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).

Action

Recycling: New system for gloves and safety glasses in place. Volunteers who come in more regularly now have a place to store their gloves for their next shift. The safety glasses are being cleaned at least once every day, and you can see through them now. Thanks John!!; Our Tuesday group from Central City Concern is know as our "Power Group", only dust is left behind when they're done.; Prices for commodities are still going up! Have you seen gold prices?

Hardware Donations: 3 new NPAs are rocking Hardware Donations, Pick Ups, and all the other places they contribute to with their hard work.

Building security: Technocrats have taken on installing cameras near exits in the store, warehouse, etc.

General safety: Remember To Play Safe. Lift with your knees! Ask for help! Keep walkways free of clutter and trip hazards!

C7

Policy development: The "policy cleanup on the wiki" project is now in HR's basket.

load balancing of the committees: Some of the committees do not have enough people, and some committees function better than others.

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 had been thinking about ideas expressed in Multi-Collective Free Geek as a starting point for a possibly different committee structure. The conversation is up in the air right now.

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 are preparing for the departure of Laurel, our Education Coordinator. We are drafting job descriptions and plan to begin hiring within the next couple of weeks! Laurel 18:56, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

employee manual: The Staff Handbook is on the wiki. It is more up-to-date than it's ever been!
Valerie 21:56, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

volunteer and staff discipline: The HR Committee is continuing to review the Volunteer Issues queue. We want Free Geek to be a safe and welcoming place to learn and to give back to the community, and we ask our volunteer to abide by our General Conduct Guidelines. Although Free Geek has a Volunteer Discipline Policy, we are still brainstorming ideas for a formal grievance policy and related procedures.
Valerie 21:56, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

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: There haven't been any "conflicts" and our Ombuds(wo)men are happy and bored.

Staff Trainings: Board and staff are currently planning an In-Service. Staff can add training topics as they see fit on the page Winter/Spring 2012 Inservice Trainings. Alamb 19:39, 6 January 2012

Staff Reviews: The next reviews coming up are 6 months reviews for new collective members.; We continue to have ongoing discussions of how to make the review process the best it can be.
Valerie 21:56, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

health care and benefits packages: Staff members who work over 24 hours a week have health care (including alternative care such as naturopathy, dental, and vision). We have 3 plans available to us: a standard plan, a "high" pkan, and a POS plan to access providers outside the Kaiser network. Staff members that choose the"high" plan or the POS plan pay an additional cost. Some employees use other plans and are eligible to be reimbursed for most of their costs in lieu of taking our plan.

Education

(the committee formerly known as Knowledge Bees)

Education: Lots of education news at Free Geek: We were just awarded a $10,000 grant to renovate our classroom! Look for big changes in the next couple of months! Additionally, all classes are now free for all volunteers and community members. We have a whole host of new classes, which can be viewed on-line here: http://www.freegeek.org/about/education/.Laurel 23:15, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Accessibility: There is a new group at Free Geek meeting to discuss accessibility to our programs. The group is working on specific job descriptions for each volunteer task at Free Geek, which will help assess the accessibility of the area and which accommodations are needed and possible. Laurel 15:14, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Documentation: The new Lucid manual is installed on the desktop of each computer we build! Laurel 15:14, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Technical Support: We recently hired Patrick Sullivan to help cover Tech Support and Advanced Testing.Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

City of Portland Computers: Our program, Plug into Portland, is off to a good start! We sent a letter to all schools that classify as low-income within the City of Portland, offering a free computer to any K-12 student that had completed 24 hours of volunteer work in the past year. In order to get the computer, students have to fill out this application (http://www.freegeek.org/plugintoportland) and attend a computer class at Free Geek.Laurel 23:15, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Free Geek Library: The Library may be consolidated in the near future to see about better utilizing the space and expanding our Public Access Computer Lab. Long-time volunteer Tex has been taking reigns on making sure the Library is regularly sorted and culled, as there is currently no staff oversight of the area.Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Inreach

Inreach is working hard to make sure the front desk runs smoothly. We are also working on upping our volunteer appreciation ways and coming up with great new methods for thanking our wonderful volunteers. Inreach has implemented our new Volunteer Application, Volunteer Orientation Packet, Build Program Info sheet and Adoption Program Info sheet.

