More than 3000 participants have attended these public workshops in various cities: .
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Workshop 105

Workshop 201

Workshop 301

Essentials for Enterprise-Wide Business Continuity Programs

Half Day - $225

Benchmark Your Program Using NFPA 1600

One day - $445

How to Create Drills and Exercises...That Work!

One day - $445

 

Workshop 105: Essentials for Enterprise-Wide Business Continuity Programs
Attendees learn best practices for designing and implementing a comprehensive, properly sequenced, enterprise-wide Business Continuity Program.  All elements of disaster response and business recovery are covered, including examples collected from 17 years of successful planning with organizations such as Toyota, Macy's, California Public Employees Retirement System, Discovery Communications,  Yamaha, and many more.  Content is appropriate for any experience level, but it is especially geared for beginning business continuity managers and executives from various departments who oversee such programs.  DRII-certified professionals who attend this session can receive 4 continuing education points for re-certification.  Half day.  $225 per seat.  Quantity discounts available.

Workshop 201: Benchmark Your Program Using NFPA 1600

In 2004, the U.S. Congress recommended NFPA 1600 as the standard for business continuity programs in the private sector. Since then, this standard has become a favorite benchmarking tool for BC Coordinators who have been looking for a well-established set of requirements to measure the depth and breadth of their programs. In this interactive session you will compare your program’s robustness to this important standard as well as to the programs of the other professionals who attend. The two instructors will describe methodologies for conducting a benchmark and will discuss best practices for implementing the most significant provisions of NFPA 1600, including those relating to prevention and mitigation capabilities, which were added in the most recent edition of the standard. DRII-certified professionals who attend this session can receive 8 continuing education points for re-certification. One day. $445 per seat. Group discounts available.

 

Workshop 301: How to Create Drills and Exercises…That Work!
This workshop is designed as a follow-on to both of the above workshops (see above), but it may be taken as a stand alone workshop for experienced business continuity professionals. Participants review best practices for designing and implementing effective drills and exercises for a business continuity program.  You will study proven steps for constructing exercises efficiently, using industry best practices. You will examine examples of 4 types of exercises, including an orientation session for executives, a communications drill for an IT department, and a table-top exercise for a business unit.  Then as a culminating activity, you will participate in designing and executing a functional exercise for an Emergency Operations Center . DRII-certified professionals who attend this session can receive 8 continuing education points for re-certification.  One day.  $445 per seat.  Quantity discounts available.

 

Workshop 105    Workshop agenda    What you will learn 

Workshop 201   Workshop agenda     What you will learn 

Workshop 301   Workshop agenda     What you will learn 

   About your workshop leaders 
What people are saying about DSPN workshops

 

Workshop 105 Agenda

8:00-8:30 Registration/Continental Breakfast
8:30-8:45 Introductions
8:45-9:45
Business Continuity Basics
9:45-10:00 Break
10:00-10:30
Phase 1: Planning the Project
10:30-11:00
Phase 2: Implementing the Process
11:00-11:30
Phase 3: Testing the Program
11:30-11:45 Questions and Wrap-Up

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What You Will Learn in Workshop 105

Business Continuity Basics

  • Once started, why planning fails
  • Integrating emergency response and business recovery
  • Life-safety elements most plans omit
  • The role of the Emergency Operations Center
  • Turning the project into a process, and ultimately a program
  • What we learned from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina

Phase 1: Planning the Project

  • Assessing hazards
  • Analyzing business impacts (BIA)
  • Preparing planning assumptions
  • Presenting your case to gain project sponsorship

Phase 2: Implementing the Process

  • Establishing roles and responsibilities
  • Defining and documenting the recovery process
  • People policies to define in advance
  • Problems to anticipate if you are a tenant
  • Defining action plans for each business unit
  • Issues with vital records and other assets
  • Suggested content for IS and telecom plans
  • Implementing the recovery process

Phase 3: Testing the Program

  • Five types of exercises
  • Defining an exercise program
  • Designing and conducting exercises
  • Evaluating an exercise
  • Creating change as the result of an exercise

Conclusion: What We Want You to Remember

  • Executive buy-in is essential. Reliable techniques for developing it are available.
  • Business continuity activities generally begin as projects, but in order for them to deliver long-term benefits, they must evolve to processes and programs.
  • Comprehensive plans must combine emergency response and business recovery.
  • The best way to foster employee support of a business recovery plan is to anticipate their personal needs and train them to be prepared.
  • A plan is only as good as the assumptions that underlie it. Assumptions must be based on a systematic re-analysis of hazards and their potential business impacts.
  • Businesses should integrate their plans with local authorities. Local authorities should integrate their plans with local businesses.
  • The Incident Command System standardizes recovery activities and makes them more efficient.
  • Departmental plans must be integrated in order to restore critical business functions in a timely manner.
  • A vigorous testing program is necessary to find the gaps in a plan. Systematic change processes must follow all exercises, including re-tests in areas where gaps are found.

