Written by: Elizabeth Smith Miller, Communications Coordinator, National Safe Place Network

You might have heard of this little monster game called Pokemon Go.  This game is all the rage right now and has been downloaded more than 7.5 million times (and hasn’t even become available everywhere yet!)  You might be asking… “Why is NSPN talking about this?”  The answer is simple… “potential.”  With so much interest and emphasis on mobility, organizations have the potential to use the game to draw community members to them.  When community members come to you, there’s an opportunity to share available youth and family services and resources (including your organization and the local Safe Place program.)

To take advantage of this potential, use the game app to identify PokeStops in your area.  Select one of these stops as a location where you want to set up a table with information and resources.  Since this game draws people to a location, partnering with a business, such as a Safe Place site, provides an easy opportunity to ask the business to donate the money used to purchase Lures.  Whether you ask for a donation or not, please make sure you obtain permission when setting up at a public location.  Learn more about PokeStops here:  http://www.ign.com/wikis/pokemon-go/PokeStops  http://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/pokemon-go-guide-pokestops-use/

After identifying and setting up at your location, it’s time to “lure” community members in.  As inc.com explains Pokemon Go offers a range of in-app purchases. The one that is most important for your [organization] is Lures.  Lures increase the rate of Pokemon generation in the area around the PokeStop where they're placed for one half hour.”  Inc.com also shares the affordability of luring.

“With $100 netting you could purchase 14,500 Pokecoins and an eight-pack of Lures costing 680 Pokecoins:

14,500 Pokecoins / 680 = 21 eight-packs of lures
(21 * 8)/2 = 84 hours
$100/84 hours = $1.19 per hour”

Once you send out your Lures, sit back and watch the crowd come in.  While sharing the great resources to community members, it’s a good idea to remind them that anyone can purchase Lures, so safety is key!  Remind youth and family members to not visit secluded areas and don’t adventure out alone.

You can learn more about how to use this game to #KeepKidsSafe and generate awareness about available resources in your community at:  http://www.inc.com/walter-chen/pok-mon-go-is-driving-insane-amounts-of-sales-at-small-local-businesses-here-s-h.html

If you don’t play the game, this might all sound crazy.  Here’s a great website you can visit it learn the ins and outs of the game.  http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/health/pokemon-go-guide-trnd/

It’s also helpful to know what some of the associated lingo is.  Here’s a handy chart:

Image credit: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/health/pokemon-go-guide-trnd/

You can also see some tips and tricks about Pokemon Go here:

• http://www.appunwrapper.com/2016/07/08/pokemon-go-walkthrough-guide-tips-tricks/
• http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-play-pokemon-go/

And, at the end of the day… If you’re not ready to embrace Pokemon Go, it’s still probably beneficial to learn a little about it so you know what folks are talking about.

“Gotta catch ‘em all!” Have fun!