Jessica Rosenworcel

On Tuesday morning, Aug. 21, APCO International 2012 Conference & Expo attendees had the opportunity to attend the Distinguished Achiever’s Breakfast, sponsored by TeleCommunication Systems (TCS). Along with breakfast, APCO presented numerous awards and shared words from FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Jason Ryan Dorsey, the Gen Y Guy.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has worked on public safety issues for over a decade. In her remarks, she noted the one of the first things she did after being sworn in was visit APCO’s Alexandria, Va., office, and she has made an ongoing commitment to visit at least one public safety facility every month. She said that there is no better way to understand the work that public safety does than to get out of D.C. and visit members of public safety where they work. Rosenworcel said that in public service public safety is paramount—more than just a belief, it’s the law. Technology is changing and laws, regulations and institutions often have a hard time keeping up. With more devices than ever before, there is increased functionality. Rosenworcel said that in the past the question was: Will technology change the way we communicate? The answer to that question is that it will, so the question then becomes: How will we use that technology?

The commissioner focused on the effort to develop a nationwide broadband network, 9-1-1 outages and progress on NextGen9-1-1. She mentioned that the board members for FirstNet were announced yesterday. She also noted that there are real challenges in launching this network but first responders perform herculean efforts every day, so they can handle those challenges.

The recent 9-1-1 outages have highlighted the ways that the safety of too many are out risk if there are no backup plans in place during emergency outages. There is a current investigation into what happened during the recent east coast outages. Rosenworcel said that outages can happen anywhere, at any time, so public safety providers need to go to their communities and comm centers, look at the systems they work with and think about current backup plans and how they can be updated.

Rosenworcel also discussed NextGen9-1-1. There is an issue of funding, and the FCC cannot provide the funding, but there is some funding provided with President Obama’s middle class tax breaks. She said that emergency systems must keep pace with technology systems. Commissioner Rosenworcel closed by saying that if we get this right, the county can be safer.

The featured speaker for the event was Jason Dorsey, the chief strategy officer at The Center for Generational Kinetics. His specialty is unlocking the power of generations. He spoke about generational differences and the challenges that result when four generations are thrust together in a work environment. Many of his comments and observations had the audience laughing out loud. He noted that everyone has something to learn when they start a new job, so that needs to be remembered with new Gen Y employees. He also said that people lead, manage and communicate according to their life experience, and geography has a significant impact on generations. Dorsey said that generations are incredibly powerful clues on how to connect with people and the challenges that result from generational interactions can either be seen as a challenge or opportunity—the choice is yours.

There were many awards presented at the breakfast. Here is a list of all of the awards and their recipients.

Platinum Corporate Partner Award:
Cassidian, Harris Corporation, Motorola, Verizon Enterprise Solutions

Corporate Partners:
Gold level: Onstar, TeleCommunication Systems
Silver level: Intrado, New World Systems, Zetron, Sprint, AT&T
Bronze level: Agero, Genesis, GreatCall, Kimball, True Position, Televate, Verint

CALEA Accreditations:
Chesterfield Emergency Communications, Cobb County 9-1-1 Communications Bureau, Drexel University Department of Public Safety Communications Center, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Emergency Communications Center, Lincoln Emergency Communications/9-1-1 Center, Maryland Transportation Authority Police Force, Metropolitan Nashville Emergency Communications Center, Plano Public Safety Communications, Virginia Beach Emergency Communications and Citizen Services
**There were 10 other agencies that were not able to attend that were also accredited this year.

NCMEC Partnership Program Compliance:
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Anderson County Unified Emergency Communications Center, Berwyn Police Department, Champaign Countywide Communications Center, Chouteau County Sheriff’s Office, Dickinson Police Department, Emergency Communications Department, Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon, Fairfax County DPS Communications, Fayetteville Police Department, Iowa State Patrol Communications – Iowa Department of Public Safety, KITTCOM (Kittitas County 9-1-1), Lewiston Police Department, Logan City Police Department, Marana Police Department, McNairy County E- 9-1-1, Memphis Police Communications, Mills County 9-1-1, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, Newtown Emergency Communications Center, Northwest CT Public Safety – NWPS, Southwest Central Dispatch, Tri-Com Central Dispatch, Walker County Public Safety Communications District

