PREPARED BY:
Alicia Billard
Acting Director, Fund Development Canadian Red Cross | Atlantic Zone
133 Troop Avenue | Dartmouth | Nova Scotia | CA | B3B 2A7 [email protected]
T 902-424-1404 | C 902-717-8605
Building on last year’s relationship strengthening focus, the 2014 Disaster Management Forum will be centred on the theme of Frequency and Complexity of Emergencies- It’s Shaping our Business. More than 250 key professionals attend the conference annually from across Atlantic Canada and beyond. The Disaster Management Forum is a vital professional development tool and the only one of its kind east of Toronto.
Attendee Profile
Demographics from previous years indicate 68 per cent of attendees are from Atlantic Canada, 24 per cent from Halifax Regional Municipality and 8 per cent from across the country. Our audience is highly trained and includes experienced decision makers at all levels of government, particularly leaders in municipalities. In 2013, the event attracted 205 active participants.
Past attendees include: first responders, municipal employees, representatives from emergency management offices, military liaisons and federal representatives from the departments of Public Safety Canada, Environment Canada, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Why be a sponsor?
Sponsoring this forum is a direct contribution to the vitality and resliency of our communities in Atlantic Canada, and specifically Halifax Regional Municipality. In the wake of disasters, the Red Cross staff and volunteers, emgerency management officers, first responders and our other conference attendees are on the scene ready to help those in their time of need. This Disaster Management forum allows these professionals to work and learn together enabling them to be better prepared to respond to the next house fire, hurricane, or evacuation. Your sponsorship dollars make this important educational opportunity possible, and hundreds of people better equipped to respond to disasters which occur every twenty seven hours in Atlantic Canada.
What’s new?
This year we are very excited to announce that attendees will be participating in a user-friendly social media exercise developed and run for us by the Canadian Safety and Security Program, led by Defence Research and Development Canada, looking at the affects of technology, both positive and negative within the scope of a disaster.
One aspect of SMEM (Social Media in Emergency Management) still largely untested in Canada in this age of smart phones and iPads is how to engage and integrate the "virtual volunteer community” in disaster recovery and in building community resilience. Attendees will be asked to download an app developed for the conference, which will address this topic.
Our Partnership We respectfully ask that you consider sponsorship of the Disaster Management
Forum in 2014.
This year’s conference will be held on November 18-20, 2014 at Holiday Inn Harborview in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, mere minutes away from downtown Halifax.
I have also included with this sponsorship ask, a copy of the 2013 Conference report which outlines the success of this event.
Sponsor Benefits Platinum Gold Silver Lunch Bronze Break
Prominent display of your company name/logo on all forum materials and website
● ● ●
Link to your website ● ● ● Banner at the forum ● ●
Public thank you at opening and close of conference ● ● ● ● ● ● Representative to give remarks at opening of forum ● Inclusion of a feature sponsor advertisement in conference program ● ● ● ● Complimentary registration(s) 4 2 1 1 1 1 20% discount on additional registrants ● ● ● ● ● ● Complimentary exhibitor booth ($1,000 value) ● ● ●
Half price exhibitor
booth ($500 value) ● ● ● Plaque of appreciation and invitation to annual recognition event ● ● ● ● ● ● Opportunity to have representative on forum committee ● ● ● Sponsorship Value 10,000 7,500 5,000 5,000 2,500 2,500
2013 Final Sponsor Report
PREPARED BY:
December 10, 2013
PO Box 70016, RPO Cobequid Lower Sackville, NS B4C 0B1 Phone (902) 482-8641 or Fax (866) 896-6310
2013 General Review
On November 18-20, 2013, the Canadian Red Cross held the Annual Disaster Management Conference to learn, network and connect with others who specialize in aspects of disaster preparedness and response.
The 2013 event attracted 205 total participants broken down as follows: • 123 Attendees
• 44 EMO Attendees
• 27 Sponsor and Exhibitor Representatives o 7 Sponsors
o 9 Exhibit booths • 11 Speakers
In addition, there were about 20 Red Cross volunteers who helped on the registration desk and in sessions as required.
2013 Event Design
The 2013 Conference included:
• Pre-conference workshop hosted by Ravi Tangri
• A Sponsor/Exhibitor Welcome Reception in the exhibit hall
• Conference sessions including 5 keynotes, an all participant exercise, and breakout sessions.
The host hotel was the Delta Halifax Hotel which housed the majority of the attendees at the conference and almost all the spaces required. The exception was the pub night hosted at Durty Nellys.
The registration desk was setup in the foyer of the main meeting space. The check-in process was efficient with no lineups thanks to the hard work by the Red Cross volunteers who helped at the registration desk and throughout the conference time period.
2013 Post Event Survey Results
A post event survey was distributed to all the registered attendees. There were 91 respondents out of 205 attendees which is just over 44% of the group sampled.
General Conference Feedback
Sponsor/Exhibitor Feedback
Responses to The conference organizing team knows there are always ways to improve the sponsor and/or exhibit experience. Please provide any comments or suggestions to ensure all investors and participants get return on investment by participating.
if there is away I would like to show Membertou how importing emergency management and response teams are to any community and to get more involved and sponsor to a great cause.
We were hoping to have a better appreciation of how our company can partner during a crisis. We have been involved in many disasters across the country and we were looking for more direction.
We appreciate being able to come and promote our organization. We found the space delightful and roomy. Last year we found it very cramped. Thank you again
I feel this is the closest matched conference to my needs (disaster management). However, it has lost its Atlantic appeal to me by being too centralized to the Halifax area municipality. More representation should come from other provinces. There should also be introductions of delegations from each region at the beginning of the conference. Overall- every Red Cross region should be responsible to planning a portion of the conference ensuring it meets the needs of the region.
The conference should also be promoted as "training"; rather than a conference. I spoke to Rhonda about that aspect. Thanks for a good conference- just a few points that I would like to see incorporated in future ones.
