Here are the accompanying show notes for Episode 8 of The Preparedness Podcast. You can go to PrepCast.info for links to the podcast, or you can find it at the bottom of this article.
Networking
What is networking?
- networking is contacting like minded individuals in an effort to increase your survival chances and/or make life easier.
- networking and finding the right people can be a terrific force multiplier.
- networking can be an essential morale booster. Many of us that are into preparedness have a fairly hard time finding anyone we can talk with, in a serious manner. Being able to have a contact that is capable, and is concerned about the same things that you are is a wonderful thing. One of the most common quotes you’ll find from people that do this is that their new contact seems just like an old friend – tells you something about the feeling and importance of developing contacts like this.
Who do you network with?
- Friends
- Family
- Co-workers (cautiously)
- Fellow hunters, fishermen, outdoors people.
- Veterans organizations
- Shooting clubs
- Ideally, network with people that are geographically close to you, then spread out. Develop networks with an eye towards being able to displace from one area to another, if need be, and also local networks that enable you to stay in your own area as successfully as possible.
How do you network?
- Always be safe – for email contacts, for instance, especially off of forums, I use a specific email account. If I start to get too much spam, stalkers, trolls, etc, I’ll drop the account and set up a new one. Don’t be in a hurry to make contacts either – take your time and let the contact develop itself. You need to have a high level of confidence in an individual before attempting to broach the subject of serious preparedness. Note that I said serious – which is far different from BS’ing around the campfire. But there’s a place for that too.
- Become active in local CERT, ARES, RACES, Red Cross, etc
- Join and become active in some of the more serious preparedness forums (like the preparednesspodcast forum) out there.
- Join some of the various mailing lists and listservs out there. Yahoogroups is one option.
- Peruse Craigslist, local papers, magazines such as Backwoods Home, Countryside and Small Stock Journal
- http://www.survivalblog.com/others.html is a good link
- If you’re not into the “grey man” mode, consider using political statement stickers on your vehicle, humorous stickers, etc. You’d be surprised who might step up and begin a conversation with you.
Where do you network?
- Initial contacts can be in many modes, usually FTF, email, forum postings, or phone.
- Use common sense when meeting someone FTF the first time. Ideally go with a friend, meet in a public place, etc.
Safety issues
There’s a little something called opsec – stands for operational security. One big aspect of this is “need to know”. If you don’t have to, don’t spread the word far and wide that you’re into preparedness. Believe it or not, there are quite a few folks out there that have their primary plan in case of serious disaster already planned out – they’re going looting. Don’t take this lightly folks, many of the folks that mention looting or “I’ll just come over to your place and take your stuff” types are nothing more than hot air – but it only takes meeting one of the serious ones in a bad situation to make a lasting impression on you.
- Everyone has to assess what they consider prudent measures, and how far they’re willing to go to network with others.
- Get at least a minimum of your preps done before networking, and distribute some caches out there first. Eventually, you’ll be exposing your supplies, plans, and other things to others, and it pays to not keep all your eggs in one basket. So diversify, store a percentage of your things in other secure locations before you divulge your capabilities.
- Greg
Tags: Finding Other People, Networking, Podcast