Where to Start?

[Dustincoc]

I'm currently working in a theatre that hasn't had a major cleaning in 5-6 years. There are multiple little rooms scatared off the stage and Each was originally dedicated to a specific area but due several to faculty changes and their reorganizing efforts, Every room has a little of everything. Where should I start to organize this mess?

[Van]

What's your least used area ? Clean that out first. then use it as a staging/storage area for gack from other rooms.

**** Now I only have $ .98

[Dustincoc]

Their all equally used as I'm in each one all the time looking for parts for whatever I happen to be fixing that day.

[mbandgeek]

I would say start with the one that has a majority of the big stuff.

if they are all relatively equal than just pick one.

[Foxinabox10]

If they are all off of the stage, I would go in one Saturday and empty all the rooms and re-sort in a more logical way.

[Dustincoc]

It would take a week or more just to empty out al the rooms. Classes are heald in the theatre monday through thursday so I can tie up the theatre for weeks on end. The space originally was a gym but about 30 years ago was transformed into a theatre. The entire place is packed with all kinds of junk.

[Footer]

Just start hackin at it, build some shelves, buy some hefty bags, pick a room, start throwing stuff out. I know that many theatres are full up pack ratish type stuff, but there needs to be a line. You do not need to keep lenses from a 360 when you have no 360's or 30 different types of lamp bases...

[kingfisher1]

well i dont know about you but i'll take your 360 lens, even though i don't hsve any, i'm sure i could fing a use lol

[psmcat]

hey dustin - i went to niagara for awhile, so i am aware of your quandary. here's my 2 cents.... start at the beginning. (isn't that a line from somewhere?! :-) ) seriously, chose 1 room per friday. focus on that room and only that room. do not pass go. in otherwords, don't run from room to room trying to fix things, and organize things all at once. there is no space in that building to do so efficiently!
(unless you want to use some empty dorm rooms for storage) get all of the crap out of the one room that you are working on. put it in piles of good, needs repaired, crap, and what the hell is this. throw out all the crap. do some quick research on the what the hell is this pile, and then toss most of it. put the good stuff somewhere off tho the side. now you have an empty room to store your needs repaired stuff. follow the same procedure in the next room, moving all of it's need to be repaired to the 1st room - now know as the boneyard - and continue. soon you will have clean and happy rooms. again, the key is to focus on 1 room at a time. don't worryu about fixing anything or making any repairs until all your rooms are happy. then, you and your friends can spend all of the time you want to in the boneyard, toiling away, listening for the footsteps of the ghost monk on the remains of the track above you. :-)

[Van]

My Favorite clean-up story is from my wife. We were cleanin out the shop in College. She found a piece of hradware that she couldn't indentify. Se takes it to the T.D. and head of department and says, " What is this ? I need to know where to put it." he looks at her and says, " It's a..... It's a .....Hmmmmm. How many we got ?" " Just this one." ,she says. "Oh ok throw it away. It's trash."
Take a lesson from that. I'm probably the worlds biggest pack rat, but even I know tat when a facility gets like the way yours sound to be. you have to start tossing junk. Pretty much nothing is too precious.