May 26, 1999 Tech Arena Presentation

by

Leo Frishberg

with

Michael Frishberg
Cliffside Software, Inc.

Automating After Action Reporting with Plan AHEAD
A Process Control Tool

SUMMARY

EIIP Tech Arena Online Presentation
Wednesday - May 26, 1999 - 12:00 Noon EDT

Automating After Action Reporting with Plan AHEAD:
A Process Control Tool

Leo Frishberg
Chief Of Operations
Cliffside Software, Inc.

Michael Frishberg
President
Cliffside Software, Inc.

Amy Sebring
EIIP Technical Projects Coordinator
Moderator

The EIIP Tech Arena welcomed Leo Frishberg, COO of Cliffside Software, Inc., who was assisted in the background by Michael Frishberg, President of the company. The speakers are experienced in exercise design, and discussed their software product, Plan AHEAD. The focus of the dialogue was how to use Plan AHEAD for after the fact, whether it is post-exercise evaluation, or after an actual occurrence. The presentation addressed the maxim: "The job's not done 'til the paperwork is finished".

As stated by Mr. Frishberg, "Regardless of whether you are reporting on an actual incident or trying to document the results of an exercise, the closing activity is creating the After Action Report (AAR). This presentation begins by summarizing features of a typical AAR, the importance of AARs and arguments for a consistent approach to writing AARs. We will then propose a method of creating AARs using the automation tool Plan AHEAD. Our concluding remarks describe how Plan AHEAD adds value to the AAR and the remediation process."

LEO D. FRISHBERG

Chief Operating Officer
Cliffside Software, Inc.

A founder of Cliffside Software, Leo's responsibilities include managing the development of Plan AHEAD. Leo's experience with exercise development goes back 5 years when he graduated from his first FEMA Exercise Design course. Since then, Leo has participated in numerous exercise development efforts, exercise design courses and has trained individuals new to exercising. As the system "architect" for Plan AHEAD, Leo interviewed numerous exercise experts, demonstrated early prototype versions of the application and dedicated years of his life to fashion this powerful exercise / incident reporting tool.

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MICHAEL W. FRISHBERG

President
Cliffside Software, Inc.

Before founding Cliffside, Michael worked for 15 years in new product development for IBM Corp. His marketing and international experience as a planner served him well as Plan AHEAD was being developed. While his only emergency management experience was being a lifeguard as a youth, he appreciates and recognizes the incredible talent and courage of emergency responders. One goal of Cliffside is to make these responders even more effective, and with Plan AHEAD Mike hopes this target was hit.

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CLIFFSIDE SOFTWARE, INC.

Cliffside Software, Inc. is an Oregon corporation that specializes in management planning applications. Plan AHEAD - All Hazard Exercise Administration and Development is Cliffside's first product. Plan AHEAD is used to create the documentation for any type of exercise, for any type of contingency plan. It is installed in 43 state offices of emergency management, many FEMA regions and other government entities. It also is installed in almost every industry sector, making it a unique public/private resource for cooperation when building emergency and other exercises.

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