On the Road to #ChefConf – Incident Command System Workshop

Nathen Harvey | Posted on March 22, 2013 | ChefConf | community | DevOps

There are many truisms in complex systems. One such truism: incidents happen.

We all strive to decrease the mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to recovery (MTTR). For more than 40 years a system has been used across many industries to organize, manage, and lead people trying to solve problems. This system is called the Incident Command System (ICS).

We’re bringing some ICS experts to #ChefConf to share their experiences and give you an introduction to the system. Join us for the ICS Workshop on Wednesday, April 24 to learn how you and your team can leverage the ICS to decrease the MTTR for your production incidents.

Here’s the full description of the workshop:

Incident Command System (ICS): How to survive a ‘Bad Day’ Event.

Bad Days happen. It is when, not if. Earthquakes, fires and floods disrupt life and commerce. Data centers with redundant systems go down. If hope or denial that bad things won’t happen is your plan, you’re in deep trouble.

In many cases, the most challenging part of a crisis is not the actual event; it’s organizing, managing, and leading the people trying to solve the problem. Learning how to use the Incident Command System (ICS) is crucial to handling your Bad Day.

A unique team of Incident Commanders and Technologists with over a half-‐century of experience managing complex incidents, from anthrax envelopes to flaming railroad cars filled with propane to the World Trade Center, presents this session.

We offer you an overview of ICS, a command and control system that has been battle tested on the smallest routine emergencies to the largest newsworthy events for over 40 years. From fires to technology outages to your company’s holiday party, it’s the management of the event that is key to success.

FAQs:

Do I have to register for #ChefConf in order to attend the ICS Workshop?

No, you can register for the ICS Workshop independent of #ChefConf. Of course, we’d love to have you stick around for the entirety of #ChefConf!

When and where is the ICS Workshop being offered?

The workshop is being offered as part of #ChefConf 2013. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, April 24 from 10:00AM – 3:00PM at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, 5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111.

Is there a cost for the workshop?

Yes, registration for this workshop is $250.

Who is facilitating the workshop?

This workshop will be facilitated by a team of incident commanders and technologists. Specifically, Rob Schnepp, Ron Vidal, and Chris Hawley.
- Rob is Special Operations Chief for a San Francisco Bay Area Fire Department, which responds to over 30,000 Fire, Emergency Medical, Hazardous Material and Rescue calls per year from a daytime population of 400,000 people, across a service area of 508 square miles including two National Laboratories.
- Ron consults in the areas of strategy, capital markets, mergers & acquisitions, corporate communications, public policy and crisis management for publicly traded and privately held telecommunications, data center and technology clients. Previously, Ron was a senior executive at Level 3 Communications.
- Chris supports the International Counterproliferation Program (ICP) of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), which is the U.S. Department of Defense’s official Combat Support Agency for countering the entire spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosive threats globally.