#so many post-it notes... also stuff written on bank card receipts.

[blinkbones]

decided today was the day i'd compile all the notes i have for my WIP... ... ... ... ... i killed two sticks of glue, i had to go print nearly 30 pages of word documents, the sun is coming down, and i haven't even touched my voice notes yet.

[folklorecostumes]

REPUTATION LYRIC INSPIRED TOUR OUTFITS AND POSTERS PART 1

A lot of these posters are pictured in either giant bubble letters, rep font or in calligraphy. Can’t do any of these? Download the rep font or font you wish to use, type up what you want in a big enough font size, print, cut, and trace, or glue them down up to you! Of course, write these however you wish!

Hello all! Thanks for waiting so patiently for this list! Because of how long it is and how very excited you all have been waiting for this we have decided to post it into 2 parts to keep the excitement going. Part 2 will be coming in just a few short days and will be linked here, maybe even sooner than you think! Please enjoy all the ideas we listed below so far, send us others you may have and want to share with the swiftie world. We apologize if the formatting on this looks bad on mobile, we are trying to actively make it easily accessible and readable across all platforms!

And lastly, enjoy and tag us in these recreations! We want to see them! We want to help them get seen by Taylor!

Find the Reputation Part 2 list here.

Find the 1989 idea list here and here.

Find the Red idea list here.

Find more costume and poster ideas and tips here.

lovelovelove,

 - Reputation Costumes.

…READY FOR IT?:

1. “Knew he was a killer” – you and a friend or significant other dress up as a killer and their victim (not to scary or realistic though! Just have fun with it)

2. “Left haunted” – could make a fun sign saying “Taylor left me haunted” or something silly with the word haunted! Could even use Haunted (Speak Now) lyrics!

3. “But if he’s a ghost, then I can be a phantom” – Few ideas:

         → Two people could dress up as ghosts. 

         → Could also dress up as Danny Phantom because of the wordplay, or even the Phantom of the Opera if you wanted to be clever.  

         → Could also dress up as ghost hunters/ghost busters.

4. “Holdin’ him for ransom” – dress as bank robbers! Could even copy the outfits from the vault scene in LWYMMD.

5. “I keep him forever, like a vendetta-ta” – Poster that replaces him for Taylor, so it says I keep Taylor forever, like a vendetta-ta.

6. “Island breeze and lights down low” – maybe dress tropical—think family vacation ha. 

         → Could even improvise a poster that instead of saying island it could say (city name) breeze and stadium lights down low. Ex: “Boston breeze and stadium lights down low” (yes, I know its FOXBORO, but we all know Taylor just calls it Boston lol).

7. “In the middle of the night” – Dress as if you’re the night sky, glow in the dark ceiling stars or tape on a black/navy blue outfit with glitter. A matching poster in the shape of a star or a moon would be the perfect pairing.

8. “Are you ready for it?” – Poster with these lyrics on it. Remember posters can be as simple or as creative as you’d like. If you have a large enough group, you could make giant cutouts and hold two letters or so each.

9. “Stealing hearts and running off..” – A poster in the shape of a heart (not anatomical) with the lyrics on it.

10. “He can be my jailer” – Cop and Robber costume, could do the orange jumpsuit from the LWYMMD video and copy the “guards” around the birdcages outfits.

11. “Burton to this Taylor” – dress as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

12. “Let the games begin” – Multiple options for this one.

          →   Could dress as a referee/sport player/some sort of sport reference

          →   Have a game board attached to your outfit, make your own Taylor inspired game, maybe by gluing homemade items over a monopoly and have little trivia questions about her.

          →   Game board inspired poster—an Uno card but with these lyrics rather than traditional uno face.

13. Recreate one of the outfits from the music video

END GAME:

1. “I wanna be your endgame” – Poster designed as your favorite/or classic “end game” credit logo.

2. “I wanna be your first string” – Sometimes related to sports or your favorite ship from a TV show/Film/Book so do what you may with this.

