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As of Monday, October 17, roughly 8.3 million people have signed up to participate in the fourth annual Great California ShakeOut. On Thursday, October 21 at 10:21 a.m., schools, university and municipalities will be practicing a state-wide earthquake drill. The ShakeOut was started in an effort to increase earthquake preparedness and practice response so as to reduce recovery time. Last year, Blackboard Connect helped deliver more than 1.12 million messages for ShakeOut events. An important stress test of sorts, the Blackboard Connect system sent many of these ‘drill’ calls in a short window of time to a narrow geographic region. If you are a resident of California, Idaho, Oregon or Nevada (click here for a full list of participating states/regions), get involved in this year’s event by registering here to find out what to do in the event of an earthquake. To learn more about how Blackboard Connect can help you enhance preparedness, watch our recent presentation, ‘Are You Prepared for an Emergency?’

Last week, the Connect team was on-site at Prince William County Schools in Manassas, Virginia to train its users on the new Blackboard Connect 5 interface. We met with administrators and educators from schools and departments across the district to demonstrate the new features and functionality. In the breaks between training sessions, we gathered reactions and received feedback from training attendees.

September is National Preparedness Month and we have been highlighting the importance of preparedness in local communities and in K-12 schools and districts. Recently, we came across a story from the University of San Diego reminding us of the importance of being prepared, especially on college campuses. While nearly 5 million people across Southern California, Arizona and Northern Mexico were without electricity, students at USD only experienced a mere 30 seconds of power loss during the county-wide blackout that occurred earlier this month. How did the campus stay powered? Vice Provost and Chief Information Officer, Chris Wessells, credits the university’s excellent emergency planning program.

September is National Preparedness Month, and we’re marking the occasion at Blackboard Connect with a series of reflections on the ways that our clients are using mass notification to keep their communities safe and prepared. So far this year, we have seen  earthquakes, blackouts, hurricanes and tropical storms, demonstrating the importance of preparedness, especially for K-12 schools and districts.

The smell of fall is in the air, which means we’re gearing up for the 97^th Annual ICMA Conference. Every year, ICMA hosts the grand event, bringing local government leaders and officials together from across the country to share experiences and discover new resources for managing communities. Held in Milwaukee, WI, a hub for freshwater research and technology, the theme this year is “Fresh Water, Fresh Ideas,” as the conference will provide educational sessions for attendees with the focus on ‘fresh ideas.’