State of the Onion

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This is a list of Free Geek programs and functions organized by the staff committee that is charged with their oversight. We are asking each committee or person responsible to post a brief description of the state of each program.

(For more information on each committee see the Standing Staff Committees page.)

NOTE: When updating a section, please sign your work with the "four squiggles" syntax (~~~~) so we can see when the item was last updated (and by whom). (In theory, reports that are unsigned were created by someone from the committee or responsible for the indicated program before this note was added. RfS 09:06, 26 January 2007 (PST))

Action

Recycling: Forklift is fixed. We're using it less now. Darryl 10:22, 09 April 2009 (UTC); We passed the OR state audit with flying colors. Working on getting BAN certification. Darryl 10:22, 09 April 2009 (UTC)

Hardware Donations: We have several new volunteer interns working in Hardware Donations! They have been shaping up Basic Testing. Laurel 18:00, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Maintenance and design of the physical plant: The classroom will get a divider. We're working on the plans and getting a grant from the Rebuilding Center for free materials. Darryl 10:22, 09 April 2009 (UTC); Working on what do with Ken's space as he finishes moving out. Darryl 10:22, 09 April 2009 (UTC)

Building security: We have moved all valuable gizmos away from windows in the store and other locations. This was in response to two "smash-and-grab" incidents that resulted in loss of some merchandise and cost us a lot in window repairs. We considered getting blinds for the store to hide merchandise during off-hours, but decided against it because of budget tightness. For now we're going with "out of sight, out of mind" to deter theft. Darryl 10:22, 09 April 2009 (UTC)

General safety: Remember To Play Safe. In the next two months we will be reevaluating our evacuation plans, and get the word out about any changes. Matteo 18:57, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

C7

Policy development: The "policy cleanup on the wiki" project seems to have slowed down significantly.

load balancing of the committees: All of the committees have enough people, but some committees function better than others. It's the intention that the Reuse Committee will be splitting into two separate committees soonish: Sales & Production. The Outreach-y committees/work groups have been altered (again) and now consist of the ad-hoc Events Committee and the following Standing Staff Committees: Inreach= and PR.

liaison with Free Geek Community Council and Free Geek Board of Directors: Developing this page as a snapshot of information hopefully helps keep the council and board better informed about the state of things. Board members are coming to council meetings on a regular basis.

nominations to the various committees: huh?

proposals concerning changes to the committee structure itself: We were thinking about ideas expressed in Multi-Collective Free Geek as a starting point for a possibly different committee structure.

accounting and financial oversight: We have moved to monthly reporting of quarterly budgets. We have reorganized the expense categories to mirror the committee structure, have recoded the last three years of income transactions, are working on better income projections based on that. We need to review policies about handling money from time to time. We need to educate the committees on how to spend money when they're not sure how ahead or behind they are vis a vis the budget.

HR

Human resources: We just hired 2 new interns! Please welcome Jennifer Noonan and John McNamee as the Front Desk and Prebuild Interns, respectively. Each will cross train in Hardware Donations, the Front Desk, and Prebuild. We're currently pondering meta-staffing issues.

volunteer and staff discipline: We have a Volunteer Discipline Policy. There are a few active tickets in our Volunteer Issues queue which is visible to staff only. Active tickets in the queue are reviewed at HR meetings.

procedures regarding theft from Free Geek: This is handled mostly by our Volunteer Discipline Policy. There have been a few incidents in the past that are still open.

mediation between conflicting parties: We do this as it needs to be done. There have been a few formal mediations, but generally we try to get people to talk to each other to head that off. We have set up a rotating ombudsman role to handle complaints from the public.

volunteer and staff scheduling: Volunteer scheduling is done on paper, and works mostly. Tour guides are now scheduled, basic testing is off the schedule, and special volunteering can be written in on the miscellaneous area. Staff scheduling is semi automated but last minute changes eat up time (and money). It would be good to have a program that makes this easier. Staff schedule has changed to http://data/staffsched/ from inside Free Geek (thanks Ryan!).

staff and intern reviews: Our new review process is swimming along! Each person is reviewed approximately every 7 months.

health care and benefits packages: Staff collective members have health care (including alternative care such as naturopathy), sick, vacation, and holidays. The health plan was just renewed and costs us approximately $365 per person per month. We also have a "high" plan that collective members may elect. If someone elects the high option, they pay an additional $68.70/month for additional benefits. Some collective members use other plans and are eligible to reimbursed for most of their costs in lieu of taking our plan. We added a retirement benefit, where Free Geek will match up to 3.2% of a collective members salary, providing the collective member make an equal or greater contribution to a 403(b) plan (similar to a 401(k) plan, but for nonprofits). Dependents (one child per staff member) are also included in the health care plan.

employee manual: The Staff Handbook is on the wiki

Knowledge Bees

Education: Beyond Adoption Classes continue to offer additional educational opportunities to our adopters. We are working on an additional Ubuntu class for thrift store shoppers and grantees and are considering the name "Newto Ubuntu." The action committee is working on construction of the new classroom wall. We couldn't be more excited about this development! Laurel 17:09, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Documentation: We are still working on the Ubuntu New User FAQ. Instead of creating a Free Geek User Manual, we are instead pointing people to the Ubuntu Pocket Guide on the desktop of every Freekbox. We also sell "Ubuntu for Non-Geeks" in the thrift store at cost to adopters, builders, and those that purchase a Freekbox. Laurel 17:09, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Technical Support: We have 5 days a week of tech support availability and we are working on improving our intake and tracking process.Laurel 17:09, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

