Thursday, 30 April, saw Security Forward and Intelligence Forum host its inaugural virtual meeting, co-chaired by Chris Smith. Given these extraordinary times, alternative measures were necessary, including but not limited to imbibing Crispin Black’s famous cocktail recipe.
Crispin shared a provocative and thoughtful presentation where he dealt with the “The Miracle Rescue”; the 1943 evacuation of Denmark’s Jews. We celebrated this extraordinary account of adversity and hope with an unusual "HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother”, or “HM Queen Elisabeth II”, cocktail. Traditionally the cocktail is had at the end of our meetings but Crispin, with admirable forethought, sent attendees the recipe in advance to partake over conversation - 1 part Gin and 2 parts Dubonnnet with ice and a twist of orange peel for the QEII, 2 parts Gin and 1 part Dubonnet with ice and a twist of orange peel for the Queen Mother. You may draw your own conclusions.
The agenda then moved on to Peter Fraser-Hopewell’s thoughts on covid-19 and the security implications of the pandemic. The discussion broadened out into current issues faced by members and replaced the traditional In-Tray discussions. Given the small size of the Group, the Co-Chairmen allowed this to continue.
Feedback was sought from the attendees and is summarised as follows:
Chris has spent over 30 years in senior corporate security roles in the leisure industry (Marriott, Four Seasons and Trust House Forte), financial services (Deutsche Bank and HSBC) and currently in media and advertising (WPP). His responsibilities have included fraud risk, physical security, business continuity, cyber security, geopolitical risk, insider risk and crisis management. Chris started life in law enforcement and intelligence. He is a founding Fellow of the Security Institute, an Advisor to the Asia Crisis & Security Group and past Chair of OSAC (Hong Kong & Macao). He is a Board Trustee and Chair of the fund raising committee for Hostage International. Chris has an MSc in Criminology from Leicester University.
Crispin Black is a former Lt Colonel in the Welsh Guards who has served in Northern Ireland, headed the U.K. Defence Intelligence Staff's Yugoslav Crisis Cell, and was posted to the British government’s Cabinet Office to work for the Joint Intelligence Committee and COBRA. Since leaving the British army he has been director of analysis at a leading U.K. security firm with extensive interests in Iraq, written a book on the London Bombings of 7 July 2005, and is currently a highly sought-after commentator for the UK and US media. He is a Fellow at Chatham House.
For further information, please contact Linda_cook@zyen.com
Date
Thursday, 30 April 2020
Time
16:00 - 18:30 BST
Cost
By Invitation Only
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Location
Webinar