The Opryland hotel is pretty much set off by itself, and is several miles from downtown Nashville. For nightlife, you either have to drive to take a boat to downtown. If you have a choice, take a boat-- it's a very enjoyable, lazy way to get a feel for the city.
The trainers from PSTC will have a booth this year, and will be previewing their video "The Voices of September 11th," which includes interviews with dispatch personnel who handled the terrorist attacks. Check the trade show brochure for the exact booth number.
CML Emergency Services will announce their new ECS-1000 SS7 Gateway to speed selective routing of 9-1-1 emergency calls. The company says it will provide, "state and regional emergency communication organizations with the ability to achieve autonomous, cost-effective, feature-rich 9-1-1 network services.
Conference committee members are impossible to miss--they're wearing blue jean overalls and bright yellow shirts!
The Tenn. chapter really wants attendees to like them-- they included a shiny new quarter... one of those new state designs.
Hey! Free software! Trancite gave each attendee a demo copy of its Easy Street Draw program for creating accident and other diagrams. Uh, what's the communications connection?
Carlsbad (Calif.) is looking for a police comm manager-- and they put a job flyer into every attendee bag to advertise it! Surf their Web site for more info.
APCO's Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) team published a flyer with the headline, "Support Public Safety Communications By Choosing the Right Frequency Coordinator." It includes a list of 8 questions you should ask before selecting a coordinator, including the tease, "Where does the funding come from that supports regulatory and legislative issues for public safety communications?"
Odd. Nextel is advertising in the latest issue of APCO's magazine and will have a booth in the exhibit hall. OK, maybe not so odd.
APCO included a "Security Reminder" that explained that attendees should wear their conference badges at all times, and have a picture ID ready for examination by hotel security or Nashville PD officers.
2002 Annual Conference
Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO)
Preview
The last year has been composed of a long list of FCC-related actions--and reactions from APCO. There are a truckload of issues facing public safety, and APCO is facing up to each of these challenges, both with words and actions. The shadow of Sept. 11th is still casting a long shadow, and consequently there are several educational sessions that focus on the increased threat of terrorism.
This year's conference will afford attendees the opportunity to find out how APCO has fared against the FCC, wireless carriers, radio equipment manufacturers and the commercial radio groups. While much of the 911 and radio activities are billed as "teamwork" efforts, make no mistake that it's also often a "revenue vs. government" oriented campaign.
The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is quite a venue: it's surrounded by grassy fields with horses running wild. The circular hotel surrounds a huge, 5-story greenhouse with flowing river, tropical plants, walkways and waterfalls. Right next door, there's a huge shopping center filled with outlet stores and a multi-screen theater. With luck, APCO members will be able to stay focused on the conference and not the surroundings.
This year's keynote event has snagged some big-name politicos to participate in a Town Hall meeting during the open session on Monday. Among those who will talk about public safety and homeland security issues are:
- Former Gov. John Sununu, who was also Chief of Staff under Pres. George Bush
- Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA)
- Michigan Governor John Engler
- FEMA Official Ron Miller
According to APCO, the town hall meeting will, "continue APCO's engagement and dialogue on issues impacting public safety communications and homeland security." Accelera Wireless, LLC is serving as the "premiere" sponsor of the meeting, APCO noted.
The conference will feature two other "SuperSessions" covering homeland security issues, including one featuring former NTSB chairman Jim Hall. APCO also increased the number of exclusive hours for the trade show, and added a 7-9 p.m. Monday exhibit hall wine and cheese session to allow attendees more time to study the latest public safety gear.
Interestingly, APCO notes there are fewer educational sessions this year,
Surf APCO's Web site for more information, and our photo album of the conference site.
Education Sessions
On the first day of the conference, APCO has scheduled two regulatory panels (1:30 and 3 p.m.) that will focus on spectrum and E911 issues respectively. These sessions are typically include some top-level government officials, and are traditionally very spirited and informative.
Throughout the week APCO has scheduled other sessions that fall into several tracks to eliminate what some attendees complained were too many conflicting sessions. They are:
- Telecommunicator Recruitment and Retention
- Management and Planning
- Emerging Technology / Training
- 9-1-1/FCC/ADA Regulatory Issues
- Communications and Information Systems Design and Support
- Global Issues in Telecommunications
The latter category in particular has some interesting sessions, including, "Global Issues for Telecommunications," a session about the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, weapons of mass destruction and intelligence sharing and homeland security issues. Other notable sessions include:
- A Roadmap into the 700 MHz New Frontier, by Dr. Ernie Hofmeister
- Summer of 2002: Reality of E911 in Rural Environments, by Joe Gayer
- Wireless Number Portability and 911: Clash of the Phases, by Rick Jones
- Hackers, Crackers, Terrorists and 911 Centers, by Chris Tucker
- In Building Coverage Considerations Post 9/11 -- How to Provide Needed Coverage, by Ronald J. Jakubowski
- Phase II Experiences of the First Systems to Go Online, by Norm Forshee
- Communications Simulators, by T.G. Mieure
- Trunked Radio System Security, by Dennis Maddox
You'll find the entire conference schedule at APCO's Web site.
APCO members will be voting during the conference on a proposal to increase some membership fees. The resolution notes that it would be the first increase in six years and, "The membership dues of the Association are significantly less than the dues collected by other, similar associations." The fee hike would raise about $112,000 per year, APCO said. Active member dues would go up by $10 to $70, the dues for Member class would increase by $10 to $55, and Commercial class dues would jump $20 to $120. The increase would be effective in 2003.
The APCO Pavilion will host several special events: the newly renamed Project 40 team (now called Project RETAINS) will meet and greet members on Monday, while both on Tuesday and Wednesday the association will demo their new EMD software and hold graduation ceremonies for their Virtual College attendees.
Project RETAINS (Responsive Efforts to Assure Integral Needs in Staffing) has made "great progress" since last year's conference, according to chair Julie Righter. They'll be distributing information on their progress during a Monday 5-7 p.m. at the APCO Pavilion. The project team will also present an educational session on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Project LOCATE, which focuses on wireless E911, is scheduling 15-minute one-on-one sessions with FCC and wireless carrier officials. The project team will also staff a resource room during the conference to allow attendees access to experts on wireless E911.
APCO has formed a Homeland Security Task Force and identified several areas of interest last February, and held a summit on the topic last July. The group will meet again during the conference to consider: security, redundancy, interoperability, training needs, and how major incidents impact comm centers.
After Hours
The Charlie Daniels band is scheduled to play during the traditional Tuesday MANAPCO night festivities. Charlie is a senior member of country music, and received a Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music. He started his career playing bluegrass, and has been nominated for Gammy's and other awards along the way. He's definite a legend in music!
If you're arriving early, the Grand Ole Opry has a night of entertainment on Saturday the 10th. It starts at 9:30 p.m. and features a star-studded lineup of entertainers, including the Dixie Chicks, Lea Greenwood and many others. The venue is just a short walk from the hotel. Check for tickets at this Web site or surf the general Grand Ole Opry Web site.
The Nashville Super Speedway holds NASCAR-level events, including a truck series race on Aug. 10th. Check their Web site for more information.
You can find other Nashville entertainment at:
Public Safety
The Nashville Police and Fire Department each maintain well-designed Web site. The police department's Web site has a Communications Division page.
For scannerists, try this private Web site for Nashville area frequencies.
