By Emily Kaster, Cumberland County EMA, Deputy Director
COVID-19 has been a disaster of catastrophic proportions that will re-write emergency management textbooks. Emergency managers rose to the challenge and responded to COVID-19. Emergency managers developed innovative, just-in-time solutions to challenges faced by our communities.These solutions deserve to be documented and shared with other emergency managers who might benefit from (or even enhance) their application in future disasters.
As you’ve heard from MALEM’s Executive Board, a plan is underway to convene the Annual Association Meeting later this summer. While the Annual Association Meeting details are being finalized, we’d like to begin recruiting speakers for “Lighting Talks” at the Annual Association Meeting. Lighting Talks are similar to Ted Talks, or EMvision Talks (this is an initiative by the International Association of Emergency Managers).
Lighting Talks should:
- Be no more than seven minutes in duration
- Intend to provide a quick, high-level overview of a topic or idea
- Grab the audience’s attention, inspire, informel, compel to action, or foster awareness or a sense of urgency
- Powerpoint slides are optional. Slides should be minimal and only used to enhance the presentation or provide a visual to the audience.
- Topics may include, but are not limited to: an innovative idea or program that you implemented during COVID-19 response, a proposed solution to a challenge experienced by emergency managers during COVID-19 response, or an area of research that you’d like to pitch to peer emergency managers.
- Presentations may be done virtually or in-person at the Annual Association Meeting. Details to follow.
Interested in presenting? Email Emily Kaster at kaster@cumberlandcounty.org by July 9, 2021. Please include a proposed title for your Lighting Talk, and a brief (1-2 sentence) description of the content you plan to cover.
We look forward to the exchange of ideas, and subsequent discussions at the Annual Association Meeting. Thank you!
