Association of Continuity Professionals

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The Greater Tampa Bay Chapter of The Association of Continuity Professionals ("GTBACP") is a non-profit, mutual benefit association of business professionals who are responsible for, or participate in, contingency planning, disaster recovery, crisis management and/or business resumption planning. Greater Tampa Bay Chapter is an authorized operating entity of the Association of Continuity Professionals (a.k.a. - ACP).

Our members speak on why you should become a member of the ACP - YouTube

ACP - Greater Tampa Bay Mission Statement

"The Association of Continuity Professionals is a diverse community of risk and resilience professionals providing networking, professional development, and a pathway for those new to the profession."

ACP - Greater Tampa Bay VISION Statement

"To become the premier global membership community for risk and resilience professionals."

In the summer of 1997, Tami Smyrski, who was the contingency planner for Raymond James, organized an informal meeting of other contingency planners in the Bay area to explore the interest in forming a formal organization. They met once or twice more before she resigned her position. Bay Area Contingency Planners Coalition (BACPC) was adopted as the group's name. Karen Haider took over the contingency planner position in February of 1998 and inherited her notes and mailing list.

Meetings continued throughout 1998; officers were elected in April of 1998. After considering affiliating with ACP, the group decided to organize formally as a nonprofit organization, which was accomplished in the summer of 1998. In 1999 BACPC joined the Association of Continuity Planners and changed its name to the Greater Tampa Bay Chapter of ACP (GTBACP) and Jim Serina of TECO was elected as President of GTBACP.

Today, the GTBACP has more than 75 members, representing a diverse group of businesses and industries in the Tampa Bay Area. We hold monthly meetings with a focus on educating our members on industry best practices and timely happenings. Meeting topics range from tours of the National Weather Service in Ruskin and the Pinellas County EOC to roundtable discussions about standards and guidelines within the business continuity management industry.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President

Brandon Edwards

Vice President

Katie Godwin

Secretary

Polly James

Treasurer
Kiley Stinson

Membership Director
Gail Moraton

Program Director

Linda Crow

Communications Director
Terrie Barbarossa

EXTERNAL RELATIONS DIRECTORS

Director of External Relations

External Conference & Education Partners and Association Relations

Lisa Smallwood

Director of External Relations

Emergency Management and University Partnerships

Paul Latham

Chapter Ambassadors

Barry Ballinger

Sherri Flynn

Stacy Jackson

Dennis Reid

Please visit our LinkedIn page for current job postings.

CHAPTER Sponsors

We have several new sponsorship and speaking opportunities available. If you, or anyone you know, has an interest in sponsoring and supporting GTBACP, please contact us at VP@gtbacp.com. The cost of an annual sponsorship is $500.

Sponsor Benefits Include:

Sponsor logos will be placed in the GTBACP newsletters and on the Chapter website.
Sponsors will be recognized at each monthly chapter meeting (virtually or in-person), when held. Chapter meetings are not held in October or December.
Sponsorship fees will allow up to two (2) meeting attendees (ACP Members or non-members) from the sponsoring organization to attend one (1) meeting at no additional cost. Any additional sponsor attendees who are not ACP members will be charged at the visitor rate. The first-time policy does not apply.
Sponsors will be given ten (10) minutes prior to one (1) chapter meeting to speak or present to the membership about the company’s products and/or services, and/or share their company’s experiences with the group.
For in-person meetings, a table will be provided for one (1) meeting for sponsors to display marketing materials and promotional items. Attendee lists cannot be provided but business cards can be collected for giveaways.