, um, knowing to knowing what tried to, to, to accomplish was, was very helpful, um, in those types of things. And so his, his patient, uh, guidance, um, and, and knowledge of the standards and knowledge of the process, uh, really kind of furthered, um, furthered the entire, uh, effort along very, very well.
Drew Slocum: (25:35):
No, no, no. That's great. Uh, yeah, I, I've dealt with, uh, N F P A 25. I've been to few of those meetings, and, um, uh, Matt Klaus was big on that for a little bit. I think he's off of N F P A 25, but that's, that's a, uh, that's an interesting standard as well. It's, it's, it's interesting how a standard develops over time and how, uh, how complicated it can get, um,
Shawn Mullen: (26:03):
So, one other thing I might mention for the listeners, they may not know this, but, um, there is no prohibition for guests to attend an N F P A committee meeting. Right. Um, we have had, uh, several guests, um, attend our meeting. And in many respects, um, any time that they have wanted to maybe offer a comment, they may have wanted to offer an observation, at least in, in, in our committee. The, uh, who was ever chairing the committee at the time, um, was, was very open to welcoming their observations and their comments. Obviously, they can't vote, but, uh, their input was welcome. And, uh, in, in a couple of instances it was very helpful. And so, um, you know, these are not, uh, by invitation only, uh, you don't have to be a member of N F P A to actually attend, uh, uh, an N F P A committee meeting. You can be, you know, John Q public if you want. So that's an important thing to be aware of as
Drew Slocum: (27:12):
Well. No, no, that's a good point. Yeah, I was, I was a guest at, uh, N F P A 25 couple times. And, uh, yeah, it's very interesting. You really learn the process, you know, you gotta, you gotta dig through the, the different standards of when they're meeting, but it's usually a nice location as well,
Shawn Mullen: (27:34):
Well, you know, all of, all of the expenses are born by the committee members. Uh, N F P A does not pay us, right. They do not reimburse any of our expenses. So all of all of this is volunteer time. Um, and, uh, the committee members pay their own expenses. And so this really is a commitment to the industry, um, for the betterment of the industry, that these individuals, um, you know, take freely of their time and their expertise and their expense to contribute to this. And so, um, they're not only voting with their knowledge, they're voting with their dollars, uh, to assure that these, these, uh, standards are created in a fair, open, transparent, and collaborative way.
Drew Slocum: (28:20):
No, no, that's great. I'm, I'm glad, uh, glad we're actually talking about that, cuz it's, uh, I'm, I'm sure a lot of listeners don't fully understand that. And again, I'll probably do another, maybe get somebody from N F P A to, to really give a, a deep dive in how to, how to proceed with those public comments and everything, so. Sure, sure. Um, so we're, uh, we're, that's kind of the gist of what I kind of wanna get across the new NFPA seven 70, um, uh, code. Um, is there anything, is there anything from your perspective, from Protex Central that you wanna pass the message along? I want to give you a little bit of time to, you know, I know you're probably heavy day today with your, your, your business. Um, give you some time to plug it or anything else you're doing.
Shawn Mullen: (29:10):
Well, uh, thank you for that opportunity. Um, my, uh, 32nd elevator speech, uh, about our company. Um, we are a 53 year young, uh, life safety special systems integrator. Wow. Primarily, primarily operating in the states of Iowa and Nebraska. But we have done work nationally, uh, as requested by various customers. Um, we are a UL listed fire alarm installation contractor. Mm-hmm.
Drew Slocum: (30:33):
Shawn Mullen: (30:34):
Great. He invited me to join him in business. And, uh, so for the past 35 years, uh, I have been doing that. Uh, it's, and um, I thought, you know, this nice set certification process, um, we need, we need to make sure that our people know Yes, that's important. And so I said, you know, I'm gonna do it. I'm just, I'm, I'm gonna hunker down. I'm gonna do what I need to do. And so I'm a nice at level four, uh, in, uh, fire alarms and I'm a nice at level three in special hazards. Wow. And so I, I tell my team, Hey, look at if a dumb percussionist, you know, in recovery for the past 30 years, can in tackle it and make it happen, you can too. Right. So, um, I, I'm a big one in a lot of our team is, has taken the cue from that and they pursued their nice certifications as well.
