Re: DISASTER PLAN

[Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>]

I agree that disaster planning is a serious issue. My use of some far-fetched scenarios was only to take the edge off the fact that we are all mortal and vulnerable in some way. In todays society, everyone expects organizations to function, no matter what. But our human frailties can play havoc with a structure that has no redundancy. For a plant society that is in decline, we can not afford disasters that could loose us even more members. As we struggle to make changes that will revitalize our society, we need protocols in place that can ameliorate those unexpected assaults on our systems. Although we are no longer a leading plant society, since other groups are already adjusting to new realities, we need to keep our act together as we enter a new era. There is a great deal of promise that we could take a new and important role in the plant world, but if we are not prepared for the challenges that confront us we will never be able to move forward.

----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Dennis Hager" <hager@aredee.com>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 9:15:57 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] DISASTER PLAN

Bob, et al.

Disaster planning is a serious issue and I am glad that you have brought it 
up. The AIS is a corporation. A corporation is an entity that functions like 
a person, except that it should be designed to keep on going when the 
originators die. To fail to address disaster planning in some form is a 
serious flaw.

It is impossible to prepare for all contingencies, but at the very least the 
plan should address preservation of data and clearly documenting procedures, 
so that when a person who has key responsibility is unable to do the job, 
somebody can step in to fill their position.

I know that when Anner Whitehead was membership secretary, she went to great 
lengths to document exactly what the job entailed. Likewise, when Catherine 
Button was Treasurer/Membership Secretary of the SJI, she did the same 
thing. Both are to be commended.

Aside from data preservation, organizational structure should be addressed. 
What happens if key persons on the Board are unable to function? Is there a 
clear chain of command? Is it sanctioned? Is there a clear mechanism to fill 
all vacancies? What if there are simultaneous key vacancies?

Having set through more than my share of meetings on disaster planning (in 
both healthcare and governmental settings), I can assure you that in a epic 
disaster, the workings of the AIS are insignificant. Too much planning and 
redundancy is very expensive and time consuming. It is also possible (and 
very likely) that the process will be derailed by a special interest. I saw 
this in meetings I attended concerning county-based planning for the avian 
influenza threat. One hospital-based physician insisted that hospital triage 
was the ONLY important issue, while most attendees were in agreement that 
the vast majority of cases would never get to the hospital and that most 
treatment would be community-based. More incredible was the fact that I sat 
through 2 hours of this doc going back to "hospital triage" while everybody 
else in the room was saying the patients would not get to the hospital. Even 
as outspoken as I am, I couldn't get him to understand that he wouldn't be 
seeing the patients at the hospital. Go figure.

(Off my soapbox one more time)

Dennis Hager



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Pries" <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
To: "AISdiscuss" <aisdiscuss@aisboard.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 1:51 PM
Subject: [AISdiscuss] DISASTER PLAN


> Redundancy Memo: Disaster Plan
>
>
>
> B
>
> An organization the size of AIS should have a disaster plan. Redundancy in
> some positions is one way of coping. Another is back-ups of critical data.
> What if The Lowes were struck by a meteorite. do we have a back-up of the
> checklists off site. What if California had their great earthquake is 
> there a
> copy at another site of our financial records. What if the memberships
> chairbs house burned down do we have offsite a copy of membership 
> records.
> What if the exhibitions chair went into a coma from a car wreck, etc etc. 
> B
> It seems to me we are vulnerable as an organization if we donbt have
> suitable back-up and redundancy policies that are outlined and maintained. 
> T
> HIS SHOULD BE SOMETHING WE COULD WORK OUT BEFORE THE BOARD MEETING.
>
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