BRPA - In The Loop


		BRPA - In The Loop Vol. 2, No. 6, December, 2009


Welcome
Jason Merante (Accenture) – BRPA Secretary
Days are getting short, weather is getting cold, but BRPA is just getting warmed up! December marks our annual Holiday Luncheon. If you have not registered, please go to: https://brpa.wufoo.com/forms/brpa-2009-holiday-luncheon/. We have a great day planned at Wildfire in Glenview. Plenty of food and drinks will be available, and we have Bob Kowalski from the FBI & Infragard as our featured speaker. We hope to see you there! Please enjoy this final edition of *BRPA – In The Loop* for 2009. 2010 will bring a new BRPA board and some great new BRPA events. As always, please email us with your thoughts on the new format or any other comments you have about the newsletter. Happy reading.
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A Word From our President
Tom Dziurgot (Grainger) – BRPA President
BRPA 2009: another great year! Before we take a look at our achievements let’s talk about 2010 expectations. In 2010 we hope to: 1. Increase BRPA Board outreach by inviting more members to: a. Participate in event planning and execution (Greeters, Room Layout, Registration, etc.) b. Volunteer for specific roles (Sponsor Showcase Coordinators, ID maintenance, Golf Outing Rangers, etc.) c. Run for BRPA Elected Office – competitive elections would be great 2. Increase use of Social Networking Tools like LinkedIn and Twitter to get BC questions answered 3. Increase professional networking, encourage business card pass-around so we all can develop our own BC set or resources. These 3 items would surely drive us to the organization's goal of being an indispensable partner to all our members. Now, a quick look of our 2009 accomplishments reveals the value that BRPA provides: 1. New Member benefits added 2. BRPA partnerships with City of Chicago, Lake County, State of Illinois reinforced 3. Largest Golf Outing ever 4. 24 Golf Outing sponsors 5. First Joint meeting with ACP 6. 48 CEU’s offered to members 7. Just in time fall training planned & facilitated to address H1N1 Pandemic 8. Increased Membership –including several out of state members 9. Increased networking and attendance to over 700 attendees 10. Website enhancements a. easier registration directly via the website b. Sponsor promotion c. Collaborative Partners section 11. “Going Green” a. Electronic invoicing and registration b. Recyclable nametags and reduced printing 12. Financials thriving in the face of a tough economy 13. Newly defined levels of membership 14. Twentieth Anniversary of BRPA 15. Half Dozen volunteers These are just the highlights of 2009 - all added member benefits and value to you our members. BRPA needs you, our membership, to continue to be successful. Please find a few hours in 2010 to volunteer. Your help will make BRPA better than ever.
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Summary of Last Meeting
Dan Johnson (Bank of America) – BRPA Program Director
The theme for this meeting was “Unsuspected Risks” which took place at RSM McGladrey in Schaumburg. Frank Moriarty hosted the meeting and also sponsored the breakfast. Roger Peters gave an overview of RSM McGladrey and all the benefits that they have to offer. After Roger spoke, there were three presentations. The first was John Stagl, Belfor, who presented “The Unsuspected Risks of the 21^st Century.” The second speaker was Curt Siegel, RSM McGladrey, who presented “Audit Risks in Business Continuity.” The third speaker was Randy Delfin, US Postal Inspector, who presented “Mailroom Security in the 21^st Century.” All of the presenters were very informative and well received by the members. From the survey responses, the attendees appreciated their expertise and overall knowledge on the subjects they presented.
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Preview of Next Meeting
Dan Johnson (Bank of America) – BRPA Program Director
January 12 Meeting This meeting will be a half day morning session at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in downtown Chicago. The theme of the meeting is “Being Recovery Ready.” There will be presentations from AccuWeather, American Red Cross and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. We will also announce the elected board members for 2010. BRPA 2009-2010 Program Calendar Jan 12 Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) – Downtown Chicago Mar 16 Blue Cross Blue Shield – Downtown Chicago Apr 20 BRPA Training Session – Grainger (Niles) May 18 Location IBM, Schaumburg July 20 Sears, Hoffman Estates Aug 17^th Annual Golf Outing – Chevy Chase Country Club Sept 28^th TBD Oct 19^th BRPA Training Session (1/2 day) Nov 16^th TBD Dec 7^th Holiday Luncheon Meeting Locations subject to change 2010 – Supporting BRPA / Speakers* We are always looking for sponsors for breakfast/lunch and raffle prizes at our meetings. Sponsors will have the opportunity to address our BRPA members by giving an overview of your company and explaining to the attendees the benefits of using your products/services. If you are interested in sponsoring this event or a future event in 2010, please contact dan.johnson@brpa-chicago.org. If you would like to present at one of our bi-monthly meetings, or know someone who would be interested in presenting, please contact dan.johnson@brpa-chicago.org.
