This is an idea I'd like to post for consideration and refinement.
First caveat - "party" isn't the right word, and alternative suggestions are welcome.
Hilarious irony - I'm thinking of gatherings based in part on the model of those at-home parties I never go to - you know the sort I'm talking about - Pampered Chef parties, PartyLite candle parties, Longaberger parties, Tupperware parties, Arbonne parties, and the like.
I like the idea of pitching prep as the concept of Resilient Living - this ties in with what anon.xyz said in the opening post on this thread, and I'm going to lift some stuff I wrote on another thread by way of explanation. Resilient living is not running scared but being savvy, as in not standing first in line for the next Darwin Award. To be "afraid," to be "alarmed," is a kind of a social no-no in our society; no one wants to appear to be perturbed by a threat. But being "resilient" sounds smart. It implies living sustainably and being prepared for whatever comes, being intellectually nimble, resourceful and adaptable, and it also implies being psychologically resilient, not preyed upon by fear and worry. In short, I like the idea of drawing people together around the idea of personal and collective resilience.
In any case, I know we've got to make it cool and smart to prep, not "alarmist," and we've got to find common ground and build upon it. I think we can use social networking to do this.
So I'm thinking of home or small group Just-at-Home Resilient Living gatherings, involving participants in learning about the pandemic threat and preparing for it (video, information, resources on display, some hands on activities). Such gatherings could also introduce the idea of collaborative planning among people who have some connection with each other.
We might model Resilient Living gatherings loosely on the home party industry, where the host is not the presenter. I like the idea of the presenter being a knowledgeable volunteer instead (perhaps from a neighboring community) and the host being (or posing as) someone who is not necessarily a prepper but simply someone who has an interest and a concern for friends, family, and co-workers. I think there needs to be some protection of the privacy of the presenter, such that presenters aren't putting their personal preparations at risk by speaking publicly. Hosts and presenters could be people who've never met each other before or they could be a pair of preppers in nearby towns who simply agree to switch roles as host and prepper in each other's communities. That second strategy might get things started. We'd have to devise a means by which willing hosts could find presenters and vice versa.
This model could scale up to larger events with a large group presentation and smaller demonstration booths (how to purify water, how to build a solar oven, how to give good home care, how to put on a respirator and otherwise minimize risk of infection, etc). Venues wouldn't have to be limited to people's homes, of course.
If we could find sources of funding, I'd like Just-at-Home Resilient Living event kits to be potentially more than just files we can download to use (invitation templates, event announcements, PowerPoints or videos, event plans, and printable informational handouts), but actual materials for use in demonstrations that could be returned or sold at cost to participants. The host might receive a gift. (I don't want a for-profit model - that would muddy the mission's credibility.)
Could this work? Ideas? Refinements?
So, Ideas?
