Awarding Partnership

I had the privilege of watching an award ceremony last night. A local emergency management agency was honoring some of their partner agencies, acknowledging the effort that was put forth for National Preparedness Month. I went into it thinking, “What a great idea; throw a nod to the agencies that mean the most to your organization.” And, on the surface, it is a great idea. What better way to strengthen your partnerships than holding a small (read, cheap) cocktail party, inviting a bunch of people, and giving a plaque to a couple of agency heads who you are definitely going to need on your side in the coming weeks. The plaques were nice. The acceptance speeches were OK (about average for this kind of event). But as I sat looking around the room, it occurred to me what was wrong.

It appeared that the only people who were invited were those who worked for the emergency management agency. (I went as a guest of one of the employees). Seems to me, if you really want to acknowledge someone, you would make a bit bigger deal about it.

Municipally speaking, there is very little partnering going on in the Country. Local agencies (even in the smallest of towns) have their rivalries with each other. As a longtime emergency management planner I can tell you, getting a bunch of agency reps in a room and trying to come up with a citywide approach for any response, even with each agency having clearly defined roles, is no easy feat. Everyone wants to be in charge. It is, without a doubt, one of emergency management’s most difficult tasks, overcoming the egos in any given room.

So the idea of awarding partnerships with public acknowledgement is a phenomenal idea. In fact, I think it’s such a great idea, I plan on ripping it off in the not so distant future. But if it’s not done right, you run the risk of looking almost unappreciative. I know dollars are tight for events of this nature, especially among smaller government agencies. But there is no reason you can’t build in a small “event” fund into your annual budget (and I know that a lot of agencies do). Doing a half-assed job will only make your honorees feel like second-class partners.