UASI Conference Reviewed

Lorin and I recently spent several days at the conference of the Urban Area Securities Initiative (UASI), the consortiums of public safety officials in large metropolitan areas. We had a chance to talk to quite a few emergency managers about quite a few things. Invariably, the conversations would turn to notifications, alerts, and warnings. Here's a bit of what we were hearing:

- The challenge of getting telephone numbers for residents continues to hamper phone alerting efforts. News about the upcoming Commercial Mobile Alert System (C-MAS) was welcomed (particularly when they heard the price). (See our post on CMAS here.)

- Text messages sent in volume don't seem to be getting to their intended recipients fast enough. The emergency managers who mentioned this topic seemed to welcome knowing of the distinction between most text delivery messages systems and ones that have special relationships with carriers for priority messaging.

- Digitization of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) seemed welcomed, but many weren't aware of the timetable for implementation. Per our post here, the clock starts ticking soon for broadcasters to upgrade their EAS equipment.

- Consolidation of data was mentioned often, as it related to alerts and notifications and otherwise. Over the years, UASIs and their members have purchased a lot of systems, including notification systems. The systems don't always work together, and the UASIs are looking for solutions. (We heard this a lot, a good thing since we were there on behalf of a systems integrator client.)

- Most we spoke with were generally aware of the federal Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS). (At least they knew what it was when reminded what the IPAWS initials stand for.) However, most we spoke with on this topic didn't have a good handle on what it means to them.

Of course, these comments came in random conversations…not a real study.

The UASI conference was a particularly strong one, not only for UASI conferences, but compared to the many other conferences we've attended. Program content was excellent. Logistics and accommodations worked well. It was good to be back in New Orleans. The food was superb. So were the people.

We had a chance to visit with our fellow Emergency Management magazine blogger Eric Holdeman, who I noticed scooped us on the UASI report. If you don't follow Eric's blog, Disaster Zone, you should. He posts often, and always has good content. A nice visit, too, with Marty Pastula, the vice president over Emergency Management magazine. He and his crew continue to do an excellent job, recognized by, not only people in the emergency management field, but his publishing peers. Marty is a true pro, and a wonderful person. We're proud to be associated with him.

All the best,

Rick