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Join NENA from February 21-24 just steps from the nation's capital in Arlington, VA. for 9-1-1 Goes to Washington! 9-1-1 Goes to Washington brings together hundreds of 9-1-1 professionals from around the country with policy leaders in our nation's capital to explore and discuss today's most pressing 9-1-1 and emergency communications issues. 9-1-1 Goes to Washington is the only event where you can learn about the policy challenges facing public safety and take immediate action to address them through dialog with your elected and appointed officials. 

Our three-day program offers a significant opportunity for 9-1-1 professionals to shape the nation’s emergency communications policy agenda. Join us in Washington for a dynamic, interactive three-day program where you will receive:
  • The inside information you need to help shape the 9-1-1 and emergency communications agendas for the Administration and Congress;
  • Critical knowledge of current, proposed, and needed federal and state 9-1-1, homeland security, and emergency communications legislation, regulation, and policy initiatives; and
  • An opportunity to speak directly with members of Congress, Administration officials, and key staff to make your voice heard on behalf of the entire 9-1-1 community.
Click here to register and here to book your housing. Download an event brochure and visit nena.org/gtw for full details.
 
January 20th: How Congress Works
--Get the nitty-gritty details of how Congress really works, from insights on key staffers to the structure and function of committees and leadership offices.
              
February 3rd: Effective Meetings & Legislative Priorities
--Train for effective meetings with key legislators and staff, and learn the major talking points and legislative priorities for the 2016 edition of 9-1-1 Goes to Washington.

All webinars start at 2:30 p.m. Eastern and last between 45 minutes and 1 hour, depending on the number of questions received.

Click here to register!
 
At NENA 2016 (June 11-16 in Indianapolis, IN), you will not only hear about the public safety issues of today and tomorrow, but also gain practical, real-world know-how that you can take home with you and put into action immediately. You will be connected to the pulse of 9-1-1, joining thousands of public safety professionals, telecommunications specialists, and policymakers for a week filled with opportunities to discuss the issues facing public safety and build the skills necessary to tackle these challenges head on.

Featuring inspiring keynote speakers, more than one hundred hours of breakout sessions that inform and empower, career-building courses and workshops with real-world applications, nightly networking events that help you make the right connections, and an Expo Hall showcasing cutting-edge products and services, NENA 2016 is the must-attend event of the year. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of it!

Click here to register and here to book your hotel.
 
We are excited to announce a brand new campaign called #ThankYou911, an initiative of NENA’s Friends of 9-1-1, which provides scholarships, continuing education opportunities, and wellness programs for America’s 9-1-1 professionals. But before our new #ThankYou911 website goes live, we’re giving you a chance to get involved right now!

#ThankYou911 invites you to say "thanks" to the unsung heroes of public safety: America's 9-1-1 professionals. Now in the earliest stages of this campaign, we are inviting you, your family, and your friends to be among the very first to participate before our new #ThankYou911 website goes live. We encourage you to go ahead and submit messages and/or photos of appreciation to friendsof911@gmail.com.

Write a message:
Say "thanks" by writing a message! Tell us in your own words why you appreciate America's 9-1-1 professionals. Please keep messages under 100 words. We’ll post the best messages on the website. Submissions should include your first and last name, email address, where you’re from (optional).

Upload a photo:
Take a photo, alone or with friends and family, that shows your appreciation and tells 9-1-1 professionals how much their work means to you with a message of gratitude. We'll post the best photos on the website! Submissions should include your first and last name, email address, where you’re from (optional), and a caption.

The #ThankYou911 campaign is all about saying "thanks" to the unsung heroes of public safety: America’s 9-1-1 professionals. It’s a chance for anyone to pause and reflect on the impact 9-1-1 has had on their lives, and encourages people to submit their own expressions of gratitude and support through messages, photos, and videos. The campaign also harnesses the power of social media to spread the word with the #ThankYou911 hashtag.




Usage agreement: By submitting your message or media, you agree to allow us to use your message or media as part of the #ThankYou911 campaign. We reserve the right to edit your content for file size, and/or message length, syntax, and style.
 
