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When Al Qaeda struck the Twin Towers on 9/11, another three thousand of my co-workers at Morgan Stanley would have died that day, had it not been for the efforts of one man who understood danger, Rick Rescorla, our head of security.

After the 1994 basement bombing of the towers, Rick had the foresight to predict that the next attack would be from air. Those of us who spent any time working in the towers were drilled on escape routes. Rick appointed and trained floor monitors to aid evacuations. Data back up systems were set up all around the country.

When the North Tower was struck by the first jet, Rick over-road the Port Authority Police and ordered an immediate evacuation of the South Tower where many of my friends worked. Had he not done so, everyone would have perished in the collapse. Rick, a hero to all at the firm, died in the stairwell that day as bravely he lived, helping others to the very end.

As tragic as the events of that day were, Morgan Stanley was up and running the next morning because of people like Rick who prepared and planned for the unexpected.

Would your firm be as fortunate?

In a TIME Magazine poll, about half of those surveyed said they had personally experienced a natural disaster or public emergency, but only 16% said they were "very well prepared" for the next one.
"There are four stages of denial," says Eric Holdeman, director of emergency management for Seattle. "One is, it won't happen. Two is, if it does happen, it won't happen to me. Three: if it does happen to me, it won't be that bad. And four: if it happens to me and it's bad, there's nothing I can do to stop it anyway."
In Ventura County we’ve known earthquakes, fires, floods, and landslides. If you add terrorism, SARS, Avian Flu, power outages, water shortages, dirty bombs and nuclear accidents to that list, you might agree that this year’s Conference just might be the most important program we have ever produced.

On a different note I want to congratulate all of our VCEDA members for their continued activism. We were recently recognized by the Small Business Administration, the Pacific Coast Business Times and the Workforce Investment Board for our efforts on behalf of region, including helping to preserve Naval Base Ventura and defeating the LA Sanitation Department’s attempt to destroy county agriculture and the Santa Clara River watershed.

When asked why VCEDA has been so successful of late, I like to tell this short story:

A number of years ago when I was working on my book about the film industry, “Opening the Doors to Hollywood,” I was fortunate enough to interview, Robert Wise, the director of “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music.”

When I asked Mr. Wise what it took to sell a film project, he replied with what he called the “Three P’s: Patience, Persistence, & Passion.” How else are you going to convince somebody to part with $60 million dollars?

The three P’s resonated in my mind as it had taken 25 years of patience, persistence and yes, passion, to convince the woman I fell in love with in college to finally marry me.

However a few months later when I was editing the draft of my book, Mr. Wise called back to say he had changed his mind about the “Three P’s.” Having been divorced twice I started to get worried about what he might say.

What he said was this: “The three P’s are really “Passion, Passion and Passion.

Without passion you will never find the courage to tackle the impossible;

Without passion you will never have the strength to endure;

And without passion you’ll never find the magic that invites success.

So at VCEDA, it really comes down to this: We love what we do. And we have fun doing it. When you head back to work today, I hope find that same magic.

And unless you suffer from “triskaidekaphobia,” I expect to see you on Friday, the 13th for “Dodging Katrina and Homeland Insecurity.”