State of the Onion

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: Shipments are going out once a week to each of our vendors. We recycle close to 200 monitors, about 3 tons of steel, 400 lb of plastic, 600 lb of wire and cords, and many more pounds of other copper bearing material every week.(estimated numbers); The warehouse has a new and improved layout, easier for volunteers and staff to navigate. The black hole has moved, but is still not being used for gaylord storage due because there is still some shelving and the lighting is not adequate. Printerland and monitor testing will move soon, and the shelves will be rotated. Look for a radically different, open feel (and quilts) to the windows that are presently in front of printerland. Also, a check out system for tools now exists. Check with any staff in Recycling on the procedure on how to get a set of tools to work with.Luiz 11:55, 7 February 2008 (PST); Portland Supported Employment is helping us with some of the smaller recycling tasks by taking many boxes full of stuff to their workshop and separating the materials for us. They are earning computers by working off-site and tracking their hours through their organization.

Receiving: Receiving has been so organized and clean lately, it's frightening, even though the stream of donations never seems to stop for longer than a couple of minutes. We have stopped receiving loose batteries, and are referring donors to other places like Radio Shack with their baggies. Liane 15:35, 7 July 2007 (PDT)

Maintenance and design of the physical plant: Space Usage has been chugging along changing the layout of many of the areas we work in. Rewiring of the building is about half done. The walls between simple testing and online sales, and between online sales and advanced testing have been removed in preparation of moving eval. Advanced testing has been partially moved into the old eval 2 and should be mainly moved by the end of the week. There are alot of little loose ends around. Many areas, including the meeting room and mac build have been repainted.Luiz 11:55, 7 February 2008 (PST); We've scheduled regular walk-throughs to check for safety and maintenance issues. Jeff will be heading these up during his facilities shift. Shawn 10:45, 15 November 2007 (PST)

Building security: We have re-keyed all the external locks. Changed some locks from random to keys the standard key setup. Matteo 08:55, 7 February 2008 (PST)

General safety: Please remember to keep aisles free of debris, and pathways inside the building free of random stuff, because it is required by the fire department, and we have volunteers and guest using wheelchairs, or other mobility devices. Space Usage is talking about how to better define pathways around the building, look out for better defined pathways. We have also created a Safety policy.; We've scheduled regular walk-throughs to check for safety and maintenance issues. Jeff will be heading these up during his facilities shift.; Incident reports have become more regular. They are recorded to a special queue in RT created for this purpose.; Two blood spill kits were created. They are kept in the main bathroom by the volunteer kitchen and in Recycling. Shawn 10:45, 15 November 2007 (PST)

C7

Policy development: Currently cleaning up the policy structure in the wiki, adding links and history. Wiki clean up mostly being done by volunteers. We are seeking volunteers to help with this. (See Matteo or anyone from C7.) RfS 10:43, 17 February 2007 (PST)

load balancing of the committees: All of the committees have enough people, but some committees function better than others, partly because some people are better at being committee members than others. Some committees (such as HR) may be overstaffed. Some committees could be broken up into different committees, but this might create too many committees to be practical. RfS 10:43, 17 February 2007 (PST)

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. RfS 10:54, 12 May 2007 (PDT)

nominations to the various committees: HR has may have a person too many people on it. With an expected some staff changes in the next year, expect to see some shifting about. RfS 10:54, 12 May 2007 (PDT)

proposals concerning changes to the committee structure itself: We are thinking about ideas expressed in Multi-Collective Free Geek as a starting point for a possibly different committee structure. RfS 10:43, 17 February 2007 (PST)

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. RfS 10:54, 12 May 2007 (PDT)

HR

Human resources: We've just hired Mary Kate Watson as Office Coordinator. She has tons of experience streamlining document and communications flow, and is super nice.

volunteer management: We had a great Holiday Party in December and raised some funds for the Leo Westwind Medical Fund. Volunteer rewards are handled by Inreach work group.

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.

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. There's been a lot of group volunteering now that school's back in session.

staff and intern reviews: We have been getting on top of Reviews having just completed a boat-load. Our will must not flag so we can keep up with the next ones without falling behind.

volunteer acculturation and training: Trainings are not happening in a consistent way, but there are a few in the works. There has been a lack of people signing up in the past. We'd like to do a consensus training, a wiki training, a training in website admin, tour guide training, and prebuild instructor training. The discussion on the Council email list about the Education Program & Coordinator reflects much of the varied perspectives about volunteer trainings.

