Forget once or twice, go as many times as you'd like! The DRI International Foundation's online auction opens Monday, April 16, and there's so much cool stuff up for grabs, that you'll have a hard time choosing. The auction benefits the DRI International Foundation, which funds a variety of worthwhile projects (like the May 19, Volunteer Day in New Orleans!).

More about the Foundation below, but right now, the fun stuff! You can bid on any number of items (check back often because new auction items are being added all the time!). There's sports memorabilia (a Superbowl XLVI football signed by Eli Manning, autographed Detroit Pistons items, autographed hickey pucks from a bunch of teams, and more baseball and football items too!). There are destination packages (vacations in Cancun or Antigua, golf packages, wine tastings, a hot air balloon ride) and lots of tickets to museums, theater performances, and more! You can even bid on a tour of the New York Stock Exchange and dine in the stock exchange's restaurant! There's not room enough in an entire issue of Drive to list all of the incredible auction items, so  click here to check them out for yourself! And then bid on Monday!

The Disaster Recovery International Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote professional and personal preparedness; promulgate response and recovery practices through proactive and real time engagement with organizations, individuals and communities; liaise with relief organizations on behalf of businesses and communities impacted by a disaster to expedite the response and focus of aid during or after an event; and, provide volunteer opportunities business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management professionals everywhere.

 Today Is Your LAST Chance to Vote! 

Online voting is for The DRI International Awards of Excellence is about to close. If you haven't cast your vote yet, vote right now! Voting closes TODAY, Friday, April 16, 2012 at 9 p.m. Eastern!

You will need to log in to your MyDRI account to vote. Look for the "Voting Booth" on your MyDRI Dashboard in the right-hand column. There you'll find information about our nominees. You may vote once in each category, and the nominees are as follows:

Lifetime Achievement Award:

Tom Abruzzo

Richard Arnold

Richard Colt

Ed Devlin

James Lee Witt

Service Provider of the Year:

American Business Continuity Centers

IBM

Infosys

Mobily

PriceWaterHouse-Coopers

Recovery Planner

Be sure to be on hand to cheer on the nominees and winners at DRI2012: The Certified Professionals Conference, May 20-23, in New Orleans. Click here for more on DRI2012 or call (866) 542-3744 for information on the conference or assistance with voting.

 Elmo's Prepared!

 Are You?

It's been said that everything you ever needed to know you learned in kindergarten. It seems emergency preparedness is part of that package now too! Sesame Street's online video archive is full of fantastic videos that you can use to help your employees prepare their families - in particular the wee one - for almost any crisis or emergency.  

Elmo talks all kinds of emergencies. Big Bird gets in on the act to help you put together a hurricane kit. And the site is full of printable and shareable resources for both parents and children. Check it out and pass it on! You might even use one of the videos as an icebreaker in your own grown-up meetings - you're never too old for Elmo, right?

If you haven't heard, there was an 8.6 magnitude earthquake and subsquent tsunami scare in Thailand on Wednesday. It touched a nerve, bringing back memories of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Serious, stressful stuff.

And KFC Thailand miscalculated big time by posting a message on its Facebook page urging people who were rushing home during the scare to stop in for a bucket of KFC chicken. According to the Associated Press, "As people were being urged to evacuate from beaches, the company posted this message: 'Let's hurry home and follow the earthquake news. And don't forget to order your favorite KFC menu.'" Not a sensitive response to a very sensitive incident.

The result: hundreds of angry commenters on Thai web boards denouncing the company as "insensitive and selfish," according to AP reports, and tons of bad press, including a snarky spin from Stephen Colbert.

Yesterday, the take-out message was replaced with a timely apology. So, Drive readers, what are your thoughts? Cleary, this was no continuity professional using potential tragedy to sell chicken, but what of the risks of social media and how to mitigate and manage them? What did you think of KFC's blunder, their reaction, and how do you feel about using tragedy (or fear) as a sales pitch? Join our discussion on LinkedIn by clicking here, or shoot me an email to let me know.

We almost can't believe our very first conference is just about a month away! Wow! And you should be excited because DRI2012 is your conference too! The only industry conference designed for experienced certified professionals, DRI2012 will be held May 20-23 in New Orleans. For more information or to register, click here.

With a conference program filled with in-depth, compelling, current topics and fresh, informative speakers, DRI2012 promises to be an unparalleled learning opportunity. And you'll also have the chance to network with your peers, share ideas, and grow professionally.

DRI2012 promises to be a first-class event from start to finish - from Volunteer Day to the educational sessions to the exhibit hall to the Awards of Excellence Gala. And it's all happening at the most beautiful hotel in one of the most spectacular cities. Don't miss it!

This week's one-question survey explores business continuity planning and management within multinational corporations (MNC) and organizations. Specifically, we're asking about the business continuity reporting structure within the multinational corporation. What is it, how is it structured and why? That's a lot to pack into one little question, but we tried our best and we hope you'll make liberal use of the comment box!

Results will be reported in part in next week's Drive and in full on our DRI International LinkedIn. It'll just take a minute to take this survey, so please click here to do so. And if you've got an idea for a survey question, of there's something you want to know, be sure to let us know!