Drew Slocum: (31:27):
Yeah, no, that's great. I'm, I, I, you know, I'm, I wish, I wish more companies were like that, you know, we're, you know, my day-to-day business we're heavily involved in inspection, testing and maintenance and, you know, getting technicians, uh, up to speed with different codes and just, just what to look for. It really covers that and, and a lot of the nice, uh, uh, you know, certifications out there. So. Yeah.
Shawn Mullen: (31:53):
And I might make a shameless plug forny e as well. Um, that might be an interesting podcast for you. Um, and if you'd like, I can get you to contact people there at nset. But, um, when we were going through, uh, the state licensing requirements here in the state of Iowa, um, NSET was very supportive and very helpful, uh, with delineating their methodology Sure. Of testing and how they come about that. Right. And, uh, some of the, you know, processes that they have to ensure integrity of that testing process, which I think is, is really, really important.
Drew Slocum: (32:33):
No, no, I, I would love to, yeah, I would love to pass that info along. I'd love to have them on, cuz I I do have some, uh, I have a few comments for them as well, cuz I feel they do a great job with certification. Yep. But you almost need to, you almost need a certification to learn how to get a certification
Shawn Mullen: (33:12):
I'll be sure it forward, uh, my contacts information onto you. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and, uh, I I'm sure he'd be more than happy, you know, to, to, to speak with you and your listeners. Yeah. Um, on, on how they do, how they go about that and who knows. He might be open to some, uh, friendly amendments and suggestions Right.
Drew Slocum: (33:31):
From, you know, from my listeners. Exactly.
Shawn Mullen: (34:07):
Method? Air sampling.
Drew Slocum: (34:08):
Air sampling. Wow. All right. Right off the bat, air sampling like a avesta system or is it specific to something else, or specific?
Shawn Mullen: (34:18):
No, I, I, I push air sampling every chance I get. Um, I think it's a wonderful technology and, uh, of course I'm, I'm partial to one particular manufacturer because we've had a lot of success with that. In fact, we installed the very, very first, uh, system of that manufacturer, um, in the state of Iowa, um, back in 1985.
Drew Slocum: (34:41):
Wow. And, uh,
Shawn Mullen: (34:41):
We, we have, uh, been, uh, proponents of that technology ever since us
Drew Slocum: (34:47):
No, that's good. I mean, if you've, if you've been doing it since 1985, obviously you've seen over time, uh, any issues or any obviously advantages to that, so that's, that's great. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Um, yeah, I don't see too much of it out there. I, you know, I wish it was, you know, you see it, the, the certain applications where it's, um, where it's potentially needed in data centers or freezers or anything, but
Shawn Mullen: (35:12):
Oh, it's, it's much, it's much broader than that. Uh, we, we've used it in, in a lot of different applications including, um, you know, historical structures mm-hmm.
Drew Slocum: (35:46):
Great. Great. Great. Uh, second question here. Um, other than being a part of seven 70, what other committee would you wanna be a part of at nfpa?
Shawn Mullen: (36:01):
Uh, if I could, I'd like to be a member of NFPA three, or NFP or NFPA four, which are the systems commissioning standards.
Drew Slocum: (36:11):
Yeah,
Shawn Mullen: (36:11):
Yeah. That have come out. Um, I, I, I really think that those are powerful and I think that the, um, necessity of those is, is really, really critical. Um, and I, I, if I had my druthers, um, I, I would like to sit on one of those committees because obviously our company gets caught up a lot of times in, you know, the testing and commissioning of the systems. Um, and we have concerns that not, not as good of a, um, thorough testing is accomplished because you have construction deadlines, you got owners that want their buildings, et cetera, et cetera. And, uh, sometimes if these systems don't, don't get tested correctly, uh, it, it, it's, it's problematic downstream, so, oh, yeah. You know, getting it right at the front end is really critical.
