BRPA - In The Loop

Vol. 3, No. 3, June,  2010

Welcome

Jason Merante (Accenture) – BRPA Newsletter Editor

Hello BRPA – In The Loop Readers!  After a beautiful spring in Chicago, many of us are thinking about family vacations and outdoor summer activities.  This is also a great time to dust off your personal family preparedness plan.  Make sure you have your go bag ready and your review your home evacuation plans.  If you do any vacationing, be sure to review the evacuation plans at your hotels, and be sure to make note of emergency exits.  If you need some more ideas or motivation to reinvigorate your own personal preparedness, check out your local CERT programs.  There is a testimonial from Alane Watkins, and links to some local CERT groups in this month’s “Other Announcements” section.

We have a number of other interesting articles this month, including our guest column by Edie Casella from the Illinois Terrorism Task Force Private Sector Alliance Project.  Edie shares her thoughts on private-public sector information sharing.  For those seeking jobs, Maria Vergara describes the new Leadership Program in the Member Benefits section.  Also in this edition, Tom Dziurgot compiles a list of Business Continuity related certifications.  As always, Alane Watkins has compiled a list of upcoming local events that are relevant to BRPA members. And, we have another update on this summer’s golf outing from John Mantsch.

As usual, we welcome your insights as we are committed to serving our fellow members.  Please contact me by emailing newsletter@brpa-chicago.org.  Thank you in advance for your comments.

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A Word From our President

Tom Dziurgot (Grainger) – BRPA President

As I was looking at the number of Continuing Education Credits I had for 2010, to make sure I had enough to continue my certification, I started looking for places on the web that could help me as a Business Continuity (BC) professional.  I was overwhelmed with the choices.  So I decided to look at the BC and BC related groups that offered certification so I would be sure to get CEUs.  I found the number and type of groups very interesting. 

There are 3 organizations that offer Business Continuity certification: Business Continuity Institute (BCI), Business Continuity Management Institute (BCM Institute) and DRI International (DRII).  These three organizations offer a combined total of 15 individual certificates that can be attained.

I started to look at related fields and found a couple of organizations the offer Resilience certificates:  Business Resilience Certification Consortium International (BRCCI) and International Consortium for Organizational Resilience (The ICOR) with a combined total of 9 certificates.  Add to these two Risk Manager associations:  BCM-RM (Risk Managers) and BCM-ITSC (IT Service Continuity).

I looked further and found 4 groups that certify Emergency Managers:  American College of Forensic Examiners International (ADFEI), Emergency Management Institute (EMI), Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM), and International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM).  They have 10 combined certifications.

In summary, there are 9 separate organizations offering 34 separate certifications in Business Continuity or related fields. 

I went out and looked at their websites to see what I could find to help me. I found great ways to promote and maintain my BC program.  I found strong supportive information that was as prescriptive (or not) as I wanted it to be.  There is good BC information for all levels on each site. If you would like a different point of view on BC and BC programs, take some time to look at all the free help we have out there just on our BC sites.  After you’ve looked at these sites, take a look at the good free information and training on FEMA and IEMA.  Here are some of the websites I reviewed:

http://www.thebci.org/

http://www.bcm-institute.org/bcmi10/

https://www.drii.org/

http://www.brcci.org/

http://www.theicor.org/

http://www.acfei.com/

http://training.fema.gov/

http://www.ihmm.org/

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Summary of Last Meeting

Dan Johnson (Bank of America) – BRPA Program Director

The May meeting at Deloitte & Tocuhe LLP in downtown Chicago was a HUGE success! This meeting was the second combined meeting with the Association of Contingency Planners (ACP). Our two organizations collaborated once again allowing a great network opportunity for all who attended. There were over 100 members in attendance and they were not disappointed. Great prizes were raffled off, the networking opportunities were great, and Deloitte & Touche was a fantastic host. What a great day!

The meeting was sponsored by 360 Technology, BMS Cat, Enera, Fusion Risk Management and Iron Mountain Management.

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BRPA Event Schedule

Dan Johnson (Bank of America) – BRPA Program Director

July 20 Meeting:  Half Day Session

This meeting will be a half-day morning session at the Allstate Insurance Company in Northbrook Illinois.  

The theme of the meeting is ‘Insuring Your Recovery’. There will be three presentations for this meeting. The first presentation will feature Bill Uniowski from BCU Risk Advisors who will discuss the insurance aspect of Business Continuity Planning. The second session will feature Lisa Dubrock, Contributing Editor Continuity Compliance, who will present an overview of PS-Prep. The third presentation will feature a presentation on the importance of securing your company’s facilities.

