- Incredibly compact, complete, and user friendly.
- Covers all the bases
- Works in conjunction with additional, free online resources
- The only problem I have found is if you do not do what the Studio Protector tells you to do.
Content
I have had several disaster and emergency preparedness class, both from local Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and through various human service agencies I have worked for. In all this extensive training, I have never found a more complete, compact, and easy-to-use system for preparing for and dealing with emergency and disaster situations.
The Studio Protector divides content into three main areas:
- Cover Your "A's": This section is about reducing the impact of disaster on your Art, Assets, and Archives (the three "A's"). One of the major keys is to find or create an SOL (a Safe Off-site Location). Subsections include information on reviewing (or purchasing) your insurance needs, safeguarding your art, backing up and storing digital files, copying and storing your portfolio, copying and storing important documents, and what you need to do to document your workspace.
- Planning for Disasters: Do you have a "disaster buddy"? This sections talks about disaster buddies as well as knowing your risks, fire and flood preparation, wind and earthquake preparation, communication needs, evacuation, and resuming your work.
- Disaster Response: The first part of this section is a pull-out booklet for you to take with you in an emergency situation. In it, you will fill out all sorts of incredibly important information, including contact numbers, a disaster aid checklist, medical information, and more. There are other pull-out booklets on disaster warnings (what to do if you have time), clean-up, salvage, and e-salvage(the salvage of electronic equipment and documents).
Presentation
The Studio Protector is a compact tool for artists, craftsmen, and artisans to help them become prepared and deal with any emergencies that may hit. This open view shows more of why this is a "must-have" for anyone who values their art and their craft.
Photo by Beth PetersonIt is a sturdy cardboard system utilizing a movable circle for sections one and two, which are placed back-to-back. Through cutout windows, you can find exactly what you want quickly and keep your focus on just that topic. With just a sentence or two, or a series of bullet points, you are given the basics of what you need to know and do in that subsection.
Section three includes a series of five sturdy cardboard booklet-foldouts including information, checklists, do's and don'ts, room for notes, and more. This includes the "Getting Help" booklet that is made for you to keep with you during and after disaster strikes.
Another ingenious and thoughtful touch is that The Studio Protector has magnets in it so it will remain closed even when hung on a wall (for which two gourmet-reinforced holes are provided). The magnets are not quite strong enough to keep The Studio Protector on a filing cabinet by themselves, but that was not what they were designed for and is a minor inconvenience.
Further Resources Available
The Studio Protector was created by a non-profit organization dedicated to helping artists and craftsmen when disaster struck. That legacy continues and is tremendously enhanced by this further addition they have added to their mission.