Business Continuity Conference Draws Record Attendance

• DRI International increases annual conference attendance by 50%
• Growth reflects C-Suite interest in business resilience

NEW YORK – April 27, 2015 – Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI), the foremost business continuity certification and education organization in the world, reported record attendance at its annual conference, held this year from March 1-4 in San Antonio. The DRI 2015 conference proved to be DRI's most successful conference boasting a 50% increase in attendance over last year's conference.
This is indicative of DRI's overall growth; having doubled the number of certified professionals worldwide between 2009 and 2014. Of equal importance is the tripling of non-US certified professionals during this same period.
"DRI2015 was our best-ever conference, both in terms of attendance and in the level of thought leadership," said DRI International President and CEO Al Berman. "Every year we hear from the outstanding individuals who help DRI move closer to achieving its mission of creating a more resilient global community. We are very excited to build on key learnings from this year's conference at DRI2016."
Founded in 1988, DRI helps organizations prepare for and recover from disasters by providing thought leadership, education and accreditation in business continuity and related fields. Notable presenters at the DRI 2015 conference included Rick Stotts, Principal with Booz Allen Hamilton and lead for Air Force Intelligence and Air Force Information Operations and Cyber; Kurt N. Schwartz, Undersecretary for Massachusetts Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency; and Melinda Rahe, Corporate Business Continuity Program Manager with Dell. Their presentations and other materials from the DRI 2015 conference are available in DRI’s online presentation library.

"In a business world that is increasingly at risk of events beyond its control, resilience is rising up the ladder of C-Suite priorities," said Berman. "At DRI, we're seeing this reflected not only in record conference attendance, but in the number of disaster recovery and business continuity professionals we certify each year."

In addition to advising corporations, governments, law enforcement agencies, and NGOs, DRI certifies individuals in business continuity, risk management, and disaster response. Training is available in 12 languages and 50 countries. Today, some 12,000 professionals are DRI certified. This number represents a 75% growth surge in just the last five years.
"As the significance of business continuity reaches the forefront of public and private sector organizational priorities, DRI's training and industry leadership efforts continue to prepare the world to face the daunting task of coping with the growing disasters, be they natural or man-made," said Chloe Demrovsky, Executive Director, DRI International.
Through its International Awards of Excellence, DRI recognizes individuals and organizations demonstrating excellence in continuity management, technology recovery, and crisis management. Spanning a broad cross-section of industries, from insurance to banking and NGOs to consultants, winners were announced at the DRI 2015 conference as follows:
• Continuity Awareness Award - Kaiser Permanente
• Response and Recovery of the Year - Exelon Corporation
• Strategy of the Year - Pauline Williams-Banta, The Energy Authority
• IT Infrastructure Award - Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA)
• Notification System of the Year - Regroup
• Planning Software of the Year - ClearView Continuity
• Service Provider of the Year - Sungard Availability Services
• Team of the Year - Commercial International Bank- Egypt
• Consultant of the Year - Arun Sharma, Control Risks
• Industry Newcomer of the Year - Emad Aziz, Department of Internal Services, Province of Nova Scotia
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Daniel Hendrix, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
• Program Leader of the Year (Public Sector) - Brian Gray, United Nations
• Program Leader of the Year (Private Sector) - Larry Chase, Symantec
• Program Leader of the Year (Non-Profit Sector) - Jill Frater, University of Southern California

Building on momentum from this year's conference and significant organizational growth, DRI will expand its efforts throughout 2015 and beyond into issues such as cyber-security, cloud technology, and supply chain management. In addition, a newly created Collegiate Conference series will provide access to academic scholars and research.
"The breadth and depth of the issues that we continue to face as a profession and as a community will force us to expand our knowledge and skill sets," said Berman. "We must be more technically savvy, more risk aware and more focused on leading the movement toward building resilience."

DRI2016
DRI2016 will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from March 6-9, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Please visit http://driconference.org for more information.

About DRI International
Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI) is the leading nonprofit that helps organizations around the world prepare for and recover from disasters by providing education, accreditation, and thought leadership in business continuity and related fields. Founded in 1988, DRI has 13,000+ certified professionals in more than 100 countries and conducts native-language training in more than 50 countries, offering in-depth courses ranging from introductory to masters level, as well as specialty certifications. The organization's annual DRI Conference brings together leading business continuity professionals from both the public and private sector to share best practices and participate in continuing education and volunteerism. Through its Collegiate Conference Series, DRI is helping to create the business continuity professionals of tomorrow, partnering with universities to introduce students and faculty to this rapidly-growing field through day-long networking and educational programs. As a recognized expert resource, DRI acts in an advisory capacity to international organizations and government institutions worldwide, helping to create industry standards and promote greater resilience through public-private partnerships. DRI is an ANSI-accredited Standards Development Organization.


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Raquel Tanz
G&S Business Communications
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