On a personal level, I am all for face to face aid. I like the idea of helping those I know and likely care for. I have a vested interest in that.

However, I no longer contribute to big anonymous charities anymore. Far too much of my income has been unilaterally dedicated to helping folks I will likely never know. I had no say in the matter, and so long as the practice continues, I cannot afford to contribute any more than what is presently demanded of me that way.

If someone comes to me one on one, in genuine need, I will do all I can for them, but no more of this bailing others out of their misfortune without first considering at least the cause, if not the solution. I've had more than my fill.

Kudos to those of you who still have surplus income to contribute. I am not at that point in my life as yet.

Ditto on that!

What I can do if we have a lot of interest is create a 'private' website for people to `register`. Basically you put in your location, and contact information. If someone else that is registered needs assistance they can input their location and find people that are nearby.

You of coarse don't have to put in your home address but an e-mail / phone / pager would be required so someone could contact you.

I can do this utilizing Google Maps too so that you can 'plot' help if needed. This would lead to my second suggestion of a 'help location' in your city not your home address so that we COULD plot it on a map and then if someone selected that location they could see everyone who 'opted' to help that location.

So if I get a flat tire in las vegas and there's a 'spot' there we`ll say in X casino parking lot if there are 5 people who 'opted' as their spot I could choose from 1 of the 5 or continue down the list until I got help.

I would also like to see a list of available 'offerings' per-person who is 'opted. IE: I could offer welding service, or a ride within X miles, water to someone, etc. (This is up to each person) but could come in handy in narrowing down the contacts. Some of coarse could be 'check boxes' to make doing a query for a needed item better.

I`ve thought about adding this as a 'free service' to my website but I really really would like it to be 'invite only' as it could get out of hand and I think most would prefer to help people who say "I got your # from so and so from the "HELP" area" etc... not I randomly registered on your site and want some FREE X.

Let me know what you guys think I could make this basic to start and we could add some very cool features in the future

-Todd

Let me in. I don't have a lot to give, but I'll happily give what I can. I've taken a lot away from this site, so I'd be happy to get a chance to give back to the people who give advice to me every day.

That's a great suggestion and offer ToddW BUT I think there are VERY significant security concerns that would have to be dealt with.

Give me a few days to sort out some things out and I may have a suitable answer.

If anybody else is interested in this concept, say so on the forum here.

I agree. That's why I think no home / personal addresses should be used nor any "home" phone numbers to allow reverse look-up.

Cell #s / E-Mails with meeting spots would be nice I think. With that idea like previously mentioned you could get a list of people for a spot, and include yourself on multi-spots, etc. depending how far you are willing drive.

Looking forward to your ideas

-Todd

As one who lives "on the road" (full time RV'ers), I think this is a great idea. We already have a good network of other travelers who work together and provide information and assistance. This has proved invaluable to many who have had difficulties while in unfamiliar areas.

Please make updating of whatever system you use easy and automatic if possible. Here is a url of one system we use.

http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=4746

It provides a map with the location of other participants. Neat site and easy to update our location.

Another is the standard ham radio locater done through the amateur position reporting system (APRS) which is an automatic system using ham radio and special beacon transmitters. It utilizes both terrestrial and space based systems. Check it out here.

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?n1ahh

Both are limited to a particular group of folks. The first are satellite internet users, the second is limited to ham radio operators.

Both provide very precise locations which may not be suitable for some folks. But it allows us to find each other as we migrate from place to place. Both can are linked to google maps.

Just thought it would be useful to see several examples of similar groups and how they display their information.

Count us in.

Nomad.

Thanks for sharing the ideas Nomad

You shouldn't even need email addresses. Use a PM feature with email notification that the recipient has a PM. That way the only thing revealed on the website is internet handle vice real name.

You might also consider putting out the PM to an area code/zip code/meet-up spot registry. That could result in more than one responder which would add to the security. Meeting places with video cameras would add to security (Las Vegas would be easy). That said, if a vehicle is disabled, getting it to a fixed meet-up point may not be possible.

All this pre-supposes access to the internet to access the registry; is that realistic?

Edit: On a related note, I got in touch with a member from another forum in the area here and we became pretty good friends. Since I work near his home, it's a place to hang if we ever have that big earthquake here in SOCAL while I'm at work. I really recommend making contact with members in your area early rather than waiting for a crisis to force contact.

Good ideas and thoughts.
I think e-mail, phone, should be optional and like you said e-mail for 'admin' required to send out a notification.

If I new I was going through Las Vegas I could print out a list of names/emails/phone#s ahead of time to keep with me so you wouldn't need Internet while you were there only a phone which could also be a problem.

Better than nothing that's for sure.

All great ideas, keep them coming