The 9-1-1 Association’s 2015 Conference & Expo starts in Denver this weekend.

Thousands of public safety professionals, telecommunications specialists, and policymakers are headed to Colorado’s capital city on Saturday to discuss public safety issues and build the skills necessary to tackle current challenges head on.

Association: NENA: The 9-1-1 Association

Conference: NENA 2015 Conference & Expo

Venue: Colorado Convention Center

Location: Denver

NENA 2015 will open on Monday morning with keynoter Amy van Dyken, a six-time Olympic champion swimmer who was left paralyzed from the waist down after an ATV accident in 2014. Van Dyken will inspire attendees to embrace challenges big and small and summon the champion within to stay strong in the face of adversity. Three other things worth dialing in for:

A topic for everyone. Attendees can choose from more than a dozen topic areas during the breakout sessions. Accessibility, call taking and processing, and preparedness and contingency planning are three of them. “Hot Topics” sessions will cover the most current public safety issues, including how to handle airborne events that may threaten national security.

Virtual reality. Since most attendees can’t make it to all the sessions they’re interested in, NENA offers a Live Learning Center to all who purchase a full registration. It gives attendees online, on-demand access to audio and synchronized presentation materials from every session. Plus, they can be viewed on mobile devices.

Field trip. It’s always nice to see colleagues and the latest equipment in action, which is why NENA is once again offering tours to local 9-1-1 centers. This year’s tour will include three stops at centers that receive anywhere from 75,000 to 1 million 9-1-1 calls annually.

To keep up to date with the meeting’s latest goings-on, Twitter (#NENA2015) and Facebook are your best bets.

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