Sessions/Workshops


Workshop Session 1
Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Staffing Smart: How to Profile, Select, Keep and Develop the Best Continuity Staff

Phil Lambert
The Center for Continuity Leadership

Cheyene Haase
BC Mgmt.

When resources are limited it is critically important that the continuity staff you have in place can deliver set objectives within your company’s culture. A staffing miscalculation will cause a continuity program to fail. Learn how to intelligently profile your staffing needs, develop a definitive job description, and what talents, skills and competencies are mandatory to ensure success. How can you evaluate and measure your current staff to identify strengths and weaknesses? How can you leverage the HR department, professional coaching organizations and local training companies to support and compliment your staff? Your search for the perfect continuity planner is over. Come and meet Continuity Sam, the perfect continuity planner who can do anything and everything, just how you think it should be done!
Phil Lambert was recently the director of business continuity services for Safeco Insurance and manager of business continuity services for Option One Mortgage and H&R Block Mortgage Corporation before launching The Center for Continuity Leadership.
Cheyene Haase is the president of BC Management, Inc, an executive search firm dedicated to placing BC/DR professionals worldwide. She has served as an executive recruiter for more than 10 years with seven of those years specializing in the BC/DR field.

Workshop Session 2
Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Ready, Set, Exercise! How to Develop and Conduct a Successful Crisis Plan Exercise

Steven Goldman
Goldman Mgmt. Consultants LLC

Successful crisis management and disaster recovery takes more than a plan: it requires realistic testing and validation. How do you do that properly? Are your exercises smoke and mirrors or do they provide as-close-to-real situations as possible? How does your program compare? How can you improve? During this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to set up and conduct a successful crisis plan exercise. Students will master the aspects of effective exercise preparation and execution, including:

• The scenario team
• Scope and Objectives
• Extent of play
• Scheduling and coordination
• Resources and props
• Scenario ideas
• Critiques
• Imagination, creativity, and leadership
• Goldman’s acclaimed Exercise Planning Checklist

You will learn how to avoid common pitfalls during the development process and how to anticipate and resolve potential problems that could occur. Exercise evaluation and critiquing methods will also be discussed. With his lively style and real-life examples, Goldman will lead the class through interactive discussions of successful exercise development techniques.
Steve Goldman is a leading crisis management, business continuity, and crisis communications consultant. He has more than 25 years experience in all aspects of crisis management, including BCP program management, plan development, crisis communications, training, exercises, and audits.

Workshop Session 3
Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Emergency Management: The Basics!

Regina Phelps
Emer. Mgmt. & Safety Solutions

Often a company’s reaction to a disaster or major event is plagued by fragmentation due to numerous “silos” or departments who have a “piece” of the event management process. All of these different silos may not be aware of each other’s activities or responsibilities. There may not be a centralized process for coordinating the efforts. This can lead to a disjointed response, hampered communication, ineffective delivery and a slow recovery. The effective management of an event requires a well-thought out coordinated and integrated response. This workshop focuses on the necessary planning that must be done for a smooth transition from preparedness to response and finally recovery.

  • Hazard analysis – match the planning to the risk
  • Bringing together the silos – Emergency Response, Business Continuity, Disaster Response, Crisis Communications and Event Management
  • Event management
  • Training and Exercises

Regina Phelps, CEM, RN, BSN, MPA is an internationally recognized expert in the field of emergency management and continuity planning. With more than 23 years of experience, she has provided consultation and speaking services to clients in four continents. She is founder of Emergency Management & Safety Solutions, a training and consulting company specializing in emergency management, continuity planning and safety.

Workshop Session 4
Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Developing the Recovery Strategy: The Next Step

Barney Pelant
Barney F. Pelant & Assc.

Once the business impact analysis (BIA) has been completed, the next logical step in the development of a business continuity program is the formation of the business recovery strategy. The results of this effort provide us the infrastructure for carrying out the successful recovery of the organization in case of a disastrous event or business interruption. This infrastructure is also the foundation for the procedures that we develop next, a.k.a. our business recovery plan. This session is a former breakout session that has been expanded by popular request to a workshop. During the workshop we will examine a proven methodology for taking the findings of the BIA and developing successful strategies. Learn important and logical steps to take when structuring the business recovery strategy. You’ll take home answers and solutions that you can implement immediately.
Barney Pelant holds the certification of Master Business Continuity Professional, with more than 25 years experience in this profession. He is owner and managing director of Barney F. Pelant & Associates, a consulting practice dedicated to business continuity planning since 1991. Pelant serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness. He is the past executive director, chair of the Certification Board and member of the Board of Directors of the Disaster Recovery Institute International.
Workshop Session 5
Intermediate/Advanced

Engaging Employees in Disaster Preparedness

Theresa Smalley
Wells Fargo Bank Group

Marie Weller
ChevronTexaco

Chris Wimmer
Genentech, Inc.

A major area of failure for even the best-written disaster plans is in the inability to bring that plan to each desk in the organization. Although a plan can look pretty sitting on a shelf, if the employees have no knowledge that it exists and do not carry out their emergency responsibilities, all the effort and expense are lost. Since the plan is in place to ensure that the business survives an emergency, it is possible the business could even go under- all due to lack of an engaging employee-training program. This session will focus on specific ways to bring these themes to your employees in a lively, engaging and entertaining way. Using techniques such as a game show format for informational review, hands on assembly projects to illustrate the importance of communication and need for plan building and ways to reinforce emergency preparedness after students leave the classroom, participants will have the opportunity to actually participate in unique activities and learn how to implement them at their own companies.
Theresa M. Smalley is the manager of BCP for Wells Fargo Bank Consumer Credit Group. She has been involved with disaster planning, management, response and recovery for more than 20 years.
Maria E. Weller has been an emergency preparedness specialist for ChevronTexaco for 13 years. Her responsibilities include the development and maintenance of office building emergency management plans.
Chris Wimmer is facilities recovery program manager for Genentech, Inc.
Workshop Session 6
Advanced

Advanced Networking Workshop

Session limited to 150 participants.
Designed for planners with 7+ years of experience.

This interactive session will focus on issues relevant to continuity professionals with seven or more years of experience. Issues that affect experienced planners will be discussed.

Topics to be covered will include - but are not limited to:

  • Pandemics
  • Terrorism
  • Program Management
  • Crisis Management
  • Program Governance & Regulatory Compliance
  • BC/DR/CRM Plan Integration
  • High Availability / Advanced Technology Solutions
  • Global Recovery Techniques
  • Event Management
  • Enterprise Risk Management
  • Call Centers
  • Off Shore Risks

Join this lively interactive session. Be prepared for an in-depth study of the critical topics affecting advanced BC professionals today. Get in on this ground breaking opportunity to network with your peers.


Members of DRJ’s Editorial Advisory Board will facilitate this session.

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