Exercising and testing your plans is really important. If you don't put plans (and the people charged with enacting them) through their paces, how will you know if they'll work when you need them most - when something bad happens?

So, in last week's one-question survey, we asked about testing. We asked how often you test or exercise your plans. The answers were interesting, and you can read all of the answers, as well as quite a few comments from respondent on our DRI LinkedIn. Click here to go there! But first, a bit of good news: no one (not one single respondent) chose "we do not test our plans"! Whew!

A few weeks back we asked Drive readers to tell us where they'd most like DRI International to bring DRI2013, next years' conference. The results are in, and the top five suggestions are:

• Philadephia
• New York
• Chicago
• Orlando
• San Diego

We want you to know that we take your replies seriously and that we're investigating all of these choices right now! We'll let you know as soon as we settle on a date and place and we truly appreciate your direction and input.

In recent weeks we have discussed various fun aspects of New Orleans: the food, music venues, shopping, recreational ideas, tours, volunteerism, festivals, and various neighborhoods. What I haven't talked to you about yet is one of my favorite things: photography! Opportunities for excellent photography abound in the Big Easy. And as an avid amateur photographer, I want to talk to you about getting some great photos in this really cool town.

Whether you're taking pictures with a small point & shoot, a sophisticated SLR, or your phone's camera, you'll have a chance to grab some really good images if you do a little planning. Hmmm...planning, sound familiar? In BCP, planning ahead and thinking about your strategy generally provides you with a better outcome. The same is true with photography. Thinking about the subject of your photograph ahead of time and trying to visualize your intended outcome (and how to get it) will help you to be more successful.

So where to start? In all photographs, light is the most important part of the equation. With no light you have no opportunity to capture an image. However, low light situations yield very dramatic outcomes. Very bright, harsh midday light can be disastrous for a photographer, as it is directly overhead and unkind to the subect. The key to good photography is understanding the direction of the light, the brightness of the light, and the property of the light . For example, early morning and late day light can be warm and soothing; these golden hours yield wonderful photographic outcomes. Whether shooting people, buildings, landscapes, or water scenes, the dramatic light of early and late can help you to achieve powerful images. Shadows are more pronounced at those hours as well. On days that are "cloudy bright," you will be pretty sure to get good color and no harsh shadows.

So what about shooting people and street musicians in New Orleans? Whenever shooting street scenes, the use of a small amount of "fill" light is always helpful. You have the ability to control the flash on your point and shoot camera - read the manual and figure out how to use the built in flash at half or quarter power to give a little light to a subject, but not so much light that you wash out details. Without a little fill light, the subject may be too dark. When you are shooting night scenes to record the color and excitement of the light and people, simply turn the flash off. Don't flood the scene with fake light; use existing light to add to the drama of your image. The flash can only travel about 15 feet anyway, so don't bother with it. To get a good image at night push up your ISO - that's the numbers that are 100, 200, 400, 800 etc. on the camera. This helps the camera to capture the existing light without struggling. So on a dimly lit, but colorful street in New Orleans at night, push the ISO to at least 400, turn off the flash, lean against a pole or building, and hold the camera steady for a dramatic night shot. Good places for night photography include Bourbon Street, Canal Street, the view of the Mississippi, and bridges from the MoonWalk. If your hotel window has a good view you can get great images from your window. Again turn off the flash (or you will get a cool shot of yourself in the reflection as the flash bounces off the window), turn off all the lights in your room, and steady yourself by leaning hard against the window or wall.

If shooting photos of your favorite meal, you can shoot with the flash at one-third power or your plate of food will be way overexposed and look not quite so delicious. Many cameras do have auto modes, program mode, and manual modes. Get familiar with how your camera behaves in each of these modes. Experiment by taking many photos; photo cards are inexpensive and hold potentially thousands of images. Don't be bashful, and take lots of shots.

What about people photos? How do you get people to look natural and not frozen in front of your camera? First, engage them in conversation before you take the photo. Make them feel comfortable with you. Tell them you will be taking a few images to capture different expressions, and then do it. In daylight use a little fill flash, in darkness use a little more flash. And when you take the posed photo, count it down out loud - "One, two three" - but shoot at two. People expect it at three, and stiffen up a bit, so shoot at two...just my suggestion.

To get some interesting images of the city, take a ride on the streetcar or horse-drawn carriage or walk through one of the cemeteries.   If shooting photos inside a cathedral or museum, be mindful of where you are, push up your ISO, and turn off your flash.

Taking photos of musicians can be fun, and they're usually agreeable to being photographed. Zoom in close and get the interesting faces. Be aware that some people you see in New Orleans (although interesting characters) may not want to be photographed. I have experienced this more than once, and in those cases I simply turned my camera to the ground and walked away.

Now that you have taken photos of the food you were eating, the musicians you were enjoying, the sites you were seeing, the fun you were having, it's time to turn your attention to the post photo processing with your favorite PhotoShop-like tool to touch them up a bit and then have fun sharing them with friends and family.

Of course this was just a few short tips for being successful with your photos. There are many great photo instructional work-shops on the web; explore them. And let me see some of your work!

All the best,

Clyde Berger

DRI International Foundation

Director of Volunteerism