For a couple of years now, I’ve been looking at and talking about things that technical communicators need to do to protect themselves and their work. I’ve even got a couple of papers in the IEEE Xplore database on the subject. There are lots of keywords in this arena – security, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, business continuity, and more. My two favorite security blogs are NoticeBored and Bruce Schneier’s Schneier on Security . There’s also a ton of free information out there – for example, U.S. government is publishing lots of advice for people and businesses through Homeland Security , FEMA, and OSHA .

But an occasional technical conference presentation doesn’t really seem to be enough, I want to talk about this more, to feel like I’m DOING more. Recently, I signed up as a volunteer for the American Red Cross here in Tucson to bring emergency preparedness talks to the local community. Actually, that’s not quite accurate – I applied to be a Red Cross volunteer. They’ve got a rigorous application process, involving a background check, references, two interviews, and a very nicely done online training course.

This is something new and exiting for me, I’m looking forward to it!