Umbral Truths - How To Build a Trap Line
Analog Technology for Efficient Information Dissemination
Yes, this post is paywalled. I told you that was coming, and continued to hand out free general advice - this stuff is SPECIFIC and ACTIONABLE. You can take this post, print it and the associated pics out, and go DO SOMETHING with it (besides burn your leaf pile - yes I saw you glance out the window at it. Worry about that later. Eyes here for now, Sunslinger).
A quick recap for those just joining us and not wanting to click the “previous post” button (though I highly recommend you do that):
Public Information folks are going to be BUSY already on legacy and social media contacts providing info and answering questions.
Mass influx of people to rural and even urban areas may stress and overload cell and data networks rendering social media a moot point.
Information booths are great but can be swarmed and can NOT always be sufficiently stafffed.
The basic information still has to go out somehow.
(Re-)Enter the Trap Line
Really briefly - a Trap Line is a series of stationary sites in high-traffic areas such as grocery stores, convenience stores/gas stations, government office buildings, etc, providing a range of useful and important information about events and the area:
Relevant local laws, ordinances, and restrictions - this especially includes road and area closures
Locations of events and viewing sites
Locations of aid and information stations
Location and number of nearby Urgent Care Centers and Hospitals
Local/Non-emergency numbers for local dispatch centers for Law Enforcement, Fire, Ambulance
Review time is over, now for the GOOD STUFF…
We’ll get into the design and building of sandwich boards below, but first, you need A PLAN.
Failure to Plan, is Planning to Fail. - every successful leader ever
Just building sandwich boards and tossing them up on every piece of flat ground that the owner says “yes” to having one … is an absolute waste of time and effort, will suck to install and maintain, will probably prove more of a detriment than a help, and it’s going to suck even more to pick up everything when the event is over.
Let’s use TRAP as a mnemonic for desirable locations - it’s easy to remember since that’s what it’s called:
Traffic - the location must receive a good volume of traffic and exposure.
Reasonable - it should be somewhere people might already reasonably stop.
Accessible - can traffic still move safely? is there sufficient parking? Can people safely stop and read the information
Peripheral - information should be available on the edge of town, people should not have to come to the town center to get basic info.
Now, you might weight some of those factors more in some situations and less in others. That’s ok. It’s not meant for each factor to be “equal” in every way - all this is, is a framework for you to line out these major considerations and weigh them against each other to help your decision-making.
Let’s look at a couple example scenarios to see if they fit…
Clothing store, middle of downtown:
Traffic - it will probably have it, both foot and vehicle, but that’s more a function of being in downtown, right? In fact a sandwich board might impede traffic. No bueno.
Reasonable - Ehhh…sure people might walk past, and yes people will be buying Eclipse shirts and swag, but that will come AFTER they find their hotel/camping spot, get information, etc.
Accessible - as mentioned, downtown is going to be busy. A sandwich board will probably do more harm than good here. Thumbs-down.
Peripheral - it doesn’t get more “central” that downtown. Absolute fail here.
So - probably not a good spot, right? Let’s look at the opposite!
“Stop & Rob” gas station/convenience store on the main highway, at the edge of town:
Traffic - yep! It’s on the main highway coming into town. Thumbs-up!
Reasonable - people are already likely to stop here for gas, snacks, ice, bio breaks, and information. 10/10.
Accessible - good gas stations are inherently designed to flow traffic smoothly through at a relatively high volume. Taking up a couple parking spaces or free area of the far end of the lot provide a safe area for people to pull in and check out info. 5-stars!
Peripheral - As mentioned, this station is on the edge of town and likely to catch people coming TO town as well as those just stopping for a break, gas, food, before heading to a nearby destination. Full send!
Now let’s look at a “wobbler” and see what you think! What I want you to do with this one is roll through the TRAP analysis yourself: “fill in the blanks” and weigh and measure and make your decision, then I’ll give you my answers below…
County/City Hall, outskirts of downtown:
Traffic -
Reasonable -
Accessible -
Peripheral -
So what do you think? Yes, no, maybe? This isn’t really a right/wrong question - I’m just getting you in the mindset for these kinds of analyses for your own specific locations and circumstances.
