Because of limited resources (time, classroom space, and money), we could only select 10 subsidized and 12 non-subsidized participants. We used several criteria to select the participants: Selected participants needed either to have Internet access or be located within a local call of a OneNet hub site. This requirement may be relaxed in the future. No more than one participant could be from the same office. However, selected participants may bring other co-workers at local-agency expense, pending available classroom space. We needed to maintain geographic diversity of the participants, with a slight preference given to rural participants. Locations with 24-hour monitoring were preferred. Applicants from urban areas were permitted to be a large percentage of the non-subsidized participant group. Non-subsidized participants needed to have a Pentium-class computer available for use. Applicants who had no (or limited) computer resources were preferred for the subsidized group of participants. Recommendations provided by the National Weather Service were considered. Non-subsidized participants had to be willing to be non-subsidized. The quality of the application and narrative was an important factor.

We will keep all applications on file. The information that was provided will assist us as we try to expand our program this fall. Our October workshops will be geared to include more police and fire departments than emergency managers. However, emergency managers will not be excluded from participating. Our third set of institutes in early 1998 will include participants from emergency management, police, and fire. We will send applications for future workshops to previous applicants to encourage them to update the application we have on file.