3. “I wanna be your A-Team” – Could dress up as the A Team. Poster with friends that spell out A-Team.

4.  “Big Reputation” – Poster with these lyrics or wear the End Game merch sold on Taylor’s site. Can’t afford it? Make your own with stencils and fabric paint!

5.  “I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put ‘em” – Make/buy a shirt with a map on it—think buried treasure map with x’s to mark where stuff is hidden!

6. “Your body is gold” – Gold morph suit, gold body paint, gold glitter, gold anything! Dawn yourself in all gold for this look.

7.  “So here’s the truth from my red lips” – Make an outfit with red lips open with a speech bubble above it and have end game lyrics in each one! Or make a poster with the same idea.

8.  Recreate one of the many music video outfits!

I DID SOMETHING BAD:

1. “I play ‘em like a violin” – Make a poster cut out into the same of a violin and wear music notes.

2. ‘Now all he thinks about is me” – Poster saying “Now all I think about is Taylor”

3. “I can feel the flames on my skin” – Body paint flames in your arms/legs or wear flame pattern shirt.

4. “Crimson red paint on my lips” – Could be similar to the one above from End Game with red lips all over your outfit or a poster.

5. “If a man talk shit, then I owe him nothing” – Great lyric for a poster! Don’t want to put the swear on the poster? Get creative and maybe use the emoji covering its mouth or symbols!

6.  “I never trust a playboy, but they love me” – Going with a guy friend? Could have him dress like Hugh Hefner but of course remember the necessary clothing needed to get into a venue if you do this! Could also dress as a bunny (playboy related or just average you decide)

7. “So I fly ‘em all around the world” – Going to multiple shows? Make a poster of a globe with airplanes landing on each tour stop you’re going to!

8. “They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one” – Dress as a witch, could be inspired from the Salem witch trials, could be a cartoon-y Halloween one, or one from your favorite show or movie that involves witches!

9. “Pitchforks and proof, their receipts and reasons” – Poster in the shape of a pitchfork or one that looks like a store receipt or screenshotted iMessage but using Taylor lyrics as the messages or purchases!

10. “Light me up” – Most shows apparently will not allow lights but doesn’t mean you can’t light up with glow sticks, glow in the dark body paint/outfits or glitter!

11. “Most fun I ever had” – Poster saying “Taylor Concerts are the most fun I ever had!”

DON’T BLAME ME:

1. “Don’t blame me, love made me crazy” – Poster that says, “Don’t blame me, Taylor made me crazy.”

2. “Darkest little paradise” – Black lace vibe from this lyric, especially picturing those pumps that have fur on the front near the toes. Could also make a sign that’s a midnight black sky with glow in the dark stars writing out the lyric.

3. “They say, ‘She’s gone too far this time’” – Poster with this lyric and a map tracking all your shows if you’re going to multiple. Could have all the miles listed under each show!

4. “Halo, hiding my obsession” – Angel outfit? Make the halo out of glow sticks so it shines after the lights go down. Poster that says hiding my obsession, maybe make it look like a TSL post.

5. “I once was poison ivy, but now I’m your daisy” – Few ideas for this:

           →   An outfit that starts as poison ivy on the bottom but slowly progress to daisies. Could have buds of daisies starting at the bottom with the ivy and start to have them bloom as it increases until it’s just all daisies.

          →   Poster that spells out poison ivy in plastic (or real or drawn completely up to you) poison ivy.

          →   Poster that spells out Daisy with Daisies from a craft store!

          →   Daisy Buchanan from Gatsby.

          →   Poison Ivy comic.

6. “Fall from grace” – Michael and Lucifer, so aka could go as a fallen angel or the devil. If you watch Supernatural then you can pull from that for inspiration!

7. Taylor related this song to church, love and drug use because those 3 are powerful enough to change a person. Dressing up as if you’re in a choir could fit this song! Even something church related, however trying to remain neutral with that can be difficult.

