On Tuesday morning, APCO 2013 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 FirstNet General Manager Bill D’Agostino and Tony and Jonna Mendez, former CIA chiefs of disguise.

In his remarks, FirstNet General Manager Bill D’Agostino spoke of the legacy that APCO has left over the years. He talked of the first APCO International Conference & Expo and hoped that years from now, someone will look back at this conference, which took place in the shadow of Disneyland, and see how “FirstNet went from Fantasy Land to Tomorrow Land today.”

D’Agostino continued by pointing out that FirstNet has a plan that will take it from paper to reality in a very short time. In order to succeed, FirstNet first has to build a foundation, and the FirstNet Organization Foundation includes network partners, mandates, early mover projects, portable hotspots and wireless devices. D’Agostino shared that the success of FirstNet will require unprecedented public/private partnership, and “APCO is on the forefront of working with FirstNet to bring those key pieces together.” D’Agostino concluded with the thought that “FirstNet isn’t going to change the way you do your job—it’s going to revolutionize it.”

The featured speakers for the event were Tony and Jonna Mendez, former CIA operatives. The real-life experiences of Tony Mendez inspired the movie Argo, a movie about the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Iran during the hostage crisis. Mendez and his wife Jonna are both former CIA chiefs of disguise and they shared some of their incredible stories, including certain aspects of the hostage crisis never publicly released before.

Tony and Jonna discussed the rescue of the hostages from Iran, and intercut their story with clips from the movie. Jonna pointed out that, in the movie, Tony had to go to the six American who were in hiding and convince them to go along with the cover, and that it would work. Telecommunicators face the same challenges of convincing callers to go along with a plan and that they will be ok.

Tony provided some of his personal tips on how to stay calm during a stressful event, information that telecommunicators can utilize to deal with everyday challenges in the comm center.

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

Platinum Corporate Partner Award:
AT&T Public Safety Solutions, Cassidian Communications, General Dynamics, Harris Corporation, Motorola

Corporate Partners:
Gold level: TeleCommunication Systems

Silver level: Avtec, Intrado, New World Systems, OnStar, Zetron, Sprint, Verizon

Bronze level: Agero, LR Kimball, Televate, TruePosition, Northrop Grumman, Verint

CALEA Accreditations:
Charlottesville/UVA/Albemarle County Emergency Communications Center, Durham Emergency Communications Center, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Kettering Police Department Communications, Las Vegas Metro Police Department Communications, Newport News Police Department Communications, Reno Emergency Communications, Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center, Rock County Communications Center, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Shreveport Fire Department Communications, York County Public Safety Communications

**There were also additional agencies that were unable to attend that were also accredited this year.

NCMEC Partnership Program Compliance:
Bossier Parish, LA Communications District No.1; Colorado Springs, CO Public Safety Communications Center; Coral Springs, FL Police Department; Decatur, GA Police Department; Douglas County, NV 911 Emergency Services; E-COM, IL  9-1-1 Dispatch Center; Grays Harbor, WA Communications Center E9-1-1; Onondaga County, NY Department of Emergency Communications: Pueblo County, CO Sheriff’s Office; Shelby County, IA Emergency Management; St. Ann, MO Police Department; St. Joseph Missouri Police Department; Sugar Land, TX Public Safety Dispatch Center; Tustin, CA Police Department; Walla Walla, WA Emergency Services Communications (WESCOM)

Registered Public-Safety Leader (RPL) Graduates:
Megan Anzalone, Christopher Blake Carver, Jacqueline Brininger, Shelley Creasy, Tony Cross, Brianna Fields, Emily Garcia, Jonathan Goldman, Cheryl Greathouse, Tanisha Shinar Haynes, Carolyn Humphrey, Roderick Jackson, Jarrod Kelley, Nonie McCandless, Curtis Nekovar, Donald Nielsen, Sherrill Ornberg, Melissa Page, Dan Quedenfeld, Craig Scholl, Misti Selph, Michael Tillman

**There were also additional graduates who were unable to attend who also completed the program this year.