It's been a busy week for me here, so this week's newsletter will be
brief. It has been great to hear from all the people who wrote in this
week! More and more people find the site every day, and it's great to
know that people like it and want to use it. The counter rolled over
1000 hits this week!

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In this issue:
1. A handy personal tool
2. Use the Discussion Board!
3. The Props Listserv

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>A handy personal tool

Most prop people have tools that thet carry on their person when
they're at work. We strap them onto our belts or put them in our
pockets in the morning as a part of our morning ritual. I know in my
case, I'd forget my wallet before I'd forget my Leatherman. But there
is another tool that I use even more often, one that I've become so
dependent on that if I forget it at home, it throws me off for the entire
day. The tool is my tape measure.

But not just any tape measure. It's my 10' Stanley tape measure. It
measures less than 2" square, and is the handiest tool in my arsenal.
I fits in that little tiny pocket over the right hand pocket in my jeans.
Remember the ad campaign Levi's had a few years ago where people
had different uses for that pocket? I think they should have made a
commercial about prop people and the Stanley tape measure, because
I'm conviced that it's the only good reason for the pocket's existence.

It's so handy because its always right there when you need it. I
sometimes get asked 20 times a day to measure something, and I'm
always ready. Granted, sometimes you need to measure something
longer than 10', but in my experience it is more than adequate 90% of
the time. Jolene Obertin at Seattle Rep always teased me because it's
so small (tounge firmly in cheek...), but she never seemed to complain
when we were off in furniture storage and she forgot to bring her big
old 25' tape.

Jim Guy, curently the props master at Milwaukee Rep, and my mentor,
is the person who introduced me to the Stanley 10'. He gives them
out as gifts, which is a great tradition to start in any shop. They can
be hard to find, though. For some reason the large hardware stores
rarely stock them. But you can almost always find them at Target.

I highly recommend going out and getting one for yourself. They do
tend to wear out, because of the heavy usage they get, so buy two
(they're really cheap!). You'll be glad you did!

ps: Don't forget to put your name on it!

pps: Do you have personal tools that you swear by? Then head to
the discussion board and post your favorites in the FAQ forum.
Once I get a good basic list, I'll add it to the Props FAQ.

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>Use the Discussion Board!

Here's an example of how useful the discussion board can be. I
needed some advice this week.on convincingly faking champagne
onstage. After asking the question on the discussion board, I had
several suggested solutions, all within 24 hours! And the responses
I got were much better than the ones I received after posting on the
Stagecraft Mailing List.

When you ask your question on PropPeople.com, you'll get
responses from prop people all over North America and Europe.
Never before has there been an opportunity like this to pick the
brains of so many prop people so quickly and easily. Asking your
questions on the discussion board can be a great way to get advice
on anything prop-related.

More and more people are signing up for the discussion board, and
new posts are being logged every day. I think that the board can be
a very valuable resource for you, so I would encourage you to visit it
and register so that you can post. The more people sign up, the more
useful it becomes. Here's the link for the discussion board:

http://server3.ezboard.com/bproppeoplediscussionboard

Go sign up today!

ps: I apologize for the advertising you see on the discussion board.
Lately ezboard.com has been adding advertising banners to the top
of the pages (something they've never done before). Hopefully later
this year I will be able to afford to get my own dedicated discussion
board, but until then please bear with the annoyance, because the
board is free!

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>The Props Listserv

Several people responded to my question from last week about
creating a props listserv. Everyone seems in favor of it, so I am
planning on setting one up this week. It will be simple to subscribe
to (the same method as subscribing to this newsletter), and you'll
have to option of receiving individual messages or daily digests (all
of the day's messages in a single email). I'll be announcing all of the
details in next week's Prop News.

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See you next week!
Sean McArdle
Owner/Webmaster
http://PropPeople.com
propboy@proppeople.com

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Prop News : The PropPeople.com Newsletter Vol. 1, Issue 3 3/5/2000
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