8. Some people get a Fifty Shades of Grey vibe from this song, do what you may with that.

DELICATE:

1. Poster spelling out delicate with an assortment of colorful fake flowers.

2. “You can make me a drink” – Poster cut out in the shape of a wine glass with the lyrics being written in a bold, thick font and place to look as if from far away its wine drawn in the glass.

3. “Dive bar on the East Side, where you at?” – “Taylor Swift concert in (your state), where you at?” sign. Could also make this look like an iMessage chat.

4. Fringe outfit similar to the video.

5. Dive bar outfit.

6. “Dark jeans and your Nikes” – Could easily where this exact outfit paired with a Taylor shirt if you aren’t into dressing up for shows!

7. “Never seen that color blue” – Poster with sketched blue eyes and these lyrics underneath it. Could also wear an entire blue outfit.

8. “Is it chill that you’re in my head?” – poster ideas:

          →  Is it chill that Taylor’s in my head?

          →  Is it chill that you’re in my head, Taylor?

9. “Handsome, you’re a mansion with a view.” - Dress up with a costume similar in the idea of the a skyscraper costume but as a fancy house!

10. “Echoes of your footsteps on the stairs” - Poster with an echoing effect (think Microsoft early 2000s word art) on the lyrics. Could even place the lyrics on top of one another to look like it’s building a staircase. 

LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO:

1. “I don’t like your little games” – See similar ideas for game inspired outfits above, OR

          →  Make an outfit featuring miniature games attached to you, like Tamagotchi’s or make your own mini monopoly/life/etc. boards and glue them onto your outfit or poster. Possibly break the little boards in half and have broken pieces to represent not liking them.

2. “Of the fool” – Could dress up as a fool/clown. Silly, whimsical costume.

3. “Said the gun was mine” – Could do a poster of a smoking gun with the lyrics looking like they came out of the gun/the toy guns where flags pop out.

4. “Rose up from the dead” – Zombie! Tombstone poster!

5. “I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined” – List of names—Taylor related, maybe her cats or not—but have them all crossed out besides for Taylors at the bottom.

6. “I check it once, then I check it twice” – Some say this reminds them of Santa so by all means feel free to dress up Christmas-y.

7. “Look what you made me do” – Use the lyric video to create cool posters.

8. “I don’t like your kingdom keys” – few ideas:

        → Outfit with keys drawn on, make them look vintage and old, wear crowns with this look! Could also have keys dangling off the ends of the outfit.

       →  Giant gold key posters, make them look novelty like the ones cities give to honor people.

9. Drama and Karma matching glitter posters.

10. Snake skin, snake rings, snake anything!

11. Choose one of the many outfits Taylor is seen wearing throughout the LWYMMD video, we’ll hopefully have some great, cheap knockoffs for these soon!

12. Dress up as “old Taylor” so this basically opens up endless possibilities from each era, check out our 1989 and Red costume lists for more ideas! Hopefully we can work on Speak Now, Fearless and Debut inspired lists soon too!

13. Merch! Merch! Merch! She has tons of Look merch on her site, wear that if you want to be casual.

14. Similar Blind for Love sweater is available on eBay! The similar patches are also sold at craft stores or online (eBay).

15. Use the patches sold through Taylor Swift’s store to make you’re own one of a kind outfit--whether it be a denim jacket, dress, you name it! You can even design you’re own patches using crafts.

16. “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” - Poster using a picture of the “old Taylor” and a poster in the shape of a phone! Could incorporate the Our Song video, WANEGBT video, or the Look video when she’s on a phone.

SO IT GOES…

1.  “See you in the dark” – Poster where the word Dark is written in glow in the dark paint/marker to show up after the lights go down!

2. “All eyes on you” – Outfit with googly eyes glued all over it. Or create a poster with the same idea and the lyrics changed to “All eyes on Taylor”

        →  Add “my magician” if you wish to the end of the poster lyric or combine the googly eyes theme with a magician costume.

