In today's paper there was an article about a revised report on the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. Among the criticisms leveled against the university was not issuing timely warnings about the incident. The report did acknowledge, though, that university officials hesitated in issuing a warning because of a desire not to create a panic. This […]
I haven't had the chance to see 2012 yet. I'm not particularly fond of disaster movies – I either find myself laughing at times that make the rest of the audience uncomfortable or bore my family with running commentaries. I did, however, catch a History Channel show that purported to have some science behind it. […]
My apologies for not posting for the past few weeks. I was preparing several presentations for the International Association of Emergency Managers conference in Orlando FL last week. I piloted a new workshop I've been developing on the fundamentals of emergency management programs and presented a breakout session on the use of the administrative plan (those […]
DHS today issued its long anticipated proposal for standards for the Voluntary Private Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep) established under Title IX of Public Law 110-53. As expected, DHS is proposing the following three standards: ASIS SPC.1-2009Organizational Resilience: Security Preparedness, and Continuity Management Systems – the American Society for Industrial Security is making ASIS SPC 1-2009 available […]
This seems to be the season for zombies. After writing my article in August, I've noticed them cropping up just about everywhere. Woody Harrelson's Zombieland is in theaters and doing well. Scott Phelps will be offering a session on zombie attacks at the upcoming International Association of Emergency Managers conference in November. Zombies may well become the […]
Mind Your Bizness is an online radio & TV show focusing on "EduTaining" content for entrepreneurs and microbusinesses. Today and tomorrow, September 28-29, you can hear an interview where I discuss some ideas of about developing effective business continuity programs and the importance of understanding corporate culture and adding value through your program You can […]
Ever been at a meeting where some poor soul was put in their place with the comment, "that's a really dumb idea"? Now, I've heard some real winners in my time, it's true, but you might want to be a bit more charitable next time. Last Thursday was the 150th anniversary of the ascession of Norton […]
No, I'm not having a meltdown here. And while the question is a bit tongue-in-cheek, it is serious…well, sort of, anyway. Are you getting just a bit burned out on H1N1 planning and finding that people just aren't feeling the old fire in your exercises? Here's a new approach you might try – using zombies […]
There was an interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday about the Taiwanese government finally agreeing to accept international aid for Typhoon Morakot. Sadly, we've seen this sort of thing before in numerous instances such as Cyclone Nargis in Burma last year or during the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. There seems to be […]
I just spent two and a half days getting up to speed on the new ASIS SPC.1-2009 Organizational Resilience standard. Aside from getting up close and personal with the standard, an interesting part of the course was an insight into how standards are developed and the rivalry between standards setting bodies. We often forget that […]