12:00:55 PM Avagene Moore:Welcome to the Virtual Forum! ... 12:01:08 PM Avagene Moore:Today's session is titled Conference Round Up: Virtual or Otherwise -- we will look at professional conferencing, in person or on line, and highlight some conferences or programs of interest for the coming year. ... 12:01:21 PM Avagene Moore:We are videotaping today's session. We will be referencing several URLs to demonstrate one of the features in our software and well as the types of interactivity possible in the Virtual Forum with you, our audience. ... 12:01:32 PM Avagene Moore:We will use parts of the session for promotion of the EIIP Virtual Forum through the upcoming Virtual Fire & Rescue Expo (VFRE) and other occasions as they arise. ... 12:01:53 PM Avagene Moore:As mentioned, we will put up quite a few addresses today. There will be no need to bookmark 12:02:07 PM Avagene Moore:them or write them down, because in the online transcript of today's session, we will include active links to them all. However, you are asked to follow along with the discussion and may wish to view the various URLs given. ... 12:02:23 PM Avagene Moore:Conferences, symposiums, workshops, etc. (virtual or otherwise) are excellent means for professional growth and networking. Online conferences offer the latest information on your desktop --- this is a wonderful tool for transporting us to a variety of topics and expertise --- you can actually discuss the latest issues one-on-one with the top people in the field. ... 12:02:34 PM Avagene Moore:Physical conferences are wonderful also. There is nothing like being able to meet and greet the speakers and presenters in person as well as rubbing elbows with your peers from all over the country and the world. ... 12:02:50 PM Avagene Moore:Informal meetings and discussions in the hallways and other areas of the conference facility are sometimes the most beneficial reasons for physically attending a conference. Lasting friendships are made and the networking is wonderful. ... 12:03:02 PM Avagene Moore:If you are serious about your professional growth and name in any field, networking is the key. As a networking tool, conferences, virtual or otherwise, are invaluable. Therefore, we are stressing conferences today in the Virtual Forum. ... 12:03:16 PM Avagene Moore:First, we will look at some sources for upcoming conference info, then we will talk about some of the conferences the EIIP has been, or will be involved in ... 12:03:26 PM Avagene Moore:then we will mention some conferences we are aware of that are of particular interest to the EM community. ... 12:03:48 PM Avagene Moore: We have some visitors with us today and we will ask to share some information about recent and upcoming events. ... 12:04:11 PM Avagene Moore:Finally, we will ask you to join in to suggest others that you may know of, or to discuss 12:04:24 PM Avagene Moore:your conferencing experiences, both positive and negative. 12:04:36 PM Avagene Moore:There are many online Sources for Conference Information; we have listed a on our Virtual Classroom page for future reference. For example ... 12:05:05 PM Avagene Moore:FEMA Conference Page (much improved) http://www.fema.gov/fema/confrnc.htm and you may submit nominations for inclusion. ... 12:05:32 PM Avagene Moore:Natural Hazard's Center List (you have to scroll down past ongoing training) 12:05:46 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.Colorado.EDU/hazards/conf.html ... 12:06:01 PM Avagene Moore:and for our Canadian friends http://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/pep/events.html ... 12:06:28 PM Avagene Moore:Our EIIP newsletter, Emergency Partner Postings --- latest issue http://www.emforum.org/eiip/vo03no01.htm#upcoming. Don't forget you can subscribe. 12:07:00 PM Avagene Moore:Online conferencing can also be used for those discussions that are related to the field, but perhaps not directly enough to justify the travel expense --- with limited travel budgets, online conferences are a great alternative. Try the Virtual Conference Center ... 