On Monday, Aug. 19, APCO 2013 attendees had the opportunity to attend the Opening General Session. The session highlighted the accomplishments that have been made by APCO over the past year, and also looked towards goals for the year to come.

Executive Director of APCO International, Derek Poarch, shared that telecommunicators “work in an industry where we leverage technology to protect the public on a daily basis.” He also pointed out the value of partnerships within communications and thanked Verizon for sponsoring the Opening Session.

In his opening remarks, APCO International President Terry Hall highlighted the many successful partnerships that APCO has made over the years and how those relationships continue to thrive and allow APCO to do even more in the communications arena.

Following Terry Hall’s opening remarks, there was the presentation of the PSAP Awards. Executive Director Derek Poarch said, “The men and women working in communication centers around the country represent the very best of our industry, and APCO is proud to recognize their outstanding achievements with our PSAP awards.” He said that PSAPs are where our collective mission is executed, by people like these award winners. The award winners are:

• Lucien Jones, the 2013 Information Technologist of the Year Award, sponsored by General Dynamics
• David Taylor, 2013 RF Technologist of the Year, sponsored by Motorola
• Christine Law, 2013 Telecommunicator of the Year, sponsored by Intrado
• Debbie Wade, 2013 Trainer of the Year, sponsored by Sprint
• Lisa Prouty, 2013 Line Supervisor of the Year, sponsored by Comcast
• New York City Police Department Communications Section, 2013 Team of the Year Award, sponsored by Cassidian
• Monte L. Simpson, 2013 Communications Center Director of the Year, sponsored by Verizon Enterprise Solutions

Additional awards that were presented were the Technology Leadership Awards. These awards are made annually to communications centers that proactively seek solutions to manage technological advancements. The 2013 Technology Leadership Award winners are:

• Richardson Public Safety Communications Center, small to medium PSAP
• Phoenix Police Department Communications Bureau, large PSAP

Don Brittingham, vice president, national security and public safety policy from Verizon, introduced Erik Weihenmayer, the keynote speaker. Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, Weihenmayer has become one of the most celebrated and accomplished athletes in the world. In 2001, he became the only blind climber in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest; and in 2008, he completed his quest to climb the Seven Summits—the tallest peak on each of the seven continents.

Weihenmayer presented his No Barriers mindset and shared that “life is an on-going process of reaching out into the darkness and never knowing what we’ll find,” but we need to reach out anyway. He spoke about converting everyday struggles into everyday greatness. Weihenmayer stated, “It’s always a tough road ahead, but instead of letting it own us, we should own it.”

Poarch closed the session pointing out the many highlights still to come during APCO 2013, including the opening of the exhibit hall and the Distinguished Achievers Breakfast.

With the conclusion of the session, it is clear that, as keynote speaker Erik Weihenmayer said, we must challenge ourselves and push through obstacles, just as this year’s PSAP and technology award winners have done.