The last Wednesday of each month (except June, November, and December) is #WebinarWednesday! All nine webinars are now available for a prepaid annual subscription of $350 for members or $575 for non-members - a significant savings compared to purchasing each webinar individually. Get the team together for these hour-long webinars covering the hottest issues in 9-1-1. The scheduled webinars for 2016 are:
  • January 27 – Text to 9-1-1: Getting Your Center Ready!
  • February 24 – Social Media & the Dispatcher
  • March 30 –Recognition & Appreciation: More Than Just Words
  • April 27 – Training on a Budget
  • May 25 – Cultivating Wellness in the PSAP
  • July 27 – Successful Interviewing Techniques for Better Hiring Outcomes
  • August 31 – Media Relations 101
  • September 28 – 9-1-1 in the News: Lessons learned
  • October 26 – Effective Performance Appraisals
Purchase the annual subscription and save!
 
Text-to-9-1-1: Getting Your Center Ready!
Wednesday, January 27 | 3 p.m. Eastern (live) or On-Demand
$50 for NENA Members | $85 for Non-Members
Click here to register!

The decision to go live with text-to-9-1-1 is a major consideration for PSAPs across the country. During this first #WebinarWednesday offering of 2016, we’ll discuss what you need to know and expect throughout the process of planning, implementing, and operating text-to-9-1-1, including:
  • How text-to-9-1-1 works,
  • The text options available to PSAPs,
  • The key factors to consider before implementing, and
  • The lessons learned from the first fully integrated text-to-9-1-1 deployment in Ohio.
Can't attend on the 27th? 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.
 
Everyone involved in 9-1-1 center management knows how difficult it is to find and keep good employees, and we all know the reasons people leave. Stress and mental fatigue take a toll, other centers poach your star employees, or maybe that person who interviews so well turns out to be not so great once they’re under the headset. But staffing your center with employees you can be proud of doesn’t have to be a guessing game. With a plan in place for recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting employees, you can ensure that your center always has the right people in the right seats.

This course provides you with a comprehensive roadmap to writing job descriptions and associated policies, expanding and enhancing your candidate pool, putting processes in place that help you make the right hiring decisions, overcoming the challenges that lead to employee burnout and turnover, and developing your highest achievers into the next generation of center leaders.

Contact NENA’s Education Director, Ty Wooten, for more information or to host the course at your chapter event or agency. 
 
The 911Talk email list is a great way to network with other NENA members and your peers in 9-1-1. Discuss current events, ask for help on an issue or problem, ask your peers questions about their experiences in 9-1-1, bounce ideas off each other... If it's related to the technology or management of 9-1-1, you can talk about it here.

Best of all, the 911Talk list knows no geographic boundaries! Once you join the list and start sending messages, your email is received by all members of the list from across the U.S. and Internationally. That makes staying up to date and networking with your peers easy and fun.

Click here for more info and to sign up today!
 
As of December 31, 2015, Ed Marecki has resigned from his position as Northeastern Region Director of NENA.  Marecki's departure leaves a vacancy on the board, and as such, NENA seeks applicants for potential appointment as Northeastern Region Director to serve the remainder of the vacated term, through June of 2017. Interested candidates must be current members in good standing for at least three years; have been employed for at least three years in 9-1-1; be certified Emergency Number Professionals (ENPs); reside in the Northeast Region; and meet the minimum threshold of membership, leadership, and certification requirements as outlined in the Nomination Form.

Having satisfied the three (3) year minimum experience/leadership criterion, each candidate must accumulate a total of 10 additional points. See the Nomination Form for additional details.

Interested parties should submit a completed nomination form to cwilliams@nctcog.org by COB on February 1, 2016.
 
This webinar will feature a presentation by the National 9-1-1 Program. Ms. Laurie Flaherty, Coordinator, National 9-1-1 Program will share:  
  • Review of the National 9-1-1 Program 2015 activities
  • Update on the 9-1-1 Grant Program
  • Overview of the nationwide NG911 cost study
Also presenting and available for questions is Mr. Chuck Spalding, 9-1-1 Director from Palm Beach County Florida. Mr. Spalding will share the experiences and considerations of:
  • Technical collaboration with the Coast Guard
  • Field trials focused on mariners and their use of smartphones during an emergency
  • Overview of Palm Beach County’s ESInet deployment
Register now for the webinar on Tuesday, February 9th from 12-1 p.m. Eastern Time.
 
Interested in taking the ENP Examination? Plan now to participate in one of several ENP Study Groups being conducted over the next several months. Study Groups, led by subject matter experts, have proven to be a valuable resource to prepare for the examination. For further information, please go to the Study Groups page.
 
You should have recently received an email from NENA with a link to your 2016 NENA dues notice. Help NENA go green and save a stamp by choosing to pay online by check or credit card. If this is not an option for you or your agency, the email also contained a link allowing you to print out a copy of your invoice for local processing.   

