NFPA Journal

NFPA Journal®, January/February 2011 

By Kate Greene 

Mark your calendar to attend the year’s largest and most important event for the fire protection, life safety, and electrical industries. Join NFPA experts and industry professionals as we gather on June 12–15 for the 2011 NFPA Conference & Expo, widely regarded as the most comprehensive event in the industry. Convening at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the event combines an unrivaled educational conference with an expo of more than 300 participating companies.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend
Here’s why you belong at the largest industry event of its kind in North America.

Every year, thousands of the top fire, electrical, and building safety professionals from across the country and around the world consider attendance at the NFPA Conference & Expo a must. What do they know that keeps them coming back?

They know there’s no better place to be when they’re looking for ways to do a better job…update their knowledge…solve a problem…save money…make more money…keep up with their competition…and much more. Whatever their reasons may be, you’re sure to find plenty of great reasons of your own to attend. Here are just a few.

• Get information you can use on the job immediately. Sessions are geared toward practical knowledge that makes even complex safety issues easy to understand and apply in the workplace.
• Learn directly from the leading authorities. Conference speakers include the industry’s top experts who provide their expertise and insight.
• Gain up-to-date knowledge on current industry topics. NFPA helps develop the codes and standards, so you can be sure you’re getting the most current technical information available.
• Select sessions for your specific needs. With 12 tracks and more than 125 concurrent topics to choose from, you can schedule your time to maximum advantage.
• Earn valuable continuing education credits. CEUs will be awarded for most sessions and standards forums to help you keep up with your licensing requirements.
• Extend your training opportunities. Take advantage of pre- and post-conference seminars to get the maximum value from your conference attendance.
• Make your voice heard. Take part in shaping future codes and standards at the Association Technical Meeting.
• Network with your peers. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet fellow professionals to exchange information and ideas.
• Meet more than 300 top solution providers at the Expo. The exhibit hall will be filled with product and services experts willing to share their knowledge and help solve your problems.
• Advance your career faster. Expand your professional perspective and industry profile, making you a more valuable asset to any business.

The Conference
The NFPA Conference is a rich program and a powerful draw with real-world case studies, code updates, fire system design, technology updates, and industry research results and analysis.

On Sunday, the General Session will feature Daniel Gilbert, who will give a talk on the science of happiness. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller Stumbling on Happiness, and a professor of psychology at Harvard University. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching, and he was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also the host and co-writer of the award-winning PBS television series This Emotional Life and a guest on numerous national broadcasts. Following his talk, he will sign copies of his book in the exhibition hall.

Tuesday’s Spotlight Sessions include a panel discussion on the use of antifreeze in residential sprinkler systems, a review of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, a discussion of the relationship between OSHA electrical regulations and NFPA 70E®, and a presentation on strengthening the impact of fire and life safety messages on children.

This year’s conference offers more than 130 educational sessions, divided into 12 convenient tracks to help you find the sessions that best meet your professional needs. Due to high demand, we’ve expanded the offerings available in the Suppression and Detection Tracks.

Building & Life Safety
Technologies, best practices, and statistical data needed by designers, engineers, and building and fire officials responsible for plans review, inspections, and other building-related tasks.

Codes & Standards 
Expert guidance on the practical application of NFPA codes and standards, as well as information on recent updates and changes.

Detection & Notification
Code requirements and design issues affecting the application of new technologies in alarm and signaling systems, and the impact of maintenance on system performance.

Electrical
Best practices in the electrical industry and how they’re influenced by electrical design issues, successful maintenance programs, effective inspection techniques, and safety programs.

Emergency Preparedness/Business Continuity
The latest methodologies for accurately assessing risks and consequences, emergency preparedness, contingency planning, and incident management and recovery capabilities.

Fire & Emergency Services
A look at what’s new in firefighting technology, safety, and preparedness for first responders, incident command strategies, and fire prevention and inspection techniques.

Fire Protection Engineering Sponsored by SFPE
Ideas for meeting fire protection challenges using computer modeling, field testing, post-incident analyses, and other methods for developing performance-based building solutions.

Fire Suppression
The importance of proper design, installation, inspection, testing, maintenance, and plans review on sprinkler system effectiveness.

Green
How environmentally friendly initiatives affect the design, maintenance, and testing of fire and life safety systems and components.

Loss Control/Prevention
Strategies for mitigating risk through accurate assessment of occupancy and commodity classification, enhanced reliability of fire protection systems, and other risk factors.

Public Education
New planning strategies and creative solutions for meeting the challenges of effective public fire and life safety education.

Research
The latest research into critical fire and life safety initiatives, including the reliability of emerging technologies.