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Guest Column
Dan Horwich (CAMP IT) CAMP IT - A Closer Look
CAMP IT is proud to be a strong supporter of BRPA and its members. CAMP IT Conferences was founded in 1984 with the goal of helping enterprise IT professionals move their careers forward by providing top notch education. Over 25,000 CIOs/IT executives, management and staff have attended the several hundred events we have produced in the past 25 years. Attendee feedback on CAMP IT Each conference provides attendees with: Content that helps solve current and forthcoming IT challenges Content that is vendor-neutral / all content is thoroughly screened ahead of time Strategies and tactics from IT department speakers CEUs - continuing education credits - CISSPs/PDUs/PMI/PMP Opportunities to network with fellow attendees and sponsors throughout the day Sit-down catered lunch to connect with other attendees and share experiences Attendees join our one-day conferences from 10-15 states, on average - what a great way to learn and connect with your peers from across the country!! We will continue to provide seven (7) complimentary passes to BRPA for each CAMP IT Conference in 2010. Attendance is limited to individuals from end-user organizations. (Any vendor that wishes to participate must be a sponsor of the conference). We also have speaking opportunities available for BRPA (IT department) members to share their experiences with our audience of enterprise IT professionals. We invite vendors from BRPA to join us as sponsors of our events as our unique format can help them achieve their goals as well. Please contact CAMP IT at support@campconferences.com or 312-527-2800.
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Member Benefits
John Mantsch (RJ O’Brien) – BRPA Vice President
Check Out Your Member Benefits The BRPA Board continues to identify services, products, and training that add value to your membership. These benefits offer you the advantage of saving money while providing an additional opportunity for sponsors to show their support of BRPA. Check out the “Members Only” section on the BRPA website to see how we have enhanced the member benefits with additional discounts and services. Members can receive these benefits by simply being a BRPA member in good standing. In the “Member Benefits” section of the website, each discount will described as follows: Company Name Link to the company’s website Short description of the services offered Instruction on how to receive the discount The board feels that this is a win-win situation. BRPA’s products and services exchange will offer discounts to members for services that they would normally buy (e.g. training, conferences, products, services). Sponsors get an opportunity to introduce and promote their products and services and show their support of BRPA. The “Member Benefits” section will be updated over the next few weeks and should be fully rolled out by the end of January. We anticipate adding more special offers throughout next year. When that happens, we will let you know via announcements in this newsletter and at our meetings. The board is excited to offer this for all of our members and sponsors! Let us know if you have questions or suggestions.
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Other Announcements
Alane Waktins (Kraft Foods) – BRPA Communications Director
Upcoming Events of Interest ICOR University offers courses in BCM, Crisis Management & Communications, Data Center Management, Organizational Resilience, Social & Personal Resilience (including Pandemic Planning), and Supply Chain Risk Management – many courses offered online and as self study as well. BRPA Members receive a 10% discount on ICOR courses. Use Voucher #BRPA-09010 when registering. http://www.theicor.org/ Upcoming CAMP IT Conferences: Project & Portfolio Management (February 4, 2010): http://campconferences.com/events/2010/project1.htm Enterprise Risk /Security Management - Governance/Risk/Compliance (February 17, 2010): http://campconferences.com/events/2010/enterprise_risk1.htm DRJ Spring World 2010 March 21st-24th in Orlando, FL. http://www.drj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2840&Itemid=941 Lake-Cook Regional Critical Incident Partnership: Next quarterly meeting will be on February 17, 2009. For details, contact: rmessage@pactiv.com. Technology Executives Club of Chicago -- Webinar Track – “IT Security, Compliance, Disaster Recovery & Continuity Briefings, Top Trends and New Tools” on January 20, 2010 - http://www.technologyexecutivesclub.com/webinars/security.php. On January 28, 2010, they will be hosting “IT Security, Compliance, Disaster Recovery & Continuity Trends” in Chicago – registration opens soon at http://www.technologyexecutivesclub.com/Events/2010/0110.php. AITP Senior IT Leader Small/Medium Business SIG (SIG) is hosting "The Art of Communication Planning - Communication Methods to Assure Project Success” on December 10, 2009 at Putnam Media in Itasca, IL. Register at: http://bit.ly/smb_rsvp World Conference on Disaster Management WCDM 2010 Toronto is June 20-23^rd. Register at http://www.wcdm.org/. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact BRPA’s Communications Director, Alane Watkins, at awatkins@kraft.com or 847-833-7531.
