Talk:Free Geek Timeline

First stab at a narrative from a quick and dirty email to someone who wants to know more about how things got started (for a book he's writing):

I'll answer any question. Shoot me a few and I'll get right back to you.

In the meantime to get you started here's a brief synopsis (without me knowing what you really want):

Free Geek started in 2000. The founder's name was Oso Martin, and he is still on our board.

We opened our doors on September 1 of that year and invited in volunteers. The first few months were spent scratching our heads and figuring out how we would run things (both technically and as an organization).

In January of 2001 an article appeared in the Oregonian newspaper talking about us and advertising "Free Computers". The very next day we were up to our ears in volunteers and scrappy old computers.

In 2001 we squeaked by on a tiny budget, some money from an individual benefactor, and a grant from the DEQ. We established a core staff collective of three people. In February of that year we launched our first adoption class and began disbursing computers to volunteers in a systematic way. Later that year, we began installing computers in cafes around SE Portland to provide free internet access. We also established a thrift store to help get more technology into reuse while creating an income stream to help with the rent.

In 2002 we began getting larger donations from businesses that were upgrading their infrastructure. We established tech support and quality control processes, revamped the software that made the computers useful, re-thought and extended our classes.

Major problems in the first three years included not enough money, so many volunteers we needed to create a waiting list to get into the program, and a sense that we were beginning to drown in the ewaste we were collecting.

Over the last eight years, we've grown into an organization with a budget approaching 3/4 million dollars, a staff of 25-30 people (depending on the month and how you want to count), and a pool of approximately 700 active volunteers.

RfS 22:55, 26 September 2008 (UTC)