Businesses Can Prepare to Succeed Before Unexpected Happens

Two-day conference offers business continuity and emergency planning learning, networking opportunities for companies, non profits, government.

This conference is for anyone who has business emergency and continuity responsibilities at their company, organization or government agency--from the beginner to the experienced professional.

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) June 22, 2007 -- Natural and man-made disasters, such as the flooding in Lake County and the recent theft of a hard drive from a state employee's car, can strike at any time. Success following the disaster, though, hinges on how well the organization has prepared for the unexpected.

The American Red Cross' Business Emergency Planning Association and Contingency Planners of OHIO have teamed to help businesses, nonprofits and government agencies achieve that success at the 2007 Business Continuity Planning Conference, which runs June 28-29 on the Westfield Insurance campus in Medina County.

The need for such educational opportunities never ends for organizations that realize future success requires them to think now about those unexpected situations. Consider the statistics--one in four businesses never reopens after a natural disaster, according to a national insurance survey. In addition, Cleveland recently ranked 10th out of 10 cities surveyed by AT&T in business continuity preparedness, which includes having a plan, evaluating the plan and implementing cyber security.

Kevin Goodman of BlueBridge Networks and chairman of the Red Cross BEPA Strategic Advisory Committee said, "This conference is for anyone who has business emergency and continuity responsibilities at their company, organization or government agency--from the beginner to the experienced professional."

June 28 events include a hands-on tabletop exercise so participants can see how they respond in a mock disaster. On June 29, the day will be devoted to learning, beginning with keynote speaker, Special Agent Anthony Brizzolara, who has spent 23 years at the FBI, including the last five as the Cleveland Division's weapons of mass destruction coordinator. The day continues with participants selecting from 12 seminars, ranging from business continuity 101 to managing storage technologies.

Rod Keeley, business continuity manager for Westfield Group and president of Contingency Planners of Ohio, sees this year's conference as a wonderful opportunity to learn and network with industry peers and experts. He said, "The world of business continuity consists of information and knowledge sharing--understanding best practices. This conference affords individuals a great chance to learn from seasoned professionals as well as be exposed to resources that can assist with development, design and continued maintenance and testing of plans."
For more information, visit www.bepacpo07.eventbrite.com or contact (216) 431-3062.

About BEPA (www.redcross-cleveland.org/bepa/aboutbepa.asp)
The Business Emergency Planning Association helps business and industry prepare for, respond to, and recover from business interruptions resulting from natural or man-made disasters, terrorism, information technology failures and other crisis events.
It provides a forum for education and for networking opportunities among its business and industry members, non-profits, vendors and government agencies.

Nearly 200 member organizations concerned with business continuity participate in the activities that include the business continuity planning conference as well as roundtable discussions and monthly workshops, lectures and seminars that cover topics ranging from plan development to site recovery and restoration, critical stress debriefing and media relations.

ABOUT CPO (www.cpohio.org)
Contingency Planners of OHIO (CPO) is an association of continuity, disaster recovery, information security, and business professionals and planners dedicated to educational and shared experiences in contingency planning.

It long-established mission is to be an association dedicated to sharing expertise, education, and experiences to improve the preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery of businesses from disasters and emergencies, which affect their corporation, customers and communities.
Formed in 1986, CPO is a 501(c) 6 not-for-profit organization.

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