On With the Show!

The 2010 Continuity Insights Management Conference kicked off with an informative panel of New Orleans residents discussing the progress that’s been made, and how much work there is yet to do. Those who were able to attend the pre-conference "Road to Recovery" tour were able to witness this first hand. As we wound our way through the streets of the 9th ward, progress was evident from the Musicians Village to the Brad Pitt houses. But there were still so many houses that haven’t even removed the spray-painted marks left by rescue and recovery efforts so long ago, and neighborhoods speckled with empty lots where houses used to stand. While we wound our way through the devastation, our drivers shared their personal experiences as well as explaining what the flooding was like at various points: five feet…eight…ten…now fifteen feet underwater. Touring the neighborhoods was a sobering experience, a reminder of the human suffering and the work that remains to be done.

 

From a business continuity perspective, panelists on the opening plenary session discussed their experiences when the evacuation was ordered, to re-building after the storm, and through to today. For the zoo, recovering meant drawing on a pool of volunteers from other zoos in neighboring metropolitan areas, and continuity plans have been changed to reflect the severity of disruption Katrina brought to the city. For New Orleans magazine, recovery was hindered by an unprecedented loss of market—when readers leave the city never to return, what is the city magazine to do? For the magazine, planning ahead now means having a robust setup for remote workers, as well as plans in place to deal with employee absences after evacuation. And for a local supermarket chain, recovery was altogether different—they needed feet on the ground almost immediately to provide supplies to locals and first-responders who launched recovery efforts around the city, and ongoing business plans include strengthening ties with government and the stores’ supply chain for future events.

 

After the opening plenary session, attendees were offered a variety of tracks from case studies to program development to measuring program effectiveness.

 

The second plenary session offered a panel on 2009’s hot topic in BCP: H1N1 influenza and the preparedness plans launched in reaction to the WHO’s handling of the situation a year ago, including a lively discussion of the N95-versus-surgical-mask debate.

 

At the Tuesday evening party aboard the Creole Queen, attendees danced and dined to the sounds of Joe Simon’s Jazz band, and had a great opportunity to get to know each other and compete for prizes during the "meet your hurricane match" game. A good time was had by all.

 

Rounding out the conference sessions, ABC News’ Howard Price’s engaging and informative plenary address shared his experiences on the ground in Haiti. As director of business continuity and crisis management at ABC News in New York, Price has front-line responsibility to keep operations up and running and deploying news teams to major breaking news stories in times of uncertainty. He shared with us the logistical challenges as well as some of the methods the ABC News team uses to keep pushing the news to the channels.

  

Back in NOLA where the tradition began, volunteers with the post-conference Continuity Cares event helped on two projects: a house painting project in Gentilly with Beacon of Hope (lakewoodbeacon.org) and an experimental corn planting with the farmers co-op (latinofarmerscoop.org). Beacon of Hope works with residents of neighborhoods to rebuild structures at the same time as they restore the community. The Latino Farmers Cooperative of Louisiana works with the city and landowners to turn vacant lots into urban farms, and with urban residents to educate them on nutrition and provide resources for growing their own fresh fruits and vegetables. The co-op also works with local farmers to bring farm fresh eggs and dairy products to the city at affordable prices. This is especially important in urban areas where the high cost of produce and dairy products makes it unfeasible for people to include fresh foods into their regular diet. Many low-income households subsist on high-calorie, low-nutrient processed foods because those are the foods they can afford on their grocery budget, which results in higher rates of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and other nutrition-related diseases.

 

We’d like to extend a special thanks to all our volunteers, as well as to Heater Meals for providing lunches and coffee.

 

Alan K Salkowitz, TD Bank

Bill Raisch, NYU InterCEP

Brian Calabrese, Wellington Management Company

Brian Strong, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida

Clyde (and Lorraine) Berger, Imagine Continuity Enterprises Inc.

Courtney Bowers, Avalution Consulting

David Lott, Capital One Bank

Frank (and Cyndee) Moriaty, RSM McGladrey

Howard Mannella, Expedia

Lisa Troglio, Booz Allen Hamilton

Mark Carroll, Fidelity Investments

Nathaniel Forbes, Forbes Calamity Prevention

Shelley Lee Johnson, NYC Metro Chapter, ACP

Stan Sutton, PacifiCorp

Suzanne Bernier, Toronto Hydro

Thomas Forbes, Catalyst Online