That is a question I often have when trying to find a school or hotel, particularly when the map or GPS is not being helpful [a couple of years ago the GPS took me to a bridge that was closed because of flooding and offered no alternative route]. But occasionally the need for location information doesn’t involve going someplace, but rather staying put and out of harm’s way.
Several times I’ve been in a hotel room in the evening, watching sports [well, actually, bad TV] and the program will be interrupted with an emergency notice about a storm/rain/flooding/blizzard/tornado … take your pick. The problem is, those notices usually include a map and the name of the county, but not the city and nothing on the map to give clues as to where things are really happening.
To someone in a hotel a thousand miles from home, a warning such as “the SW corner of XYZ county is due for record rainfall and flash flooding, and is under tornado watch until 8:00am” is not much help. I need specifics. Do I get under the bed or just go sleep on it? Head for the hills or stay put? Usually I just close the drapes and pretend nothing is happening, if the storm wakes me, then I’ll deal with it then.
That has worked fine thus far, the only mishap was waking to a flooded parking lot, some cars up to the bottom of the doors, but as fate would have it, my car was in the upper lot and fine and I left without incident. Always an adventure, finding where I am and where I should be, in life as well as on the road. Where to next?
--James VanArsdel, VP of Client Relations
As CollegeNET's ambassador and VP of Client Relations, James travels the globe visiting with customers, gathering inputs and bringing it all back to CollegeNET so we can improve our products and services in ways that are meaningful to you. If you'd like his next stop to be your institution, please let
your account manager know! Just be sure you give really specific directions to your campus!
