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Awards of Excellence Finalists Announced!

These coveted awards recognize individuals and organizations who have achieved a certain level of excellence in the fields of continuity management, technology recovery, and crisis management.
 
And don't forget to vote in the two online voting categories: Lifetime Achievement Award and Service Provider of the Year.  It's easy to vote.  Just log into your MyDRI account and click on the Awards of Excellence Voting Booth.  And if you need a hand with MyDRI, just call us at (866) 542-3744. You must be certified and in good standing to vote. Voting closes April 15, 2013.
 
 
STRATEGY & INITIATIVE

 

Continuity Awareness Award

• Booz Allen's Mission Assurance Service
• The HP GBS BCP & Risk Management Team
• DBS Bank, Ltd

 
Response and Recovery of the Year

• Colorado Springs Utilities Emergency Response Plan (CSU ERP)
• SunGard Availability Services
• Fried Frank            

 
Strategy of the Year

• John Hartnett, Alston & Bird
• Khalid Bahabri, NCB Capital
• The Security Stack for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning

 
SERVICE PROVIDERS

Planning Software of the Year

• RPX by RecoveryPlanner
• ResilienceONE BCM Software by Strategic BCP
• OpsPlanner by Paradigm Solutions International

 
IT Infrastructure Award

• Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
• Kaiser Permanente - Information Technology Resiliency Management organization

 
Notification System of the Year

• MIR3
• Send Word Now
• SunGard Availability Services

 
Service Provider of the Year

• Ernie Bryan, Engineering Solutions, Inc.
• Bruce Gillespie, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
• David Mahoney, Northrop Grumman

 
PEOPLE

Industry Newcomer of the Year

• Gina Manos, Kaiser Permanente
• Erin Parks, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
• Judy Rasnake, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)

 
Team of the Year

• Port of Long Beach
• DTI Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Team
• Delta Dental BCP Team

 
Consultant of the Year

• Neil Kaufman, Pricewaterhouse Coopers
• Howard Bandler, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
• Peter Renneker, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)

 
Lifetime Achievement Award

• Thomas Carroll, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
• Richard Fairlamb, Fairlamb Int'l LLC
• Sue Hornstra, GE Capital
• Frank Perlmutter, Strategic BCP
• Jeffrey Yu, DRI China

 

Program Leader of the Year (Non-Profit Sector)

• Irene Opendak, Drexel University
• Kelley Okolita, Cambia Health Solutions
• Angela Devlen, Mahilia Partnership

 
Program Leader of the Year (Public Sector)

• Connor Scott, NACCHO
• Mohammed Jenaibi, NCEMA

 
Program Leader of the Year (Private Sector)

• Todd Marumoto, Mattel
• Thomas Wagner, Direct Edge
• Daniel Mikulsky, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)

The Word- The Beatles (Rubber Soul)

I don't send my kids to school to learn how to swear.  So, when my son came home and told me that they were going to learn "curseword," I was both skeptical and a little concerned.

 

Tano: Mom, I can't even believe it! They're going to teach us curseword?!

 

Me: Really, why do you think they're doing that?

Tano: I don't know.  I guess that's why they use that swirly writing, so the bad words are hard for the little kids to read.

Me: Tano, that swirly writing is called cursive, and it's just a fancier way to write than printing. It's okay.

Tano: Whew!  For a minute, I was really worried about all those cards from grandma.  I thought maybe she was mad at me.

My mom has the swirliest cursive on the planet, and she can also swear like a sailor (but Tano doesn't know that...yet).  What he does know now  is the meaning of the word cursive.

I'm a total word nerd.  I love 'em!  I'm fascinated by both word origin and meaning.  And about 20 years ago, when I was the editor of the now-defunct Contingency Planning & Management (better known as CPM) magazine, I first wrote about the language of what was then commonly referred to as contingency planning...now business continuity.  There were lots of debates and downright arguments about what common industry terms meant...and there was even some "curseword" thrown around when the discussion got contentious.

I've also written many articles over the years (for CPM and also as the editor of Continuity Insights) quoting industry experts who believe that the lack of a common vocabulary has hampered our profession and our mission.  So, I am thrilled to report that there's finally been some progress on this issue, significant progress.  And YOU get to be a big part of it!

DRI International is launching a global glossary of industry terminology.  How it was assembled is very cool (see below for an explanation),and attendees at DRI2013 will get the first peek at what's been accomplished so far.  They'll also get to have their opinions heard, in person, by the people who are making this project happen.  How cool it that?  Well, in the words of John Lennon: "It's so fine, It's sunshine."

So, get yourself to Philadelphia for DRI2013 for what is sure to be the most interesting, informative, and useful plenary session this industry has ever seen!

