2002 Regional Technology Conference: Creating A Social Network

Conference participants engage in a lunchtime discussion.

The focus of this year's conference was "How do we create a self-sustaining network of community technology centers?" in the Upper Midwest. Other regions and cities are creating successful collaborations that help their member centers grow and thrive. Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Austin, TX have all begun to develop regional coalitions. The conference covered what this might mean for local Community Technology projects here in Minnesota. The Star Tribune covered the 2002 Regional Technology Conference. Read the 9/30/02 article here!

Agenda
8:30 am Registration
8:50 am Opening Remarks
9:00 am (sharp) Key note address by Mayor R. T. Rybak
10:00 - 12:00 Morning Plenary Session on Community Technology: Developing Social Networks

12:00 - 1:30 Birds of a Feather Luncheon:
Tables on: Public Advocacy for Community-Based Technology, Assistive Technology for the disabled; Diversity and Multi-Lingual Programming, Funding and much more!

2:00 - 5:30 Seminar on Volunteer Recruitment and Management by CompuMentor of California

Sponsors
We are grateful for the generous support of the Minneapolis Foundation, which made scholarships funds available. A big "Thank you" also goes out to Bruegger's Bagels, Caribou Coffee, Loring Pasta Bar, Lunds, and Rainbow Chinese Restaurant for their generous food & beverage donations.

Conference Minutes
[Mayor's Speech] [Plenary Session] [Volunteer Workshop]

The Conference was called to order at 9:00 am with opening remarks by Samantha Smart, Conference Organizer, Catherine Settanni, Executive Director of the Community Computer Access Network (C-CAN) and Steven Lu of Asian Media Access (AMA). Catherine spoke to the continuing urgency that we collectively face in meeting the needs of the digitally disenfranchised; that the issue is far from solved as some would have us believe; and that the group gathered represented the skills, talents, experience and creativity required to forge dynamic solutions to providing digital access across social, economic and cultural strata.

Steve Lu introduced the work of Asian Media Access and spoke to the isolation that Asian communities often feel due to language and cultural barriers to access. He then introduced the keynote speaker, Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis.

Mayor Rybak's Speech
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Mayor Rybak spoke about his desire to build partnerships between the agencies represented by those in the room and the city and private business in order to address the issues of the digital divide. He expressed a willingness to have C-CAN play a facilitating role in bringing the collective issues of community technology activists to his office. He was open to the idea of a city office of community technology. He asked for a few "best practices" from the audience to give him an idea of what kinds of programs were working already in the Twin Cities, so that he could build on these ideas in his meetings with private business, such as the Chamber of Commerce. He announced a city-wide arts festival next year called Mosaic, and recommended that digital art be a component of the proceedings. The Mayor managed to convey a sense of hope and possibility in having city government be an active and productive partner in the quest to conquer the digital divide.

Plenary Session
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Panelists David McKay, Mike Taylor, James Nicholson,
Jeff Streier and Sarita Turner (left to right).

The morning Plenary Session involved a panel of CT activists: Carl Davidson, national CTCNet Board Member and CT activist and teacher from Chicago, Illinois; Steven Lu and Mike Taylor from Asian Media Access; Sarita Turner from the Cecil Newman Resource Center; David McKay from Migizi Communications, and Jeff Streier, Americorps Vista worker with C-CAN. Catherine Settanni was the moderator for the session.

Carl Davidson introduced his work in Chicago and put the issues of the digital divide into a social context. He recalled one of his chief inspirations, Bob Moses, founder of The Algebra Project, who felt that youth were destined to fail in life if they did not have a working knowledge of algebra, and designed a program to help youth learn and succeed in this area. Carl felt that the digital divide was a similar issue: that youth need to learn about computers in order to succeed in life, not merely economically, but also socially as the knowledge gained from unrestricted access to information would build a broader consciousness.

Carl later said that out of 200 CTCs in Chicago, 80 have failed, not due to a lack on hardware and software, but due to the lack of a strategic plan on how to present programs that will engage and challenge the attendees. He said it is easy to take out an advertisement or otherwise solicit donations of equipment, but more difficult, but more important, to develop creative strategies for programming. He indicated that without such a plan, the youth would most likely degenerate in to just playing games, or wasting their time.

Carl also stressed that we need the political will to solve the problems of the digital divide, that without support at that level, it will be extremely difficult to solve our problems. He works in prisons and expressed the crucial need for a CTC in every prison. He urges every organization in the audience to join CTCNet to profit by the massive, daily amount of information, experience and ideas that flow on the list-serve.

Catherine asked people on the panel and in the audience to identify the biggest challenges they face in providing community technology services:

A partial list follows:

