Tuesday began with a morning of celebration at the APCO International Conference in Orlando, as APCO recognized the achievements of its association members and partners during the “Distinguished Achievers Breakfast.” The event drew more than 900 conference attendees and featured comments by FirstNet CEO Michael Poth and a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Ms. Goodwin shared some of her favorite stories about the past presidents she has researched, including Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt. She pointed out significant events in American history and how their management styles shaped the outcomes.

Mr. Poth commended 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers as having “one of the hardest jobs in public safety” and reiterated FirstNet’s commitment to working with APCO and other organizations to ensure the success of the nationwide public safety broadband network.

APCO International Executive Director Derek Poarch opened the breakfast, sponsored by Comtech Telecommunications Systems, by telling the packed audience that excellence should be rewarded.

In 2007, the APCO Institute launched the Registered Public-Safety Leader Program to help individuals develop skills necessary to create excellence within their agencies. More than 50 individuals have achieved the RPL designation since last year’s APCO conference.

During the event, Mr. Poarch announced APCO’s new leadership development opportunity for RPLs and other interested individuals.

“During the last several years, society, technology and regulations have been changing at an exponential rate,” he said. “In 2014, APCO leadership began to explore a program that would enable RPL graduates and others to successfully meet the challenges that this new environment demands. The result of that effort is the new APCO Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) Program, and the inaugural class began July 6.

“CPE graduates will be uniquely positioned to provide the type of informed, principled leadership that the future of our industry demands,” he explained. “Next year, I look forward to congratulating our first class of CPE graduates.”

Dates for the next CPE session are January 4 through July 20, 2017. Registration is now open and the application deadline is October 16.
Members of APCO’s Corporate Partner Program were also recognized during the breakfast ceremony.

“APCO International works closely with some of the best and brightest companies serving this industry,” says APCO Executive Director and CEO Derek Poarch. “The hardware and technology they develop helps telecommunicators do their jobs, and through our feedback, we help these companies understand the changing needs of public safety communications.”