Since September 11, 2001 many organizations have remodeled their seminars to include the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the recent Anthrax experiences. 

          A seminar entitled  “Developing, Writing, Implementing, Testing, Managing, Maintaining Your Recovery Plan” is offered by Jeff Williams.  Dr. Williams is a leading authority on recovery planning and leads a consortium of specialists.  He takes a balanced approach to directing the provision of services in consulting, education and software development. This is a three-day seminar that incorporates a plan for  large and small business to handle any type of disaster. 

          The fee for this course is $2091 and this price includes software which participants can take back their offices and present it tomanagement.  Participants will learn through lectures and drills how to recognize and evaluate weakness in their offices.  How to implement what they have learned to management and employees as well as developing and managing a disaster recovery plan for their business. Thisseminar will prepare the participant to manage the planning project, develop the actual plan, and prepare documentation of the plan. The
seminar will include disaster recovery plan design using project teams, selection of alternative procedures, and standards for plandocumentation 

          This seminar will be held in Washington, D.C. on November 26-28, 2001.  If you would like to register, contact by phone 1-800-361-8398; fax: (520) 441-4170; or  e-mail: phoenix@binomial.com.  This seminar is valuable for prospective contingency planners, data communications managers, operations managers, disaster planning team members and recovery team members. 

          The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) will be holding its 2001 Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington on December 2-5, 2001. You can contact: SRA at (703) 790-1745; or by e-mail: sra@burkinc.com.  They also have a great www site at http://www.sra.org. Their meeting as well as workshops will discuss “Methods and Guidance for Health Risk Assessment of Chemical  Mixtures”;  “Practical Applications of Bayesian Methods in Ecological Risk Assessments”; and  “SRA Food and Water Specialty Group Workshop - DecisionSupport Tools for Microbial Risk Assessment.”  Although this is being held in Seattle, Washington, you can download the information after the meeting. 

          So as not to just focus on terrorist activities, there is a workshop on “Strategy for Providing Atmospheric Information: Planning to Exploit our National Investment in Weather Technology.”  It will be held in  Arlington, Virginia; December 3-5, 2001.  You can contact them at http://www.dc.net/stc/SAI_Workshop/main.htm.  They also will have a workshop on Effective Emergency Response:  Selecting a Suitable Dispersion Model for a Given Application. This will also be held in Arlington, Virginia; December 5-6, 2001. You can contact: Col. Jud Stailey, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM) at (301)  427-2002); or by at e-mail: Judson.Stailey@noaa.gov; http://www.dc.net/stc/ATDII/main.htm. 

          This program will provide a framework for developing a strategy leading to an optimal 21st Century national atmospheric information system. 

          The Workshop will focus on the issue of how the ever-increasing inventory of atmospheric information  (observations and products) can be  accessed by those who need it by considering how to 1) get the information to where it is needed and 2) insure that users can read and understand the information. Panels on the first day of the workshop will address these issues. Breakout groups will then consider the issue from the perspectives of three application areas—climate, urban meteorology, and technological hazards. 

           A workshop on Effective Emergency Response:  Selecting a Suitable Dispersion Model will convene following adjournment of the  “Strategy for Providing Atmospheric Information Workshop.”  This follow-on workshop will focus on selecting objective criteria to be used in screening dispersion models for application in likely scenarios and address methodologies for collection and display of model information to  facilitate decision-making. 

          The Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Conference. Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, December 10-13, 2001. You can Contact: Katrina Harris, at 1-800- 364-7974 or (410) 676-8835; fax: (410) 676-8545; e-mail: kharris@genphysics.com; http://www.2001conference.org. 

          Conference attendance will include local emergency planning committee representatives,   environmental, emergency and safety staff from federal facilities, environmental, health and safety, and operations representatives from industry, state emergency response commission  members, first response personnel from fire, emergency medical, and law enforcement agencies, Hazmat response teams, emergency managers and planners, and power and utility industry staff. 

          If you wish to get away from the cold, snowy north and head south there is a conference on Preparedness Through Partnership -  Integrating Medical Mass Care Management in a WMD Incident. It is sponsored by the Veterans Health Administration and others. It will be held in St. Petersburg, Florida: January 11-15, 2002. You can contact Dennis W. Mullins, at the Medical Education, Office of Education, Veterans Health Administration, (727) 398-9306; fax: (727) 398-9556; e-mail: dennis.mullins@med.va.gov;  http://www.va.gov/wmd. 

          Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) is perceived as critical, it is only recent that there have been efforts to address both the crisis and consequence management at the local, state and federal levels. The civilian response component that has received the least amount of  attention is the health care system. This vital component of the response system is the final common destination for victims of an event and yet, health care facilities in the community remain less involved and under less scrutiny than other response entities.  This conference is for Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, EMT's,  Paramedics, Healthcare Administrators, Managers and CEO's,  Emergency Managers in Local, State and Federal roles, Public Health Officials, and First Responders. 

          The Urban Hazards Forum, sponsored by: Federal Emergency Management Agency Region II and John Jay College of Criminal Justice will be held in New York City: January 22- 24, 2002. you can contact the Urban Hazards Forum, Public Management Department at e-mail: urbanhazardforum@jjay.cuny.edu or at the website www.jjay.cuny.edu/urbanhazardsforum. 

          Emergency management as a discipline has grown in recent years, and has been embraced by both government and the private sector as a  means for improving the response to natural and manmade disasters. Additionally, the specter of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction pose grave threats to urban areas.  This  increased awareness has not kept pace with research and analysis of emergency management from an urban perspective. 

          FEMA Region II has sponsored this conference to stimulate an exchange of ideas, best practices, and identify research and policy needs in  the special area of dealing with and mitigating the consequences of natural and man-made hazards in urban environments. 

          The conference will develop proceedings and summary papers identifying key areas for further research, and best practices for sharing with others across a wide range of disciplines and functions in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. 

          This program brings together experts, FEMA staff, response professionals and policymakers.  The program will include presentations, panel discussions and networking