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Be Part of the Discussion at the NENA Development Conference!

During the focused, interactive working sessions of the NENA Development Conference (October 5-8 | Orlando, FL), you will explore how to address the current and future needs of public safety professionals and drive the development of standards and best practices.

This isn’t your typical conference where you just sit back and listen—it’s a venue for you to get personally involved and channel your energy and expertise to make a difference in the future of 9-1-1. It’s a hotbed for new ideas and a place where you can meet with your peers and experts from other fields to build partnerships and initiate forward-thinking projects that will move emergency communications into the 21st century. Your unique viewpoints drive the discussion and your contributions result in real, tangible gains for 9-1-1. You will leave energized, motivated, and brimming with new ideas. Fueled by what you have accomplished, you will return home eager to continue the important work begun at the event.

Click here for the latest schedule of sessions and here to check out full session details and deliverables.

Click here to register today! Click here to book your hotel room while rooms remain!

NG9-1-1: Are We There Yet? Find Out at the Critical Issues Forum!

The public safety community is at an inflection point. On the one hand, the early hype about the wonders—and terrors—of Next Generation 9-1-1 is giving way to practical, real-world deployments of ESInets, Interim SMS text-to-9-1-1 systems, and components of the NG9-1-1 i3 architecture. At the same time, though, newer and newer technologies are making their way into emergency communications: Big Data, the Cloud, and the Internet of Things, for example.

During this fast-paced, informative NG9-1-1 Critical Issues Forum (October 8-9 | Orlando, FL), you will hear from leaders in the field and gain the insights you need to navigate through the challenges ahead.

Everyone involved in 9-1-1, from 9-1-1 authority personnel and county managers to PSAP managers, supervisors, and telecommunicators, will leave this event with an NG9-1-1 Preparation Checklist and a clear understanding of where we are, where we’re going, and, most importantly, how to get there.

Check out the full Forum agenda and click here to register! Click here to book your housing before rooms run out!

Federal Railroad Administration Seeks Call Taker & Dispatcher Responses to Training Survey

NENA and the Federal Railroad Administration are working closely to develop new information, applications, and resources to assist both the railroad and 9-1-1 communities better deal with emergencies. As such, the Federal Railroad Administration is looking for call takers and dispatchers to complete this short (five-minute), confidential survey by September 17.

Your organization’s participation in the survey will help the FRA identify both the strengths and weaknesses in training regarding railroad emergencies. Please distribute the following link to your call takers and dispatchers so that they can complete the survey: www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZHVJWP

NENA Announces NG9-1-1 Data Preparation Webinar for September 24

NG9-1-1 Data: Spatial Data Importance in a Comprehensive Approach

Wednesday, September 24 | 3PM Eastern (live) or On-Demand

$50 for NENA Members | $85 for Non-Members

Click here to register!

With so much focus being directed at the development of the ESINet and other functional elements of the NG9-1-1 environment, this presentation will aim to provide a practical perspective on data preparation prior to its use in an actual NG9-1-1 deployment. Getting GIS data ready for use in a NG 9-1-1 geospatial call routing environment will be emphasized but the retention/use of existing traditional data will also be highlighted as a critical concern. The role of NENA standards and guidelines currently under development will also be tied into this work. Examples of processes and techniques underway in many locations today will be highlighted.

Can't attend on the 24th? Register now and you will receive an email after the live presentation with instructions for accessing the on-demand webinar archive.

Webinar Access Info

Dial-in and Web-access details will be provided to attendees via email the week of the webinar.

You Shop & Amazon Gives with AmazonSmile!

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support NENA every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to NENA.

To shop at AmazonSmile, simply go to smile.amazon.com from the Web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to AmazonSmile to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.

On your first visit to AmazonSmile, you need to search for and select "National Emergency Number Association" to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make on AmazonSmile will result in a donation.

Click here to learn more and here to start shopping now!

NG9-1-1 Board of Directors Elections: Call for Nominees and Candidates

The NG9-1-1 Institute (Institute) is seeking candidates for five (5) open positions on the NG9-1-1 Institute’s Board of Directors (Board). The Institute shares and enhances the mission of the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus to promote education regarding and the advancement of emergency services nationwide.

The following five (5) seats are open to serve for 2014-2016:

Two (2) Representatives from the Membership-at-Large
One (1) Representative from a Major Telecommunications Company
One (1) Representative from an IP-Based Company
One (1) Representative from the Wireless Industry

The Institute welcomes the nomination (including self-nomination) of prospective Board Members who are committed to the mission of the NG9-1-1 Institute and are prepared to dedicate themselves in the service of the organization.

Click here to learn more and submit your nominations by September 9, 2014.

Illinois Institute of Technology Hosting Real-Time Communications Conference

The IIT RTC Conference and Expo (Sept 30 - Oct 2 in Chicago, IL) is a globally recognized collaborative event, where industry and academia connect. Leveraging its unique academic setting, this annual conference brings together technical professionals and business executives from the data and telecommunications industry, standards bodies, policy and regulatory institutions, and academic educators and researchers to promote an open exchange of ideas to lead future development in the rapidly changing field of real-time communications.

Click here to learn more.

National 9-1-1 Program Office Presents NG9-1-1 Webinar Event September 10

This webinar, presented by the National 9-1-1 Program on Wednesday, September 10, from 12-1pm Eastern Time, will feature a discussion with the 9-1-1 Wellness Foundation regarding the pursuit of telecommunicator wellness and peak performance in the Next Generation Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and a presentation about the state of Pennsylvania’s ongoing migration to NG9-1-1. Jim Marshall, Chair/Chief Executive Officer, 9-1-1 Wellness Foundation, will share:

Research regarding the psychological demands of 9-1-1 work
Special considerations for assuring optimal telecommunicator well-being and performance in the NG9-1-1 PSAP
Progress to date in stakeholder efforts to foster 9-1-1 employee wellness
A new nationwide strategic 9-1-1 employee wellness initiative

Also presenting and available for questions, will be David Holl, deputy director for operations, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). Holl will:

Provide an overview of the commonwealth and its PSAPs including the development of regional initiatives
Address how the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal grant funds helped initiate the early stages of the NG9-1-1 process
Discuss the concept of cost sharing versus duplication
Share components of the Pennsylvania roadmap to NG9-1-1.

To register for the webinar, Wednesday, September 10th from 12-1pm Eastern Time, click here.

Submit Your NENA 2015 Session Proposal!

Attendees of our conference are always looking for new and better ways of doing things in their professional and personal lives. Feedback from previous conferences shows that attendees expect to walk out of each breakout with key takeaways that are new and can be immediately implemented when they return to their offices.

This is where we want your help. The NENA 2015 Conference Team is looking for session proposals in the following topic areas: Accessibility; Analytics & Big Data; Applications & Technology Innovation; Call Taking & Processing; Data Management & Utilization; GIS; Hiring & Staffing; Interpersonal Issues; Leadership & Management; Next Generation 9-1-1; Personal & Professional Development; Preparedness & Contingency Planning; PSAP Administration; Public Education & Outreach; Regulation, Policy, & Governance; Stress, Health, & Wellness; Text Messaging; Training; and Wireless Challenges.

To ensure your submission receives due consideration, please ensure that:

Your proposal is issue focused, not product focused;
Your 65-word presentation description contains a precise objective and a clear audience takeaway; and
You use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

Submit your great ideas by October 31. The online submission form for session abstracts is available at www.nena.org/nena2015/cfp. You can email Chris Nussman with any questions you may have.

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