Meet Gina Manos, Industry Newcomer
of the Year! 
Gina Manos is a quick study and the recipient of the 2013 DRI Awards of Excellence Industry Newcomer of the Year award!
Gina is one of Kaiser Permanente's biggest champions in rallying employees to become resiliency leaders. Gina joined Kaiser and the business continuity and crisis management team just a few years ago. Yet, in that short time, Gina raised the bar significantly on employee awareness organization-wide and the importance of being prepared both at work and at home.
Gina has developed several exciting employee awareness campaigns as well as many useful tools for the program stakeholders. Transforming complex procedures into simple, clear usable tools has been the cornerstone of her success in gaining program support from employees and leadership. Armed with in-depth knowledge of business continuity principles, coupled with her natural affinity for crafting messages to resonate with her audience, Gina is well-equipped to achieve even greater success in building a resilient organization.
Gina's husband is a fire fighter and together they have four vivacious daughters, so she knows firsthand the importance of being prepared!
Do You Know the Next Newcomer?
The Industry Newcomer of the Year award recognizes up-and-coming business continuity leaders by honoring an individual new to our profession. Nominees will have no more than two years of business continuity experience and must demonstrate an original and inventive approach. Nominations should show evidence of the nominees' application of originality and ingenuity, evidence of potential within the business continuity industry, as well as an understanding of the wider impact of business continuity within their organization.
Do you know someone who fits the bill? If so, start preparing that nomination now and we'll let you know when and how to submit it. Nominations are typically due in February, but it's never too early to start!
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Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Phoenix! 
Nope, those aren't the finalists in our DRI2014 site survey (more on that in the coming weeks and thanks to those who participated!). Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Phoenix are just three of the cities where you can catch a DRI International course this summer. For the full list, click here. Want to pursue your Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP) or Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) credential? Join us in Los Angeles for BCLE 2000 Business Continuity Planning, from August 5-9. You'll spend 4.5 days learning about The Professional Practices for Business Continuity Professionals, which are defined as the skills, knowledge and procedures BC professionals need to lead a BC planning effort. The course is capped off with the Qualifying Exam. Click here to register. If you're in the healthcare sector, perhaps a trip to Baltimore or Phoenix is in order. HCLE 2000 Business Continuity for the Healthcare Industry will be offered in Baltimore, MD, from August 5-9. Similar to the BCLE2000 course above, HCLE specializes in the healthcare provider market and the specialized training needed for business continuity planners in that field. In addition to the DRII Professional Practices, the curriculum reflects the NFPA 1600 and Joint Commission (JCAHO) standards, the HIPAA Privacy and Security Regulations and gives consideration with regards to NIMS (National Incident Management System), OHSA and other related regulations, laws and standards. Click here to register. HCP 501 Business Continuity for the Healthcare Industry is the 2.5-day version of our HCLE 2000 healthcare course, and it will be held in Phoenix, AZ, August 12-14. Click here to register. What's the difference? Basically, if you're relatively new to BCP (two years or fewer), you want to take the 4.5-day version (HCLE 2000) because that gives you the business continuity background and basics as well as the healthcare-specific information. If you've been in BCP for a while and if you already have your CBCP certification, opt for HCP 501, the 2.5-day course, which is much more fast-paced and does not delve into BCP fundamentals. Both healthcare courses end with the DRI International Healthcare Examination, which is the first stop in attaining the Certified Healthcare Provider Continuity Professional (CHPCP) or Associate Healthcare Provider Continuity Professional (AHPCP) credentials.
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Greetings!
 | | World War Z Official Trailer |
T he last time my kids had a day off and I was working, I sent them to the ice skating rink. And as I typed and talked, I envisioned them gliding and giggling and having a great time. Yeah, that's what would have happened in the movies. But in real life, my life, my teenage daughter was talking to a "cute guy" who wanted to teach her skate backwards (uh huh, that's exactly what he wanted...) while my 10-year-old son was racing a much older and bigger boy. My guy won the race (he is small but mighty) but lost half of his front tooth as he slammed into the boards in lieu of stopping more gracefully (and slowly) and perhaps coming in second.
So, with one work day between the end of the school year and the start of Bike, Hike, and Canoe Camp, I decided to play it safe this time and send them to the movies. I bought the tickets in advance and limited the refreshment budget to avoid snack bar smorgasbord stomachaches. And I'm happy to tell you that it's working (lessons learned and incorporated into the plan!).
I also have to tell you about two disaster movies headed to a big screen near you. I discovered them as I was searching IMDB.com for a suitable movie for the kiddos. We settled on the latest animated kid flick, Epic, but I thought of you when I came across World War Z and This Is the End.