12:07:14 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.mcb.co.uk/services/conferen/ A wide variety can be found here. ... 12:07:49 PM Avagene Moore:Please note that the First Internet Disaster Conference can be found here, including some of our EIIP friends and partners.... 12:08:02 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.mcb.co.uk/services/conferen/jun96/disaster/themes.ht m#theme1 12:08:29 PM Avagene Moore:We have been involved in a number of conferences... 12:08:49 PM Avagene Moore:We hoped to be live from Disaster Recovery Journal conference today, but could not make the connection..... 12:09:07 PM Avagene Moore:The agenda can be found at http://www.drj.com . Hopefully we can get some follow up later on in a Round Table session. ... 12:09:34 PM Avagene Moore:We didn't make it to the NEMA conference this year, .... 12:10:01 PM Avagene Moore:and we had hoped Randy Duncan, IAEM President, would be here to tell us about it. ... 12:10:16 PM Avagene Moore:Project Impact was again a hot topic of discussion. See agenda at http://nemaweb.media3.net/Nema/Conferences/AGENDA.htm 12:10:39 PM Avagene Moore:Beth, can you say anything about the NEMA Conference for Randy? 12:11:06 PM Avagene Moore:If not, we will move ahead ... 12:11:36 PM Johnny Hodgens:At NEMA Randy Duncan offered EIIP chat rooms to further several discussions involving PT&E 12:12:25 PM Avagene Moore:Thank you John. I am sure Randy represented us well.... 12:12:42 PM Avagene Moore:You may recall that we joined you from the from the 23rd Annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop in Boulder, Colorado ... 12:13:15 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.emforum.org/vforum/rt980714.htm ... 12:13:32 PM Avagene Moore:Conference session summaries and abstracts are now posted and may be found at ... 12:13:46 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.Colorado.EDU/hazards/ss/ss98.html and previous years' are available also. 12:13:58 PM Avagene Moore:This is a marvelous conference that brings a diverse audience together. Personally, I find the discussions and panels very stimulating because of the academic and research emphasis combined with the practitioner's viewpoint. 12:14:43 PM Avagene Moore:Our first Live From attempt was SALEMDUG .... 12:14:56 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.emforum.org/vforum/lc980422.htm 12:15:32 PM Avagene Moore:We have Sue Krogman, SALEMDUG President, with us today.. Sue, tell us about next year's conference. 12:16:16 PM Amy Sebring:(SALEMDUG=State and Local Emergency Management Data Users Group) 12:16:35 PM Avagene Moore:Sue and her board are planning a good conference shortly after the first of the year. (Thanks Amy.) 12:17:08 PM Avagene Moore:Sue, are you still with us? Just input short segments of text at a time and submit. 12:17:17 PM Sue Krogman:Well, first of all I would like to thank both you and Amy for inviting us online today -- this is my first attempt, so please be patient. The 1999 SALEMDUG Conference will be held February 8-10, 1999 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Naturally, the fact that our conference is being held the week before Mardi Gras will help tremendously. 12:17:32 PM Sue Krogman:Sorry - will make this shorter. 12:17:39 PM Avagene Moore:No problem/ 12:17:55 PM Sue Krogman:Anyway, this year we boast a "new beginning" for our organization. 12:18:26 PM Sue Krogman:We are no longer FEMA funded, so we are trying to be innovative and reach out to experience things we have been unable to do in the past. 12:19:03 PM Sue Krogman:We are going to have training on NEMIS, GPS, TMS and any other FEMA program we deem important! 12:19:28 PM Avagene Moore:Thank you, Sue. We will be watching for further information about the SALEMDUG conference. 12:19:54 PM Avagene Moore:You can also find some of the PowerPoint presentations we have made this past year at .... 