gram volume 60- decemb - epicc aug 2011.pdf · global, ctv, etc… check availability of dtv...
TRANSCRIPT
GRAM
Volume 60- December ‘10
GRAM
Volume 66 – August ‘ 11
DTV conversion
Interesting Information
E.P.I.C.C. is Participating in the Shake Out Exercise October 20th, 2011.
If you or your organization would like to register too visit www.shakeoutbc.ca
Over-the-Air Digital Television
By Frederick Hoenisch, Alpha Omega Planning
A low cost high definition
antenna, designed to pick
up Over-The-Air (OTA)
Digital Television broadcasts (DTV), provides
Emergency Operation Centre media rooms with
added protection to maintain their access to news
reporting.
By August 31st, 2011 the Canadian Radio-
television Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) requires all analogue OTA television
broadcasts be converted to digital or DTV. This
move frees some analogue broadcast bandwidth
to allow the CRTC to re-use and re-sell it for a
variety of applications such as commercial,
military, and emergency response
communications. The same requirement by the
US Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
had their OTA conversions complete by June 12,
2009.
The majority of Canadians will not be affected
because they receive their television signals
through cable service providers such as Shaw,
Rogers, and Telus. Satellite television subscribers
already receive high quality digital signals. OTA
transmitters are designed to provide free television
signals to those who rely on antennas or „rabbit
ears.‟ Most of the newer flat screen Plasma, LCD,
& LED high definition televisions have a built in
digital tuner (ATSC) to allow them to interpret the
digital broadcast but still require some sort of
antenna to bring the signals in.
OTA transmitters are typically found in areas with
large populations. A number of transmitters on Mt.
Seymour covers much of the Lower Mainland and
parts of Vancouver Island. Emergency Planners,
responsible for maintaining „media access rooms‟
in their EOCs, should consider to invest typically
less than $ 500.00 to install an appropriate high
definition UHF television antenna to receive digital
OTA transmissions.
This one-time cost removes a reliance on cable
service providers. Cable service could be
interrupted by a variety of events (weather,
earthquake, accident, human error, etc…) so it
makes sense to apply a small investment to
mitigate against the loss of service should there be
a need to maintain television access to media
news reports from the large broadcasters CBC,
Global, CTV, etc…
Check availability of DTV signals in your area by
visiting WWW.TVFOOL.COM and click the “Check
your address for free TV” link. Feel free to contact
me [email protected] to hear how my
installation worked and the results I receive from
both Canada and the US. Note: Geography,
elevation, weather and many other factors can
interfere with reception.
WELCOME!
EPICC would like to Welcome our newest members. We appreciate all the support and without our members, this organization would not be possible.
Edward Matley, KPMG LLT
KPMG is a Canadian leader in delivering Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. KPMG responds to clients‟ complex business challenges across the country and around the world.
www.kpmg.com
Are we getting complacent?
The following excerpt is taken from the Pique
Newspaper from Whistler.
Aug 12, 2011 12:59pm
Earthquake gives Squamish a shake
Magnitude-3 quake makes itself felt
By John French
"What the hell was that," Randi Olson asked her
daughter at 11:02 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 11) as furniture
at her house shook and a picture on the wall rattled.
No big trucks were driving by at the time so Olson did
like any adept Facebook user would do. She updated
her status asking if anyone else in the Garibaldi
Highlands area felt the earth move.
Susan Barry felt it a few kilometres away in the
Garibaldi Estates and a few kilometres from Barry it
was also felt at the Larocque family home at North
Yards.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey National
Earthquake Information Center, there was a minor
earthquake 39 kilometres northeast of Port Coquitlam
and 72 kilometres southeast of Whistler.
Natural Resources Canada reported the epicentre was
at the north end of Pitt Lake in or near Golden Ears
Provincial Park.
The quake originated at a depth of five kilometres, a
monitoring centre in the U.S. said on the earthquake
information site it maintains.
Professor Michael Bostock of the University of B.C.
said the tremor was likely a crustal earthquake.
"Magnitude three is relatively small," Bostock said. "It
is at the limit of being felt. Magnitude-2s generally
aren't felt unless you're right by the epicentre."
Bostock explained that crustal earthquakes are a
response to friction at two main plate boundaries in our
region. Crustal quakes happen as a result of movement
along the Juan de Fuca Plate, which is moving under
the North American Plate, he said.
Most of us are aware that it is not “if” but “when” we
will experience another major earthquake in south-west
British Columbia. Most of know that it could be another
7.3M quake such as the one that struck Courtenay in
1946 or that it could be a major subduction earthquake
such as occurred in 1700 registering 9.+M. We know
that it will cause damage, will injure or possibly kill
residents and visitors and will cause hardship and
disruption for many.
We also know that while we cannot prevent the
earthquake, there are a number of things we can do to
reduce the likelihood that we will be injured and to
reduce the consequences. We know that folks with
stored water, first aid kits, flashlights and their
medications were better able to cope than those who
didn’t whether or not they were in the Chile earthquake
of 2010, the Christchurch earthquakes or the earthquake
and tsunami in Japan in 2011. But how many of us
actually have those items readily accessible? How
many have a grab and go bag with our essential items in
place? When are we going to stop procrastinating and
denying that it “Will Happen Here?” Please see the
article on Shake Out and register now! Get prepared
today.
