[freegeek-e-newsletter] April FreeGeek e-newsletter
e-newsletter at lists.freegeek.org
e-newsletter at lists.freegeek.org
Wed Apr 27 18:39:22 PDT 2005
Hi everybody! This is Free Geek's April e-newsletter. Our e-newsletter
comes out (approximately) every month. If you'd like to unsubscribe from
this newsletter, please scroll down to the bottom of this email and follow
the directions.
Contents:
I. Volunteer of the Month
II. Receiving Update
III. Nonprofit Assistance Program
IV. Tons of Success
V. The Wide World of Free Geek Outreach
a. Geek Prom Report
b. Earth Day Week
c. City Club of Portland
d. Geek Fair
VI. Happenings Around Town
VII. Wishlist
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I. VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH
Every month, we recognize one volunteer for all he or she has done for Free
Geek. This month's recipient is:
Debi Hildenbrand!
Every Tuesday through Friday, Debi acts as Kathie's right-hand woman at the
front desk for the first 3 hours of the day. She schedules volunteers, makes
reminder calls, takes donations and makes receipts, and routes
information-seekers with the best of 'em. Kathie sings Debi's praises
regularly, and we all appreciate the bright smile and serenity Debi brings to
the front desk.
Thanks, Debi!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. RECEIVING UPDATE
If you volunteer in receiving these days, you'll probably notice that things
have changed a bit. Adoption volunteers still work in the receiving area,
but they only give gizmo numbers to a limited number of common items. The
rest is funneled back to 'Advanced Receiving' (in the old basic testing area),
where more seasoned volunteers sort the less common items. Basic component
testing (for mice, keyboards, and speakers) has moved into the hallway, where
the shelf of random, rare stuff used to reside.
Our hope is that those in Advanced Receiving will be able to catch some of
the more valuable items that come through our doors and send them to the
store or sell them on ebay. In the long run, we hope this will increase our
revenue. For more on the reasons behind this change, see
http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Thoughts_on_Increasing_Sales_Income. The
proposal was approved by Council a few months ago.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. NONPROFIT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Recently, the Council, Free Geek's decision-making body, decided that, while
the scale of the Collaborative Technologies Project was too large for us, we
still want to make an effort to reach out to area non-profits who are
considering switching to Linux. The Nonprofit Assistance Program (NAP) will
be a very scaled-back program that will work within the confines of Free
Geek's already-existing infrastructure to help nonprofits decide whether
they'd like to make the switch.
NAP will:
* Facilitate the adoption of open source software based, sustainable
solutions for non-profit organizations
* Pay for itself and provide a stream of revenue into the Free Geek
general fund.
NAP will achieve these aims by providing rebuilt hardware, software based
largely on our FreekBox distribution, classes, tech support, basic needs
assessments, and access to a list of consultants to non-profits for a fee.
Most of these functions are already done on a day-to-day basis at Free Geek.
Much of the work, at least at this stage, will be done by existing staff.
The founding meeting for this group has been called for Saturday, April
30 12:30-2:00 pm in Free Geek meeting room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. TONS OF SUCCESS
In 2004, Free Geek recycled 226 tons of electronic waste. This figure was 26
tons more than we projected and 43% of the material we have recycled in the
entire lifetime of the organization. We could not have done it without the
hard work of all of our volunteers who, day after day, diligently tear apart
computer systems for the benefit of Free Geek and the earth.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V. THE WIDE WORLD OF FREE GEEK OUTREACH
The month of April was filled with activities. Here are the highlights:
a. Geek Prom was held on April 1, with the help of City Repair, the
Back Space and the great last minute addition of New Deal Vodka, the
event was a good success. Special thanks to the great DJs (Co, Pariah
and Deaf Child) who spun all night for free. Geek Prom was a fundraising
event and we cleared $1200, $400 of which was donated to Earth Day as
part of our sponsorship.
b. Earth Week was filled with events:
Monday (4/18) Intel Earth Week - Free Geek tabled in the Intel cafeteria at
the Hawthorne Farm campus, letting folks folks know all about Free Geek.
Tuesday (4/19) Intel Earth Week - Free Geek tabled in the Intel cafeteria,
letting folks folks know all about Free Geek. This time at a different
campus. There were several Free Geek volunteers that were now
employed by Intel that stopped by to say hi.
Wednesday (4/20) Oregon Episcopal School, Sustainability Panel - Oso was one
of 6 panel members from the local sustainable culturatti, talking to some of
the middle school students about how we think the world could be made more
sustainable. Great kids, with great questions - they're all radical and
stuff.
Friday (4/22) ACMNWR (Alliance for Community Media/Northwest Region)
- Oso was one of 4 panel members talking about "social capital". Very
interesting topic - did you know that Portland, Oregon has the highest
per capita level of civic involvement in the country? Now you do.
Saturday (4/23) EARTH DAY: A Celebration of Localization! - this year's event
was held at the Sunnyside Environmental Middle School in the heart of the
Hawthorne/Belmont districts - even though it rained all day, lots of folks
came out to enjoy the great live music (March Fourth rocks!) eat the great
food and check out all the booths (including Free Geek's). The evening ended
with fire dancers - always a crowd pleaser.
