Join Us for the First FEMA Think Tank Conference Call

Back in November, I first announced the launch of the FEMA Think Tank – an initiative with two components: an online collaboration forum and monthly conference calls. The online collaboration forum has been live for a few months now and tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 26, I will be hosting the first conference call from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The goal of the calls are to discuss ideas generated from the online conversations, so I hope you can join me and others as we discuss ideas on how we can improve emergency management.

Here are the details:

• Date: Thursday, Jan. 26

• Time: 1:30-3:30 p.m. CDT / 2:30-4:30 p.m. EST

• Call in number: 800-593-0692

• Password: Think Tank January

• Access captioning

• Twitter hashtag: #femathinktank

The call is open to a national audience of state, local, and tribal governments, and to all members of the public, including the private sector, the disability community, and volunteer community, who share an interest in improving the Nation’s capacity in emergency management. For those who cannot join in on the call, you can follow the conversation and ask questions on Twitter.

The three ideas that we will be discussing on this call are:

• Community Mapping

• U.S. National Grid System

• Incorporating Preparedness in Schools

Members from the community who submitted the ideas for this month’s call will brief me and all attendees, and afterward, we will open up the call to the national audience for further discussion, questions and answers.

This is the first of many important discussions on how we plan and implement innovative ideas captured in our online forum. Visit www.fema.gov/thinktank for more information and to submit your own ideas, comment on others, or participate in the online conversation to generate creative ideas.

I hope you can participate.