BRPA 2010 Program Calendar*

July 20          Allstate, Northbrook (morning – half day)

Aug 17          Annual Golf Outing – Chevy Chase Country Club

Sept 28         BRPA Appreciation Luncheon:  JC Restoration, Rolling Meadows (full day)

Nov 16          TBD (morning – half day)

Dec 7            Holiday Luncheon – Union League Club, downtown Chicago

*Meeting Locations subject to change

Supporting BRPA / Speakers

If you are interested in supporting the BRPA organization, you may host or sponsor a breakfast or lunch at an upcoming meeting. All sponsors will have the opportunity to address our membership and tell everyone about your company and services that you can provide.

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Guest Column

Edie Casella (Illinois Terrorism Task Force Private Sector Alliance Project)

Since acts of terrorism and recent natural disasters our country has endured, the private and public sectors have had to become reacquainted on how they communicate with one another to keep communities resilient.  Homeland security preparedness is the foundation that unites these sectors for building partnerships.  Information sharing is the requirement needed to accomplish these actions and support resource resiliency. 

Sharing information that is actionable and buoyant often commands nurturing relationships from divergent landscapes and vested self-interests.  Both the private and public sectors operate in environments that require information to be encompassing and provide situational awareness.  It is important to recognize the essence of what constitutes information and how to effectively diffuse it from one sector to the other respective sector.  The challenge is to decide what substance to share that does not transgress government classifications or corporate security policies/intellectual properties, but augments asset protection and crisis management.  The next challenge is for each partner to use the shared information with a purpose of resiliency, through “For Official Use Only (FOUO), Responsibility to Inform and Open Source environments.” 

Fusion centers** and State Emergency Operation Centers (SEOCs) are government conduits for use in sharing information and resources with the private sector.  Both these operational cornerstones should have established private-public sector networks and programs to enhance prevention, awareness, preparedness, response/recovery, and resiliency.  Private sector entities also have Operation Centers (OCs) for addressing security and emergency management issues.  It is essential to effect mutually collaborative communications and working relationships between private and public sector entities using these avenues.  Fusion center baseline capabilities can include terrorism, all crimes and all hazards approaches and the SEOCs/OCs address emergency management operational responses through resources. 

In Illinois, the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) serves as an advisory body to the Governor and provides statutory recommendations and guidance on homeland security laws, policies, protocol and procedures.  It is comprised of 15 committees to include a Private Sector (PS) Committee dedicated to joint private-public sector activities.  The ITTF also serves as the state homeland security strategic planning and policy body for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant programs.  Under the auspices of the ITTF, and in conjunction with the State’s fusion center, the SEOC and the PS Committee, the Private Sector Alliance Project (PSAP) was established to actively engage private/public sector representation to promote a culture of information sharing resiliency, preparedness and partnership.  This project is comprised of two mutually sustaining programs:  (1) Infrastructure Security Awareness (ISA) through the fusion center, ST&IC, (Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center) and (2) Mutual Aid Response/Resource Network (MAR2N) through the SEOC.  Each program seeks private sector awareness and participation to further build on a foundation for mutual exchange of information and assistance.  (www.ready.illinois.gov/ittf/private_sector/)

Information sharing as buoyancy compensator serves as a check and balance instrument for effective communications.   Information should not just rise to a certain level, it should disperse and reset, immerse then rematerialize… it must become and remain resilient.  That is the challenge for both sectors as they develop progressive, inter-exchange partnerships in a society where vigilance is required.

Edie Casella

Project Administrator

Illinois Terrorism Task Force

edie.casella@illinois.gov

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Member Benefits

John Mantsch (RJ O’Brien) – BRPA Vice President

BRPA Benefits and A Call For Volunteers

I want to remind everyone that membership in BRPA offers some great benefits:

• 2 half day meetings and another 3 full day meetings
• 2 training sessions
• 2 special events (golf outing and holiday luncheon)
• Job postings
• Leadership program
• 10% discount to DRJ, CPM, ICOR and ContinuityLink events and courses
• Free passes to Camp IT conferences
• Special membership rate for all Technology Executive Club events
• Educational credits for ABCP, CBCP, MBCP & PMP certification

We are able to offer these great benefits to our members due to a combination of things, but basically it boils down to the hard work put into the association by the Board and the outstanding support that BRPA receives from our sponsors.  It’s only through this strong working relationship between the Board and our sponsors are we able to provide most of these great benefits to our members. 

That being said, we are always looking for volunteers.  The next big event that we’ll be looking for volunteers for will be the golf outing.  We’ll be looking for some volunteers to help out before the 8 AM tee off and another 1 or 2 volunteers to help out during the outing (organizing the dining room, setting up the raffle tables, etc.).  Please contact Tom Dziurgot if you would like to volunteer for the golf outing.

If you are really interested in helping BRPA and bringing BRPA to the next level, you should volunteer for a board position.  What we are actively seeking this year is any member who may be interested in running for a board position next year.

Since each board member is elected to a yearly term, to ensure a smooth transition from year to year, the ideal situation would be to have the current board member teach the ropes to a volunteer.  The volunteer wouldn’t be required to run in the following election but they could if they wanted to. 

For example; if someone wanted to volunteer for the Program Director position, they would learn all about the duties and responsibilities of the position and might even be given the opportunity to run an entire meeting.  They would do this under the guidance of the current Program Director which would give them an overview of the duties and responsibilities of the position and it would give them a much better understanding of the position.  Now if they did decide to run for the position, then they would know more about what is entailed and they could hit the ground running. 

BRPA is always looking for volunteers for our special events, suggestions for improving or streamlining any of our processes but most importantly in assuming a board position.  So if you’re interested in supporting a board member this year or if you’re thinking of running for a board position next year, then you should contact BRPA President Tom Dziurgot with your request.  Tom can be reached at 847-535-3056 or at thomas.dziurgot@grainger.com.

Maria Vergara (RBS) – BRPA Past President

Calling All Job Seekers

The BRPA Leadership Program has been developed by BRPA Past President Maria Vergara as a forum for those seeking new job opportunities in BC/DR.  This program kicked off March 11 to rave reviews.  The initial session introduced the basics of reinventing a career as a result of downsizing, reorganization, recession, and even changes in technologies.

Open to all BRPA Members, the new BRPA Leadership Program is managed by Maria with the support and guidance of the BRPA Board.  There are already participants in the program who are willing to help others revive their inner leader, prepare job interviews, and respond to job postings.

BRPA Leadership Program participants will gain direct access to job postings that BRPA receives, in addition to regular program content and general advice from program participants.

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Other Announcements

Alane Waktins (Kraft Foods) – BRPA Communications Director

Upcoming Events from our Collaborative Partners

As part of this month’s events, I wanted to share my personal experience with CERT, Community Emergency Response Training.  As a result of BRPA’s January meeting and Tom Henkey’s presentation on CERT, I recognized the value in participating in an all volunteer program that helps our local communities in times of need.

My experience with CERT was with the Rolling Meadows Police & Fire Departments, and hosted by Northrop Grumman.  The program (which is open to everyone) was well taught, well organized, and well worth it! The final class is actually a live exercise that had me think I was part of a Hollywood movie set.  Already, I’m using what I learned from my CERT experience to facilitate an upcoming incident response drill.  We are so privileged in the Chicago area to have a strong CERT program.  Take advantage of what it offers.  Details on CERT courses in the Chicago area are provided below.

·         Community Emergency Response Training – CERT:  For general CERT information, visit http://www.citizencorps.gov/.  Note:  Anyone may attend a CERT program, regardless of where you live or work.

o    Palatine:  Palatine offers several CERT classes in 2010. (To view dates and times, go to www.palatine-ema.org and click CERT Classes) Most sessions are being held at 200 E. Wood (Village Hall Building) in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located in the lower level on the West End of the building.  For Registration contact Tom Smith tsmith@palatine.il.us.

o    Rolling Meadows:  CERT classes will also be offered again at Northrop Grumman in Rolling Meadows shortly after Labor Day. For more information on the Rolling Meadows CERT program contact Dennis Doyle dennis.doyle@ngc.com.

o    Chicago:  For CERT Training in the city of Chicago, email chicagocitizencorps@cityofchicago.org.  Registration is 30 days in advance. 

·         Upcoming CAMP IT Conferences:

o    Enterprise Risk/Security Management – Leakage/Loss/Metrics – June 10, 2010

http://campconferences.com/events/2010/enterprise_risk2.htm

o    IT Leadership Strategies – July 22, 2010

http://campconferences.com/events/2010/leadership.htm

o    Enterprise Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity –  September 21, 2010

http://campconferences.com/events/2010/disaster2.htm

o    Project and Portfolio Management – September 30, 2010

http://campconferences.com/events/2010/project2.htm

·         Chicago Chapter of the InfraGard Members Alliance is hosting a Counter Terrorism Briefing by the Chicago FBI Field Office on June 24, 2010 from 8:30-Noon at the FBI Field Office, 2111 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago.  The session is open to the public with an attendance fee of $5.00 for members and $10.00 for non-members.   For more information, visit:  http://www.infragard.net/chapters/chicago