3. “My magician” –  Multiple options:

       → Dress up in a magician’s costume, this can be traditional, or you can be as creative as you want with it.

       →  Poster cut out to look like you’re holding a fan of cards (think trick magician’s deck) with any lyrics from the song written on it.

       →  Could dress up as a magician’s assistant.

       →  Dress up as a rabbit/bunny (stereotypically used in acts)

       →  Poster in the shape of a bunny peeking out of a magician’s hat, or just the ears sticking out of the hat, with so it goes lyrics on it.

       →  Poster of a crystal ball with “all eyes on you, my magician” written in it.

4. “You make everyone disappear” – “Taylor makes everyone disappear” written on a poster. Possibly write it in glow in the dark ink so it only shows when the lights are down and not before!

5. “Cut me into pieces” – Puzzle piece posters! You and a group of friends can each hold a piece that fits into the other and each can have one word of a line from any reputation song or simply use the “cut me into pieces”

6. “Gold cage, hostage to my feelings” – 2 options:

       →  Make a cut out poster in the shape of a cage, individual cut out in between each bar so it’s open, do two sides like this and attach strings to wear the sign so it looks like the cage is around you. Could even wear this with the orange jumpsuit outfit from the Look video!

      →  Poster in the shape of a gold bird cage with “hostage to my feelings” written inside of it.

7. “All our pieces fall right into place” – Poster with confetti, puzzle pieces, hearts either drawn on or glued. Either place or draw the pieces to spell out the lyrics as they fall down to a pile at the bottom of the poster paper or just have the pieces you decide to use “raining” down halfway through the poster and have the lyrics on the bottom half.

8. “So it goes…” Poster with these lyrics.

9. “Met you in a bar” – 2 options:

          →  Poster drawn and cut out like a whiskey bottle with these lyrics, Taylor and reputation written on the label.

          →  Using half of a poster board, draw what looks like a bar top (typically mahogany) with bottles either laying or standing across it and a few shot glasses, each bottle could be named after a song on the album!

10. “All eyes on us/All eyes on you/All eyes on me” -  Staring eye emoji drawn on a poster with a thought bubble above it with one of these 3 lyrics in the bubble.

11. “I make all your grey days clear” –

          →  One person dresses up as a cloudy/rainy day so all grey clothes and have reflective blue tape cut into rain drops and white reflective tape to represent clouds (typically clouds are grey/black when it’s raining but those two colors won’t be reflective, could use glow in the dark paint/tape as well). Could also wear a cloud poster with raindrops hanging from it on string around them or hold as a regular poster with these lyrics in the cloud.

          →  Second person dresses up as sunny day, in preferably light blue to represent a clear sky, yellow reflective tape cut out as suns on the outfit—could even have some breaking through clouds using white reflective tape. Person could also wear a sun poster around them like suggested above for the grey day look.

12.  “Wear you like a necklace” – Think flavor flav! Make a giant fake watch (or not a watch and just a necklace) out of string and cardboard. Have the reputation album cover or cd artwork be hanging from it/as the face of the watch.

13.  “Dressed in black now” – Wear all black! Draw attention to yourself with some glow in the dark paint or stickers, glow sticks and glitter.

14. “Scratches down your back” – Might not be appropriate with what its referencing for younger crowds and you may get looks from parents but create a shirt with bloody scratches down the backside and let the front side have “so it goes…” written on it.

15.  “You did a number on me” – Few options:

           →  Poster cut out into a 13/22/1989 with the lyric written throughout the 13/22/1989.

            →  Poster with an array of numbers related to Taylor filling it (13, 22, 1989, 10(Grammys), etc.). Write the lyrics in rep font first and draw the numbers around it, filling the background. Write in glow in the dark paint/tape, glue flowers over the lyrics, whatever you desire! Can even just use the word rep instead of doing the lyrics.