12:20:07 PM Sue Krogman:Thanks for inviting us -- if anyone needs further information - please email me. 12:20:21 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.emforum.org/eiip/confer.htm including the one we made at the NCCEM (now IAEM) conference in Phoenix last year.... 12:20:41 PM Avagene Moore:We also participated in the FEMA/ANL Technology Conference in July. Amy conducted a live session for us from Argonne. Transcript is available in our Live Chat Archives in the Virtual Library http://www.emforum.org/vlibrary/livechat.htm ... 12:20:56 PM Avagene Moore:oday we are proud to have James Grichar of FEMA to tell us a little about next summer's Technology Conference. Jim. 12:22:14 PM Avagene Moore:Jim, are you still online? This is Jim's first time with us and we are glad to have him here. 12:23:29 PM Sue Krogman:Avagene, sorry for the interruption, but I have been asked for my email address. Sue.Krogman@nema.state.ne.us - -- thanks everybody! 12:23:36 PM Avagene Moore:I am very interested in next summer's conference because it will give me an opportunity to see some old friends and business acquaintances in East TN. 12:24:13 PM Avagene Moore:JIm, can we come back to you and let you tell us about plans for Gatlinburg Tech Conference? 12:24:22 PM Avagene Moore:He must be having a problem. 12:24:33 PM Avagene Moore:Beth Armstrong is here... 12:25:14 PM Avagene Moore:Tell us a little bit about the upcoming IAEM Conference. 12:25:42 PM Beth Armstrong:Hello everyone. Our upcoming conference November 7-11 in Norfolk, VA... 12:26:14 PM Beth Armstrong:is going well. Registrations are coming in fast. We have more than 20 booths sold. There are some updates which ... 12:26:50 PM Beth Armstrong:have occured on the program. We are now including a writing workshop on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 8-10:00 a.m... 12:28:01 PM James Grichar:FEMA is co-sponsoring the fourth annual "Emergency Management Technology 12:28:06 PM Beth Armstrong:Shari Coffin and Avagene will be the speakers. On Tuesday, Nov. 10 from 10-11:30 a.m. Kathee Henning has replaced Len Clark's time slot. She will be... 12:28:35 PM Beth Armstrong:speaking on Y2K. During the committee meeting Ellis Stanley will be hosting... 12:29:01 PM Beth Armstrong:a metro special interest group forum. All are invited. If you have not already done so, please... 12:29:29 PM Beth Armstrong:make your room reservations at the Sherton Waterside (formerly known as Omni Waterside) by Oct. 11. Our room... 12:29:56 PM Beth Armstrong:block is filling up fast. Does anyone have any questions? 12:30:11 PM Amy Sebring:Beth please put up URL for conference info... 12:30:18 PM Amy Sebring:I forgot to look it up! 12:30:36 PM Beth Armstrong:Our email address is iaem@aol.com if you would like further information. 12:30:49 PM Avagene Moore:Thank you, Beth. Sounds like a great conference and we will be there! 12:31:00 PM Beth Armstrong:Or check our our website at emassociation.org. 12:31:08 PM Avagene Moore:We have mentioned our upcoming events in recent sessions and in the newsletter, but would like to elaborate a little more at this time. 12:31:48 PM Avagene Moore:I see Nicole Appel has logged on. Great. Nicole is with the UN IDNDR from Geneva. 12:32:06 PM Nicole Appel:Hello everybody, first time online!! 12:32:09 PM Avagene Moore:You may have been with us when Pat West of National Fire & Rescue Magazine and Monty Gearhart of WCES did our Round Table session on the Virtual Fire & Rescue Expo. The home page for the VFRE is http://www.vfre.com and there is a mailing list to which you can subscribe for further information. ... 12:32:26 PM Avagene Moore:You can still find the EIIP material from last spring's conference at ... 12:32:44 PM Avagene Moore:(Nicole, we will turn this over to you shortlly. Hang on.) 12:33:09 PM Avagene Moore:ttp://www.vfre.com/presentation16/ (including a photo of yours truly and audio recording). We are videotaping today's session in hopes of using some of it for the November conference. ... 12:33:28 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.vfre.com/presentation16/ 12:33:49 PM Avagene Moore:(I cut off the h in http, forgive) 12:34:21 PM Avagene Moore:You may have also seen from our reminder notices that we are planning a Virtual Table Top ... 