[freegeek-e-newsletter] September FreeGeek e-newsletter

Wed Sep 28 17:12:13 PDT 2005

After a bit of a hiatus, the Free Geek e-newsletter is back up and running,
bringing you the latest news from the geek front.  This is our September
issue.

If you'd like to stop receiving this newsletter, please scroll down to the
very bottom of this email and follow the directions.

Contents:

I. Volunteer of the Month
II. Staff Comings and Goings
III. Advanced Testing is Sexy
IV. Adoption Class Teachers Needed
V. FOSCON
VI. Board Selection part I
VII. Happenings Around Town
VIII. Wishlist

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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:

Bernie Jewell!

Bernie comes to Free Geek twice a week like clockwork, standing by his
wheelchair-bound friend Ted completes some of our more complicated data entry
work.  He's also there for any other volunteer who needs help learning data
entry, and he's even written a howto on the subject.  You can always count on
Bernie for a bright smile and cheerful "Hello" when he's here.  He is
definitely one of Free Geek's jewels.

Thanks, Bernie!

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II. STAFF COMINGS AND GOINGS

Have you been to Free Geek lately?  If so, you've probably noticed some
staffing changes.  Importantly, we've hired two new staff collective members.
Christen McCurdy accepted our Recycling Program Coordinator position at the
end of July.  She has spunk, writes a mean recycling report, and is getting
more and more comfortable moving large volumes of computer stuff around in
the recycling area (and building some serious upper-body strength in the
process).

Long-time volunteer Guy Longanecker is now our new Printer Program
Coordinator.  You might remember him as a build instructor or from the
advanced testing area (he helped reconstruct the area a couple of months
ago).  He's been at the job for a couple of weeks now, diving into the world
of printer and scanner repair and sales, as well as some systematizing of the
area.

Say hello to Christen and Guy next time you come in!

*          *           *          *         *         *          *          *
Sadly, one of the original Free Geeks is no longer on staff.  Laurel Hoyt, 
former Education Coordinator, has left the organization to go back to school 
and fill her head with political science vocabulary and happenings of note 
before going on to study sustainablilty and community as they relate to the 
field of urban studies (whew!).  We'll miss her cheerful disposition, witty 
writings, and most of all, her dedication to quality and humanity in all 
things.  At times, it feels like Free Geek has lost a limb (woe are we!).

I suppose we shouldn't fear, though, as Laurel will still visit Free Geek as
a volunteer.  She'll occasionally teach Adoption Classes, update the
FreekBox manual, serve on the board (more about that later!) and do other
jobs as she desires.

We'll all miss her lots, but of course we wish her well!

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III. ADVANCED TESTING IS SEXY!

Over in advanced testing, things have been morphing.  Out of a flurry of hard
drives, systems, motherboards, wood, power tools, screws, and gizmo labels, a
newly-redesigned advanced testing area has emerged.  We now test many more
parts in this area.  Along with motherboards and hard drives, advanced
testers now sift the good CD-RWs, DVD-ROMS, USB devices, AGP video cards, and
sound cards from the bad.  This allows us to have a more regular supply of
these items in the thrift store, which in turn has helped us increase our
revenue in the store, which in turn has helped Free Geek become more 
self-sustaining.  Hooray for sustenance!  Staff and volunteers are still 
putting the finishing touches on the area, but it will soon be ready for 
builders to help test the components.

Thanks to Patrick, Guy, Kyle, Dave, Bella, Tirza, Frank, Clout, and all the
others who have helped to systematize this important part of production.

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IV. ADOPTION CLASS TEACHERS NEEDED

In the Free Geek world, computer education is a crucial part of reuse --
because if the computer recipients can't use the computers, they're not
getting reused, but just relocated! We currently give computer "adopters" a
class to help them know what to do with their new FreekBox-baby.

However, the number of people who have earned computers from us is far
outstripping the number of people who teach these (very basic) classes, and
one of the staff who regularly taught the classes has (gasp!) gone back to
school. Free Geek needs a few patient, reliable teachers who can help our
adopters become good computer parents. Linux wizardry is not required, but a
gentle touch is a plus.

For more information about teaching this class (or other classes), contact
the staff at grok [at] freegeek.org

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V. FOSCON

Every fall for the past few years the OSCON (Open Source Convention) has been 
held here in Portland. This year's OSCON was held on August 1-5 at the Oregon 
Convention Center. This Conference brings Open Source developers from all 
over the world together for some seriousouly geeky presentations and 
discussions.  Unfortunately, the conference costs many hundreds of dollars to 
attend.

