In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

I am heading to the “2009 National Conference on Community Preparedness: The Power of Citizens Corps” which begins in earnest on Monday in Arlington, Virginia. Hosted by FEMA’s Community Preparedness Division, the Conference is “intended to help communities become safer, stronger, and better prepared for all types of hazards.”

According to the Citizens Corps website, the event “will allow attendees to share best practices on collaborative emergency planning, discuss preparedness outreach and education for targeted populations, learn innovative approaches to funding, hear updates on DHS/FEMA initiatives, get updates on findings from citizen preparedness research, network with other Citizen Corps participants and much more.” The conference schedule can be found here. The first-annual National Citizen Corps Achievement Awards will also be presented; the list of finalists (which includes, I mention proudly, my own New York City Citizen Corps) in the various categories can be found here.

I am looking forward to attending, because it is one of the only national events focused solely on citizen and community preparedness. I am also excited to meet some fellow CERT members from around the U.S.

You can follow the conference proceedings on the Citizen Corps Twitter feed here or on its newly-revamped website here. Information can also be found on the website of the International Association of Emergency Managers here. I will be posting written and video reports on the blog as well.