I know out of state travel money is pretty much not going to happen right now, but sooner or later that will change and when it does, I highly recommend attending at least one quarterly FEMA V Regional Interagency Steering Committee (RISC) meeting sometime in your career. Primarily focused on developing understanding and cooperation between state and federal agencies during disasters, quarterly RISC meetings provide a unique opportunity to build engagement with a wide spectrum of contacts - before bad things happen. Click here for the agenda, and note GIS with a 45 minute presentation block. The invite from FEMA Regional Administrator, Andrew Velasquez III, follows:
"Greetings,
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the FEMA Region V, 3rd Quarter, 2011, RISC meeting. As usual, we will use our half day, half day format to facilitate out of town travelers during the dates of August 16 and 17, 2011 at FEMA Region V Headquarters, 536 S. Clark Street, Chicago, IL.
As we approach the 10th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on our Nation, we thought it appropriate that our meeting focus should reflect the man-made threats confronting us. To that end, some of the agenda (draft attached) items include a retrospective look by Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery, William Carwile, at where we’ve come since that fateful day a decade ago, a current threat briefing, a presentation from Northern Command on Homeland Defense, and a review of our ongoing catastrophic planning efforts regarding an Improvised Nuclear Device detonation.
We will send out a list of nearby hotels, restaurants, and parking information in mid to late July to assist you in making your travel arrangements. The point of contact for this event is Victoria Boccolucci, she can be reached at Victoria.boccolucci@dhs.gov, 312-408-4418 office, or 312-925-1147 cell. Please do not hesitate to contact her with any questions or concerns.
I look forward to your participation in what I believe will be an informative and collaborative planning session benefiting our region.
Regards,
Andrew Velasquez III
Regional Administrator
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
FEMA Region V
536 S. Clark Street, 6th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60605
312/408-5504 Office
312/408-5384 Secure
312/408-5234 Fax"