Instantly renew your membership online in just a few easy steps:  
  1. Simply log in to the NENA website. 
  2. Go to your Manage Profile page. 
  3. Click on Membership under the "Account History" header to view your renewal options.  
  4. Pay online by check or credit card. 
  5. Print out a receipt for your records. 
We look forward to sharing many new and exciting member benefits with you in the coming year!  
 
NENA is pleased to open the nominations process for our 2016-2017 Executive Board election! This election will be for the following positions:
  • Second Vice President
  • Southeastern Region Director 
  • Western Region Director
  • Private Sector Director
All nominees must be current members in good standing for at least three years; have been employed for at least three years in 9-1-1; be certified Emergency Number Professionals (ENPs); and meet the minimum threshold of membership, leadership, and certification requirements as outlined in the Nomination Form. Nominees for the position of Region Director must reside in the region they wish to represent.
 
Click here to download a .zip file of election documents and resources that includes:

  • Statement of Responsibilities
  • Must be signed by nominee and co-signed by an agency representative (if applicable)
  • Nomination Form
  • Can be completed by the applying candidate or by a third-party nominator
  • Relevant NENA policies and procedures
  • NENA bylaws
The nomination deadline is March 15, 2016. Contact Nominating Committee Chair Bernard Brown or Member Services Director Bri Robinson with any questions about the nomination process, eligibility requirements, or general election details.
 
NENA is proud to launch the new NENA Career Center, where you will find all of the best 9-1-1 industry jobs in one place. Visit www.nena.org/jobs to:
  • Search for and quickly apply for great, relevant jobs.
  • Set up alerts so you are immediately notified any time a job is posted that matches your skills or interests.
  • Create an anonymous job seeker profile or upload your anonymous resume so employers can find you.
  • Access job search tools and tips.
If you need to hire 9-1-1 professionals, the NENA Career Center will put your job in front of our members!
  • Place your job in front of our highly qualified members.
  • Search our resume database of qualified candidates.
  • Manage jobs and applicant activity right on our site.
  • Limit applicants to those who are qualified.
  • Fill your jobs more quickly with great talent.
Our hope is that this new and improved resource will make a significant difference for our members as they navigate their career paths.
 
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!
 
Make sure the addresses (email and postal) that we have on file for you are current! Please log in to your online member account to verify or update your information, or send an email to Bri Robinson.
 
Solacom Technologies
TECH UPDATE
NENA/APCONext Generation 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point Requirements, NENA/APCO-REQ-001.1-2015, introduces requirements for a NG9-1-1 PSAP that is capable of receiving IP-based signaling and media for delivery of emergency calls conformant to the latest version of the NENA i3 Architecture document. An emergency call enters the i3 PSAP using Session Initiation Protocol signaling. NG9-1-1 encourages the creation of many new coordination and information access services to enrich collaborative interactions between all agencies involved in processing emergency service requests. This document is issued as NENA/APCO recommended requirements for functions and interfaces between an i3 PSAP and NG9-1-1 Core Services, and among Functional Elements associated with the i3 PSAP. This document is primarily intended to drive the development of more standards that meet the technical requirements specified in the document. 
 
This new Working Group will focus on GIS Data Stewardship specific to GIS layers used for Location Validation and Emergency Call Routing Functions in Next Generation 9-1-1. Topics will include: GIS Database Development; Quality Assurance/Quality Control; and GIS Data Maintenance. We are looking for a well-balanced group that will include contributions from those with expertise in any of the following: i3 architecture; GIS; PSAP operations, and especially those who speak PSAP. The WG will meet on Fridays from 1 – 2:30  p.m. (EST) beginning January 22, 2016.  

Click here to join this WG.
 
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION NEWS
NENA recently launched a FREE email news service called Public Safety SmartBrief. It provides a weekly summary of news, trends, and updates on public safety issues – not just 9-1-1 but also police, fire, and EMS. Knowledgeable editors handpick key articles from hundreds of publications, summarize them, and provide direct links to the original sources.
 
In other words, we do all the research, and you get the latest news in your inbox or on your handheld device absolutely free.

 
UPCOMING EVENTS
February 21-24, 2016 | 9-1-1 Goes to Washington | Arlington, VA

June 11-16, 2016 | NENA 2016 Conference & Expo | Indianapolis, IN
 
UPCOMING EDUCATION COURSES
Next five upcoming NENA courses:
Visit the NENA Education Calendar to see additional listings and find classes in your area!
 

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800.332.3911
P: 202.466.4911
Fax: 202.618.6370
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