On May 25 (Day One) and 27 (Day Two), the AWARN Alliance will host a virtual Summit that, for the first time, will bring together broadcast television and other media industry leaders with the nation’s largest alerting authorities.
Unique Opportunity
Recent innovations in media and networking technology, together with a new focus on resilience in the face of natural and manmade disasters, have created a perhaps historic opportunity. Our goal is the development of a voluntary, interoperable, cross-industry framework for improving emergency alerting and informing. At the AWARN Summit, we will work to develop a set of guiding principles to aid emergency managers and broadcast TV stations as they establish model agreements at the local level for rolling out Next Generation Emergency Messaging powered by NEXTGEN TV/ATSC 3.0.
Interactive Format
Through two half-days of informational panels, briefings, and interviews, as well as breakout discussions and networking. Building on IPAWS, discussions will include the use of NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) and ‘Broadcast Internet’ in an all-digital, public-private ‘network of networks’ to improve our response to many types of emergencies.
DAY ONE Agenda: Challenges and Opportunities (Expert panels and briefs, open to press)
Day One of The AWARN Summit will bring together experts in emergency communication from across the nation to share information through panels and discussion. This open event will give attendees an up-to-date perspective on the current alerting landscape in the US and examine how the new ATSC 3.0 technical standards can improve the way we communicate in emergencies.
1PM ET | Welcome and overview of AWARN
Kick-off and logistics – Anya Shetler, AWARN Communications Director
Welcome, with thanks and acknowledgements – John Taylor, SVP LG Electronics North America and AWARN Steering Committee Chair
Goals for the Summit and plans for regional roundtables – John Lawson, AWARN Alliance Executive Director
1:15PM ET | How ATSC 3.0/NextGen TV supports advanced alerting and messaging
Madeleine Noland, President, Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)
1:30PM ET | State of Alerting with the AWARN Advisory Council
Moderator – John Lawson, AWARN Alliance Executive Director
FEMA IPAWS – Wade Witmer, Deputy Director
NWS – Mike Gerber, Physical Scientist
NCMEC – John Bischoff, Vice President, Missing Children Division
APCO – Jeffrey Cohen, Chief Counsel and Director of Government Relations
DHS S&T – Denis Gusty, PMP, Branch Chief
- Strengths and gaps in our current alerting environment
- Desired improvements
- Thoughts on role of NextGen TV for advanced emergency communications
2:15PM ET | KEYNOTE “Fireside Chat”
Adam P. Symson, President and CEO of E.W. Scripps Company – the nation’s largest holder of broadcast spectrum and a driving force in multi-platform news
John Lawson, AWARN Alliance Executive Director
BREAK (5 minutes)
2:30PM ET | Innovation in Weather Alerting
Moderator – Mark Taylor, weather technologist
Kodi Berry, PhD, FACETs Program Lead, NSSL
Mike McClain, VP and General Manager, FOX Weather
Veronica Johnson, Lead Meteorologist, WJLA DC
- New distribution capabilities with NextGen TV
- Need for “common look and feel” in alerts alongside station branding
- Integration of NWS alerts with local TV weather alerts and forecasting
- How to communicate Probabilistic Forecasting
3PM ET | All Emergencies are Local
Moderator – Ron Prater, Executive Director, Big City Emergency Managers
Mark Annas, Emergency Services Administrator for the City of Riverside, CA
Ben Krakauer, Executive Advisor to the Commissioner at NYC OEM
Mike Fabac, Director of News & Marketing, News-Press & Gazette Company
Josh Gordon, Sinclair Broadcast Group/ONE Media 3.0
- Latest survey data: where people turn for news in emergencies
- Collaboration between EMs and newsrooms during emergencies
- Who provides what content for NextGen Emergency Messaging
- Leveraging hybrid over-the-air (OTA) and over-the-top (OTT) distribution
3:45PM ET | KEYNOTE – Call for “IPAWS 3.0”
Lt. Gen. Reynold Hoover, USA (ret)
Participation in Day One of The Summit is open to anyone who is employed by a company/organization/agency that is a member of the AWARN Alliance or the AWARN Advisory Council, or who are invited guests. Press may be invited. Registration is required for this event.
DAY TWO Agenda: How do we get to NGEM? (Closed-door/off-the-record breakout discussions)
Day Two of the AWARN Summit will bring together members of the AWARN Alliance, the AWARN Advisory Council, and invited guests to discuss how to build meaningful and effective partnerships to launch Next Generation Emergency Messaging. Day Two will include breakout discussions between key emergency communications stakeholders. This “closed-door” segment of The Summit is by invitation only and will be closed to the press.
1PM ET | Summary of Day One
John Lawson, AWARN Alliance Executive Director
1:10PM ET | KEYNOTE
Alex Amparo, Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator for Resilience at FEMA
1:20PM ET | Advanced Alerting Beta Launches
Pete Sockett, Director of Engineering and Operations, WRAL/CBC
So Vang, VP of Emerging Technologies, ONE Media 3.0
Fred Engel, CTO, PBS North Carolina
- Progress report and launch plans
- Technical integration
- Consultations with local alert originators
- Reaching first-responders with encrypted messaging
1:50PM ET | Reaching people across platforms and end-user devices
Moderator – John Taylor, SVP LG Electronics North America and AWARN Steering Committee Chair
Kerry Oslund, VP of Strategy and Business Development, EW Scripps Company
Peter Riordan, Head of Worldwide Broadcast Go To Market Strategy, Media & Entertainment, Amazon Web Services
Imad Mouline, CTO, Everbridge
- NEXTGEN TV sales and projections
- Vehicular deployment at the “Motown 3.0 Test Track”
- Amazon Web Services’ perspectives on alerting and NextGen TV
- Opportunities for integration across platforms to improve alerting
2:20PM ET | Introduction to breakout sessions – Anya Shetler, AWARN Communications Director
BREAK and move to Breakout Rooms
2:30PM ET | Breakouts on Guiding Principles for Creating Local Models
- Identify guiding principles for EM and TV station collaboration for advanced alerting
- Surface open questions that still must be addressed for successful local agreements
- Decide who should be “at the table” for developing local agreements
- Explore synergy with State Emergency Communications Committees and Local EES’s, given the enhanced role of Governors under the READI Act and pending FCC rules
3:30PM ET | Reporting from Breakouts – groundwork for regional roundtables
3:55PM ET | Concluding remarks on next steps toward NGEM
4-4:30PM ET |Optional post-event networking session
Separate registration is required for Day Two of the Summit. You will receive a confirmation email upon approval.
For more information, please contact Anya Shetler at anya@AWARN.org. Sponsorship Opportunities are available.
