One of the best ways of improving our understanding of the critical requirements associated with business continuity planning is to learn from disasters that occur. The recent major hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast States - Katrina and Rita - convinced us that we should take this opportunity to learn the lessons and apply them to our environment. Though the physical events were hurricanes, the effect these natural disasters had on the built environment and social systems, including the immediate response effort required and the challenges associated with long term recovery have commonalities with all other disasters.

CDM has invited experts who were deployed to Louisiana and Mississippi in the immediate aftermath of Katrina to share their first-hand experiences with the rest of us. These mature professionals will help us see the broader consequences of disasters, including disruption of business operations and effects on social systems and infrastructure.

An objective of this conference series is to address the Business Continuity Planning (BCP) needs of the smaller businesses in the Silicon Valley area. The vulnerability of small businesses can have adverse effects on the ability of larger corporations to be able to continue their business and manufacturing operations after a major catastrophe.

This conference series also provides a venue for BCP professionals to get to network with their counterparts at other companies, and in the public sector. Public-private partnerships are essential for planning and maintaining, business continuity.