City of Portland Computers: We have a partnership with the City of Portland to get computers into homes of Portland school children. We worked with area schools to offer a free computer to any Portland school student in exchange for volunteer work at their school. We have given away approximately 40 computers over the summer. Laurel 18:07, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Free Geek Library: Check it out! It looks just like a library. Laurel 1, Kathies 1 and 2, have been working to get the library software up and running. Until then, we will continue to use the borrow book to check books out. Laurel 20:40, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Inreach

Inreach is working hard to make sure the front desk runs smoothly. We are also planning a volunteer appreciation event for the end of March. Inreach is extremely excited to welcome our new Front Desk Intern, Tim Webster, as well as our many new Office Volunteer Interns! Say "hi" to new faces at the front desk.Laurel 20:46, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

PR

We have a number of small projects floating around and have been participating with the City to establish Reuse Week

We rolled out the new website! And then rolled it back in! And now it's back out! Check it out!

We've organized our enormous basket of tasks into some categories so we can prioritize more efficiently.

Collection events, which have been consuming the majority of our time lately, are slowly moving under the purview of the RAD committee. When this happens, PR will consider the ability to meet every other week and refocus on proactive PR stuff.

Events

FG Events: There are 2 large events on our radar. The first is a large volunteer event in the summer (more like a family day, less (external) community outreach Than a geek Fair). The Second is our 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY. Matteo 16:11, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Fundraising

This committee lasted for about 2 months. Now 2 volunteers are working on some stuff and the committee has been dissolved.

Receiving and Donations (RAD)

Beuler, Beuler?

Propagation

Liaison with Free Geek startups (the replication of Free Geek elsewhere): over the last 2 months we have been evaluating the initial start up Process for Free Geeks and making miner tweaks as needed. We have also been working on defining services that we can all combine to help releave some pressure and spread knowledge faster. Matteo 16:20, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

liaison with GAP volunteers: A list of current GAP sites is on this wiki. Matteo 16:20, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Hardware Grants: We are looking for ways to get more computers to schools, and school kids in the Portland. Matteo 16:20, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Production

Build Program (Freekbox, storebox, grantbox production): Build is healthy and strong, emptying all incoming piles and filling all outgoing shelves. Our specs are higher than ever, as we ride along the wake of Moore's law. We have also hired a new Build Program Coordinator to facilitate growth in production and take Build to the next level.

Testing maintenance and development: Advanced testing is doing well with strong volunteer coverage. We are also looking for an afternoon intern to work in this area. Basic testing is part of the adoption program and volunteers test keyboards, mice and speakers behind the receiving area.

Laptop: There is a group of build graduates that have joined the Laptop build program. The laptops are dispersed as grants, and sold in the store. The laptop program has moved into its new space, which can accommodate many more people. There are now 9 laptop classes per week and laptop production has ramped way, way up.

Macintosh Build: Macintosh Build production has fluctuated depending on the numbers and knowledge of some hardworking volunteers. We are currently working on creating a self-sustainable system that would make it easier for volunteers to move on to Mac Build and produce rebuilt Macs at a swifter pace.

Printer refurbishing: Printer refurbishment and recycling remain under the purview of the Warehouse Masters. More time has been dedicated to Printer Land and it is functioning better than ever.

Classic Gaming Library: It exists and some folks actually volunteer in there!

Prebuild: Prebuild is drowning in systems and volunteers are working hard to move them through. We continue to keep our complicated instructions and flow charts up to date. We have also retooled our Hardware ID station to be more educational for incoming volunteers.

Sales

The store has exploded in terms of foot traffic since the economy has gone south. Its not uncommon to see 20 people at a time now, and there are rarely times when it is empty. On a recent Saturday, the store sold more than 50% more than the last geek fair (!). Production areas have really ramped up to get a wider range of tested gizmos in the store, which has helped. Additionally, Free Geek has been more active in soliciting larger donations, increasing the amount of good stuff. Unfortunately, many donors still remove hard drives from computers, so there is a persistent shortage of those goods. Tony and Luiz are working on a merit badge system of volunteer training and retention and there are currently a half dozen volunteer interns helping out. Oh, and it looks more and more like a store. Luiz 21:56, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
Online Sales: Right now production needs and other, non-sales obligations have been keeping the Online Coord. from handling many sales. We're exploring an idea to create a new commission-based position in online sales on an exploratory basis. Check out the Online Sales Contractor Proposal for details. Discussion is on council list.; Wholesale (or bulk) sales are largely gone excepting printers and phone equipment.

Technocrats

Technocrats meet on the second and fourth saturdays of each month.

Liaison with Coders group: Currently Ryan Niebur is our chief coder and has made many improvements to the database and is working on more.

liaison with ASS group: The ASSes meet on the first and third saturdays of each month. Currently the point person for system administration is Vagrant, who does much of the actual work as well.

Selection of software commonly used at Free Geek: The website was recently changed to use WordPress and we will probably see an upgrade to that soon. We are looking at some software to improve processes, such as Lime Survey for surveys.

Computer security: Our ASS group is always looking for ways to improve our security. Nothing particular is bothering us at the moment, and we hope to keep it that way. (Hear the sound of fingers crossing.)

Technical infrastructure: We recently changed our internet and phone system to Integra. We also have changed the credit card machines to ones that use ethernet, relieving the congestion between tech support and the store for use of the analog phone line.