Subscribe to EM's Weekly Newsletter


View Sample


Emergency Management Blogs

Emergency Management Blog - Eric Holdeman: Disaster Zone
Disaster Zone

by Eric Holdeman: Emergency management in the blogosphere

Subscribe via RSS | About this Blog | Contact Eric Holdeman | Blog Roll

Being Regional is a Team Sport
April 21, 2008
Bookmark and Share

Subscribe to Disaster Zone

Get Eric Holdeman posts delivered via

Emergency Management's Weekly Email
Disaster Zone RSS feed
Eric_Holdeman on Twitter

Yesterday I was out raking leaves doing my fall clean-up in April, and I started thinking about regional stuffâ€"as I seem to do. The thought came to mind about the Celebrity Apprentice TV Show that aired this year on NBC.

The winner was Piers Morgan. He played a tough game and he played to win. Throughout the show he was on teams of people, either as the leader or participant. But, his often stated goal was to win the competition and become the Celebrity Apprentice, thus winning money for his charity.

What I see is jurisdictions and organizations that enter into regional activities and they acknowledge that they are on a regional team. And, like Piers Morgan, they also want to win individually. This is where the problem comes in.

If you want to have a successful regional effort in the area of emergency management and homeland security, then it has to be a total group effort. You cannot say I'm going to participate, but I've got to win. Winning sometimes is defined as "maintaining control, getting the most funding, making sure no one else gets more than you do, etc."

Regional is a true team sport, and if all the players are not functioning as a team, well then it doesn't make any difference how good you are individually, like the last USA Olympic Basketball team you won't win the gold.

The disaster will win and people will suffer because of your attitude.
Top

Comments
Add a Comment



Latest Emergency Management News

Virginia Tech Developing Drone Helicopter to Investigate Nuclear Disasters

Helicopter could provide critical on-site intelligence following a nuclear disaster.
Lawmakers Push for E-Verify Replacement Following Report

Report commissioned by DHS found E-Verify overlooks a large number of illegal immigrants applying for jobs.
D-Block Dilemma
D-Block Dilemma: Will the FCC Waive the Auction Requirement?

The digital transition opened new channels for public safety, but a failed FCC auction has put the future of public safety broadband in jeopardy.

Latest Blog Posts RSS

Emergency Management Blog - Eric Holdeman: Disaster Zone March 13--Quote of the Week
Mar 13 "You must treat information as a commodity as important as the more traditional and tangible…
Emergency Management Blog - Eric Holdeman: Disaster Zone Remember Haiti?
Mar 12 We've moved on, right? American Idol has us talking around the water coolers about who…
Emergency Management Blog - Jeanette Sutton: Web 2.0 The Wisdom of the Crowd
Mar 12 Over the past few weeks I've been watching an amazing online social movement take place…

4 Ways to Get EM

Subscribe to Emergency Management MagazineFollow Emergency Management on TwitterSubscribe to Emergency Management HeadlinesSubscribe to Emergency Management Newsletters

Blog Archives


Weekly Newsletter Subscription

SUBSCRIBE TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Get 6 issues of EM's print magazine.
Subscribe Back Issues