Tuesday, December 2, 2008

ProjectWorld Update Day 2: Preventation vs Response

I delayed posting details from our second day at ProjectWorld, in order to give many of you a chance to get back from the holidays and get into the office prepared to look back on the various speakers and presentations and tremendous amount of information provided. I had the chance to record and interview several presenters, so while I am late with this update, there is more here than you expected.

To begin with, I have two recordings of General Russel L. Honoré, (Ret), Commander of JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA keynote presentation from the second morning. His background and experience, particularly overseeing the federal response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans gave his concepts and ideas added weight. He considered how fundamentally our nation has focused too much energy, resources, time and effort on responses to disasters rather than prevention. This is not to say that response isn't necessary, but rather if half of what goes into response was put in prevention for those hypothetical what-if scenarios we often doubt will occur, then in all likelihood we will avoid the worst of a catastrophe. Here he is discussing the importance of preparation and how critical it is to impact the outcome of a disaster scenario.

He goes on to more specifically to engage the attendees about our failure as a nation in regards to our priorities. As we face a critical period in our history, he reminds us that the future requires us to learn how to live with less not more, and in doing so we can achieve far more than we imagine. By re-evaluating our priorities and focusing on education, technology, and the solutions to prevent the worst-case scenarios; we will retain our role as a global leader able to deal with the difficulties we have yet to consider. Here is a portion of his presentation:

General Honoré's presentation looked beyond the high-level but at the stark realities we face, and will continue to face in the 21st century. He challenged the audience to consider that business is more than seeking profits, but rather to solve people's problems. Words I think everyone took to heart during his presentation.

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