12:34:37 PM Avagene Moore:exercise as the EIIP Virtual Forum presentation in the VFRE, and we can use some help! We are currently meeting on Thursday evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern. This should be an exciting and challenging event. ... 12:35:19 PM Avagene Moore:We are also assisting OAS with an online conference Oct 19-23. 12:35:36 PM Avagene Moore:You may have noticed we have a new page devoted to the upcoming IDNDR online conference at ... 12:35:46 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.emforum.org/vforum/idndr98.htm 12:36:21 PM Avagene Moore:We are pleased to have Nicole Appel with us today to give us some details. Nicole, thanks for joining us. 12:36:48 PM Amy Sebring:(IDNDR=International Decade for Disaster Reduction) 12:37:02 PM Avagene Moore:(Thanks, Amy.) 12:37:04 PM Nicole Appel:Thank you for having me and thank you for making all these efforts to promote our conference. 12:37:14 PM Amy Sebring:(almost right) 12:37:36 PM Nicole Appel:The conference will start 28 September and will go on for 3 weeks. 12:37:47 PM Amy Sebring:(Natural Disaster Reduction) 12:37:59 PM Nicole Appel:Yes Amy, you forgot "natural" 12:38:32 PM Nicole Appel:The theme of the conference is Natural Disaster Prevention begins with Information" 12:40:01 PM Nicole Appel:You will be able to look at the conference agenda through the above entioned URL. Our aim is to get the disaster prevention message out to a maximum of people and to enlist the media as partners, trying to move away from usual sensationalist news related to post impact issues. 12:40:35 PM Nicole Appel:We are very lucky to have Avagene as one of our speakers 12:41:37 PM Nicole Appel:This is the third conference on the Internet the Secretariat of the IDNDR has organised, together with an NGO called Quipunet which organises conferences on the web 12:43:38 PM Nicole Appel:We are very excited about this exercise and hope many of you will be interested in participating. Our office is part of the Office for the Coordination of hunitarian Affairs of the United Nations. We are located in Geneva and have a regional unit in Costa Rica. Our conference will be held in Spanish at the same time. 12:43:46 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks, Nicole. We look forward to working with you and others involved in the IDNDR. 12:44:07 PM Nicole Appel:Thank you! 12:44:31 PM Avagene Moore:We want to hear from Jim Grichar about the Tech Conference. Jim? 12:44:50 PM Nicole Appel:By the way, I am most impressed by this system, this is so much fun! 12:44:53 PM James Grichar:FEMA is co-sponsoring the fourth annual "Emergency Management Technology 12:45:08 PM James Grichar:and exhibition will be hosted by Oak Ridge National 12:45:28 PM James Grichar:As in previous workshops, we will be bringing emergency managers, including 12:45:51 PM James Grichar:into contact with technology developers and providers 12:47:56 PM James Grichar:The goal is to develop new technology applications to reduce the impact of disasters on 12:48:33 PM James Grichar:the nation ... 12:49:00 PM James Grichar:Information about the workshop can be obtained at the following web site: 12:49:23 PM James Grichar: http://stargate.ornl.gov ... 12:49:27 PM Avagene Moore:Jim, thanks for sharing plans for next summer's Technology Conference. We hope to be a player in Gatlinburg. 12:49:46 PM Avagene Moore:Finally, we would like to draw your attention to an online conference beginning October 1 devoted to the issue of developing telecommunications in rural areas. One of the sponsors is Industry Canada, who was with us for our Round Table yesterday. ... 12:50:02 PM Avagene Moore:The conference is called Partnerships & Participation in Telecommunications for Rural ... 12:50:06 PM James Grichar:Once there, click on "Technology Partners Conference 1999" for information. 12:50:15 PM Avagene Moore:Development and the homepage is ... 12:50:24 PM Avagene Moore:http://www.snowden.org/conference/index.cfm ... 12:50:32 PM James Grichar:Thanks for inviting me to the forum! 12:50:54 PM Avagene Moore:You are welcome Jim. At this point, we invite you to plug any other conferences you would like to mention... 