Joplin Disaster Recovery Summit IS Worthwhile
If your profession deals with disaster recovery, why would you travel to a small city in the middle of the country to attend another conference? What makes the Joplin Disaster Recovery Summit worthwhile?
- Every panel is comprised of leaders and elected officials that have lived through disasters in their own community. They have real-world experience that has given them an outlook that goes beyond any training and are willing to share their successes and their failures.
- It’s a conference that chronicles the journey from response to recovery to resilience with communities that continue their recovery even today.
- Panelists are coming from across the center of the country – Minot, ND; Pilger, NE; Cedar Rapids, IA; Greensburg, KS; Joplin, MO; Vilonia, AR and Tuscaloosa, AL. Each community was deeply affected by a disaster in the last decade.
- Breakout sessions cover topics such as donations management, debris removal, the factors that determine recovery resources, the stress of long-term leadership, housing solutions to maintain population levels post-disaster, citizen engagement, helping children post-disaster, and ways to return lost photographs and lost pets.
- Leonard Marcus from Harvard University, the conference keynote speaker, explores how leaders can lead more effectively during a crisis as well as the phenomenon of Swarm Intelligence and how it multiplies recovery efforts.
- The conference is affordable. The $75 registration fee is meant to cover meals and materials. It’s organized by community members that want to pay it forward for the many kindnesses that Joplin received. Scholarships are available in special circumstances.
- If you’re interested in seeing the progress Joplin has made in recovery since the 2011 tornado, there are opportunities for guided tours and to attend other commemorative events.
If this conference has piqued your interest, register soon as attendance is limited. For more information and to register, click here.