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With the new year on us, I thought I’d reflect on the last year. I know many others are doing this at this time, but I’d like to look back at the progress of disaster recovery during 1997. It was definitely a busy one. There were numerous disasters over the year that brought attention to the field. Some that made headlines were: • Heavy rains and flooding in California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington and Oregon in January 1997. Fifteen deaths were blamed on the disaster and major highways were shut down. In California alone, the damage to crops and property reached at least $775 million. • Hurricane Danny soaked parts of the Alabama coastline in July. Some 30 inches of rain fell over a period of three days, causing flash flooding and forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people. • Tropical Storm Josephine hit Florida in October, causing torrential rains and numerous tornadoes. Overall, I noticed numerous changes occurring in the field of disaster recovery during the past year. There seemed to be more cooperation between different areas of the contingency planning field. For example, representatives from the fields of emergency management and contingency planning have been sharing advice and seem to be working towards developing a comprehensive plan. There was also a noticeable increase in the cooperation between public and private sectors. We have published numerous articles over the year discussing the public and private sectors. My staff and I have also incorporated this subject into our conferences. For more information on the public and private sectors, see the article by Tim Bonno, "A New Year". In addition, I feel there was more interest in contingency planning during the last year. In my opinion, we gained some respect. More executives, more CEOs, and more upper management have acknowledged the need for disaster recovery planning. What a good sign that is. And finally, lots of changes occurred in our own office over the past year. These included updating our Journal layout, expanding our web site with a new server and new pages, and we have gained BPA membership. In addition, we’ve been hard at work on several new products, including: a CD-ROM containing three of the World Reference books and the fourth installation in our World Reference Book sets. Look for announcements about these products as they are completed in the upcoming year.
Right now we are busy preparing for our first conference of the year, The Spring DRJ World ‘98 (The Ninth Annual Corporate Contingency Planning Seminar and Exhibition). It will be held March 15-18 in San Diego, Calif. Over the past decade, our symposiums have provided an important source of disaster recovery information. We feature the best speakers and the most information at a very competitive price. We have already registered approximately 500+ people for our upcoming conference and it is almost two months away. So be sure to register now and don’t forget to make your reservations with the hotel. If you’d like more information, call our office for a detailed brochure. Another new change in 1998 will be the site of our September conference. It has moved to Orlando, Fla., from Atlanta, Ga. We will be hosting the four-day symposium at the Hyatt Orlando there on September 13-16, 1998. Let’s hope for continued growth in 1998. I know we at DRJ will do everything we can to promote contingency planning. See you at the conferences. |