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Member Highlights
Chris Sarcletti (CME Group) – BRPA Membership Director
Thank you for your participation and sponsorship of BRPA. This year’s program was very successful, based on membership surveys and feedback. BRPA’s mission is to provide educational, professional, and networking opportunities for the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery community. As the association is a non-profit, we rely on annual dues and sponsorship to offer our events. 2010 BRPA dues have changed slightly over previous years. We continue to have two levels of membership (‘Member’ and ‘Sponsor’): BRPA Memberships are geared towards companies whose employees are interested in attending BRPA events. The cost is $125 and is inclusive of all employees. BRPA Sponsorships are geared towards companies that want to show a higher commitment level and leverage BRPA for networking, speaking/hosting opportunities, and for sharing best practices within the membership. The cost is $250 and is inclusive of all employees. The benefits of each membership level are included below: BRPA Member Meeting and training attendance for unlimited number of employees Access to members only section of the website One vote per organization for all major organization decisions Networking! BRPA events provide an excellent opportunity for you to build your professional network. You will receive a copy of each “BRPA In The Loop” Newsletter Chances to win free passes to BC and DR industry related events like CampIT conferences Continuous learning and industry training 10% discount at DRJ and CPM events 10% discount on ICOR training A special member rate of $225 for all Technology Executive Club events CPE credits for ABCP, CBCP, MBCP maintenance BRPA Sponsor Meeting and training attendance for unlimited number of employees Access to members only section of the website One vote per organization for all major organization decisions Networking! BRPA events provide an excellent opportunity for you to build your professional network. You will receive a copy of each “BRPA In The Loop” Newsletter Chances to win free passes to BC and DR industry related events like CampIT conferences Continuous learning and industry training 10% discount at DRJ and CPM events 10% discount on ICOR training A special member rate of $225 for all Technology Executive Club events CPE credits for ABCP, CBCP, MBCP maintenance Utilization of vendor table at BRPA meetings to advertise services Publicity Company logo on BRPA web site Listing in the Sponsors’ directory on the BRPA website that includes a short description of your company products and services. Ability to offer discounts to BRPA members You should have received an email from the BRPA Membership Director in late October or early November related to renewing your membership or becoming a member. If you haven’t been contacted, please contact Chris Sarcletti at Christopher.Sarcletti@cmegroup.com. Payments are due by January 31^st, 2010 and the payment options are: Pay online by using the following link http://www.brpa-chicago.org/join.html Send a check made payable to BRPA-Chicago at the following address: Business Resumption Planners Association Attn: Arnold E. Miller, Treasurer P.O. Box 1103 Northbrook IL 60065-1103 If you need an invoice for your records, please contact me. Thank you for your support of BRPA. Chris Sarcletti, BRPA Membership Director Members In The News Motorola is among three finalists for the Group Excellence Award in the 2009 Asia Business Continuity Awards. Motorola has developed a new, innovative strategy for managing risks that negatively impact revenue and brand equity. Known as eResiliency, the strategy employs an enhanced risk-intelligence program that empowers business leaders with tools and processes for faster, tightly focused management of top priority financial, operational and human risks. Winners for each category will be announced in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2010. ICOR has opened our East Africa Campus in Nairobi, Kenya. This is a collaboration with “OPENWORLD”. This supports and provides high quality standards based training and certification for a rapidly growing region. Kenya provides thought, economic and political leadership to the Eastern Africa region. http://theicor.org/pages/africa/index.html Dick Benton, Principal Consultant with GlassHouse Technologies published this article in the Fall issue of DRJ – “Assume the Best and Prepare For the Worst – Publishing your DR assumptions as tactical policies is critical to your DR budget, your DR architecture, your DR plan – and your career survival after a disaster.” Link: http://www.drjournal-digital.com/drjournal/2009fall#pg55 Phillip Denne, U.S. Postal Inspector, would like to announce the Midwest Security Conference. The 2010 conference will be held March 8-9 at the Lisle Wyndham Hotel. This year's MSC theme is: Incident Command - Are You Ready?" Emergency Preparedness topics on the agenda are Tabletop Exercise, Incident Command Structure, and After Action Reports. More information can be found on the MSC website: http://www.midwestsecurityconference.com/
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Special Events
David Pomerantz (Latisys) – BRPA Special Events Director
Business Resumption Planners Association – December 8^th Holiday Luncheon Come join us for our annual Holiday Luncheon! You can network with other Business Continuity members and vendors, enjoy a wonderful lunch and receive education from our signature speaker, Bob Kowalski from the FBI & Infragard. Register by Friday, December 4^th. Non-members and guests are welcome! Event: BRPA Holiday Luncheon Place: Wildfire Grill, Glenview, Il. http://www.wildfirerestaurant.com/glenview Address: 1300 Patriot Blvd. Date: December 8, 2009 Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM Registration: The registration fee is $40 for members, $50 for non-members. Raffle: Any company or person who would like to provide a raffle prize(s) for this event may do so. Contact jmantsch@rjobrien.com or dan.johnson@bankofamerica.com if you would like to donate a prize to be raffled off at the luncheon. Free Gift: All attendees will receive a free gift from BRPA! Signature Speaker: Bob Kowalski, FBI Chicago Division & Infragard Coordinator, will present information on economic terrorism and counterintelligence. He will also discuss Infragard, a partnership between the FBI and private sector. CBCP Certification Points: Attending this luncheon will enable you to count this meeting as 4 DRI Certification Points towards your CBCP certification. Registration: You can register for this event on our web site via PayPal: https://brpa.wufoo.com/forms/brpa-2009-holiday-luncheon/ Payment will NOT be available at the door. You must register on the BRPA website to attend! If You Have Questions: If you have questions about this event, contact Dan Johnson 815-534-5325 or Alane Watkins 847-646-2766.
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Closing Thoughts
Thanks again for reading our newsletter. We welcome your feedback as we continue to update this newsletter based on the needs and suggestions of our BRPA members. As always, we are only an email away: newsletter@brpa-chicago.org.
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Copyright © 2009 www.brpa-chicago.org

Vol. 2, No. 6, December, 2009