           →  Idea above for the poster could also work on a shirt.

           →  Poster with the number of shows you’re attending.

16.  “Who’s counting?” – See the ideas for the lyric above, they work well with this one as well.

[portlandnet]

Fundraising FAQs

This is a reprint of an email I sent to NET Team Leaders on August 22. ~ JVK

Information I received at a meeting from your reps at Friends of Portland NET made me realize a lot of the information TLs have about NET fundraising and processing funds is incomplete, disparate, and often inaccurate. 

I shouldn't have felt surprised; we don't talk about it much in Basic, and there is not (yet) a Team Leader Handbook (or even an orientation) you can use to consult on fundraising, though we are actively working on one. In the meantime, I hope you will accept my apology for not making the information easier to obtain and use this email as a reference. Here is everything I think you need to know; it's long and some of this will be redundant for several of you, so read only what interests you. I will also make most of this a Tumblr post where answers to any questions will be posted. Here we go:

How do I set up an account for my NET with Friends of Portland Fire & Rescue (FoPF&R)? As part of my job responsibilities, I sit on the board of a nonprofit 501(c)3 called Friends of Portland Fire & Rescue (which, please note, is not the same as Friends of NET...Friends of NET is an advocacy group that I am not permitted to have a seat at, except to give advice). I sit on the FoPF&R Board so that NET can use them as an umbrella organization to legally collect tax-deductible donations for your team. The primary responsibility of FoPF&R is to maintain the Firefighter Museum on Belmont, but they let NET and a couple other orgs in. The process for setting up an account through FoPF&R has always been on pp. 32-33 of the NET Guidelines. If you've never read them, please read them now before moving on to other parts of this email.

How much does it cost a NET to use FoPF&R? The nonprofit charges a 7% administrative fee on all deposits (but not withdrawals). 7% is typical for administrative overhead, and it's used to pay for administrative services that the nonprofit hires, such as accounting and legal advice (for the conspiracy theory minded, our budget is available for your viewing on request). Board members such as myself ain't going on luxurious Fiji junkets with those fees anytime soon. Some have remarked that the 7% fee is excessive. In my own observations, it looks to be in line with fees charged by other organizations doing the same work. If you believe it is too high, I encourage you to look elsewhere for partners; your neighborhood association might also be a nonprofit and may be able to help you. Also worth mentioning: if an exceptionally large single deposit is made, the Board can vote to waive or reduce the fees. In fact, we've done that before. If your team has a large single deposit to make and would like to request the fees be reduced or waived, email me and let me know. The Board will want you to make a case for waiving/reducing fees, so please have that justification for the exception in mind. Friends of Portland NET is also looking at becoming a nonprofit that can process deposits, and if they succeed, I plan to take NET out of FoPF&R and move all our accounts over to them so that NETs, and not PBEM, has full oversight and control of the money. They have indicated that they would like to charge a percent on deposits less than 7%, but the number they intend to settle on is TBA.

Woah now waitacottonpickinminute...is it ALWAYS 7%? Because I've heard it is 10%. FoPF&R always charge no more than 7%, period. It's in our bylaws. But it is also true that if you collect donations through a third party service, such as PayPal, PayPal takestheir service charges first, deposits the money, and then FoPF&R takes their 7% cut of what's left. PayPal service charges run about 3%. So in that case, you'd indeed get 90 cents on a one dollar donation. If you want to avoid the extra fee, don't use PayPal.

So why would I use the 501(c)3 at all if my neighbor can just write me a check and I cut you out entirely? You could do that. The benefit to routing your money through a nonprofit is that, after the money is received, I can write your donor a receipt/letter that confirms the money went to a recognized nonprofit, and that the donor can legally deduct the donation from their taxes. If your neighbor simply writes you a check, well gee that's extra generous because that can't be written off of their taxes. Since nonprofits are highly regulated by the State and the IRS, routing through us also gives donors assurances that the money will be spent the way they intend for it to be spent. In fact, many large donors will donate only to a nonprofit.

