On July 11, over 40 attendees of the 2021 Natural Hazards Workshop participated in NDPTC’s Natural Hazards Awareness for Community Leaders (AWR-310). The course was taught by Allison Hardin, CFM, Director of Planning and Development for the City of Conway, who has extensive experience in regional and urban planning, GIS mapping and coordination, floodplain management, hazard mitigation planning, business operations and emergency services. As is common with Allison’s classes, the participant feedback was superlative; Dr. Lori Peek, Director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder, said “Allison Hardin was absolutely AMAZING and she nailed the training session. People LOVED it. Truly loved it, and she carried the whole 4 hours beautifully. The participants clearly gained so much from this….”
Both the course and the workshop were conducted virtually via Zoom and the Pheedloop conferencing platform, which worked together seamlessly and facilitated breakout groups and lively audience participation. This course was one of over 250 virtual courses that NDPTC has conducted since April 2020, reaching over 4000 participants across the country. Even as plans are underway for the resumption of face-to-face training beginning in September, the demand for NDPTC’s virtual training continues to grow.
Director Lori Peek and her staff at the Natural Hazards Center did a fantastic job of coordinating the complex logistics of this year’s workshop (the 46th annual), and NDPTC’s training course was just one of many training, presentation, and display sessions available to the over 790 registered attendees. This year’s theme was “The Hazards and Disaster Workforce: Preparing to Meet 21st Century Challenges,” an issue that many of NDPTC’s courses include.
The Natural Hazards Center and NDPTC will continue to collaborate on events and initiatives in the future. Please look for another NDPTC course at next year’s workshop, scheduled for July 10-13, 2022!