12:51:04 PM Russell Coile:For info about the OAS' virtual conference Oct 19-23, contact natural-hazards- 12:51:07 PM Avagene Moore:or tell us about your general impressions of the value of conferences. ... 12:51:19 PM Kevin Farrell:? 12:51:21 PM Avagene Moore:To ensure order, please input a question mark (?) to indicate you have a question or comment, wait for recognition before submitting your question. You can compose your question or comment while waiting for recognition to speak. First question, please. 12:51:26 PM Avagene Moore:Kevin.\ 12:51:29 PM Kevin Farrell:"Fire Rescue International", the annual conference of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is going on in Louisville right now. http://www.iafc.org/fri98/ 12:51:38 PM Avagene Moore:Great. Another one/ 12:51:56 PM Russell Coile:project@oas.org Theme is Disaster Reduction in the Education Sector 12:52:22 PM Amy Sebring:Russell, we hoped to have an OAS rep with us today... 12:52:31 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks, Russell. We mentioned that one. 12:52:42 PM Amy Sebring:but wasn't able to arrange. 12:52:54 PM Amy Sebring:There will be a dedicated website up later this week and we will be sure to plug! 12:52:56 PM Avagene Moore:Other conferences? Cindy, didn't you have something you want to mention... 12:53:11 PM Avagene Moore:just plug in your ? 12:53:34 PM Amy Sebring:? 12:53:41 PM Avagene Moore:Amy 12:53:51 PM Amy Sebring:I would also like to mention the online conferences hosted by VITA ... 12:53:58 PM Amy Sebring:VITA=Volunteers in Technical Assistance 12:54:13 PM Amy Sebring:there are 2 archives posted on discussions about communications issues... 12:54:21 PM Amy Sebring:in developing countries. 12:54:35 PM Amy Sebring:http://www.vita.org/vitalink/ 12:54:41 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks, Amy. I failed to mention that due to running short on time. 12:54:58 PM Avagene Moore:Other links or conferences? Comments? 12:55:25 PM Nicole Appel:I am very interested in the last conference mentioned 12:55:34 PM Avagene Moore:You saw Nicole's reference to World Disaster Day on Oct 14 ... 12:56:18 PM Avagene Moore:Nicole, since you are online, can we perhaps confirm that we can do a session with you and others in Geneva and around the world on Oct 14? 12:57:21 PM Nicole Appel:Do you keep these chats like the current one stored somewhere (to keep the references given)? 12:57:45 PM Amy Sebring:Yes Nicole, we will have a transcript... 12:57:51 PM Amy Sebring:with all the links active. 12:58:18 PM Amy Sebring:Avagene put you on the spot, we hope to discuss later about 10/14. 12:58:41 PM Isabel McCurdy:? 12:58:45 PM Avagene Moore:Isabel. 12:59:08 PM Isabel McCurdy:Emergency Preparedness Conference. Vancouver , British Columbia. October 20 -22. http://142.58.200.36/epc/ 12:59:33 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks Isabel. Let's wrap up folks for the formal part of our session... 12:59:36 PM Nicole Appel:Yes, I confirm we'll do a live chat session from here on 14/10. Actually, I have just called two of my colleagues right now (including Terry Jeggle whom you know Avagene) to show them what I am doing right now and how nice it is! 12:59:48 PM Amy Sebring:Should be beautiful up there that time of year Isabel! 01:00:21 PM Sheena Vivian:? 01:00:25 PM cindy rice:? 01:00:27 PM Avagene Moore:We are very glad to have all of you here today. This has been interesting and the video tape will be put to good use. 01:01:17 PM Avagene Moore:We will formally close this part of the session, if you will hang around a few minutes, we will take all questions and comments ... just hang on please. 01:01:24 PM Nicole Appel:It's 7pm here and there are still a lot of people in the office. Don't worry about time differences. 01:01:31 PM Avagene Moore:Join us next week for a USAR Panel. 01:01:51 PM Gil Gibbs:? 01:02:09 PM Kevin Farrell:Urban Search and Rescue? 01:02:12 PM Avagene Moore:And David Butler will be leading a discussion in teh Round Table next Tuesday 1 PM Eastern. Panel is at noon on Weds Sept 23. 