Buffy Rojas

The session, "Terms of DRI-ment: Join Us in Finalizing the DRI BCM Glossary," will be led by Bobby Williams, Fidelity Investments and Chloe Demrovsky, DRI International. And here's what it's all about:

Clear communication is critical to effective continuity and crisis management.  Yet, even among our own professionals, there are discrepancies in how we describe what we do, including some of our most basic activities. This presentation will explain how a group of DRI volunteers has pulled industry terminology from 22 reference documents, including standards and regulations from around the world, as well as professional glossaries to create a comprehensive global resource. The presenters invite you to participate in what promises to be a lively discussion about industry terminology and sources.  We want to hear from you about which definitions you use, what we might be missing, and how you would like to participate in this process moving forward.  After we have incorporated your feedback, the glossary will be made public as a free resource on the DRI website.  Come join us for this session so that your voice can be included in this important project!

Bobby Williams is the Director of IT Continuity and Risk Management for Fidelity Investments. He has earned his MBCP from DRI International and his MBCI from BCI. Bobby serves on the DRJ Editorial Advisory Board. He has worked in the IT industry for 20 years in technical roles, vendor education, pre/post sales engineering, disaster recovery management, and business continuity management. Bobby has a BSEE degree from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. Bobby retired from the Tennessee Army National Guard as an artillery officer in the 196th Field Artillery Brigade. A lifelong Tennessean, Bobby and his wife, Susan, are preparing to move to Texas with their boys, Robby and Johnny. Bobby welcomes you to join him on LinkedIn and can also be contacted at bobbyrjw@gmail.com.

  

Chloe Demrovsky is the International Director at DRI International and an Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP).  She is responsible for overseeing DRI International's global network that conducts courses in more than 50 countries on six continents.  She is responsible for DRI International's global education growth, which in 2009 resulted in DRI teaching more people outside the United States than inside, and in 2011 resulted in a certification increase of 72 percent.  She created an international version of DRI's audit course that encompasses both U.S. and international standards.  As part of her role at DRI, she has presented at international BCM conferences on four continents.  She founded the DRI BCM Glossary Committee and serves as international editor for Thrive!, DRI's online magazine, and Thrive! Iberoamerica, DRI's online publication of original content in the Spanish language.  She is a summa cum laude graduate of Bard College at Simon's Rock and a 2013 Master's Candidate in International Business and Development at New York University where she serves as the External Relations Co-Chair for the Society of International Business and Development.  Passionate about economic development, she has traveled to India and Kenya to work on private sector solutions for poverty alleviation and social inclusion. Contact Chloe at cdemrovsky@drii.org .

Don't miss this exciting session and much more at DRI2013 to be held June 4-7, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Click here for more information about DRI2013, and click here to register.

Bad news for chocolate manufacturers is actually a lesson in BCP excellence.  We talk about being strategic and getting out in front of risks.  Well, the $90 billion global chocolate industry isn't about to melt away even though they face a looming cocoa bean shortage and rising costs of other key ingredients (like sugar). No, they've turned the bitter sweet by planning ahead.

According to this Los Angeles Times report, "Companies are looking to countries not known as major cocoa producers, such as Vietnam and China, to boost production. Mondelez International Inc., owner of brands such as Cadbury and Toblerone, said it would invest $400 million over the next decade to improve cocoa farming communities and help boost productivity; other massive candy sellers have taken similar steps...Manufacturers also are creating innovative new chocolates and manufacturing methods to try to differentiate themselves from competitors."

Here's wishing them sweet success!

Spring has sprung, which means summer isn't far behind.  And what's more summery than summer interns? Celebrate the season by getting some low-cost, high-energy help on your team, and you'll be helping too by encouraging a new generation of continuity professionals.

Consider hiring a summer intern or two.  And if you know someone who is interested in an internship, there's one available at Disney.
It's "an exciting summer intern opportunity for an enrolled undergraduate or graduate student.  If the candidate is enrolled in a crisis management or emergency management certificate or degree program that would be a big plus."  For the official job posting, click here.

What a totally cool concept -- fish risk management!  You just have to give this Science Daily article a read.  It's a fascinating account of risk management among cichilids.

Adoption is fairly widespread in the animal kingdom, which seems unlikely and out of line with Darwin's theory of evolution, but according to Franziska Schaedelin and colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, the practice is really a risk management strategy.

According to Science Daily, "Sharing the care of broods among different families thus represents a kind of insurance policy against the predation of a nest. Schaedelin summarizes the findings neatly: 'in a species that is so highly predated, it must have been important to develop a strategy to ensure that at least some of the young survive. It seems that fish do this by not putting all their eggs (or young) in one basket.'"