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 $345 per person per month. Some collective members use other plans and are eligible to reimbursed for most of their costs in lieu of taking our plan. We are adding 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 503(b) plan (similar to a 401(k) plan, but for nonprofits). We've added dependents (one child per staff member) to the healthcare plan - yay!

employee manual: The Staff Handbook is on the wiki. It is a work in progress.... and by progress we mean perpetually incomplete.

Knowledge Bees

Education Coordinator: We now have one!! Yay! Everyone welcome Laurel 2.0. -- MW 13:47, 11 December 2007 (PST)

Education: Adoption classes are happening twice a week. More Volunteer Adoption Teachers would be great. (MW 13:42, 15 May 2007 (PDT)); The advanced linux class series happens once a week -- MW 13:47, 11 December 2007 (PST)

Documentation: Lots of documentation continues to happen. (MW 13:42, 15 May 2007 (PDT))

Technical Support: We have 4 days a week of tech support availability.; We have some new volunteers. ( martin 13:47, 3 April 2007 (PDT) )

Computers for Kids: We have groups from a few different schools, meaning hundreds of kids, coming in on a regular basis. martin 13:59, 13 November 2007 (PST); (See Group volunteering for how groups of kids can volunteer.)

Free Geek Library: Regular volunteer effort has been given to cleaning up and organizing the library in its new home, leading to a large number of books being recycled and set on the free table. Computer cataloging of the books has also been started. martin 13:59, 13 November 2007 (PST)

Outreach

Outreach is a staff committee that is open to volunteer participation. We cover a lot of different areas at Free Geek, so to make this more manageable we broke it down into five subcommittees and one over-sight committee called "Outreach", which can be reached by emailing outreach at freegeek.org. Each committee has a mailing list that can be joined by signing up at: http://lists.freegeek.org/listinfo.

FG Events: The staff made some suggestions for how to reduce burnout and create more repeat coordinators. Outreach will be suggesting a move to reduce the number of planned events per year, futher emphasize year-round outreach (as opposed to once a year outreach), and research a budget for contractual event coordinators.

Inreach: Tour guide training is in the works, will likely happen in March. First monthly pastry/coffee day (an experiment replacing core BBQs until the weather gets better) will be Friday, 3/7.

Community Builders: GROW Conference at PSU, attended by Shawn and Luiz, was super helpful for considering growth and marketing strategies. Jeff will be heading over to Lincoln City for a presentation at their Green Drinks meeting. Ali will be the contact person for our multiple neighborhood cleanups and tabling opportunities around Earth Day.

Fundraising: We're considering applying for a Prize centered on our wiki communications. A more full-time fundraising employee will most likely be needed for Free Geek's upcoming capital campaign.

PR: Responding to incoming requests, but not much is coming in. Shawn is heading up big changes to our website. Wordpress will most likely be our backend technology, the look and feel will be updated, and content will be reworked and expanded.

Outreach: Trying to iron out why some of the workgroups aren't working so well. Requested more hours from Priorities Committee for marketing and outreach (to at least partially make up for changes in Ewaste Legislation law), and a full-time fundraiser for the upcoming capital campaign.

Propagation

Liaison with Free Geek startups (the replication of Free Geek elsewhere): The franchise group has an email list with members from outside of the Portland area. We are finalizing a formal trademark license agreement. We have an official trademark in category 41 (education). Our attempts to enforce trademark license through cease and desist letters and such are still stalled. RfS took a trip to the midwest. He met with folks in Minneapolis and showed them our video, and they are excited. RfS also stopped in at Free Geek Chicago, they look like us if we only worked out of our warehouse and it was a basement. Rumour is that they will need to move soon. Vancouver is moving as well (to a larger space). Matteo has been in the most consistent communication with the various startups. Currently we need to prod folks to weigh in on the Twin Cities application and make sure everyone in on the franchise list. RfS 10:39, 27 November 2007 (PST)

liaison with GAP volunteers: A list of current GAP sites is on this wiki. The Red and Black location has closed for an indeterminate amount of time. We upgraded to two boxen at the Redwing. Chance of Rain needs its secondary disk replaced ASAP. RfS 10:28, 27 November 2007 (PST)

Hardware Grants: The Hardware grants group just met! We will meet quarterly as-needed. We are abolishing instagrants because they interrupt the workday too much. We are working on consolidating the policies and documentation about grant giving, so that it doesn't get lost. Laurel 20:15, 27 November 2007 (PST)