01:02:24 PM Avagene Moore:Now. Sheena, your question please. 01:02:34 PM Sheena Vivian:WSEMA, Washington State EmergencyManagement Association also has it's conference October 18-20/98 at Semiahmoo Resort near Bellingham 01:02:50 PM Avagene Moore:Great, thanks. Sheena. Cindy? 01:02:52 PM cindy rice:Nicole, don't forget to check out all the archived transcripts from the past (very, very useful info)! 01:03:05 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks for that, Cindy. 01:03:15 PM Avagene Moore:Gil, you have a question or comment/ 01:03:25 PM Nicole Appel:Many thanks! 01:03:26 PM Isabel McCurdy:Newly revised transcript page. 01:03:46 PM cindy rice:? 01:04:01 PM Gil Gibbs:Pertaining to "developing nations", the radio spectrum is going to be messed up with ham frequencies being sold off by the politicians. Better discussion later. 01:04:06 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks for joining us, Nicole. We will be talking about future plans. Cindy? 01:04:10 PM cindy rice:url available for WSEMA conference 01:04:42 PM David Crews:? 01:05:21 PM Avagene Moore:Cindy, are you asking for a URL? 01:05:27 PM cindy rice:yes please 01:05:35 PM Sheena Vivian:I don't think so Cindy but I can give you the Chairmans phone # if you want to contact him 01:05:43 PM cindy rice:ok thanks 01:05:45 PM Avagene Moore:David, go ahead. 01:05:48 PM David Crews:Are there plans to video conference on EIIP in the future? 01:06:14 PM Avagene Moore:Possibly since I have the videographer close at hand here. What are you thinking about? 01:06:17 PM Sheena Vivian:John Gargett 1(360) 734-4115 01:06:31 PM Amy Sebring:Not in immediate future David, but next version of eShare may include that capability. 01:06:34 PM David Crews:On line video just like this chat. 01:06:37 PM Amy Sebring:We are waiting for it to come out. 01:06:45 PM Avagene Moore:Sorry, I misunderstood you. 01:06:58 PM cindy rice:? 01:07:03 PM Avagene Moore:Way out in the future I would say. 01:07:06 PM Avagene Moore:Cindy. 01:07:10 PM cindy rice:cuseeme or something else 01:07:19 PM Kevin Farrell:or webcam... 01:07:46 PM David Crews:Kevin, exactly. 01:07:53 PM Amy Sebring:It will be here in probably not that far off in future... 01:08:06 PM Amy Sebring:and we will sure want to experiment with it. 01:08:09 PM Avagene Moore:It will be awhile before we have that, I suspect. However we are open to anything new. 01:08:24 PM Avagene Moore:Let's do audio first. 01:08:39 PM David Crews:Just purchased a web cam, works great! 01:08:53 PM Avagene Moore:Any other comments or questions from anyone? Congrats, David! 01:08:56 PM Kevin Farrell:http://www.quickcam.com/ 01:10:09 PM Amy Sebring:Great job Avagene. 01:10:25 PM Amy Sebring:Many thanks to all our folks who took time to come today to participate. 01:10:28 PM cindy rice:? 01:10:35 PM Isabel McCurdy:clap, clap, Avagene. 01:10:42 PM Avagene Moore:I hope this was interesting for everyone. I enjoyed it and trust the video will come in handy. 01:10:46 PM Gil Gibbs:Fine job, Ava 01:10:47 PM Kevin Farrell: 01:11:14 PM Isabel McCurdy:clap, clap, Jimmy. 01:11:23 PM Avagene Moore:Thanks for everyone being here today. We were innovative at the last moment to pull off today's session. Turned out fine. Thanks Amy for the idea and the bulk of the work. 01:11:25 PM Nicole Appel:Clap clap too. Thank you so much having me 01:11:35 PM David Crews:Great forum. Got a lot more URLs thanks to all. 01:12:03 PM Avagene Moore:We are happy to have you here, Nicole. Glad to have everyone here. Several here for the first time. Please come back when you can. 01:12:12 PM cindy rice:what is the process or where do we look if we want to do a conference through eiip's virtuals? 01:12:59 PM Avagene Moore:Contact Amy and me, Cindy. Depends on what you want and how much time it takes. We will talk about it. 01:13:20 PM Amy Sebring:Yes, this is something we would like to see our Partners use. 01:13:39 PM Avagene Moore:Preferably we want our Partners to do the bulk of the work to keep it going. 01:13:44 PM Nicole Appel:Bye bye everyone