BUT, if you want to know how I would analyze this, here goes:
Traffic - Yes, the site will receive traffic being proximate to downtown, and R ties in here as well…
Reasonable - is it likely people will seek out places like City Hall, the County Building, Chamber of Commerce, etc for information? Oh yeah, absolutely. This weights pretty heavily as a “yes” in my mind.
Accessible - typically, government buildings and complexes are laid out with plenty of parking for visiting public and smooth traffic flow. Sandwich boards might be placed on the yard near the entrance as that’s a natural “line of drift” for people looking for info.
Peripheral - It’s on the edge or near downtown. Not ideal - HOWEVER, in this case see R above, people will naturally gravitate to this kind of building for information.
Ultimately, while P is a “fail”, the other three, particularly the HUGE weighting I would give R in this case means GO FOR IT. “Government” buildings (and in that designation I include Chamber of Commerce/Tourism Dept) are about the only places I would ditch the analysis and just say “YES”.
Once you have your “prime spots” analyzed and picked out, prioritize!
You want the top “highest scoring” locations - apply the Pareto Principle here: out of all the possible locations thrown in the hat, you want about 20% of them to be part of your Trap Line. Pick the top 20% that’s going to hit 80% of your visitors.
So we have a plan, now what?
Follow-through time! Head on out to your local hardware/lumber/building supply store - print these pics and take them with you!
Man I feel like the Fire/Emergency/Event Management version of Bob Vila right now.
If you want to pretty up your work, you can sand and stain or paint your boards - they’ll look nicer and last longer, for sure, but this will increase production time significantly.
If you built them using pressure treated/”ground contact” 2x4s and marine grade plywood (highly recommended on both counts), they will last “as is” for quite a while as long as they’re stored in a sheltered location from sun and elements, when not in use.
OK they’re built and we have our placement plan in place - what do we put on them?
Let’s revisit that list of things visitors to your area are going to be looking for:
Relevant local laws, ordinances, and restrictions - this especially includes road and area closures
Locations of events and viewing sites
Locations of aid and information stations (yes, you should have those set up and staffed)
Location and number of nearby Urgent Care Centers and Hospitals
Local/Non-emergency numbers for local dispatch centers (Law Enforcement, Fire, Ambulance)
Time to get designing and printing - you want to share those pieces of information in an organized fashion. Here’s a few PRO TIPS to help you with that:
“INFORMATION” - print or paint this across the top of the sandwich board, minimum 3” tall text - people immediately know what the board is for and everybody’s drawn to “information”.
Prioritize the information - the most important information should be prominently-placed at average adult eye-level (centered around 5’6” from the ground - no it doesn’t have to be perfect). Lead the eye outward from there.
Place phone numbers and addresses immediately next to/under names - use large, plain (no bold or italics) sans-serif fonts for them (e.g. Arial minimum 16pt) so people can easily take pictures of them with their phones and still see the text without having to zoom way in.
Avoid pure red, blue, and green colors in documents and maps as colorblind people may not be able to see them; always choose an off-shade of one of those colors. Use a colorblind-simulation app to ensure your document or map will show up properly for colorblind people.
Laminate all papers before stapling on the sandwich board. Yes, the staples will make holes in the laminate but it will take some time for humidity/weather to damage the paper inside. Laminating also helps protect against kids, critters, and the inevitable 72oz slushy spill from Rob’s Stop & Go right? A good lamination job with quality laminate shouldn’t affect viewing quality much.
Avoid glossy paper/stock - keep it “offset”/bond or matte finish - again smart people will be taking photos with their phones or other devices; it will produce glare, and probably won’t take laminating.
Now you’re ready to go forth and TRAP people with knowledge and information!
Still don’t feel comfortable? Need more help, advice, insight, or explanation? I’m happy to share my experiences, insights, and advice, etc., virtually and confidentially with individuals and planning groups. Book here now!