Back up a bit...are you saying we have a PayPal account service we can use? We do; the donate button on the bottom of this page will take you there: https://www.friendsofportlandfire.org/portland-net.html. The direct link is: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=2TnB7nPc_BsyhEdTaDCuVPPNGXTueJzibi0NBKQ90EUbtTk5qCWfIuUpH0brfEe33HMgrW&country.x=US&locale.x=US A PayPal donation button makes donating much easier for potential donors, especially if you're soliciting small amounts from many people. I think you could even stick that button on a NextDoor post along with a list of what your team wants/needs (if you're not sure what you want, there is a suggested team cache list in Section 600 of the NET Guidelines). But beware: PayPal only knows a donation from that link is for NET...there is no way to choose which NET it's supposed to go to. Therefore, your donor must forward you the emailed PayPal receipt, and then you must forward that receipt to me so I can route the money to your team's account. If you do not, I route the money to the NET general fund (which is spent on things like equipment packs for volunteers who cannot afford them). Yeah, that’s a pain in the ass. Theoretically, a team could set up its own PayPal account so you could cut me out as the middleman there, and just send me a check. But I don't think PayPal allows multiple PP accounts to route to the same bank account, so the deposit would have to go to a bank account you're associated with.

What if we want to solicit donations at an event? You can do that too. Cash is simple enough...just take it and secure it. If the donor wants a receipt, take their name and mailing address and I'll mail it to them. For credit cards, we have the hardware you would need to swipe cards on your phone. You just need to check the hardware out from us (I think we use Square) and download the app onto your phone. Pretty simple. They also charge a processing fee, though, like PayPal.

What are/about in-kind donations? In-kind donations are donations of stuff instead of money, and it's often more palatable for people/businesses to make in-kind donations rather than cash donations. For in-kind donations, I can write them a receipt/thank you letter acknowledging the items donated. However, and this is very important, it is our policy not to put an appraised value on that receipt of the donated items. An appraisal is the responsibility of the donor (or the donor's accountant) when they file taxes. We are not qualified to do that, and me pretending to be an accountant would get me in hot water.

I'm frustrated because I don't even know how much my team account has and Jeremy won't tell me. I wasn't aware that sentiment was out there, and again, I take responsibility for not making things more clear. I keep a running account sheet and Glenn or I can bring up the status of an account balance at any time...takes us about two seconds. I'm detecting that it would be better to simply send quarterly reports to all TLs who have accounts while continuing to answer that question on request. So, in a separate email, I will contact all the TLs with accounts and confirm that they are the team contact to receive those reports. Then, Glenn or I will make sure you receive them at least quarterly.

I'm frustrated because Jeremy takes forever to process my money. That was, at one time, a legit complaint. It is no longer. Thanks to Glenn's help, I mail approved reimbursements the week I receive them; often, the very same day. I will say, however, that I do not typically process deposits very quickly; I prefer to gather up deposits over the course of a quarter and deposit them all at once at the bank for efficiency. But if that creates a problem for you, just let Glenn or I know and we can probably get the deposit in that very same day. This is important sometimes because you'll have a donor write you a fat check and, as a courtesy to them, you want to get it out of their account ASAP. I can appreciate that, no prob.

I hate that Jeremy has to approve my purchases before I make them. My first commitment is to you, the NETs, and the NET program. In short, that policy is in place to protect the credibility and legitimacy of what all NETs do, not just one team or one team leader. I'll also say that, before my time, teams have made a few wacky purchases I would have adjudged were not in line with NET's mission. So, sorry, but thems the rules and that is a rule I do not make exceptions for. Please don't ask me to; I hate having to be the villain. Heck, I've barely grown in my Snidely Whiplash mustache.

