The 2014 Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference (GAREC-2014) will take place Thursday and Friday, August 14-15, in conjunction with the Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama. The Huntsville Hamfest, August 16-17 at the Von Braun Convention Center, is the Southeastern Division Convention and a Regional ARRL Centennial Event.

The GAREC conference will focus on the application of advanced technologies in emergency communication. All public service-minded Amateurs Radio operators and emergency communication professionals are welcome. This will mark the second time a GAREC Conference has been held in the US.

The conference agenda and programs are still under development.

The first Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference in 2005 was organized on the initiative of Seppo Sisatto, OH1VR, and held in Tampere, Finland. Following the success of that event and increased interest in international and regional cooperation on emergency communication, GARECconferences have become established annual events. For each conference, an organizing committee works with a local host, and International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) representatives participate in the event.

At its 2009 meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, the IARU Administrative Council formally defined the relationship between GAREC and the IARU by adopting the several recommendations, contained in the Statement of the GAREC-2009 Conference.

“GAREC 2009 recommends, that GAREC conferences should continue to be held in locations throughout the world to the extent possible and should maintain the character of GAREC as an informal meeting among representatives of IARU member societies and of Amateur Radio emergency communications groups within or outside of the respective national IARU member society, serving as a forum for the exchange of experience and as an advisory body for the work on emergency communications of the IARU.”

Register for GAREC 2014 on the ARRL website. Contact Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, for additional information.