Where You Gonna Run To?

Wherever I've bounced in the past I always made it a point to designate an RV point for the bouncers in the event of a fire or other such catastrophe. This way, when the fire chief rolls up and wants to know if all your people got out you can do a simple headcount and let him know yes, or no. If you don't do this, you have no idea if some of your guys got out the back, some are across the street in the parking deck or if any are still inside.

Take a leaf from our book and incorporate the same idea in your self protection plan. In other words, lets assume Charlotte gets hit by terrorists and, just like NY during 9/11 and the power outage a few years later, there is no cell phone coverage, no computer access and maybe you have to walk home because a building collapsed on the parking deck where your car is parked.

How about one of the nuclear power plants getting hit? A mass evacuation is under way and you get home to find your family members have gone already.

What about an event similar to Katrina?

Without cell phones how are you going to contact anyone? Have they headed for the hills, a friends, interstate, the coast or are they trying to find you uptown?

While all of the above are unlikely, once again, it only takes ten minutes to figure out a rendezvous point where everyone will meet. If you're not there after a certain time frame someone will comeback every 24 hours for an hour at a time. Or maybe you'll take a leaf out of the military's playbook and have a second rendezvous in the event the first one is compromised.

Keeping in mind there are still victims from Katrina who have lost track of friends and relatives, how much peace of mind would the ten minutes of planning get you? My guess is the return on your investment would be huge so make it a project this weekend to contact all immediate family members and figure out where you're gonna run to.

PS: Or you can be like me...without any immediate family, I don't have to worry about it. LOL