What's the deal with Fred Meyers Rewards? My checks are, like, a whopping $2. If your team is listed to receive Rewards money, the check sizes indeed vary from team to team. Some are on the low end (like under $10 a quarter) and some are relatively high. If you want to increase the amount you get from Rewards, here's what you do: encourage your neighbors (maybe through NextDoor?) and friends to list your team as the recipient of their Rewards bonuses account. From what I understand, Kroger (owner of Fred Meyers) has $650k each quarter (or is it each year? will need to check that) distributed to every Rewards non-profit in their systembased on the number of people who signed up to contribute to a given account. More people signing up for your team means more money for your team. I thought their spending habits also made a difference (e.g. I wanted Irvington NET to get more money so I opted for the expensive organic avocados instead of the regular ones). It appears I was mistaken about that...it has more to do with the number of people who sign up for your account. If none of this makes sense and/or you want to know more about Kroger Rewards accounts, email me and I'll get you details.

Why are we trying to get donations anyway? Shouldn't the City buy all our equipment? No. First, I should point out PBEM does provide some of your most important equipment...you got that hard hat and vest for free, right? If you didn't, let me know. One of my clones is trying to swindle you. PBEM also provides more staff support to its CERT program than any other program sponsor I've even heard of by miles...you have four full time staffers working on nothing but NET/BEECN, and that’s not including our Outreach Manager. Most programs elsewhere are managed (seriously) by an unpaid intern who is given marginally more clout than the office coffeemaker. But what about funding neighborhood equipment caches? It's not possible for us to fund all the equipment caches that are needed in the city. So if we began funding any caches, doing so would raise inevitable and serious political and equity issues. Who would win? Who would lose? Why? Hopefully, you can see the problem there. Besides, if the City just gave caches away, the equipment would not be as well maintained or tracked as it would be if the community invests in it. It's like when I was a teenager and said HEY DAD BUY ME A CAR and dad said HECK NO YOU BUY IT YOURSELF BECAUSE THEN YOU'LL APPRECIATE IT MORE WHIPPERSNAPPER. I hated that answer when I was a teenager because I wanted a car. I hate that answer now because he was right. I recall what NET is and is not. NET is not the City of Portland bankrolling earthquake response operations. NET is the City saying to Portland neighborhoods, essentially, that: there is an earthquake coming, and we're very skeptical about how much we'll be able to help you in the aftermath. Therefore, we will offer you and all your neighbors free high quality response training, staff support, and some equipment so you can, if the added community investment of time/interest/money is there, begin to raise your own response team. Though some will disagree with me, I believe taking taxpayer money and redistributing it by buying equipment caches is an inappropriately narrow (and possibly irresponsible) way to spend taxes. We'll spend up to a point, but then your neighbors need to raise their hands and say "yes, we agree this is important and here is some money/resources to help make it happen". If your neighbors can't do that or won't do that, a government funded cache in your neighborhood would be inappropriately matched to the low time or willpower of those neighbors. An exception here is when PBEM or PF&R has specific operational objectives we are asking you to meet and you need equipment to make them. For example: we want a lot of radio operators, so I have a bunch of radios I can loan out to NETs. I want NETs to control traffic safely around down power lines, so I have about $6k set aside to buy road flares and other safety equipment to do that. It is NEVER appropriate for PBEM or any government agency to ask NETs to deploy for a hazardous non-earthquake operation, such as working down power lines, and not equip them at least at a basic level. If that happens after I am gone when some other chump is managing this program, I encourage you to protest loud and clear. If they ask you to deploy and can't equip, and you don't have the PPE already yourself, please don't go. All of that said, I do advocate for a program model where a neighborhood is awarded a cache by meeting specific community resilience goals (a model that worked well in Berkeley). But we're a long ways off from that getting implemented or considered, and the effort would have to extend beyond PBEM. In the meantime, if you want more equipment, turn to your neighbors and ask for the money. It will assuage some of the guilt they feel for not being better prepared and not being NETs themselves. Just don't tell them they can't actually buy their way out of an inevitable earthquake.

Thanks ~ JVK