January 14, 2010 - Cloud Computing: Corporate strategy and BC/DR Implications Cloud computing is poised to make the transition from an interesting concept to a mainstream corporate strategy. What is driving this transition? What factors influence the decision to move IT services out of the local data center and into the cloud? We’ll address these questions and more using Business Productivity Online Services, Microsoft’s cloud computing solution, as a case study for the pros and cons of cloud computing. Craig Yellick, Alto’s Sr. Solutions Architect, will be cutting through the hype surrounding Cloud Computing and provide the information you need to incorporate it into your IT planning. 2009 Meeting History
January 8, 2009 - InfraGard: a Collaboration for National Infrastructure Protection Come to the January 8 BCPA meeting to hear Special Agent Doug Dvorak talk about InfraGard, its mission, and how the FBI is partnering with the private sector. InfraGard is an affiliate member of the Upper Midwest Security Alliance, and seeks members from the various critical infrastructure and key resource entities. Douglas Dvorak is a Special Agent with the Minneapolis Division of the FBI. Originally assigned to the Cyber Squad, SA Dvorak investigated cyber-related criminal violations, such as computer intrusions, child pornography, intellectual property rights violations, and internet fraud. Currently, SA Dvorak is assigned to the Minneapolis Field Intelligence Group and is the Coordinator for the regional FBI InfraGard programs, which include chapters in Minnesota, North and South Dakota.
February 12, 2009 - Emergency Management & Homeland Security: Partnerships Judson Freed will speak to the BCPA on public/private partnerships and emergency response.
Judson Freed was appointed Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for Ramsey County Minnesota in May of 2003. Before coming to Ramsey County, Judd spent nearly 16 years with the University of Minnesota's Department of Emergency Management, serving as director for the last two years of his tenure there. He is a frequent lecturer and presenter at state, regional, national and international conferences and seminars. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Judd is a National Commissioner for the Emergency Management Accreditation Program, a member of the National Association of Counties' Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee, the FEMA Region V Public-Private Partnership Subcommittee, the Disaster Recovery Institute International, the International Association of Emergency Managers, and is legislative liaison to the Board of the Metropolitan Emergency Managers' Association. Judd is a Past President of the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers and currently serves as Chair of AMEM's Legislative Information Committee.
March 12, 2009 - P2CAT at HP's Eagan Facility On March 12 InfraGard's leadership and members of its P2CAT (Public-Private Collaborative Action Team) will participate in a two-way panel discussion about their ability to connect with the state Emergency Operations Center during disasters.Your feedback will help guide the operational development of P2CAT as well as content of a session of the upcoming Secure360 <http://www.secure360.org/>where the full P2CAT program will be presented.The goal of InfraGard is to promote ongoing dialogue and timely communication between members and the FBI in order to protect their assets and in turn give information to government that facilitates its responsibilities to prevent and address terrorism and other crimes.P2CAT is an Infragard subgroup charged with a mission to foster private sector involvement during emergencies.This meeting will be held at HP's Eagan facility at 2935 Waters Road, Suite 100, Eagan, MN 55121-1523.We will begin our meeting with a tour of the HP facility.With the size of our group, HP will conduct two tours:one at 1:30 pm and one at 1:45 pm.The BCPA wishes to thank HP for hosting our March meeting and providing refreshments.
April 9, 2009 - Severe Weather Awareness Severe weather awareness week in Minnesota is April 20-24. Todd Krause, the warning coordinator for the National Weather Service in Chanhassen will present and give us insight into the process behind issuing warnings so we can better understand the relative risk when warnings are issues. He will also cover private sector meteorology and the role they can play. Todd Krause graduated from Bethel College in Arden Hills, Minnesota, majoring in Math/Physics, then he received his M.S. in Meteorology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota. He started his career with the National Weather Service as an intern in Huron, South Dakota in 1985. Todd also worked as an intern in Wichita, Kansas before becoming a forecaster in the Twin Cities in 1989. He has been the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Twin Cities office since 1994.
May 14, 2009 - H1N1 Response Current events are driving a change to the previously announced May meeting agenda. The years of pandemic preparation are on the cusp of becoming a pandemic response. The May meeting will help members share questions and ideas and raise their pandemic response activities to a new level. Through small-group discussion and an engaging panel discussion, we will put our planning experience to use and help our community of planners prepare to respond in a world class manner
June 11, 2009 - Meeting and Boating event Please join us for our June BCPA meeting on the St. Croix River. Don't miss this great opportunity to take a boat tour on the lovely St. Croix River and spend a fun and relaxing afternoon with your fellow BCPA members. Lunch will be served and there will also be prize drawings. We will be meeting in Stillwater at 11:15 am and begin boarding at 11:30 am. The tour begins at 12:00 noon and ends at 2:30pm.