Partially in response to the prohibitive cost of OSCON, on the evening of 
Wednesday August 3, a local Ruby group hosted the FOSCON (or Free OSCON) at 
Free Geek (Ruby is one of many open source programming languages). 
Approximately 75 Open Source afficianados attended several Ruby-oriented 
presentations (some of which were part of the OSCON schedule) that folks 
could check out for FREE! The newly-installed air conditioning could barely 
keep up with all those warm bodies. A fun time was had by all. Check out the 
coverage of FOSCON and other activities during OSCON week on the 
News4Neighbors website.

http://www.news4neighbors.net/article.pl?sid=05/08/04/1610217&mode=nested&tid=1

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VI. BOARD SELECTION PART I

Over the past few months, Free Geek's Board of Directors and bylaws have 
undergone a multitude of changes.  For many reasons, by late May, our Board 
membership had dwindled to 3 people, and the Council, staff, and volunteers 
at Free Geek started talking about what we could do to make our Board a more 
integrated part of Free Geek.

The outgoing Board elected an interim Board made up of interested staff and 
volunteers in redefining this important aspect of Free Geek.  With input and 
final approval from the Council, the interim board defined the scope of the 
Board and Council and redrafted Free Geek's bylaws to reflect these changes.  
To see a copy of our new bylaws, go to 
http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Free_Geek_Bylaws.  
http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Category:Bylaws and 
http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Category:Board are broader indexes of 
relevant documentation. One of the marked differences in the new bylaws is 
how Board members are selected: the Council now selects who serves on the 
Board.

Because the interim Board's prescribed term is coming to a close, during its 
last meeting, the Council selected, by consensus, many new Board members.  
While the outgoing Board recommended selecting 7 new members, time 
constraints allowed the Council to only choose 5.  The Council will select 2 
additional members at its next meeting on October 19.

A complete listing of our newly-elected board will be included in our next 
newsletter.

The Free Geek Community Council is Free Geek's main decision-making body, and
is open to all staff and volunteers.  The main concerns of council are:
overarching policy, issues that impact more than one working group, and
issues that may cause contention or conflict with the FREE GEEK mission.  If
you'd like to keep up with Council news, go to
http://lists.freegeek.org/listinfo/council and subscribe to its email list.

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VII. HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN

Think Globally, Green Locally Lecture
Thursday, October 6th
6:30pm- lecture
7:30pm- question and answer
Design Within Reach
1200 NW Everett
$5 sliding donation to benefit Oregon Natural Step Network

Join John Echlin, design principal at Portland's SERA Architects, for a
lecture on sustainable design at SERA, the LEED (Leadership in Environmental
Design) Green Building Rating System and his work with the Oregon Natural
Step Network.  The Oregon Natural Step Network is a non-profit environmental
education, research and advisory organization.

************************************
Penguin Day
October 15
9am to 5:30pm
University Place near PSU
Fee: $50 if your organization pays, $25 for individuals out-of-pocket

Last winter, Free Geek hosted the first Portland Penguin Day. Building on the 
great success of that event, Free Geek is proud to announce our 
co-sponsorship of PenguinDay Portland 2005!

What is Penguin Day Portland?

Penguin Day brings together nonprofit staff, tech providers, geeks, 
consultants, and open source software developers for a day of learning and 
conversation.  Together, we'll demystify open source for nonprofits, frankly 
address the challenges of developing open source tools, and learn about 
specific promising open source applications for nonprofits.

For more info and to register visit: http://portland.penguinday.org

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Portland Cycling Symposium
Saturday, October 15
noon
PSU Smith Center, rooms SMSU294A & 296A
1825 SW Broadway

A woman's perspective of all things related to cycling. Speakers: Jacquie
Phelan, Shannon Whitlach, Janis McDonald, Margaret Weddell & more.

For more info, contact Jeanne Zoppo, cycling [at] pdx [dot] edu.

***********************************
Howl Halloween Party
Saturday, October 29
10pm - ??
Location TBA

Once again, The City Repair Project will be hosting Portland's best Halloween
party.  Party down all night in your best duds while supporting this great
non-profit.

Check http://cityrepair.org for more details as the date of the party
approaches.

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VIII. 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:

- Simple Green general spray cleaner
- Dish soap
- Cream and sugar for coffee
- 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)
- 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. **

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Ha!  You've made it to the end of another Free Geek newsletter.

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

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