Joseph Pred

Joseph Pred is an emergency and risk manager who has specialized in public safety for events and temporary mass gatherings since 1993. With an academic background in management, he’s been a licensed EMS provider since 1994 and holds a host of certifications including from FEMA, OSHA, POST, and Rapport Leadership International. He has additional training and experience in crisis intervention, mental health, harm reduction, law enforcement, dispatching, communications technology, and fire fighting.

Since 2000, Joseph has owned and operated Mutual Aid Response Services (MARS) and Mutual Aid Risk & Safety, the risk management branch of MARS.

In addition to his experience with MARS, Joseph founded the Emergency Services Department at Burning Man in 1998, working for 18 years in this unique environment until his retirement in November 2013. In that time, he served as the Chief of Department and Risk Manager for the temporary city’s 911 emergency response system, including fire fighting, emergency medical services (EMS), communications, emergency dispatch, government relations, safety, and disaster contingency planning.

Joseph has also served two terms on the San Francisco Entertainment Commission as Public Health Commissioner (2003 – 2004) and as a subject matter expert on an 8 year long Federally funded research project developing harm reduction strategies and training for the entertainment industry. He also has served as the executive advisor for the harm reduction non-profit the PLUR Angels since 2016.

Joseph is also the author of three books, ‘The Essential Pandemic Survival Guide,’ ‘The Emergency Survival Manual’ and ‘Show Me How To Survive,’ as well as a contributing author to the ‘Festival Throwers Bible’. He has also written numerous articles and is available for public speaking engagements as well as media appearances regarding emergency and risk management, temporary mass gatherings, and his experiences working with festivals such as Burning Man or other unique risks.

Contact Joseph to arrange an appearance.

2018

• Flycon
  Panelist: “Getting Prepared: Creating Safe, Secure Event Spaces”

2017

• FestForums
  Lecturer: “Handling Mass Tragedies at Festivals”
• Canadian Music Week
  Panelist: “Music-Lovers in a Dangerous Time: The Security Session”
• South By Southwest (SXSW)
  Panelist: “How Do We Stop Drug Deaths at Music Festivals?”

2016

• Fest Forums
  Panelist: “You Can’t Fight City Hall: Festival Permitting”
• Canadian Music Week
  Panelist: “Crisis Management: Making your festival a Safe Space”

2015

• International Music Festival Conference
  Panelist: “Safety, Security and Staffing”

2014

• Event Safety Summit
  Speaker: “Crowd Management Practices & Principles for Large Scale Events”
• Malaysia Major Events Symposium
  Keynote speaker: “Perspectives on Event Safety Best Practices”
• American Water Works Association, California/Nevada Chapter Annual Conference
  Speaker: “Black Rock City Emergency Management, Severe Weather Action Plans”
• Nevada Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Management Annual Workshop
  Keynote Speaker: “Black Rock City Emergency Management”
• Burning Man Global Leadership Conference
  Panelist: “Introduction to Risk Management”
  Panelist: “Permits & Agency Relations”
• Resilient & Sustainable Cities Symposium
  Panelist: “Regional Disaster Planning”
• UCLA School of Nursing
  Guest lecturer: “Emergencies, Disasters, and Terrorism”
• Boston University Healthcare Emergency Management Program
  Guest Lecturer: “Disasters, Leadership, and Temporary Mass Gatherings”
• Google
  Speaker: “Burning Man – Emergency Management”

2013

• California Emergency Services Association Annual Conference
  Keynote Speaker: “Burning Man – Emergency Management in Action”
• Burning Man Global Leadership Conference
  Panelist: “Liability and Risk Mitigation”

2011

• Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Disaster Management Initiative
  Keynote speaker: “On logistical and technical challenges and solutions involved with temporary communications infrastructure at Burning Man”