Faster, better…

Archive for July 31st, 2008

Santa Rosa, CA 073108 – I was skeptical. When someone claims to invent a better mousetrap I’m skeptical. So when Matt Thomas from BK Enterprises pitched me on their new line of graffiti removal products I was skeptical. Then I read the various testimonials, heard about the success of the product over the last eighteen months and learned more about BK Enterprises. I sure looks like Matt’s company has indeed invented a great graffiti cleaning product – five new products actually. They call it, “A New Generation in Graffiti Removal.”

BK manufactures graffiti cleaning products for specific types of cleaning. There is ELITE Graffiti Remover for brick, concrete and stone.  Until now sand blasting or painting (neither are terrific options for various reasons) were the only options available to most jurisdictions responsible for cleaning up graffiti vandalism. Next are Metal Safe and Sign Safe Graffiti Removers for indoor or outdoor metal signs. There is MARKER Graffiti Remover designed to remove marker graffiti on painted doors, walls, counter tops, and mail boxes. Lastly is their General Purpose product. Needless to say I was impressed how far graffiti abatement cleaning technology has come.

Cities and counties needing to look again at their graffiti abatement options should contact BK Enterprises and discuss these new products. Read their testimonials and decide for yourself. I suspect BK might even want to look at designing a better mousetrap. They just might be the company to do it. Visit BK at http://www.mybke.com.

Santa Rosa, CA 073108 – Graffiti prevention occurs through early intervention, education, and empowerment. Thankfully Ann Cooney and her illustrator Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli are masters at prevention through education. Through the Anti-Graffiti Resource Kit they call Painted Problems, teachers use beautifully illustrated lesson plans and brilliantly designed art projects for young students. Teachers give students unique project completion certificates after completing their art projects. Education was big a theme at this conference. The folks from Painted Problems have an educational anti-graffiti product directed at students in the 8-10 age group that clearly gets the anti-graffiti message across. Anne’s product stands out as a very artistic and meaningful approach to what can later become a complicated behavioral problem.

Through art projects, students learn that graffiti is not a victimless crime. They learn how to report graffiti to the authorities and involve themselves in the community. The illustrated characters are attractively enjoyable reading. As Anne says, “Every community can relate to the graffiti victims in Painted Problems. Everyone can work together to graffiti proof their community.”

Santa Rosa, CA 073108- Graffiti Removal, Inc. demonstrated their glass repair product Vandal Shield at the NorCal Graffiti Conference . Vandal Shield developed and patented a product that can repair expensive windows and glass surfaces negating the need to spend thousands in some cases to replace etched or scratched glass. Conference attendees were very impressed by this genuinely unique abatement technology.

Using Vanda Shield is easy. The surfaces are thoroughly cleaned. Then surfaces are sanded with special glass sanding disks. A sheet of the Vanda Shield product is evenly applied to the sanded area with a water-based solution. Using a squeegee the final bond of the Vandal Shield product is assured. Once complete the glass is repaired, amazingly clear, and complete glass replacement was not required.

You can read about Vandal Shield at http://www.vandalshield.com. You can see a demo of the product in action at http://www.youtube.com/vandalshield.

You can also reach the Vandal Shiled folks at 800-543-4500.

Santa Rosa, CA 073108 – At the NorCal Graffiti Conference a company called TRIPWIRE demonstrated the TRIPWIRE Rapid Apprehension System. TRIPWIRE specializes in remote, instant alert systems to apprehend the perpetrators of vandalism. As I roamed the vendor display rooms I found the TRIPWIRE product to be very exciting.

The TRIPWIRE system employees hidden sensors that trigger hidden cameras. Once pictures are taken the pictures are routed by cellular telephone direct to Blackberry style cellular telephones. Once received the person viewing the cellular picture can react to the trespass or the vandalism. What is so unique about the system is its portability.

Perhaps even more exciting is the subscription-based database product that TRIPWIRE sells that allows a jurisdiction to catalog, record, track, and search graffiti vandalism events. TRIPWIRE was a HIT at the conference. The price for such a unique high-tech system? Any city or county can afford it. David Blac, the Director is sure you will find his prices beat the competition.

Additional information on TRIPWIRE is available at http://www.tripwiresystems.com and information on the database at http://www.gripsystems.org and by regular mail to:

TRIPWIRE

c/o Director David Black

Factory 2, 5 Deblin Dr.

Narre Warrren, VIC 3805

Australia

+61 397030155

(Santa Rosa, CA., DougWeb, 073108) Over three hundred persons including anti-graffiti vendors, graffiti victims, police, attorney’s, community non-profits attended the NorCal Graffiti Conference sponsored by the NoGraf Network and the Santa Rosa Police Department.

Three conference rooms were filled with anti-graffiti vendors marketing incredibly useful abatement and detection products to cities and counties. Attendance included companies from Australia and Sweden.

Event organizer Randy Campbell, Executive Director of the NoGraf Network MC’d the event which provided a number of speakers on various topics from abatement, to edication and enforcement.

Santa Rosa’s mayor and a captain of police did introductory addresses thanking everyone for attending this valuable networking conference.