1) A lack of creative thought
2) Follow-up to discussions such as the one we are having now
3) A need for career education in this field
4) Cross-cultural dialogue between communities
5) Forgetting people with disabilities in many CTCs
6) More outreach on the grassroots level across our communities
7) Need for more public information on what each CTC offers
8) Branch libraries need more support from central administration
9) Need for continual update on database of CTCs in order to reflect most recent program offerings, classes, etc.
10) Need to form a Twin Cities CTCNet chapter
11) Facilities: more space
12) Hardware: more up-to-date computers
13) G. Hartley called for more use of www.techsoup.org and www.giftsinkind.org to get free or reduced-price software
14) He also called for a plan to get serial numbers for operating systems to make installation easier
15) More attention to the issue of the "comfort zone" and intimidation with the elderly community
16) A call for the Dept. of Commerce to ask utilities and phone companies to offer reduced rates for internet/phone access for CTCs
17) Parks & Recreation buildings would like more cooperation with Libraries
18) Parks & Rec. need more space, hardware, budget - want a CTC in every park building
19) Jeff suggested more "Train the Trainers" seminars to build staff capacity
20) David McKay asked people to document their experiences and problems and send them to him @ Migizi to present to the government officials that he has approached for support
21) The Volunteer Coordinator for the Central Library expressed a desire to work more closely with branches so as to better assist them with these problems. There are only 2 full-fledged CTCs in the MPLS Library system - we need more!
22) Attention to "comfort level" issue with respect to language barriers
23) We need to use the "each one, teach one" philosophy in CTCs
24) Take kids to legislature to help in the effort to lobby for more public money for CTCs
25) More attention must be paid to people's unique needs; use sensitivity in dealing with our variety of cultures
26) We need to examine the resources that exist right here in this group to solve some of our problems - we may already possess the hardware, software, training, etc. to help each other - and this is the forum to make these connections
27) Look in to the "Share Fair" idea - Graham Hartley has direct experience and can help us set one up (as in the CTCNet conference in TX)
28) Carl stressed that we need to broaden the outlook of the CTC users, beyond just typing or games - that is where an effectively crafted program should come in
29) David Zander called for "peer ambassadors" to have youth train other youth
30) Many folks called for all public libraries to be open on Saturdays - Sarita noted that in communities of color, the libraries were generally closed on Saturdays - the day when most folks can actually go there
31) Catherine suggested that we take this agenda to the Library Board and soon-to-be-hired Director

The lunch hour was organized around six "Birds of a Feather" tables that held directed discussions:

1) Advocacy and public policy lobbying for CTC agendas: David McKay of Migizi Communications
2) Assistive Technology for people with disabilities: Annette Cerretta of the Pacer Center
3) Funding for CTCs: Sandra Larson of ADC Foundation
4) Working with Community-based organizations: Sheldon Mains of MAP
5) Intergenerational Programming: Theresa Schulz of Intermedia Arts
6) Diversity and multi-lingual programming: Peter Le of Sabathani Life Skills Center

A good time and delicious lunch was had by all

Volunteer Workshop
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The afternoon of the conference was highlighted by the Seminar on Recruitment and Management of Technical Volunteers, offered by CompuMentor of California and supported by ACC. Fresh White and Hilary Naylor were our two dynamic and fascinating consultants. About 20 people were present for the seminar.

Fresh & Hilary introduced themselves and their organization (www.compumentor.org; 1-800-659-3579). Everyone in the audience also introduced themselves. A list of expectations from the attendees included the following:

1. general information
2. volunteer coordination
3. recruitment of technical volunteers
4. tips for managing volunteers
5. keeping the lab open for more hours with volunteer help
6. building a volunteer program from scratch
7. volunteers able to work with a variety of clients
8. a need for engineers and developers
9. outside resources
10. recruitment of multi-ethnic volunteer base
11. understanding of how to work with a diverse group of volunteers
12. model for supporting equipment without staff
13. volunteer curriculum
14. learning about barriers to recruiting and managing volunteers

Fresh and Hilary talked about what CompuMentor has learned:

1. project-based volunteering works best
2. technical volunteers love sharing passion for computers
3. technical volunteers are often solicited for help from within friends and family
4. technical projects need to be closely supervised

When hiring volunteers:

• Set a project deadline (not too close)
• Project size and budget (need enough resources)
• Staff availability (to manage and orient volunteers)
• Is the mission critical?
• Skills needed

Before You recruit:

• Set timeline and prepare for delays
• What is the budget
• Who will manage volunteers?
• Identify needs
• Write volunteer job description (skills, time commitment, schedule)
• Specific scope of work (documentation requirements)

How to recruit:

• Look close to home first
• Local community colleges and universities
• Corporations
• Volunteer centers - like C-CAN's Volunteer Hub
• Online bulletin boards

Interviewing Technical Volunteers:

• Have you worked with non-profits before?
• What other projects are you currently working on?
• What role do you expect to play?
• Expectations - yours and theirs
• How will you approach this project?
• Tell me about a project that ran into difficulties - what did you do?
• Prepare to learn something from the volunteer
• Have you worked with kids and seniors?
• Get references, just as in a paid position

A good volunteer…

• Tries to understand the problem before offering solutions
• Learns how the organization functions and doesn't tell you how to run it
• Knows his or her strengths and weaknesses
• Provides options
• Talks to you in a language you can understand
• Doesn't assume technology is THE answer
• Leaves you more informed about your technology

Orientation/Documentation:

• A vision of your organization - inspire your volunteer!
• Clients served
• Working relationship & communication - introduce volunteers to staff and office procedures
• Security issues (computer passwords, etc)
• Documentation **** record EVERYTHING! So that project can continue when volunteer leaves
• Budget & timeline
• Cultural sensitivity

Ending the project:

• Have an evaluation meeting (what worked? What didn't? future collaboration?)
• Ask for final report/evaluation
• Thank you volunteer
• Keep contact information current

Volunteer Appreciation Ideas:

• Dinner get-together
• Tech equipment
• Honor roll in annual newsletter
• Recognition event
• Bus passes
• Gift certificates
• Kids "thank you" notes
• Gas money
• Potluck
• Birthday/Holiday cards

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