Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Community Participation: How Recovery Is Ingrained in Waffle House’s Culture

By: Elaine Pittman on January 19, 2012

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has been sharing one of his more unique ways of determining how badly hit a community is after a disaster: He looks at Waffle House restaurants. If they’re closed after a storm or emergency, Fugate knows he needs to get to work.

“No matter how bad it was, the first thing that got open invariably was a Waffle House,” he told attendees at the International Disaster Conference and Expo on Jan. 17 in New Orleans.

And on Wednesday, Jan. 18, Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer described how recovery is ingrained in the company. He said the culture of the company revolves around two words: Show up. Getting restaurants open as quickly as possible following an emergency not only gives Waffle House the competitive advantage, but it also allows employees to return to work and provides a sense of normalcy for residents who may not have had a hot meal in days.

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, more than 100 Waffle House restaurants were closed. “It was something unlike we’d ever seen before,” Ehmer said. The company set up a command center and brought in supplies to reopen its locations. In areas where there wasn’t power, gas grills were used to cook food and boil water. Word spread that the company was on a mission to reopen its restaurants – while on their way to check on more locations following Hurricane Rita, company representatives entered Beaumont, Texas, where they were told, “We were expecting you.”

Ehmer shared lessons that the company has learned through the years:
  • get momentum going quickly after a disaster;
  • think of itself as locals in a community and get to know customers;
  • prepare employees before a disaster happens with information like what to do during and after a storm; and
  • do a better job of building relationships with government.
But with more than 1,600 restaurants in 25 states, working with government in advance isn’t always easy. Government rules like curfews in disaster-impacted areas can prevent companies from operating as efficiently as possible, and Ehmer reminded attendees that open businesses like restaurants not only benefit the public but also first responders who work round the clock following an emergency.

“The challenge is that every county, municipality and state has different people that we need to talk to,” Ehmer said. Building relationships across government and industry has been promoted more frequently, and examples range from FEMA hosting private-sector representatives in its coordination center to localities including industry organizations in their EOCs. With more partnerships and coordination, the nation will be better prepared to respond to a disaster.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

CONTINGENCY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE & EXPO

April 2 - 4, 2012                       Washington Convention Center | Washington, DC 
 
Don't worry: when it comes to contingency planning, we've got you covered!
1. An event you know and trust. Contingency Planning & Management is THE resource for COOP and business continuity planning tools. http://contingencyplanning.com/events/cpm-2012/information/expo/expo-overview.aspx?utm_source=AttendeeMktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=CPM01
2. Who doesn't love a good deal? Get risk management education (and lots of it) at a reasonable price. http://contingencyplanning.com/events/cpm-2012/information/attendee-info/rates.aspx?utm_source=AttendeeMktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=CPM01
3. 360 Views. With both unbiased experts and industry insiders leading the program, you'll get every perspective necessary to fine tune your contingency plan. http://contingencyplanning.com/events/cpm-2012/speakers/speaker-list.aspx?utm_source=AttendeeMktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=CPM01
4. Copious contingency planning content. Build the learning program that meets your needs with sessions on Continuity of Government, Cloud Contingency Planning, Supply Chain Business Continuity, Social Media Contingency Planning, Business Recovery and much more! http://contingencyplanning.com/events/cpm-2012/sessions/session-list.aspx?EventDay=3&utm_source=AttendeeMktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=CPM01
5. We dive deep. Waaaay deep. Check out the deep-dive workshops on The Disaster Experience, Business Continuity Testing Solutions and Ensuring a Successful BIA.
http://contingencyplanning.com/events/cpm-2012/tracks/preconference-workshops.aspx?utm_source=AttendeeMktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=CPM01
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Information about MADRA: 

MADRA, a 501(c)(3) corporation, was formed in October 1989 to stimulate communication among individuals, groups and the community in the areas of disaster recovery and business continuity planning. By disaster recovery and business continuity planning, we mean those areas and disciplines which are required to recover an organization which has suffered a catastrophic event, seriously impairing its ability to perform its normal business. In a simple word, "a disaster." 

The meetings are free, so bring a friend or co-worker. If you think the experience is worthwhile, we would be pleased for you to become a member of MADRA. As a member of MADRA, we ask that you support us with an annual contribution of $50, which is used to support our non-profit educational association. We are totally dependent on donations to keep our information exchange going. If your donation is not reimbursed by your employer, it is deductible as a charitable donation at tax time. 

Don't forget: Attending MADRA meetings allows you to gain 4 continuing education credits for your certification! 

Attention Vendors: Are you interested in becoming a MADRA sponsor? 

Please contact Paul Striedl or Robin Fishman at contactus@madra.org for details. 

MADRA - Discount for CPM Conference








Contingency Planning and Management Conference & Expo is coming to Washington, D.C.  This year's CPM will be held on April 2-4 at the Washington Convention Center.  
 For more information, please visit http://contingencyplanning.com/Events/CPM-2012/Home.aspx
Registration Discount
The Mid-Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association (MADRA) is pleased to announce a special offer for MADRA supporters.  Please enter the following registration code to obtain a 10% conference discount.
Code: CPM01
Conference Scholarships
In conjunction with CPM, MADRA is also pleased to present our active/dues paying donors with an opportunity to win one of five (5) full access conference scholarships.  Worth nearly $600, each of the five awardees will have access to: CPM, GovSec and Network-Centric Security conferences on April 3-4; all keynotes; the exhibit hall, and all activities taking place in the hall.

How can you apply? Simply volunteer for one of the following three activities:

           1) Provide an industry-specific white paper or article (past or new) that we have permission to post on LinkedIn/Facebook and/or the MADRA web site.

            2) Offer to lead a 15-20 minute group discussion at an upcoming meeting using a recent event and or   company/government policy.

            3) Lead a short discussion on MADRA's LinkedIn group page commenting on a past presentation or using a recent event/policy.
 
Send us an email with your name, email, phone number and a 100-word or less description about the activity you have selected no later than February 17th, 2012.  Please send your submission to contactus@madra.org.

Countdown: 2nd National ASU HBCU Conference. March 5-7, 2012

Friday, January 20, 2012

New CERT Training Tools

Register TODAY for the upcoming January 24 webinar

Join us, Tuesday January 24, at 2:00 PM, EST to learn more about the new Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training tools now available to State and local CERT programs and sponsoring organizations across the nation. Topics for Tuesday’s event include:

  • G428: CERT Train-the-Trainer Course
  • G427: CERT Program Manager Course
  • CERT Basic Training in Spanish
  • CERT Basic Training Participant Manual in Braille
  • CERT Basic Training Participant Manual in Screen Reader Version
State and local CERT program coordinators/managers and CERT sponsoring organizations are encouraged to attend to ensure each have the current CERT training materials and information.

Registration is FREE and is required for this event. If this is your first time registering for a webinar in the Community Preparedness Webinar Series, registration is easy and can be accessed quickly. If you previously registered, you can use your current login information to access Tuesday’s session. If you have any questions regarding the webinar, please contact citizencorps@dhs.gov.

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