There are a few events coming up over the next few months. Check 'em out:
c. City Club of Portland - On Friday, May 6, the Friday Forum will feature a
panel of non-profits that help bridge the digital divide. Oso will be joining
Nigel Ballard from Personal Telco and Arturo Villasenor from Centro Cultural
to let folks know what it is we all do. The forum will be broadcast on OPB
radio (91.5 FM) the same evening at 7pm.
d. Geek Fair - July 16th - yes, it's coming up, and we've recently changed the
date! If you or someone you know would like to volunteer (we especially need
a booth coordinator and silent auction coordinator right now) or host a
booth, send an email to events [at] freegeek [dot] org, and keep your eye out
for more news on this great yearly event!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN
Cascadia Collective Conference
Thursday April 28 - Sunday May 1
Workshops held mostly at People's Coop
3029 SE 21st Avenue, Portland, OR
$5 per workshop, or $30-$50 for the whole thing
The Portland Alliance of Worker Collectives (PAWC - http://pawc.net), with
support from other collective members from Oregon and Washington, is
coordinating the first regional Cascadia Collective Conference in Portland,
Oregon.
Opening night will include an Introduction to Worker Cooperatives &
Collectives, entertainment & an opportunity to get to know other cooperators.
The remainder of the conference will be geared toward members of existing
worker co-ops and collectively managed businesses, providing both panel
presentations and open forums as an opportunity to learn from peers. Topics
will include: Empowerment & Leadership, Consensus, Basic Finances,
Accountability without Hierarchy, Marketing Your Niche and Strategic
Planning.
All workshops are open to all interested individuals. Organizers are making
every effort to keep the cost of conference attendance as low as possible,
including reasonable meal options provided by local Cooperative Cafes. For
more information about PAWC or the Cascadia Collective Conference, visit
http://pawc.net/ccc.html. Or just come to Free Geek on Thurday between 5 and
7pm to register!
* * * * * * * *
May Day Radical Bike Challenge
May 1st
Meet at People's Coop at 4pm
3029 SE 21st Avenue, Portland, OR
FREE
An alleycat bike race with stops at six Portland radical history spots (in
honor of May Day). Race to checkpoints and end at afterparty: 19th and SE
Ash St. to collect prizes and listen to local bands Eyeball and Like a Circus
Fire. Silkscreened patch mementos will be available, or bring your own duds
to silkscreen onto.
* * * * * * * *
The Personality Test
May 6 (first Friday), 7pm - 10:30pm
The Hall Gallery Open Studios and Group Exhibition
630 SE 3rd, Portland, OR
FREE
Come to the Hall Gallery for this unique art exhibition. Featured artists:
Angie Burr, Sarah Shields, Amelia Hendley, Michael Bland, Jason Doize,
Brenden Budge, Jessie DeJonghe, Moe Bowstern, Don Wallace, Reverend Phil Sano
(Free Geek's own!), Darvin Jones, Megan Ross.
For information send an email to thehallgallery [at] yahoo [dot] com.
* * * * * * * *
Village Building Convergence
May 20-29th
Many spots around Portland
Day-time workshops free
Evening events $10 per night
A 10-day celebratory event of Portland neighborhood communities physically
transforming their own urban environment, The Village Building Convergence:
Human-Scale Community Action at the Urban Crossroads features educational and
inspirational community activities. Now in its 5th year and taking place from
May 20-29, VBC5 surrounds the transformation of 17 neighborhood project
spaces into remarkable places. The VBC5 also features free hands-on workshops
and nightly keynote presentations by cultural visionaries from around the
nation including Leaders in the fields of green construction, community
building and permaculture and will attend from around the world.
This event is a good chance to learn about natural building and get your
hands dirty!
For more information, visit http://vbc.cityrepair.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII. WISHLIST
You might not know it, but many of our basic supplies (like printer paper and
TP) are donated to us by individuals with big hearts and a few extra dollars
in their wallets (or good scavenging skills!). We'd very much appreciate
donations of any of the below:
- Type D vacuum bags
- Rubber bands
- Dry Erase Markers
- Hand towels
- 8.5" x 11" single-sheet white printer paper (100% post-consumer
recycled, if possible)
- Cardboard baler
- Panel/delivery van (diesel preferred so we can run it on veggie oil)
- Big swaths of nice fabric to make the new classroom more habitable
- Food and drink for volunteers (especially chocolate)
** Want to be our dish soap or TP sponsor? If you donate some or all of the
money, we'll use our People's Food Co-op discount to buy
environmentally-friendly soap and TP (thus keeping these purchases in line
with our environmental ethics), and Saint Liane Kocka will pick them up!
Contact liane [at] freegeek [dot] org if you're interested. **
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again, you've made it to the end of the Free Geek e-newsletter. Since
you've made it all the way here, I have a joke for you...
Q: Have you heard about the new corduroy pillows?
A: They're making headlines.
Ha! Happy trails, and we'll see you next time!
Shawn Furst
Volunteer Program Coordinator
Free Geek
1731 SE 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97214
(503)232-9350
info [at] freegeek [dot] org
http://www.freegeek.org
Free Geek email newsletters are sent out once every month or two. If you'd
like to stop receiving these newsletters:
- Send an email to e-newsletter-request at lists.freegeek.org with
'unsubscribe' (without the quotes) in the subject field. You will
automatically be removed from the list.
More information about the e-newsletter
mailing list