World War Z is based on the book of the same name by Max Brooks, which is both a really good read and what started this whole zombie apocalypse thing that infiltrated the BCP world, especially once FEMA got in on that act. The movie stars Brad Pitt and looks like it might not be too true to the book, but hey, it's summer, it's a zombie movie, why not? This Is the End has got to be the strangest disaster movie ever. There are bunch of actors playing themselves (James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Emma Watson, and the list goes on and on), and the premise is that James Franco is having a big party with all of his celebrity friends...and then there's an apocalypse. If you're into crass comedy, it looks like this is the one for you. I did not include a video link here because it's not really the kind of thing you want to be watching at work. But I did watch the trailer, and I did laugh out loud when Franco and friends decided to take stock of their resources and found themselves with a food supply consisting of 12 bottles of water, 56 beers, a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and a Milky Way. Spoiler: Hermione steals it all. Anyway, I've heard from many of you that you use the TV and movie clips I share to get the word out about BCP in your organizations, and it looks like this summer is going to be a BCP blockbuster, during which I hope my son doesn't bust anything! Buffy Rojas
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New York Stories: Sandy Task Force Report and Alligators on the Loose!
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 Last week, an errant alligator was found in a Philadelphia sewer. This week, a Nature World News report calls New York's alligator problem "a growing threat" (yikes!), and a task force issues a report on the Big Apple's preparedness for the next Sandy-like storm. Bloomberg.com reports that the city's Building Resiliency Task Force (a group of more than 200 landlords, property managers, architects, attorneys, city officials, and consultants formed after last year's Hurricane Sandy) recommends that city buildings "be required to provide drinking water in common areas and have exterior plugs for temporary generators" in an effort to make homes and businesses more resistant to major storms. Those were among 33 recommendations made by the group. Download the full report or a summary here. "Another Sandy is inevitable, and New York isn't ready," Russell Unger, executive director of the council, said in a statement issued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office. "But it can be. The task force recommendations are tangible and economically achievable steps."
But what about those alligators? There have been 17 reports of alligators on Long Island in the last nine months, according to officials from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation.
"While alligators have posed a problem to the Long Island for years now, the area is witnessing a rise in cases with nearly half of those found in the region since 2003 occurring in the last year," according to the Nature World News report. |
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Killer Asteroids Are on the Way, and NASA Needs...You?
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 This week, NASA announced a "Grand Challenge" aimed at finding all dangerous space rocks and figuring out how to stop them from destroying Earth. On Tuesday, NASA issued a "request for information" hoping to solicit ideas from industry, academia, and the public. Who better to help with finding and neutralizing (or avoiding) threats than, well, you?!
This is (kind of) what you do for a living. So, how about it? Are you up to the "Grand Challenge" or maybe you can borrow from NASA and issue your own BCP grand challenge as an awareness raising exercise in your organization. Who knows? You might get some great ideas. And, while asteroids and space rocks probably aren't topping your list of likely threats, if NASA is asking for help to save the Earth, it's in the best interests of your continuity plans to help them.
And if this all seems silly, think back a few months to February 15 when a meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on the same day that the football-field-size asteroid 2012 DA14 passed within the moon's orbit of Earth.
Responses to the request for information are due July 18. Click here to find out more. |
A Fellow Drive Reader Writes In: A Few Words from Five Guys' Randy Jouben
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 It is graduation season. And after years of hard work and worrying about our children, we get to be proud parents as we send them off to college. And we get to worry about a whole different set of issues...including how we're going to afford it! In order to celebrate my daughters pending high school graduation, we had a party last weekend which was filled with a lot of food, friends, and (of the most interest to my daughter) presents. Although the majority of the gifts were what graduates want most of all (cash!), one caught my eye, and I was excited at the thoughtfulness of this particular item. The gift was a nice tote filled with almost all of the necessary items a student would need in case of any emergency -- a real emergency, not the type brought on by after-study social activities! The kit includes a flash light, tool kits, and other items that would be needed should a hurricane or other event cause a disruption at her school. What made me even happier was the fact that she went nuts for the gift and later went on to say how it was one of her favorites, not only for the time it took for this person get everything together but also for the thoughtfulness of the gift. Although some may only see a bag, I see the gift of security and preparedness as my daughter heads off to her next adventure. I also realize that a little of what we do each day regarding being prepared for when crisis strikes has rubbed off on her. And as a parent, I know that one of the greatest gifts we have given our child is knowledge of how to respond should things go wrong. So, I will be sending her off to school with one less thing to worry about.
Congratulations to all of our high school graduates, and as we send them off in late summer, let's make sure they are prepared for whatever campus life has in store for them.
Many thanks to Randy Jouben, who heads up risk and BCP for Five Guys (in my opinion, the BEST EVER burgers and fries, by the way!). I love hearing from Drive readers and it's even better when you've got something to share. Now let's put our BCP thinking caps on and get working on a graduation threat -- throwing hats with pointy corners up in the air! You could put an eye out with that!
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