Agencies with training programs that meet and/or exceed the APCO Project 33 Standard:
Broomfield Police, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Charlottesville/UVA/Albermarle County Emergency Communications Center, Coral Springs Police & Fire Communications, Delaware County Emergency Communications Center, Durham Emergency Communications Center, Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC), Gaston County Police 911 Communications, Grand Junction Communication Center, Hoke County Emergency Communications, Lincoln Emergency Communications Center, Metropolitan Area Communications Center (MetCom), Missoula County 9-1-1, Montgomery County Department of Public Safety, Phoenix Police Department Communications Bureau, Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority, Spokane County 911, TriCom Central Dispatch, Valley Communications

Registered Public-Safety Leader (RPL) Graduates:
Peggy Arends, Celeste Baldino, Nancy Banks, Lee Bessette, Sheila Blevins, Anne Marie Bukata, Natisha Claypool, Monica Corbin-Simon, Jeremy DeMar, Ronald Dickson, Rachel Nicole Dykes, Melody Emerson, Scott Francis, Sherri Furniss, Grayson Gusa, Andrea Hanson, Thomas Hanson, Julie Harmon, Christie Jaggi, Robert Jeffrey, Bess Joyce, Mary Kassmier, Suzanne Lowe, Crystal McDuffie, Domela McHenry, Angela Mize, Tara Murker, Joseph Murphy, Kerry O’Connell, Stephanie Olson, Michelle Otero, Shelley Peterson, Diane Pinckney, Cathy Plaster, Debi Raimondi, Veronica Rambo, Susan Rauch, Mary Sue Robey, Kim Rubio, Mary Shoemaker, Erica Smith, Laurilee Tarbet, Tara Thomas, Tasha Todd, Diana Tousignant, Lora Ueland, Steve VanDyk, Holly Wayt, Deanna Wells, Sheri White

2012 Membership Awards:
Chapter Growth in number of members: Florida Chapter
Chapter Growth “by percentage”: Pacific Chapter.
Membership “by Population Density”: Montana chapter

Recognition of Committee Chairs:
9-1-1 Emerging Technologies, James Coleman, Chair
Annual Conference Committee, Brian Tollin and Dana Wahlberg, Co-Chairs
Awards Committee, Margie Moulin, RPL, Chair
Broadband Committee, William Schrier, Chair
Bylaws Committee, Charlene Fisk, Chair
CALEA, Mary Sue Robey, Chair
Commercial Advisory Council , Rick Ringold, Chair
Communications Center Standards Committee, Matthew J Stillwell, RPL, Chair
Credentials Committee, Richard Mirgon, Chair
Data Transfer Committee, Peggy Fouts, Chair
Editorial Advisory Committee, Ralph Gould, Chair
Finance and Budget Committee, David Saffel, Chair
Historical Committee, Richard Rybicki, Chair
Institute Advisory Committee, Kelly Dignin, Chair
Leadership Development, Peggy Fouts, Chair
Long Range Strategic Planning Committee, Gregory Riddle, RPL, Chair
Management Committee, Martha Carter, Chair
Member & Chapter Services Committee, Richard Boettcher, RPL, Chair
National Joint (TERT) Initiative, Natalie Duran, Chair
Professional Communications Human Resources (ProCHRT), Steve Souder, Chair
Professional Development Events Committee, Holly Wayt, Chair
Spectrum Management Committee, Donald Root, Chair
Standards Development Committee, Carol Adams, RPL, Chair

Task Forces:
Branding Task Force, David Clemons, Chair
Special Conference Task Force, Lynne Feller, Chair

Recognition of Group Leaders:
Carol Adams, Richard Boettcher, Pat Joy, Margie Moulin

The Horizon Award (for a communications center that proactively seeks  solutions to manage technological advancements in their center and community):
2012 Horizon Award for a small to medium PSAP, Fort Smith EMS 9-1-1
2012 Horizon Award for a large PSAP, Phoenix Police Department

Presidential Awards:
Natalie Duran, Steve Souder, Carol Adams