Tennessee Bankers Association

The plan’s on paper… but the proof is in the testing

The Tennessee Bankers Association (TBA) serves the needs of the state's banks, thrift institutions, and trust companies, including providing continuing education programs. “Disaster recovery is such a big buzzword, and Attainium’s Disaster Experience was an opportunity for us to incorporate it into our annual Bank Security and Risk Management Conference,” said Susan Taylor, VP and director of professional development, Tennessee Bankers Association (TBA).

“Attainium used a bank-specific scenario for the tabletop exercise, and it was marvelous,” Taylor said. “The session was challenging and fun because everyone could relate to everything that happened. We got great feedback and evaluations from the participants.”

“I had never done a tabletop before,” said Jennifer Holland, technology manager for the Bank of Dickson. “What I really liked was the urgency… it made you feel the way you would in a real disaster. It was realistic, and it made you think of more than just sitting down and writing a policy.”

“It was a good way to test how individuals react to and handle situations,” said Kristin Stedman, electronic banking administrator, Capital Bank & Trust. “I didn’t know what to expect and the way it was done was a bit of a surprise, but I was impressed by how it was conducted. The ways it was presented made it as realistic as possible to us.”

“The exercise made some of the smaller and newer banks stop and think about their preparedness and how important it is to see how people react in disaster situations,” Taylor said. “It helps to figure out who you can look to as leaders when you see how they react in a situation like this.”

“Sitting around a table and seeing how everyone viewed the situation in a different way made it clear that we need to make sure that the personalities on a task force would work well together,” Stedman said. “The other thing that was valuable was recognizing the need to focus on the main situation in spite of the fact that there were so many details we didn’t need. You have to sort out what’s relevant and what isn’t.”

“The session lived up to our expectations,” Taylor said. “I was very impressed.”

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