Pre/Post-Conference Seminars 
New for 2011! Arrive early or extend your stay to attend any of the over 25 comprehensive pre/post-conference seminars and gain up-to-date knowledge of codes and standards that relate to you. Some of these seminars will only be offered in Boston. These are priced separately from the main conference and are offered at a substantial discount from NFPA’s regular seminar pricing. Select the schedule that works best for you and enrich your overall experience!

Three-day seminars—June 10–12

• NFPA 70E Certificate
• NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler Systems
• NFPA 72®, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code®
• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, Essentials

Two-day seminars—June 10–11

• Life Safety Code for Health Care Occupancies
• CFPS® Primer
• Code Requirements for Maintaining Fire and Life Safety Systems
• NFPA 1600, Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs
• NFPA 1, Fire Code
• Sprinkler Hydraulics
• NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations
• Temario NFPA 25 (Presented in Spanish)

One-day seminars—June 10

• NFPA 70E Changes
• Emergency and Standby Power
• Explosion Prevention and Protection
• Sprinkler Plans Review

One-day seminars—June 11

• Dust Explosion Hazards
• Hazardous (Classified) Locations
• Fire Protection Concepts and Analysis for Property Loss Prevention
• SFPE’s Overview of Smoke Management Systems
• National Electrical Code for Photovoltaics—Co-sponsored by UL

One-day seminars—June 16

• NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities, Update
• NFPA 3, Recommended Practice on Commissioning and Integrated Testing of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems
• NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, Changes
• Fire Alarm Interfaces

The Expo, Technical Meeting, + More
Opening on June 12, the three-day Expo will showcase the latest products and services from more than 300 of the top solution providers in the fire protection, life safety, and electrical industries. Knowledgeable representatives from these companies will be available to answer your questions and offer solutions to your most pressing challenges. The Expo provides you with the ideal location to see, touch, and try products, as well as meet with a company’s technical staff.

Make connections and learn from your peers: Leverage unparalleled networking by connecting today with your peers through the NFPA blog (nfpa.typepad.com/conference; in Spanish, nfpa.typepad.com/conferencia), Twitter (follow @NFPA), and Facebook (facebook.com/theNFPA and facebook.com/NFPAconf).

In preparation for the show, add the NFPA Conference & Expo mobile app to your phone (available 30 days before the show) and create a customized schedule: search and add conference sessions and exhibits that you’d like to attend, then access your customized list during the show. Virtually all smartphone users (Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Palm OS, Symbian, Java, Windows Mobile, etc.) have free access to the application. To download, search “NFPA C&E” on iTunes App Store, Android Market, or Blackberry App World. If you are on any other mobile phone, you can download the application directly from your mobile browser by going to nfpa.boopsie.com. You will be prompted to download the application for your particular phone, or you may use the “web lite” version of the application from your browser.

During the show, stay connected and meet face to face at the Sunday Networking Rec eption in the exhibit hall. Whether you are looking for a recap of sessions and events as they happen or are interested in joining the conversation, NFPA’s social media offerings make it easier and more accessible than ever.

The Association Technical Meeting: At the heart of the standards-development process is the Association Technical Meeting, held on Tuesday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 15. More than 30 standards are in the Annual 2011 revision cycle and could receive a Notice of Intent to Make a Motion (NITMAM) for the June 2011 Association Technical Meeting or be considered consent standards before the meeting. They include NFPA 1, NFPA 30, NFPA 70E, NFPA 99, and NFPA 101. These standards cover fire codes, flammable and combustible liquids, health care facility safety, building and construction safety, and electrical safety, and more could be voted on during the Association Technical Meeting sessions. On May 6, 2011, the completed Motions Committee Report on Annual 2011 revision cycle standards will be posted on the NFPA website. The Consolidated Motions Committee Report will contain both Fall 2010 revision cycle standards and Annual 2011 revision cycle standards that have received Certified Amending Motions. Technical committee (TC) members will receive 20 percent off conference registration prices.

Book Your Travel and Hotel Early
Take advantage of exclusive travel discounts at nfpa.org/conference. We’ve also negotiated special discounted rates at several hotels close to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center that are easily accessible on foot or by shuttle. These include the Westin Boston Waterfront, which is the headquarters hotel; the Hilton Boston Logan Airport; the Park Plaza Hotel & Towers; the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel; and the Seaport Boston Hotel. Hotel reservations can be made through the official housing partner ONPEAK at nfpa.org/conference or by calling toll-free (U.S.) 1-888-472-4597 or 1-312-527-7300. Book early, as rooms will go fast.

Register at nfpa.org/conference
Reserve your spot today — and remember that NFPA members and Technical Committee members enjoy significant discounts.