Where is Alabama anyway? Map of Southern United States
Larry Duncan has recently accepted the position of Chapter Historian and will be expanding this brief history and making more information available.
The Alabama Chapter received a Charter from The National Emergency Number Association in June of 1990. Larry Amerson attended the National Conference in Memphis to receive the Charter. (Lee Helms had organized a “9-1-1 Users Group” through the office of State EMA that served as the networking group until the NENA Chapter was formed.)
At the first official meeting of the Chapter, three people were nominated for President, Lee Helms, Larry Amerson and George Mangum. When these gentlemen left the room so a vote could be taken, it was decided that the three officer seats would be filled by these men, with the order determined by the vote totals.
Lee received the most votes and was elected President, Larry was Vice President and George Mangum was Second Vice President. (Past President list)
The first annual conference was held that October at the Perdido Beach Hilton. It was such a success that the membership voted to keep the conference at this location rather than rotate around the state.
The Chapter then hosted the first “Gulf Coast Regional NENA Conference” in October of 1992. This was also a big success, and lead to the Chapter hosting what has become a mini-regional conference each year.
In addition to the conference, Alabama NENA also gained exposure when a past Chapter President, John Ellison, was elected to national Office in NENA.