Reuse

Freekbox, storebox, grantbox production (build): 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.

testing maintenance and development: Advanced testing is running under the graces of a few very dedicated volunteers. In order for development and refinement of new procedures, more staff time will need to be allocated. Advanced testing has moved and is slowly rebuilding its infrastructure so it can be more mobile. Basic testing is part of the adoption program and volunteers test keyboards and mice. Matteo 10:24, 11 March 2008 (PDT)

Laptops: There is a healthy group of build graduates that have joined the Laptop build program. The laptops are dispersed as grants, and sold in the store. We are currently moveing of the laptop program into its new space, this should double the amount of people we can accommodate. Matteo 14:03, 19 December 2007 (PST)
retail sales: Retail sales has been on a steady increase for the last 5 years. The store is currently staffed full time by staff, and day to day there is usually 2-3 volunteers helping out customers, testing various gizmos, and stocking the shelves. There have been some bumps starting the new year with a new POS system, but over all our accuracy in bookkeeping has never better. We just hired a new intern, Francisco Marquez. RfS 12:49, 12 July 2007 (PDT)

printer refurbishing and sales: Printers has moved! We have spent a great deal of time cleaning and getting work areas ready, setting up ad-hoc flow charts and getting printers ready for the store. If there were twenty hours a week dedicated staff time the income would pay for the staff time dedicated. Matteo 10:24, 11 March 2008 (PDT)

Audio/Visual: We are creating a system for better internal reuse of these items. Normal A/V is running awesome. Matteo 14:03, 19 December 2007 (PST)
Online Sales: Ebay sales are presently ongoing under the care of our Online Sales Coordinator. The scope of online sales will include Craigslist. We are now working on setting up a class for those who are interested in learning how to sell on line. Matteo 10:24, 11 March 2008 (PDT)
locate, evaluation, and put oddball hardware into reuse: This is done on a ad-hoc basis. The work is mostly being done by volunteers.

wholesale or bulk sales of to-be-recycled parts: Wholesale (or bulk) sales are surging ahead with new orders coming in. A few more hours of staff time allocated would make it less frenzied.

Legacy Systems: Legacy Systems is now fully integrated into the rebuild program. Matteo 10:24, 11 March 2008 (PDT)

Classic Gaming Library: The existence of the CGL can neither be confirmed nor denied at this time. We are currently looking of this thing. Matteo 10:53, 13 September 2007 (PDT)

Prebuild: Prebuild has moved to a location closer to receiving creating a better flow for the computers. We have started to get more corporate donations which means more identical systems, most of which are processed more easily. We are considering a few changes in Eval 1 that will make it easier to identify computers that should be recycled. Matteo 10:24, 11 March 2008 (PDT)

Technocrats

Liaison with Coders group: The coders group does not function (as a group). Recently, Martin finished a project to rework the entire database to the point of rollout. He continues to add features and hunt bugs, but we are using the new code. We will need to train a core of staff and volunteers to maintain this code during the next year, because Martin has asked for an extended sabbatical for the year 2008. We are trying to reach out to other freegeeks to help maintain the code. -- MW 10:29, 13 March 2007 (PDT) There are currently three to four volunteer coders -- MW 10:48, 11 September 2007 (PDT)

liaison with ASS group: The ASSes meet on the third tuesday of every month. Much system administration work is actually being done by Martin on staff time. -- MW 10:48, 11 September 2007 (PDT)

selection of software commonly used at Free Geek: We are looking at possible replacements for RT. Long ago we selected moodle as software that might work to maintain curriculum and tests for online classes. The Knowledge Bees are still determining whether we will actually use this. Lessdisks has been replaced by LTSP, with a corresponding rework of our system imaging. Gizmo IDs have been ameliorated to only matter among the build teachers and students, and it is planned to "soon" remove the need for any paperwork in the build area. We are looking at Content Management Systems to replace our website. We are currently looking at replacing our current distro with gutsy, as well as changing our current distro installation process. -- MW 10:48, 11 September 2007 (PDT)

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.

technical infrastructure: The ASSes are implementing some technical options that might eventually reduce the physical number of machines needed in there. As it is, it is a bit crowded. We are in the process of updating our systems to have more recent software (debian etch). We also want to increase our bandwidth (or effective bandwidth for our most common tasks). -- MW 10:48, 11 September 2007 (PDT)