Association of Continuity Professionals - FL: Mid Florida (Orlando)

Upcoming Chapter Meeting and Speaker Information

Hosted by the ACP Florida Chapters, this special in-person meeting program will focus on “Exercising, Responding and Interruptions Oh My! – The Lessons We Learn from Our Mistakes” presented by Rebecca "Becky" Christy, Director of Business Continuity at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits.

Space is limited, please RSVP to Eric Olson DRJ attendees are encouraged to bring their conference-issued boxed lunches. Non-conference attendees must RSVP so that a boxed lunch can be provided.

About the Presentation:

Everyone fears failure, but we can learn more form our mistakes then we ever learn from perfection. We often see the perfect results are only really an indicator of a perfect scenario, but the fear of reporting a less than perfect test, keeps us from stretching our teams and preparing them more effectively. Real interruptions and continuity events are never perfect. We will discuss real-life examples of incidents that were plans for where the plans did not work as expected. With each event, we will talk about what lessons learned, how that helped create a more effective plan, and how to improve your ability to plan and respond in the future.

About the Speaker:

Rebecca "Becky" Christy, Director of Business Continuity at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits

Becky has been involved with Incident Management, Business Continuity planning, and Emergency Preparedness for over 20 years. Her focus on continual improvement, training, and partnerships opportunities enhances any program she works with.

She learned leadership and teamwork skills as a Quartermaster Veteran of the US Army Reserves. Since her time in the service, she has worked in multiple industries to gain the experience and knowledge that she brings. Starting at The Geneva Companies, she focused on business process recovery and recovery seat recovery. At Washington Mutual she focused on the people side of continuity working in the Emergency Preparedness (Fire Life Safety) and Incident Management during the business interruptions caused by Hurricane Ike and Gustav. At Karl Storz Endoscopy, she created a program that included an emergency communications strategy, a mass notification tool, identifying and transitioning the manual planning process into a hosted solution, and tested a recovery site strategy for the organization. At Banc of California, she completed the design, data population, and roll-out of a continuity SaaS solution.

She began her journey with Southern Glazer’s, documenting continuity plans, identifying and training incident response teams, monitoring potential business interruptions, assisting local teams respond to interruptions, communicating impacts to management, and assisting other divisions' responses as needed. In her current role, Becky is focussed on the corporate level planning process and working closely with her teammates to develop and maintain several of the tools used to manage BCP data, employee emergency communications, situational awareness, and incident response information, focusing on data integrity and synergy between the tools.

As a prior board member for the Orange County California ACP chapter and an active ACP member for over 20 years, she actively works to encourage experience sharing in the local continuity community and advocates a holistic approach to continuity planning that encourages employees and companies to make BCP a part of day-to-day business.

The ACP Mid-Florida Chapter was founded in January 1993, and was granted benefits and privileges of the Association of Contingency Planners upon acceptance of its Articles of Association on February 3, 1993.

The Mid-Florida Chapter invites you to join us at one of our monthly meetings to share information and experiences. The initial meeting is complimentary as our guest, after which membership is required to attend additional meeting and events. The initial meeting is complimentary as our guest, after which membership is required to attend additional meetings and events.

This is an excellent way to make contacts with other professionals in the business continuity/disaster recovery field and resource information to improve your plans for your own organization.

ACP – Mid-Florida 2024 MVP Award Recipient

The Mid-Florida Chapter recognizes Eric Olson as its 2024 MVP. Eric has led our chapter as President for more than 20 years and inspired us all to be better continuity professionals. He is the consummate leader – quick to listen and provide help or guidance. His support to ACP National has been demonstrated by coordinating the ACP booth at numerous DRJ conferences and excelled in voicing chapter concerns to the National Board. It is with pleasure that we honor him in this way.

Chapter Resources

Welcome to the Mid-Florida Chapter of the Association of Continuity Professionals (ACP). We serve the Central Florida area. Under normal conditions, meetings are typically held in Orlando, on the third Thursday of each month. However, we have moved to virtual meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the health and welfare of our members and guests. We have worked hard in this environment to secure a host of amazing and knowledgeable speakers. Please visit the Events section below to view the current meeting schedule and topic areas.

Our Chapter's Vision Statement: To be recognized throughout Central Florida as THE PREMIER ORGANIZATION for contingency planners and business continuity professionals.