Drew Slocum: (37:04):
No, no, that's, that's good. I don't, I don't know n fp three or four that much, but I'll, uh, I'll definitely do some digging after this. I'll send,
Shawn Mullen: (37:11):
I'll send you another contact who would be a good a, a good for your podcast? He sits on NFPA three, and he's very, uh, very knowledgeable. And boy, he can, he can nuggetize that down into bite-sized pieces, which, which makes it easy to understand.
Drew Slocum: (37:26):
Good. Good. Um, so little, little sidebar here. I know, so I, I guess I learned today that you, uh, you were an orchestra, uh, what, you said you were an orchestra manager before. Yeah.
Shawn Mullen: (37:40):
Yeah. I,
Drew Slocum: (37:41):
Uh, so I, I know you have your, your own podcast out there, which I've listened to a couple of them. What, what made you choose your, I mean, your, what made you choose your intro music? What, what was that?
Shawn Mullen: (37:52):
Oh,
Drew Slocum: (38:00):
Uh,
Shawn Mullen: (38:00):
It, it's just a snippet off of questions of my childhood, which was on there Leftovers, your album, um, in 1976, which had the big hit carry on my Wayward son.
Drew Slocum: (38:11):
Yeah, yeah.
Shawn Mullen: (38:12):
Um, but I've been a wheat head since the band first, since their first album in 1974. And, uh, and so I, I, if I gave 'em credit and I played less than 10 seconds, I thought they'd be okay with it. And I haven't heard anybody, uh, scream too
Drew Slocum: (38:25):
Loud. No, no, no. That's good. Yeah, it, it's interesting how, uh, you know, even with this podcast of, you know, what, what, uh, you know, what the mu intro musics and how that Chris Logan from the, the Fire Sprinkler podcast is, he's got a nice rock little intro. Mine's a little smooth jazz, so it's always
Shawn Mullen: (39:01):
Um, well, thank you. I, um, I, I, again, um, it's just one of those things I'd always been interested in. Listen, I, I, I've enjoyed listening to podcasts and I just thought, man, I, I could, I think I could do something like that, but I, I just didn't know what would be appropriate. And so when I came into this leadership position in my Rotary Club, I thought, Hey, instead of writing the mandatory Weekly, you know, newsletter from the president, I thought, ah, forget that I'm gonna do a, you know, 15, 20 minute, uh, podcast each week. So I've learned a lot, uh, you know, about the technology that's out there to produce these, and just the process of putting it together. So thank, thank you for your kind
Drew Slocum: (39:39):
Words. No, no, it's good. Yeah, I, uh, uh, I implore more people to, to obviously listen. I talk to a lot of people about it. And, uh, um, I'm actually helping my wife tomorrow, uh, get her podcast launched. She does a, uh, she does a big cause marketing, uh, summit every year, brings nonprofits and for-profits together, kind of on one vision, but, uh, wow. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So, your, a lot of your rotary stuff, I actually knew one of your speakers, um, for that Rotary club, uh, for your big summit. And, um, yeah, so I told her to check it out and just check other podcasts out to get theirs launched, so,
Shawn Mullen: (40:21):
Well, great. Fantastic.
Drew Slocum: (40:24):
Well, um, yeah, that's, that's all I really got, um, for the quick response, Ron. And again, thanks for, thanks for stopping on the podcast. I, I would love to have you on. Again,
Drew Slocum: (40:34):
Thanks for tuning in to episode seven of the Fire Protection Podcast, powered by Inspect Point. Wanna thank my guest again, Sean Mullen for, for joining me on on today's chat. Uh, again, I do apologize to the listenership out there. We did have a few, uh, technical glitches through Skype, so, uh, I had to cut it off a little bit early, but we were ending the podcast anyway. So appreciate all the, uh, subscription and all the great comments about the Fire Protection Podcast. Please reach out to us, uh, via our inspect point platform, www.inspectpoint.com. Or you can actually email directly at, uh, drew inspect point.com. Hope to hear from you soon.