Upcoming Conferences!
For more information or to register visit
www. epconference.ca
Business Continuity and the Black Swan
Submitted by EPICC Director, Rian Jones
In 2007, Nassim Nicholas Taleb published
"The Black Swan: the impact of the
highly improbable" and the term “Black
Swan” entered the common parlance of the
Business Continuity community. At the time,
I assumed this was because:
1. It was highly applicable to bcp
2. The term was prominent in the minds
of business leaders and something
they could (painfully) relate to
3. It spoke of loss and the need for
resilience
4. It‟s pretty catchy
However, having just read some of Taleb‟s
work, I have to ask „what does the Black
Swan mean to business continuity?‟
Taleb describes a Black Swan event as
having three characteristics; “it is an outlier, as
it lies outside the realm of regular
expectations, because nothing in the past can
convincingly point to its possibility. Second, it
carries an extreme impact. Third, in spite of its
outlier status, human nature makes us
concoct explanations for its occurrence after
the fact, making it explainable and
predictable.”
Given these parameters, wouldn‟t an alien
invasion qualify as a Black Swan event?
After all, aliens have been sneaking around
stealing our socks, umbrellas and car keys for
years. We should have known this would
happen.
OK, it‟s a silly example but a good illustration
of why I struggle with business continuity and
the Black Swan. Where does the Black Swan
leave us? Is it a get out of jail free card, a call
to plan for the „impossible‟ or something else
altogether?
Taleb tells us not to waste time trying to
predict Black Swans but to build robustness
against them. That sounds like Business
Continuity and it is; vaguely. I say vaguely
because Taleb is an economist discussing the
world financial system. In his “Ten Principles
for a Black Swan-robust Society”, Taleb
offers advice such as “People who drove a
school bus blindfolded (and crashed it)
should never be given a new bus” and “don't
let someone making an "incentive" bonus
manage a nuclear plant - or your financial
risk.” While indeed astute, I‟m not really sure
how to incorporate it into meaningful BCM
output.
To share your thoughts on Black Swans and
BCP please visit EPICC‟s Facebook page
or submit to Executive Administrator, Lesley
Carew, [email protected]….
For a fascinating look at Nassim Nicholas
Taleb‟s work read:
http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2010/07/
debt-system-mother-black
DRI Canada will be holding a 1 week Business
Continuity Planning course in Vancouver at the
Best Western Hotel on 718 Drake Street. October
17-21, 2011.
For more information or to register go to
www.dri.ca
Business Continuity Planning, Accelerated –
BCLE2000
The Professional Practices for Business Continuity
Professionals are defined as the skills, knowledge
and procedures BC professionals need to lead a BC
planning effort. This 5-day course includes 32
hours of instruction followed by the Qualifying
Exam. Instructors offer a fast-paced overview of
DRI International’s business continuity planning
model and delineate the knowledge, skills and
procedures needed to effectively execute each
stage. Instructors present a case study exercise and
other select exercises depending on the experience
in the room. Upon completion of the course
participants will
1) be reminded of the BC planning stages and
requirements to effectively implement each one; 2)
confirm their understanding of industry
terminology;
3) learn recent trends, and
4) be able to articulate the roles of the BC planner,
business components and executive management
in developing, testing and maintaining BC plans.
These are essential elements of the DRI
International Qualifying Examination.
Course: Days 1 – 4, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Qualifying Exam: Day 5, 8:30am – 12:00 noon
Registration Fee: $2,550; includes morning and
afternoon refreshments.
THANK YOU!
E.P.I.C.C would like to say Thank you and a special
Good bye to two of long time our Director’s, Jim
Stanton and John Oakley. You will both be missed and we are very grateful for your many years of service on
the E.P.I.C.C. Board.
Jim Stanton joined the EPICC Board in 2004. Jim
worked for a number of years as a journalist with the
CTV network. He was the Director of Communications and Director of Government Relations for Canada Post
before setting up Stanton Associates in 1990, a
Vancouver based communications and training
company with offices in Canada and the USA. Jim is very active as a volunteer and his credentials are well
known in the communications and emergency
preparedness community. He has contributed a lot of articles regarding the media and also assisted with
many of our lectures and seminars at the E.P.I.C.C
Conferences. Jim’s expertise will surely be missed!
John Oakley has had a long career in emergency management, starting as a paramedic in Edmonton,
Alberta and then moving onto instructional duties
within the Justice Institute of BC Paramedic Academy.
John shifted his career into emergency management in the late 1980’s, spending time in the Provincial
Emergency Program, the City of Vancouver, and then
returning to the province in early 2001 as the Regional Manager for the SWE Region. John was part of the
Integrated Public Safety Unit (IPS), responsible for the
planning and coordination of emergency management
response for the 2010 Winter Olympics/Paralympics. John was a major part of why IPS won the Premier’s
Award for outstanding achievement in cross-
government integration in 2011. He has been the recipient of many awards and recognition - including a
lifetime achievement award from the Vancouver
Emergency Preparedness Conference in 2009. In the last seven years John has been on the Board of
Directors of EPICC, providing his knowledge and
expertise in providing services to the development of
business continuity efforts for small and medium-sized business. He is well respected and acknowledged as a
leader in the field of emergency management and
public safety, not only in BC but across Canada and
North America.