·         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/

·         DRJ Fall World 2010 September 19-22 in San Diego, CA – “Conquering the Tough Challenges”

http://www.drj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4085&Itemid=1039

·         ATAP-Chicago Chapter:  “Psychological Protocols for Violence Risk Assessment ” – July 15^th at 8:30 AM,  The Adler School of Psychology, 65 East Wacker Place, Chicago.   RSVP to Nancy Bourke at nbourke@comcast.net

·         ContinuityLink offers multiple Business Continuity Management public or in-house training opportunities in North America & Europe.  BRPA Members receive a 10% discount on all ContinuityLink courses.  Specifically, for the Chicago area:

o    Business Impacts Analysis training on September 2-3, 2010

http://www.continuitylink.com/En/Description-BCM-BIA.htm

o    BCM Audit training on August 31-September 1, 2010

http://www.continuitylink.com/En/Description-BCM-AUD.htm

o    For more information and our complete training calendar:

http://www.continuitylink.com/En/training.htm

·         Lake-Cook Regional Critical Incident Partnership: LCRCIP is sponsoring a full scale exercise from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 19th, at W.W. Grainger, Inc., Lake Forest, IL.  Breakfast and lunch will be provided.  See the BRPA website for more details: 

http://www.brpa-chicago.org/lcrcip.html

·         Technology Executives Club: BRPA members may qualify for a complimentary VIP Pass to this upcoming 1/2 day seminar – “Cost Effective Strategies for Cost Recovery & Business Continuity” - Explore how companies are balancing cost control while preparing for disaster recovery and business continuity – to be held in Chicago, June 24, 2010 1:00 - 5:00 pm.  Call Maria Tuthill at 847-837-3900 Ext. 1 or email mtuthill@technologyexecutivesclub.com referencing BRPA to obtain your pass.

·         World Conference on Disaster Management WCDM 2010 Toronto is June 20-23, 2010.  Register at

http://www.wcdm.org/

·         2010 Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Forum July 26, 2010:  The United Club at Soldier Field, Chicago.  Register: 

http://forumnetworkingevents.com/site/reservations.aspx

·         AITP Windy City Chapter Meeting, “Increase Productivity by Taking Advantage of MS Office 2010 Suite”, June 14, 5:30 PM, Yanni's, 10 E. Algonquin Rd., Arlington Heights, IL.  For all AITP Events visit:

http://www.aitpchicago.com/DesktopDefault.aspx

·         SunGard Availability Midwest Client Connection - SAMCC will be held August 5, 2010 at the Itasca Country Club.  For event information: 

http://www.availability.sungard.com/NewsAndEvents/Events/Pages/default.aspx

·         Storage Decisions Chicago 2010 Conference at the Hilton Chicago on June 9-10^th.  Admission is FREE for qualified IT professionals; for full details – including the complete list of speakers and sessions - visit the conference website:

http://storagedecisions.techtarget.com/chicago/index.html?Offer=JEthier

·         Chicago InfraGard Seminar: Understanding NIMS and ICS - a course designed to bridge the gap between the private and the public sectors – June 28, at the Aon Center in Chicago from 8:00-12:30; Register at: https://nims1-cima.eventbrite.com/?discount=EARLY.

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Member Highlights

Chris Sarcletti (CME Group) – BRPA Membership Director

Please welcome our members that have recently joined BRPA for the first time or renewed their membership for 2010.

Mesirow Financial

·         Mesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. They are an employee-owned, private company with more than 1,200 employees in offices across the country and in London. Mesirow Financial understands, anticipates and meets its clients' changing financial needs with a multitude of high-quality products and services.

United Services by Permaco, Inc.

·         United Services is a full-service restoration company and general contractor, specializing in the cleaning and restoration of buildings and personal property damaged by fire, water, wind and vandalism.

United Airlines

·         United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corporation (Nasdaq: UAUA), operates approximately 3,300 flights a day on United and United Express to more than 230 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States.

Cole Taylor Bank

·         For more than 80 years, Cole Taylor has served the banking needs of Chicago-area businesses and the people who own and manage them. As a specialist in serving closely-held and family-managed businesses, we have clearly differentiated ourselves from competing providers of financial services.  Because we are a family-managed business and a subsidiary of Taylor Capital Group, we understand the challenges our customers face every day. Our focus is on performance and our commitment is to move at the speed of our customers’ needs – we never slow them down. With the personal involvement of our owners, a flat organization, strong management team and knowledgeable staff, Cole Taylor has grown to become one of Chicago’s largest independent banks with nearly $4 billion in assets.

Johnson and Quin, Inc.

