President Bush's 2003 Budget allocates $3.5 billion to support the response capabilities of America's first responders.  This increase in federal resources has created a new market for emergency management  products and services, some of which are advertised through conferences.  Below are just a few of the numerous conferences offered throughout the country from October - November 2002:

Homeland Defense Training Conference - Outfitting Emergency Response Teams
· Sponsor: Market Access International 
· Focus: Examining the direction of emergency response teams as well as their needs in a post September 11th world.  Attendees will learn about new initiatives being planned at the local, state, and federal levels, new products in development such as detection / contamination equipment, and communication and information systems
· Featured speakers: 
1. United States Senator Conrad Burns, member of the Senate Appropriations Committee
2. Ed Plaugher, Fire Chief, Arlington County Fire Department, Incident Commander at the Pentagon on September 11th 
· Conference information: October 9, 2002 in Washington, DC. For registration information contact, (703) 807-2747 or www.marketaccess.org/event_ert_2002.asp

50th Annual Defending the Homeland - Comprehensive Emergency Management
· Sponsor: The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) 
· Focus: All aspects of emergency management with a focus on partnership best practices, weather, and technology.  Educational workshops will be held throughout the conference on response coordination, warning systems, hazard and impact analysis, and recovery planning.   
· Conference information: October 12-16, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio. For registration information contact, (703) 538-1795 or www.iaem.com/2002_am.html.

Homeland Security Summit
· Sponsor: The Performance Institute
· Focus: Intended to provide a better understanding of the new federal reorganization and funding programs at the state and local levels. The conference will also include interactive training simulations consisting of four major terrorism scenarios.
· Featured speakers: Mark Holman, Deputy Director of the Office of Homeland Security, will be one of numerous speakers discussing the need to coordinate national efforts to ensure public health preparedness and federal assistance to state and local authorities.
· Conference information: October 28-20, 2002, in Washington, DC.  For registration information contact, (703) 894-0481 or www.performanceweb.org.

2002 Annual Congress for Natural Hazard Reduction 
· Sponsor: The Institute for Business & Home Safety 
· Focus: issues of property damage, economic losses, and death or injury caused by natural disasters with a focus on the consequences of Tropical Storm Allison.  The agenda includes a review of the factors that contributed to the widespread flooding this year and the probability of it occurring again as well as discussions surrounding land use planning.
· Conference information: November 13-15th, 2002 in New Orleans, LA. For registration information contact: (813) 286-3400 or www.ibhs.org/congress/.

Fall Education Conference 
· Sponsor: The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 
· Focus: A wide array of issues including wild-land fire management, computer fire modeling, tactics and strategies for high-rise fire fighting, and fire protection in relation to construction. 
· Conference information: November 16-20, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia. For registration  information contact, (800)344-3555 or www.nfp.org.