Take a look at DRI2016’s conference program. We’ve redesigned the schedule to bring you more speakers and sessions than ever before, with a wide variety of in-depth topics from which to choose!

These amazing breakout and plenary sessions — including two dedicated tracks focused on risk management and technology — are presented by industry thought leaders as well as several DRI Awards of Excellence recipients! There are Q&A’s, case studies, interactive activities, and more, covering a huge variety of subjects: supply chain, IT/DR, cyber attacks, audits, executive buy-in, drones, the CDC…it’s too much to list in one post!

Here are just a few of the sessions we’ve got lined up for you:

Supply Chain and the Most Serious Global Risks
Linda Conrad, Zurich, and Chloe Demrovsky, DRI International
Each year, a few weeks before the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, Zurich Insurance Group co-produces a report on global risk. Currently, in its tenth year, the report, which began by merely identifying risks, now analyzes the connections between them, along with the “cascade effect” of such events as natural disasters, economic crises and geopolitical strife. The result is one of the most comprehensive references available for businesses and supply chains engaged in global commerce. During this session, DRI’s Executive Director Chloe Demrovsky will facilitate a conversation with Linda Conrad, director of strategic business risk for Zurich, who reviews the conclusions of the report as it relates to both developed and developing countries. She also discusses why this year’s report marks a change in the list of top global risks.

The Tide is High…and Rising: Exelon Corporation’s Response and Recovery from Corporate Headquarters Flood
Erin Holloway, Exelon Corporation
What is the likelihood that a crisis could happen at work? This question is posed often by Exelon’s Business Services Company (BSC), the leadership and support services of the entire enterprise. Unlike the utilities they support, crisis management is not a typical daily task for BSC. With so few incidences, they could lose sight of the criticality and urgency to prepare for disasters if they are not deliberate and proactive.

On Sunday, October 26, 2014, BSC’s preparedness was tested when five out of the 11 floors that Exelon occupies at its Chicago headquarters were severely damaged due to a flood, impacting approximately 600 employees. This session will cover Exelon’s coordinated response (for which they won the 2015 DRI International Response and Recovery of the Year Award!) to the incident, impacts and business unit recovery, and collective collaboration through use of a pre-established Incident Response Team. Additionally, best practices and key lessons learned following the incident will be presented.

Vital Lessons Learned: VITA’s Award-Winning DR Strategy
Josh Haravay, Virginia Information Technology Agency
How do you design and implement and effective DR strategy? Attend this session to hear from the recipient of the 2015 DRI International IT Infrastructure Award Winner who will share lessons learned, the top five dos and don’ts, as well as the reasons why the answer that’s intuitive may not always be right. Virginia Information Technologies (VITA) is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s consolidated technology services and solutions provider responsible for the state’s technology infrastructure, governance, security and oversight of major information technology projects, and procurement of technology-related goods and services on behalf of state and local governments.

Cyber Attack Simulation Experience — Results Revealed
Jim Wexler, Experiences Unlimited, and Gary Villeneuve, DRI International
This session will look at how to immerse participants in best practices for crisis Leadership – challenging them to develop the critical thinking and judgment skills required to respond to, and lead, during a crisis.

The Cyber Attack Simulation Experience, in which all attendees are invited to participate, gathers user data to gauge effectiveness and deliver personalized coaching and feedback. We’ll discuss the DRI user survey results to understand the mastery level of participants and how simulations like this can provide a diagnostic that identifies and addresses essential skills needed when crisis hits.

While BCM training usually prepares execs for “Routine” Emergencies with relative predictability, crisis emergencies are distinguished by significant elements of novelty that require different capabilities. We’ll also share how this approach is helping a global bank’s execs experience real world crisis situations in which the unpredictable happens.

You’ll get to experience these and many other session highlights at DRI2016, coming to the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Mar. 6-9. We’ll see you there!