·         Johnson & Quin (J&Q) is a full-service direct mail printing and production company offering a combination of direct mail production services in one location. Leading the industry in creative solutions and innovative production technologies, we offer a wide array of direct mail production services that help you to stand out and generate greater results.

Equivus

·         With deep technology expertise, broad service offerings, and global experience serving enterprises of all types and sizes, Equivus Professional Services is the best choice for companies looking to reduce the time, cost, and risk of transforming their business with technology. Our expert consultants can help you with every phase of developing and deploying the innovative services that will give your company sustained business advantages-maximizing return on investment while minimizing total cost of ownership.

Protiviti

·         Protiviti is a global business consulting and internal audit firm composed of experts specializing in risk, advisory and transaction services. Our firm includes leading experts in areas of finance and accounting, risk and compliance, technology effectiveness, litigation, investigations and financial restructuring. Our professionals have powerful insights on par with the largest consulting organizations in the world; however, we are more nimble and adept than these competitors in delivering value for our clients.

Members In The News

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Special Events

John Mantsch (R.J. O’Brien) – BRPA Vice President

Remember, the Annual BRPA golf outing is being held on August 17, at the Chevy Chase C.C. in Wheeling, IL.  Here is their website: www.chevychasecountryclub.com.  Come on out and enjoy one of the best networking opportunities of the year along with a chance to win some great prizes.

This golf outing will be based on a scramble format. This is where each foursome will play the best ball from the tee box to holing out. The foursome with the lowest score for the round will be awarded trophies. Awards will also be given for longest drive and closest to the pin.

The $100 registration fee will include; green fee, golf cart, continental breakfast, lunch, entry into the raffle and chances to win some great prizes. You can sign up as a foursome, or, if you don’t have 4 players, sign up as an individual and the golf committee will fill out your foursome for you. This event is open to all BRPA members, ACP, other associations, co-workers, friends and customers.

Over the past years we have been able to secure some great prizes (from BRPA sponsors and local businesses) to be given out during the round.  Prizes have been given out for the closest to the pin and longest drive.  After the round, we typically hold putting contests, setup a silent auction table and raffle prizes.  Our sponsors have generously supported us in the past and we expect another knock out year again with this outing.

We have some great prizes being offered this year.  Jim Nelson from Business Continuity Services is offering a $10,000 prize to anyone who makes a hole-in-one at a designated hole during the outing.  So come on out and try your luck at winning $10,000.

This is just a short list of what we will have to give away during the outing, so come on out, have fun, talk to your friends, and make new acquaintances.

A few years ago, our members expressed an interest in the networking opportunity that lunch provides but they do not play golf.  So, we created a lunch only option. This option has been very well received by our non-golfing members so we will continue this offer in 2010.  The lunch only option will be $25 and the BRPA website has already been set up to accept this option.  So now we can offer everyone who is coming out for the day to either play golf or just coming out for the lunch option the opportunity to have fun, talk to your friends and make new acquaintances.

So if you want to play, be a hole sponsor or just join us for lunch, you can do all of that through our website.   The website has been set up to accept payment through PayPal.

Yes, we are still looking for sponsors for this year’s event. Sponsors will be recognized by having the sponsor’s name displayed on the golf course, golf notices, at the registration table, and in the country club banquet room. You will be given the opportunity to give a handout to each golfer and your company will be recognized at the luncheon.  If you are looking for sponsorship opportunities, then you should contact Frank Moriarty.  Frank and his team are coordinating the sponsorship aspect of the outing and Frank or his team will be able to offer you some great suggestions for sponsorship.

There are three options for sponsorship:

1. Hole Sponsor: Only $150. Your company name will be displayed on one of the 18 holes, golf notices, registration table and the banquet room.
2. Hole Sponsor & Foursome: Only $550. All hole sponsor benefits plus a foursome for golf. 
3. Hole Sponsor & Lunch: Only $175. All hole sponsor benefits.

Sponsor Raffle:  Any company or person who becomes a hole sponsor will also be entered into a special raffle.  This raffle is being set up to offer the winner of the Sponsor Raffle a $15,000 marketing plan.  This offer is being made by DRJ to help support our outing.

DRJ’s marketing plan will be given to one lucky sponsor and it can be customized to meet the winner’s needs for their marketing needs covering: Print, Online, Email, Shows, etc.  This is a great offer being made by DRJ for one of our lucky sponsors.

Volunteers:

We can always use volunteers at our outings and this is no exception.  Please contact John Mantsch if you are interested in volunteering just in the morning before the golf starts or if you can volunteer for the entire day.  Either way, please contact John and let him know your availability.

Registration:

You can register for this event on our web site via PayPal. http://www.brpa-chicago.org/golf.html

If You Have Questions:

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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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