Cost: $15:00 deposit for BCPA members (will be returned the day of event) $25:00 non-refundable deposit for non-BCPA members . July 9, 2009 - Real World Disaster Recovery - How to Survive and Succeed Too often, organizations rely on DR Plans created using generic templates.This highly interactive session will challenge this paradigm by exploring "First Hand" experience - leading recoveries during "real world" disasters.You'll discover how to enhance your existing DR efforts to be more resilient and avoid pitfalls most DR Leaders overlook.You'll also walk away with an understanding of what constitutes a "successful recovery"and how to attain it by going beyond typical DR preparedness. Take Aways 1) Top 10 reasons that DR Plans fail and how to avoid these pitfalls. 2) How to measure the success of a recovery. 3) How to enhance your existing DR Plans to successfully respond to a real disaster. Curtis Smerud is President of The Smerud Group LLC.He possess more than 20 years experience developing & implementing: Enterprise Disaster Recovery Programs, Business Continuity Programs, and Incident Management Activities for many of the nation's largest companies.Curtis also brings extensive "real world" experience as an "On Site" Enterprise Recovery Leader for several catastrophic events.
August, 2009 - No member meeting in August
September 10, 2009 - Critical Issues for Corporate Pandemic Preparedness Barbara Snell and Dr. Joshua Riff will attend our meeting and give us their perspective on corporate pandemic preparedness. Barbara Snell is the Crisis Management Consultant for Human Resources at Target Corporation. She has 25 years of experience between Stores and HR Operations Team at Target headquarters. For the past three years Barb’s main focus has been on crisis management and business continuity planning for all areas of HR. Barb also leads the Minnesota Inter-Company Pandemic Planning (MIPP) Committee for Human Resources. She was a featured presenter on the Corporate Preparedness for H1N1 webinar sponsored by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy center (CIDRAP) at the U of M. Dr. Joshua Riff is the newly appointed corporate, Medical Director for Target. From 2007 – July 2009, he was the Medical Director for Target Clinics. In addition, he is currently an ER physician at UnitedHospital. Dr. Riff graduated from TuftsUniversityMedicalSchool. He attended business schools at Brandeis and NortheasternUniversities. His Residency was at Johns Hopkins.
October 8, 2009 -Interactive Best Practices tapping the collective wisdom of BCPA Have you wondered how other companies handle situations? Do you have questions concerns about specific issues in BCP and DR? What works and what doesn’t work so well? Have you always wanted to ask …? Do you want to know more about someone you only briefly spoke to last month? Back by popular demand, Program Director, Rick Johnson, will lead another Interactive, Best Practices session. We’ll break into sub-groups based on different criteria to help you network with your peers and discuss topics that concern you directly. It’s always good to listen and learn from other members’ experiences. Similar sessions at past meetings triggered lively discussions. This month will be even better! Broader topics … and more space to gather in! Everyone will have an opportunity to engage in conversation with a variety of members. And we’ll convene the whole group so that you can listen, learn and share on a larger scale.
November 12, 2009 - Working From Home When Your Workplace Is Inaccessible One question that often surfaces in business continuity planning is how to enable employees to work from home if their workplace is inaccessible. For several years, Best Buy has been recognized has having an outstanding program; one which has proven valuable in continuity planning. The program is based on the principles of the Results Oriented Work Environment (ROWE) program developed by Culture Rx. Liz Beckius is Best Buy’s ROWE expert, and will offer a presentation about “ROWE at Best Buy” to discuss the ups and downs of creating a program that is bound to be a major culture shift and any organization, but adds a tremendous amount of resiliency. Liz Beckius is the Culture Program Manger, as part of the HR Total Rewards Team at Best Buy. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts from Hamline University with a Major in Management and Minors in Economics and Management Information Systems. In her current role Liz is focusing on increasing Best Buy’s employees’ awareness of the companies WorkLife offerings, expanding the portfolio of offerings available for both corporate and retail employees, and maintaining and growing the Results-Only Work Environment culture at the corporate headquarters. She can be reached at liz.beckius@bestbuy.com.
December 10, 2009 - BCPA meeting, annual election & Holiday event Join us Thursday, December 10 as we hold our annual election and holiday event. We will be meeting at the Science Museum of Minnesota in Saint Paul beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lunch, the business meeting and access to the science museum and an Omni Theater presentation will follow. Watch for an Email on registration details and the cost for this event. Similar to last year, the registration fee will be refunded when you attend the event. Guests are welcome with a registration fee (not refunded).