WHAT:    2009 Partners in Preparedness Symposium and PiP CEO Summit 

WHO:    200 CEO’s and Business Continuity Planners Interested in Their Business Surviving Disaster; Former HS Secretary Michael Chertoff, WJLA’s Leon Harris, DCHSEMA’s Darrell Darnell 

WHERE:    Marriott Renaissance Hotel, 999 Ninth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 

WHEN:    8 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15  

Fairfax, Va. (Sept. 1, 2009) – The American Red Cross of the National Capital Area, Homeland Security & Defense Business Council and Homeland Security Today are co-hosting the third annual Partners in Preparedness Symposium and The CEO Summit. This annual event has become the benchmark event to raise awareness amongst high-level executives and to encourage them to prepare their companies and employees for potential disaster.

The symposium allows executives to work through a fictional scenario, and offers participants the opportunity to interact directly with those responsible for our nation’s response to national and regional disasters. This year’s scenario involves the fall-out surrounding recurrence of an Avian Flu pandemic and the subsequent cyber crisis that ensues. Attendees will also receive the newly-updated Preparedness Toolkit, which provides a step-by-step guide for any business to prepare their employees and operations for all types of disasters.

In conjunction with the 2009 PiP, the local Red Cross will roll out its “Red Cross Ready Rating Program.” This program provides a five-step framework for businesses, organizations and schools to be prepared at the office and to help their employees get prepared at home. Organizations that enroll in the program and verify they have taken steps to be prepared in an emergency will receive the “Red Cross Ready Rating” seal to show current and future employees and clients they have made the on-going commitment to preparedness and will be more likely to survive a disaster.