This is the last S9 Dispatch for 2024.

All in all, it’s been an amazing year.

In this newsletter, I’ll provide an overview of what I achieved in 2024 and a preview of my plans for 2025.

Review of 2024

Consulting

Consulting continues to be a mainstay of my business, and I've thrown myself at it this year.

I've been privileged to work with some of the world's leading organisations on some very interesting projects. Here's a snapshot of some of the more significant projects:

• Contingency planning in Nepal
• The development of comprehensive contingency planning workspaces for Taiwan, Japan and South Korea
• Crisis simulation exercises in Jakarta, Marrakech, Seoul and Hong Kong
• Travel Risk Management Review for a leading university with a global footprint
• Technical training for an International NGO
• Business continuity planning and training in Singapore

A highlight of the year was designing and delivering a crisis simulation exercise for members of the Asia Crisis and Security Group in Jakarta. The exercise was focused on the potential impacts of the Indonesia general election, and involved exercising six different groups simultaneously.

To my consulting clients, thank you for your ongoing trust and support.

New Crisis Exercise Kits

In April, we updated and reissued our Crisis Exercise Kits, which distill 24 years of crisis response experience into ready-to-use packages designed to save you time and effort. Covering scenarios such as terrorist attacks, civil unrest, earthquakes, floods, and missing travellers, each kit includes a presentation deck with an exercise briefing, six serials, facilitator notes, an exercise preparation guide, and a team self-evaluation template—everything you need to run a professional crisis exercise with ease.

Learn more here.

Updated Crisis Response Frameworks

I've also improved our most important crisis response frameworks:

• Crisis Team Performance Framework
• Crisis Management Maturity Model

These frameworks are incredibly useful tools for assessing crisis response capabilities at the team and organisational levels.

New Strategic Futures Programme

In June, I launched the Strategic Futures Programme, designed to help executive teams tackle medium-term strategic issues like the climate crisis, the rise of autocracy, and the impact of AI and AGI. Drawing on over two decades of crisis management experience, these sessions are tailored for companies, NGOs, and other organisations seeking to prepare for the challenges ahead.

Learn more here.

Writing

I haven't been writing nearly as much as I would like this year. Honestly, I've felt a bit burned out from the last two years.

Articles

I've published a grand total of 1 article: Empowering Crisis Team Performance. That's 103 fewer articles than last year, if I was counting.

Feeling a bit guilty, I've re-started posting at The Business of Security. I've had some positive feedback on this site, so I'll continue to add posts.

Books

In February, I published Dangerous Travels. This book is a compendium of 52 articles from the Dangerous Travels publication that I produced last year, lightly edited.

I've also updated and republished The Crisis Response Handbook.

The Field Guide to Information Security is still in the works. I pull out the draft occasionally to work on it, but I still can't seem to get the scope nailed down. It continues to be a work in progress that may or may not get published.

I started work on a few other books this year. More on these in the preview for 2025, below.

Applications

This year has been very busy with applications, with one updated application and three new applications.

Whistler

Whistler is a simple, secure whistleblowing application that enables organisations to receive and manage confidential reports. Originally built in 2015, I completed a full rewrite in April, introducing major enhancements:

• Upgraded encryption from AES-128 to AES-256.
• Replaced SMS notifications with email notifications.
• Added a Primary Account Holder dashboard.
• Enabled test reports for Primary Account Holders.
• Introduced the ability to archive, delete, and manage reports within cases.

If you’re looking for an effective whistleblowing solution, learn more here or contact me for a demo or trial. Referrals are always appreciated!

Tenacio

Tenacio is a project management application built for people managing a diverse range of projects. It cuts through the chaos to tell you exactly what to focus on next, based on your deadlines and personal preferences for different activities.

I’ve been using Tenacio for my own projects since April, and it’s been a game-changer in bringing order to complexity. If you’d like to give it a try, please get in touch.

Incident Manager

Incident Manager is the first application designed to enhance team performance during major incidents. Recognising that incidents are inherently challenging, the application avoids adding unnecessary complexity. Instead, it supports teams in managing incidents more effectively and with less cognitive load.

Interested in seeing how it works? Contact us for a demo.

Exercise Manager

Exercise Manager simplifies the planning and delivery of crisis exercises while monitoring team performance across your organisation. After successfully using it for our own exercises, we’re excited to make it available to our clients.

Want to see it in action? Request a demo.

Station XV

Station XV is our line of bags and accessories.

I launched Station XV in April. There are now 10 products in the lineup, including the following:

• Street Pack
• Street Tote
• Street Satchel
• Street Belt
• Travel Duffel
• Travel Folio
• Camera Module
• Flat Organiser Pouches (S, M, L)

Station XV bags are unique in terms of their design and construction. We're using the highest quality materials available, including Challenge UltraWeave and UltraStretch fabrics. All of the webbing is custom made using UHMWPE, making the bags extremely durable. The bags are also very versatile. The Street Pack can be carried as a pack, tote or converted into a satchel. The Street Tote is reversible - black and technical on one side and grey and sleek on the other. All of the straps are removable to ensure they can be easily replaced or adjusted.

The bags are being manufactured in a factory in Vietnam. These folks also make bags for Mystery Ranch, Osprey, Mammut, Lululemon and many others. The level of quality and attention to detail is excellent.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported Station XV this year. Your feedback has been invaluable, and it’s been wonderful connecting with our growing community of users.

So, that's it for 2024. Let's take a peek at my plans for 2025.

Preview of 2025

In the sections below, I'll outline my objectives for 2025. Of course, situations and circumstances can change, but I feel it’s important to have some kind of plan.

Consulting

My objective with my consulting practice in 2025 is to focus on high-value consulting work. Specifically I plan to focus on three practice areas:

1. Help organisations improve the performance of their crisis management and incident response teams
2. Help organisations build robust travel safety and security programmes
3. Help organisations prepare for major contingencies in the Asia Pacific region

Training

I'll be continuing to run training in 2025, focusing on the current array for workshops. I'm still trying to find a way to run training for individuals. I'll continue to experiment with this in 2025.

Writing

There are a few books I want to complete in 2025.

The Field Operator's Aide Memoire

The Field Operator's Aide Memoire is a ready reference for all types of things of value to people working in the field, such as assessing the security of accommodation, setting up helicopter landing zones, planning convoy movement, and responding to different types of contingencies, and many other useful things.

Information Security for Travellers

I may or may not finish the Information Security for Travellers book. Who knows...

The Physical Intrusion Testing Handbook

I've quietly been working on a book in physical intrusion testing. I believe this will be a useful book for practitioners, so I'm hoping I can get it completed and available on the website sometime this year.

Applications

I'll be iteratively improving Whistler, Tenacio, Incident Manager and Exercise Manager throughout the year.

I have ideas for new applications, but the focus in 2025 will be on maintaining and improving the ones currently available.

Station XV

I've already started work on several new Station XV bags, including a Travel Pack and a Reversible Street / Field Pack. I've been using prototypes of these bags for the past 6 months. I'm hoping to get to the factory in HCMC in Q1 to finalise these designs and complete the factory prototypes in preparation for production. This time around, I'm likely to take the Kickstarter route with the aim of building to order (plus ensuring I can meet the factory's MOQ).

So, there's a lot going on. 2025 will be hugely challenging, balancing consulting, training, writing, applications and bags. Too much? Probably.

Thank You

A huge thank you to my clients and customers, past and present. I sincerely appreciate your trust and support.

Thanks also to everyone who has provided encouragement throughout the year.

All the best for a happy and successful 2025.

Onwards and upwards.

Grant Rayner

Spartan9