Registration has opened for a free symposium March 27 on campus emergency messaging, offering a chance for people who work in emergency planning and management for the University of California to talk shop and share ideas.

The Emergency Messaging Symposium will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, with breakfast and registration starting at 8. The event is co-sponsored by Information and Educational Technology and the UC Davis Office of Emergency Management, as a joint effort between UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis.

The symposium was originally designed for directors and senior managers, although it should also engage project managers, IT staff, and other members of the UC and campus communities interested in the subject.

Topics to be presented or discussed include:

--"Earth, Wind, and Fire: When the Campus Closes," Chris Gaylord, emergency manager, UC Santa Cruz

--"UC Davis Emergency Alert System--Testing and Implementation," Laine Keneller, project manager, UC Davis

--"Where's Waldo? People Locator," Tom O'Brien, programmer/analyst, UC Berkeley

--"Student Perspective on Emergency Notifications," UC Davis and UCLA students

--"Gmail: Lessons Learned from the Pilot, and Plans for Integration with UC Davis Emergency Program," Gaston DeFerrari, project manager, UC Davis

--"Integrating Notification System Elements Using the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)," David Burns, emergency manager, UCLA

A discussion of emergency messaging issues and opportunities is also planned.

Registration closes March 19. Direct questions to Laine Keneller at lwkeneller@ucdavis.ed u or (530) 754-4187.