Keynote Speaker

Carel Pedre
Disaster Preparedness Conference General Manager, Radio One
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
What would happen if you became
the only source of news? Media Lessons Learned
2010 Haiti Earthquake

DATE & PLACE HONORARY CHAIRMEN

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
9:00 am to 12:00 noon
The University Center on the
University of Memphis Campus

Moderators

Michael Oppenheimer Lee Meredith

General Manager General Manager
Clear Channel Radio WMC-TV Channel 5

Dewayne Benton Stephanie Scurlock

Clear Channel WREG
A free conference for
Radio Memphis Channel 3 journalists, broadcasters, engineers,
media students, and disaster preparedness professionals

Michael Schmidt & Eric Wilson

Bob Nations, MSC Emergency
Center for Multi-Media Arts
FedEx Institute of Technology
PRESENTERS Management Agency
University of Memphis
Gary Patterson
Rick Bowker CERI (Center for Earthquake Bob Hoguet
Mid-South Association of Mid-South Chapter American
Research & Information)
Contingency Planners Red Cross

Convened by United Way of the Mid-South

Reserve your place today! loretta.hurt@uwmidsouth.org or (901) 433-4335

 About Carel Padre
Haitian DJ Harnesses Airwaves for Aid Mission
by Lauren Frayer of AOL News
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/haitian-dj-carel-padre-harnesses-airwaves-for-aid-
mission/19321964

(Jan. 19) -- A week ago, Carel Pedre was hosting his morning radio show in Haiti, mixing music, telling jokes and making bets
on who would win American Idol. One of the country's most popular DJs, he hosted its version of the talent competition last
year. Now Pedre is sleeping in his parked car, with little fuel left, surviving on bread and water. But you can still hear him on
the radio.

In the week since the most devastating natural disaster in Haiti's bedraggled history, a popular station there, Radio One, has
had enough fuel to run its electricity generator a few hours a day. That's allowed Pedre to grab the airwaves and transform
his normally catchy music show into a lifeline for lonely earthquake survivors in need.

"We have an international phone line, so people can come in and use it to call relatives abroad to tell them they're OK, and
we broadcast it all," Pedre told Sphere in a phone interview from outside the station's headquarters in Petionville, near the
capital. Airing emotional reunions and good news from survivors gives listeners hope that they too might find lost friends, he
said. Aid groups also feed information to the station, which tells listeners where they can find clean water and food.

Pedre's broadcasts have been the only hint of help for many Haitians after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake destroyed much of
the country's infrastructure one week ago. Food and water are still scarce. Officials estimate as many as 200,000 people are
dead and 1.5 million left homeless. Even though his house was not destroyed in last week's earthquake, Pedre prefers to
sleep in his car outside the radio station, out of fear that more aftershocks could still wreck his home. Plus, there's no
electricity or water at home, and he feels safer near the office.

"I sleep in my car with some friends. We have four journalists at the station, and we wake up and do the shows," the 29-year-
old said. "Right now I'm eating bread and water, but maybe if I can find something else like rice, I'll get it," he said. "But my
situation isn't so different from what thousands of people are experiencing."

"We still have no food or water. There's been some change in the health situation, because there have been some more
doctors helping and more hospital centers [resuming operations]," he said. "But the main thing is people still in the streets
homeless, who need someone to take care of them."

Hundreds of people have been sleeping on the same street where Pedre is parked. There's safety in numbers, he said. But
several young men have built a roadblock at the end of the street, piling up debris to keep out strangers who aren't from the
neighborhood.

"The streets are not completely safe. People are trying to protect themselves. But when you're on a block with more than 500
people sleeping there, it's safe because nobody can come and hurt you. Still, people are fighting when they want something...
A lot of supermarkets collapsed, so people are going under the rubble to search for food. When they find something, people
are fighting to get what they have," he said. "People are hungry, they haven't had water for six days."

Pedre sent his 1-year-old daughter, who was born in the United States, away on an evacuation flight to the States, where he
knew she'd be safe with family. But as station manager and chief engineer, he stayed behind to make sure all of his
employees were safe. One of them, a radio presenter, is still missing.

"I decided to stay because there are a lot of people who need what I'm doing. It's been six days now and there's been no
official source of information for the people," said Pedre, who studied computer science.