New NFPA president to be introduced at 2014 NFPA Conference & Expo

LAS VEGAS—The focus of the 2014 National Fire Protection Association Conference & Expo will be health care and sustainability. This year's show also will stand out because NFPA's new president will be introduced to the more than 3,500 expected attendees at the event.

In addition, attendees also will get to hear “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by the winner of a new NFPA contest launched to pick talent to sing the national anthem at the opening of this year's general session of the conference.

The annual NFPA event will be held June 9-12 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center here.

Linda Bailey, NFPA division manager for conferences and meetings, said that health care and sustainability are important to the industry because they're “growth areas.” But those are just two of 13 tracks at the conference, she said.

There will be a total of 150 education sessions along the tracks, she said.

Those of particular interest to dealers and installers include sessions titled “Detecting Residential Fires Faster At Lower Sensitivities With Fewer False Alarms,” “Smoke Alarms: Nuisance Source Characterization,” and “Fire Alarm Requirements of the Model Codes and How They Work With NFPA 72.”

Another highlight of the show, Bailey said, will be “the passing of the baton with the introduction of NFPA's new President and CEO Jim Pauley.” Pauley, now Schneider Electric's senior vice president of external affairs and government relations, will succeed NFPA president James Shannon on July 1.

“[Pauley] has been quite involved with standards making. He was chairman of the NFPA Standards Council,” Bailey said.

She said that “another highlight [of the show] will be the feature presentation” on June 11. That will be given by Kurt Schwartz, Massachusetts undersecretary for homeland security and emergency management and director of the state's emergency management agency, who will speak about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and how a multidisciplined, multijurisdictional approach aided the response and recovery.

“It will be an interesting session,” Bailey said.

The NFPA's national anthem singer contest is a new feature for this year's show. “That's kind of a cool thing,” Bailey said.

Audition videos of individuals or groups of up to five members can be submitted until March 23. A panel of judges at NFPA will select the finalists and public voting on the finalists will take place from March 31 to April 4.

There will be more than 300 solution providers exhibiting at the show. The product showcase that was introduced last year will return this June, Bailey said. “When the folks enter the expo hall, [exhibitors] can have up to four panels on display that will drive folks to their booth,” she said.
�
The show wraps up with the association's technical meeting, which takes place on June 11 and 12.