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Workshop 201 Agenda

8:00-8:30 Registration/Continental Breakfast
8:30-8:45 Introductions
8:45-9:45 Benchmarking Basics
9:45-10:00 Break

10:00-11:00 Organizing for Ongoing Program Management
10:00-12:00 Adapting ICS to Improve Crisis Management
12:00-12:45 Interactive Networking Lunch (lunch included)
12:45-2:00
Using NFPA 1600 to Extend Your Program to the Enterprise
2:00-2:15 Break
2:15-3:15
Creating More Mature Action Plans for Business Units
3:15-3:45
Conclusion: What We Want You To Remember
3:45-4:30 Questions and Wrap-Up

 


What You Will Learn in Workshop 201

Benchmarking Basics

  • Emerging standards for business continuity
  • ICS and NFPA 1600
  • Standards vs. best practices

Organizing for Ongoing Program Management

  • Continuous hazard reduction
  • Best practices in resource management
  • Written Plans

Adapting ICS to Improve Crisis Management

  • Developing Roles and Responsibilities
  • Coordinating emergency response and business recovery
  • Improving communications and warning plans
  • Coordinating logistics and facilities

Using NFPA 1600 to Extend Your Program to the Enterprise

  • Creating more mature business resumption plans
  • Standardizing operations and procedures for all elements of the organization
  • Developing an ongoing maintenance program to ensure a constant state of readiness

Conclusion: What We Want You to Remember

  • Standards define “end states” but they do not specify how to achieve them
  • Creating an effective EOC is essential for enterprise-wide protection
  • Business resumption plans must be action oriented to be effective
  • Business unit plans must be carefully integrated to ensure that they will work

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Workshop 301 Agenda

8:00-8:30 Registration/Continental Breakfast
8:30-8:45 Introductions
8:45-9:45 Exercise Basics
9:45-10:00 Break
10:00-12:00 Best Practices in Creating Various Types of Exercises
12:00-12:45 Interactive Networking Lunch (lunch included)
12:45-2:00 Hands-On Simulation: A Functional Exercise for an Emergency Operations Center
2:00-2:15 Break
2:15-3:15 Hands-On Simulation: Evaluating the Results of a Functional Exercise
3:15-3:45 Conclusion: What We Want You To Remember
3:45-4:30 Questions and Wrap-Up

 


What You Will Learn in Workshop 301

Exercise Basics

  • Why Exercise
  • Five Types of Exercises: Which Should You Use When?
  • Common Exercise Mistakes
  • Twelve Steps to Build an Effective Exercise
  • Getting Commitment to Participate
  • Developing Events and Messages
  • Staffing an Exercise
  • Conducting an Exercise
  • Evaluating an Exercise
  • Making Recommendations Happen
  • Assuring Success

Best Practices in Creating Various Types of Exercises

  • Best Practices in Creating an Orientation Exercise
  • Group Project: How to Create the Scope, Purpose, and Objectives of a Drill
  • Best Practices in Creating a Tabletop Exercise
  • Group Project: How to Create a Functional Exercise

Hands-On Simulations to Illustrate Best Practices

  • Computer-Assisted Simulation: How to Conduct a Functional Exercise for an EOC
  • Hands-On Simulation: How to Evaluate a Functional Exercise

Conclusion: What We Want You to Remember

  • Executive buy-in to the exercise program is critical to success.
  • A plan that is not exercised regularly is not a plan.
  • Scope, purpose, and objectives are keys to creating exercises that work.
  • The whole purpose of exercising is to learn what to improve. Follow-up is everything.

 


About your workshop leaders:

DSPN workshops are professionally designed to be educationally sound. Sessions employ lecture, video clips, and breakout exercises to deliver an energetic, content-rich agenda that is thought provoking as well as entertaining. All elements of disaster response and business recovery are included. Each participant receives a ring binder detailing the proceedings and providing additional reference materials.

Content for this workshop was developed by Judy Bell, founder and CEO of  Disaster Survival Planning Network and
author of the first book on business continuity for the private  sector, Disaster Survival Planning: A Practical Guide for Businesses. She is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. Judy is a Certified Emergency Manager through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), a member of the American Society of Professional Emergency Planners, past board member and treasurer of BICEPP, past president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Contingency Planners (ACP), and a member of the Southern California Emergency Services Association (SCESA).

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What people are saying about DSPN workshops…

- "Outstanding!"
- "On target! Good innovative suggestions! Great, well planned presentation.
- "Knowledgeable, motivated, current."
- "Great speaker. Really knew her stuff."
- "Good presentation for the beginner planner. Some thought provoking ideas. Best presenter of the day."
- "Finally, some detail on how, not just why. The most useful session so
far. Excellent speaker. Superb presentation skills."
- "Excellent communicator…outline of requirements for a Business
Continuity plan was presented thoroughly and clearly spoken."
- "Excellent all around, fantastic speaker, knew her material from all
aspects."
- "The agenda is packed with a huge quantity of proven techniques for developing a comprehensive program. Anyone who is starting at the beginning or renewing a plan written before 9-11 will save time and avoid pitfalls by attending one of these sessions."

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