2011 Annual Report

Emergency Information Infrastructure Project

Background
Technical Information
Management
Status
Outlook

BACKGROUND

The Emergency Information Infrastructure Project (EIIP), physically located in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, was registered as a Web-based corporation October 1, 1999.

The EIIP is a public benefit corporation for educational purposes under the State of Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act, and Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The EIIP promotes the safety, health, and welfare of the general public by supporting and enhancing the effectiveness of those individuals, whether paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time, engaged in emergency / disaster management. The EIIP accomplishes this goal by providing educational opportunities that include participating in or hosting public discussion groups, forums, panels, lectures, or workshops through the EMForum.org Web site (http://www.emforum.org). The EIIP also provides technical and liaison support to research and analysis projects via contractual agreements.

The EIIP corporation is not for profit. All funds, from all sources, are devoted to said purposes as stated in the EIIP Articles of Incorporation.

The EMForum.org Web site resides on a server provided by the WWW Community of Emergency Services (WCES) in Raleigh, North Carolina. As a service for the emergency / disaster management community, EMForum.org conducts and promotes Webinars and online demonstrations utilizing Microsoft Live Meeting.

Staff and Board Members:

Direction and growth of the EIIP is under the leadership of Avagene Moore, CEM®, EIIP President / Coordinator, and Amy Sebring, EIIP Vice President / Technical Projects Coordinator. Staff members, Lori Wieber and Kimberly Moore, provide valued assistance as backup for live Webinars and transcript preparation.

The EIIP Board of Directors support and provide guidance for all EIIP activities. Board members for FY 2011 were:

• Bruce S. Binder, MPH, CEM®, (EIIP Secretary), Emergency Management and Continuity Planning Consultant
• Elysa Jones, Chair, OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee
• Jane Kushma, PhD, (EIIP Board Chair), Associate Professor of Emergency Management, Jacksonville State University
• Havidán Rodríguez, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, The University of Texas - Pan American
• Chris Saeger, (EIIP Financial Officer), Director of Performance Improvement, American Red Cross National Headquarters
• Pascal Schuback, CEM®, Emergency Management Coordinator, King County OEM
• John C. Scott, President, Center for Public Service Communications
• Ellis M. Stanley, Sr., VP, Dewberry Western EM Services, Emergency Management & Homeland Security Branch
• Dan E. Summers, CEM®, Director, Collier County Bureau of Emergency Services

EIIP Emergency Management Forum:

The EIIP celebrated its 14th Anniversary on August 15 with its primary mission - the promotion of emergency or disaster management online education and training in the EMForum.org. Current topics were addressed two times per month by subject matter experts drawn from all levels of government, the private sector, NGOs and academia to meet the needs of the national and global EIIP audience. The EMForum.org is advanced by EIIP Partners, EMForum.org Webinar participants, word of mouth and various means of outreach used by the EIIP and our virtual audience.

Formal Partners: Interested organizations and agencies are welcome to join as Partners. The invitation is extended via Virtual Forum sessions, the EMForum.org Web site, and announcements to various mail lists. EIIP Partners represent domestic and international associations, agencies, academic institutions and/or volunteer groups as well as public and private sector organizations.

Contract Work: The EIIP contracted with Eye Street Solutions, LLC, to assist with stakeholder communications and outreach on behalf of the FEMA Integrated Public Alerts and Warning Systems (IPAWS) Program. The EIIP also contracted with the Emergency Management Professional Organization for Women's Enrichment™ (EMPOWER) to host periodic Webinars for the organization.

Site Content: The majority of the new content on the site is due to the transcripts and recordings of the EMForum.org sessions conducted each month. Accordingly, the majority of statistics are tracked to the archived transcripts, recordings and a composite news widget on the homepage. Other news and Web events are served via RSS feed. A Google search feature provides access to content, in addition to the archives index.

Mail Lists and Social Media: The EIIP Mail List is subscription-based and is used to announce EMForum.org programs, and availability of the recordings and transcripts. The EIIP mail list has 2,200 subscribers. Session announcements are posted to other emergency management-related mailing lists, and based on the number of first time Forum attendees we have observed, it is clear that our information is widely read in the professional community.

MP3 format audio recordings of EMForum.org Webinars are available from the iTunes® Store, while updates and notices about Webinars are accessible through Twitter and Facebook.

The EIIP also managed two FEMA IPAWS Mail Lists to notify subscribers across the country of monthly Webinars, meetings, and updates associated with the contract work.

Web Site Statistics: EMForum.org Web site statistics are provided monthly by the Webmaster of the WCES server. The data is helpful in determining the interests of the EMForum.org diverse audience as well as monitoring trends and hot topics. According to Web site numbers, the EMForum.org visitor is usually a self referred person who seeks the site because of announcements and promotion through EIIP Mail Lists and those of our Partners. The Web site reports for this year again show the value of the archived transcripts and recordings with visitors seeking topical interests that go back to our earliest 1997 transcripts.

The past year's statistics demonstrate the interests and informational needs of our Web site visitors:

• For the year, there were approximately one and a half million hits on the EMForum.org Web site. (A hit is defined as a single action on the Web server as it appears in the log file. Hits include HTML pages, pictures, forms, scripts, and downloaded files.)
  
  
• Transcripts of EMForum.org Webinars continue to be the focal point of the Web site. The topics drawing the most attention this past year with 1,000 or more views were:
  

• 9,685 views of NFPA 1600 Update; Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs, 2010 Edition with Donald Schmidt, NFPA Technical Committee;
• 5,016 views of Perspectives from the Christchurch Earthquake with Timothy Manning, FEMA Preparedness Directorate;
• 2,314 views of The Role of Libraries and Librarians in Disaster Risk Reduction and Response with John C. Scott, Center for Public Services Communications;
• 1,880 views of CrisisCommons: Connecting People, Tools and Resources to Support Crisis Response with Pascal Schuback and Heather Blanchard, CrisisCommons;
• 1,543 views of The Emergency Alert System: Preparations for the National Test with Manny Centeno, FEMA IPAWS Program;
• 1,291 views of "Nation-to-Nation" Tribal Relationship-Bulding in FEMA Region VII with Scott Weinberg, FEMA, and Becci White, Ponca Tribe; and
• 1,143 views of IAEM-USA's Proposed Framework for Measuring Return on Preparedness Investments with Randall Duncan, Sedgewick County (KS) DEM.

OUTLOOK

With the current emphasis in Emergency Management shifting to the 'Whole Community' concept and resilience of citizens and our infrastructure, dynamic dialogue and information sharing with grass-roots America are primary needs. Disasters of all types continue and we, as American citizens, must be responsible for ourselves, our families and our neighbors. The EIIP provides a means of reaching our most valuable asset the people of America. . With vision and imagination as well as the continued support of EIIP Partners, our virtual audience, and guidance of the EIIP Board of Directors, the EIIP will continue to provide an exciting schedule of educational opportunities in 2012 to help make the world a safer place by encouraging learning experiences, networking and disaster reduction.

Respectfully Submitted 10/27/11: