If the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency [3] (FEMA) had used his new company's "communications management systems, the ill-fated press conference about the California wildfires would not have happened," former FEMA public affairs director John "Pat" Philbin told O'Dwyer's. After an October 2007 press conference [4] where FEMA staffers posed as reporters, asking questions of their boss, Philbin was denied a planned promotion to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [5]. He was recently hired by PIER Systems, as a senior vice president and head of their East Coast operations. In a statement [6], PIER (which stands for "public information emergency response") said of the FEMA fake news conference: "It was clear to us that Pat became aware of the planning errors while things were happening. ... He accepted responsibility ... and he has paid a very high price." PIER's clients [7] include BP [8], Shell [9], Allstate [10] and the Office of Homeland Security [11].