Alliance for Response Inspires New Activities
California
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Preservation Program, the Heritage Emergency National Task Force and the Cultural Property Protection Group are holding a second series of forums in four cities: Sacramento Convention Center on April 17, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on April 18, San Diego at The Prado in Balboa Park on May 22, and Los Angeles at the Skirball Cultural Center on May 24.
The forums will feature presentations by leading museum and library directors and top emergency management officials on each area’s specific risks and lessons learned from recent U.S. disasters. Breakout groups will discuss topics including Establishing an Incident Command Post, Conducting Emergency Exercises, How to Effectively Use Volunteers in an Emergency, and Homeland Security Issues for Cultural Institutions.
New York City
The New York City forum group is holding a series of workshops by Nick Artim of the Heritage Protection Group in Middlebury, Vermont, focused around fire safety.
At the American Museum of Natural History in the Power House Conference Center on January 9, over 50 participants attended a fire safety program on performance-based planning and museum, library, and historic house fire codes. It was hosted by Director of Security Tom Slade.
At the Frick Collection in the Music Room on March 13, there were over 65 attendees at the second session addressing fire safety concerns during construction and fire protection systems for cultural properties. This session was hosted by Dennis Sweeney, Head of Operations at the Frick Collection.
A third session is planned for May 16 at the Society of Illustrators.
Philadelphia
The last in the second round of Alliance for Response Forums will be held June 13 at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia forum planning committee includes representatives from PALINET, the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, the city Records Department, and the Pennsylvania Consortium of Special Collections Libraries.
Atlanta
A local disaster network for the metro Atlanta area is developing from the February 8, 2007, Alliance for Response Forum. A follow-up meeting on March 23, 2007, was hosted by Atlanta Forum sponsors, the Georgia State Archives and SOLINET. They invited forum participants who said they wanted to be involved in any local efforts. Twenty people attended the March meeting, including two representatives from the FEMA Region IV office in Atlanta.
The group plans to meet quarterly and include an educational or training component on disaster management in each session. The group’s first project will be to develop a database of local cultural institutions of all kinds. They are especially interested in identifying resources (trained personnel, supplies, freezer or storage space, etc.) that institutions need or would be willing to share in emergencies. The group may also begin a list-serv.
The next meeting will take place in June, and several volunteers are developing a mission statement. Once organized, they will approach the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency about cultural heritage representation at the county emergency operations center.