Registration Is Now Open for DRI2013!  

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Convenient, online registration is now open for DRI2013. Our conference website has all of the information you need about DRI2013, to be held June 4-7, 2013 in Philadelphia, PA.

If you attended DRI2012, you know that this is an event not to be missed. If you didn't attend our inaugural event, here's a little video from the conference to give you a glimpse of what happened in New Orleans and what to expect in Philadelphia.

DRI2013 promises a top-notch, conference program, an exhibit hall with the vendors you most want to see, the Awards of Excellence Gala, Volunteer Day opportunities, and networking opportunities that are unique and meaningful.  Click here for more information or to register.

Clyde's Corner:  

BCP in The Real World

Last week, I had my fingers crossed that the New Orleans area would be spared any damage by Isaac. As we all know, in BCP, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best is very unlikely to yield a positive outcome. Last week was no exception. Many of the parishes bordering downtown New Orleans were hit hard. Flooding in at least two parishes was said to be worse than flooding during Katrina. In many areas, water exceeded 10 feet, yikes!   

As an instructor for DRI International, I have the distinct honor and privilege of meeting many of you in the classroom. As we pour through the material in preparation for the qualifying exam for certification, we discuss reality. We talk about real life disasters, understanding the risks, putting meaningful controls in place to minimize the impact, and, ultimately, we try to understand the impacts to people and business. In class, we talk about developing viable strategies and documenting plans. We also talk about exercising and testing our plans, and we cite real life experiences and personal stories about how we fared in responding to disasters. We always talk about the outage events going on real-time while we sit in the classroom. We recognize that the work we do isn't just theoretical mumbo jumbo. It's real. 

I am proud to say that DRI has wonderful teachers working hard to educate business continuity planners across the globe. We have solid work experience and are able to translate classroom course-ware into reality for our students. We, the instructors, learn much from you all as well, and for that I am grateful. At each course I lead, we talk about conferences, professional associations, and opportunities to help in our communities and around the globe. Why? Well, it's because we should never stop trying to learn or trying to help.

With that thought in mind, and with outages and disasters occurring with an alarming rate, I encourage you to be vigilant, committed, and passionate about the work we do and the help we can offer our families, companies, communities, and our neighbors. To ensure your skills stay current, join your local professional BCP organizations, attend a conference, and volunteer wherever possible and appropriate.   

Did I mention Philadelphia yet? Mark your calendars for June 4-7, 2013 and join us in Philadelphia, PA, for DRI2013, our second annual conference and exhibition. Expect to meet new people, learn new ideas and concepts, have some fun, and do some volunteer work. It's for the betterment of all of us. And be sure to take a peek at Ready Philadelphia http://oem.readyphiladelphia.org/Ready to get an idea about how the city of Philadelphia informs its residents on preparedness.   

Next week we will talk about the food of Philadelphia.   Have a great week!  

All the best,

Clyde 

cberger@driif.org  

Director of Volunteerism and Vice President  

"Woefully Unprepared!" According to This Emergency Management Article

"Surveys measuring citizen preparedness show how woefully unprepared the populous is for a disaster and how much work community leaders have to do to reach residents and inform them," according to this article from Emergency Management.

I suggest you read the whole article (interesting stuff!), but here are some excerpted highlights (or lowlights...):

"Surveys consistently indicate that less than 10 percent of the public is considered prepared for a disaster and that percentage is usually closer to 6 percent."

Ana-Marie Jones, executive director of the nonprofit Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters (CARD) said the conclusion is that "very little sustainable preparedness has actually been put forth" and that the strategies and methods thus far have been failures. Jones said threat-based messaging is not viable and that recommending a kit with specific items to use just during an emergency is a failed strategy.

"No private-sector company would invest billions of dollars in putting out a message that had such dismal returns," Jones said. "It's threat-based, top-down and put forth by agencies whose mission and mindset and muscles are around disaster response not preparedness."

John Von Thaden, general manager of alerting and notification systems for Federal Signal, said 23 percent of respondents in a recent survey said they'd need to hear about local property damage before they would be concerned about their own safety. And 15 percent said they would have to incur property damage or see an injured friend or neighbor to feel threatened.

For that reason, a viable notification system uses multiple means of alerting and gives citizens the opportunity to validate the information. "We found many people, particularly in our most recent study, expect to be able to validate by finding information elsewhere," Von Thaden said. "There's almost an assumption that bad things happen to other people."

Vendor Contenders?  

Which Ones Do You Want to See?

 

As we prepare for DRI2013, to be held June 4-7 in Philadelphia, we'd really like to know which vendors you'd like to see at our show.  Are you interested in a specific type of product or service?  Is there a specific company you'd like to see in our exhibit hall?  Please let us know by clicking here and giving us your feedback in our usual quick, one-question survey format.

Lessons Learned from the Military...

Oh, and Dance Moves Too!

   

There's much to be learned from our military - how they prepare, plan, and respond to crises.  And I thought about that when I got a note from a Drive reader about the video I'm sharing here (check it out!).  A few weeks back, I'd run a "Call Me Maybe" parody done by The American Public Health Association's (APHA) Get Ready team promoting preparedness.  This reader suggested I check out what the Army could do with the song.  So, I did!  But I also did some digging and came up with a couple of useful and informative links that I think you might enjoy on an entirely different level.  Here they are:

An Evaluation of US Combat Command Disaster Relief Capabilities 

And on a personal note, I'm looking forward to the Air Force version of this pop ditty.  My little brother, Tommy, just joined their ranks and the kid can play a mean guitar.  He also hasn't technically been my "little" brother since he was in sixth grade and I last saw the top of his head!