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Risky Business: Planning for Pandemic Flu was a full-day conference on avian influenza for senior business leaders and decision makers with responsibility for business continuity, health, human resources, information technology, and security. Held on June 21, 2006, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the event was cosponsored by the UPMC Disaster Management Center, the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Public Health Preparedness, the Three Rivers Contingency Planning Association, and the Pittsburgh Regional Business Coalition. The conference brought together experts and leaders from the medical, public health, and business continuity sectors to apprise Pittsburgh leaders of the threat of avian influenza and to offer suggestions on what the Pittsburgh business community could do to prepare and respond. The symposium was attended by more than 200 individuals from more than 100 different organizations (see Appendix).

The objectives of the conference were: (1) to apprise Pittsburgh business leaders of the current pandemic influenza situation, (2) to provide a forum for business leaders to share information and inform each other about existing plans and issues, (3) to support the creation and implementation of company-specific planning, and (4) to begin a long-term initiative to bring business and healthcare leaders together to protect the community. As Secretary Leavitt has stated repeatedly, “Any community that fails to prepare with the idea that somehow, in the end, the federal government will be able to rescue them will be tragically wrong.” With this in mind, leaders in medicine, public health, critical infrastructure, and regional business were eager to share information and experiences.

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