Call for Presentations
The Communications Academy is soliciting proposals for presentations for the 2013 Communications Academy, to be held April 13-14, 2013, at South Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA. The Communications Academy is open to anyone with an interest in emergency communications, volunteer or professional. The presentations are designed to promote the development of knowledgeable, skilled emergency communicators who will support their local communities during a disaster or emergency response.
The Communications Academy Program Committee is seeking presentations on new ideas and practical solutions to the challenges facing today’s emergency communicator, related to the 2013 Communications Academy theme: "Maintaining Readiness When Nothing Bad is Happening"
Presentations or tutorial topics are encouraged around this theme, especially those which provide case studies and innovative solutions for emergency communications challenges, applied to amateur and non-amateur radio emergency communications, radio communications technology, community hubs and CERT teams, emergency management, volunteer recruitment and training, and EmComm leadership. Demonstrations are also encouraged.
Possible tracks include: Drills and Functional Exercises; Table-top exercises; Community Service; Management of volunteers; Leadership – keeping served agencies and teams engaged with each other; Equipment readiness and infrastructure.
Proposals should include a brief abstract and outline of the presentation, along with a speaker bio, and are requested before January 1, 2013. Proposals should be sent via email to n7lsl@arrl.net. Submitters will be notified of the final program selection in early February, 2013. The Communications Academy Program Committee will make the final program selection. Submissions received after January 30 will be considered only if there is space available.
Presentation Guidelines: The presentations must fit into a 75 minute timeslot, including time for a question and answer session. Any special audio-visual or demonstration requirements should be specified in the proposal. Final presentations will be due April 5, 2013, and will be published on the CommAcademy web site and available on the CommAcademy proceedings available on CD. The presentation material should be in Microsoft PowerPoint using any template desired, and any supplemental handout material should be in PDF or WORD format.