PR

Media Outreach & Relations: Currently we are finishing up our May newsletter (for release on May 8.) The Quarterly release schedule is working very well and we plan to continue with it.
Ads & Marketing: ReDirect Guides have been distributed throughout Portland/Vancouver and we are actively updating our online profile to increase our reach. We are working with Sales and the Donor Desk to promote the store via a Free Desktop Raffle and a 15%-off-your-first-purchase promotion.
Free Geek website: We are currently compiling a list of functionalities we'd like to see in a potential website redesign. Pending consensus on this issue, we will be convening a working group to strategize and execute a changeover.
Tabling Events and Networking with other organizations: PR stayed very busy through the middle of April representing The Geek at a variety of Earth Day/sustainability-themed events throughout the community. We welcomed new PR members Kelly Forest, Stephen Getman, and Brian Keefer, whose participation should facilitate collaboration with the Thrift Store and the Front Desk.; The Cloud City Trivia event on April 7 netted $1001 for Free Geek, and the proprietors look forward to supporting us again at a repeat event within the next year. This is a promising continuing partnership particularly because it's highly likely that future (probably annual) events will be licensed by Lucasfilm(!!!); We recently instigated a cross-promotional partnership with Youth Empowerment Action that may net us some donations from YEA and discounts for our volunteers to attend their summer leadership camp.; We also started partnering with Portland Youth Builders to work with student interns, and are exploring the possibility of working with them to make a new Welcome to Free Geek video.; We applied for a spot in the Nonprofit Pavilion at OSCON 2012 and should hear back from O'Reilly by May 10th.
State of the Committee: We have been working on codifying/documenting some recurrent PR processes, such as posting newsletter articles to Wordpress, and advertising monthly classes to online community message boards.; We recently welcomed new PR members Kelly Forest, Stephen Getman, and Brian Keefer, whose participation should facilitate collaboration with the Thrift Store and the Front Desk.; On the docket for imminent action: creating a splashy (and sturdy!) new trifold display for tabling events, implementing basic systems for acknowledgment of large donors and institutional partners, and installing an informational LCD display at the Donor Desk.

Events

FG Events: The 2011 Free Geek Holiday Party went off without a hitch thanks to our fantastic NPAs! Approximately 40 people turned out to spread a little holiday cheer around the Meeting Room and Library, with some delicious potluck foods.

Propagation

Liaison with Free Geek startups (the replication of Free Geek elsewhere): Free Geek Twin Cities opened its doors on Saturday, October 17, and received good press coverage. Dave visited Free Geek Vancouver, and we will be hosting guests from FGV here in the near future. RfS 00:56, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

liaison with GAP volunteers: GAP has been functionally nonexistent for a while.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Production (Reuse Programs)

Build Program: The Build program continues to flourish, and shifts are filled up at least a week in advance. Laptop QCs were introduced into Desktop Build late last year and have helped to push our Laptop production higher than its ever been. We recently hired Omar Vargas as our Spanish Outreach Coordinator to help develop our Spanish Build & Prebuild shifts, with sights set on a Spanish Mac Build in the near future.; Freekbox specs have risen yet again! RAM and desktop HDD supplies have been piling high, which means Freekboxes are more powerful than ever. Additionally, Build and Adoption volunteers are now taking home LCD monitors!
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Advanced Testing: With the departure of everyone's favorite Reuse Coordinator, Meredith Blankinship, AT is currently under the temporary stewardship of Cynthia Prevatte; our newest Reuse Coordinator. Additionally, our newest hire Patrick Sullivan is helping to oversee AT and Tech Support! Be sure to give him a high-five when you see him!; Volunteer and intern numbers have been dwindling in recent months, so AT is actively looking for Post-Builders excited about the gizmos inside and out of the Box.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Laptop Build: Laptops has been seeing record high numbers of donations in recent months, and production is higher than its ever been. A steady stream of dedicated volunteers have been filling out our shifts (currently Tuesday through Friday, AM & PM) and learning the ropes in what it takes to pull apart and piece together lappies. There is still a limited number of staff trained in running the area, which means shift cancellations occur whenever a staff member calls in sick (as seen in December 2011).; A new Laptop Eval program is currently under development to offer a third alternative to the Build and Adoption programs, and generate excitement for volunteers new to Free Geek. Keep an eye out for announcements in the near future!
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Macintosh Build: Macland has been without dedicated Coordinator for a long time now, but those days are officially over with the hire of Cynthia Prevatte! Our crack team of Mac Geeks have been diligently rebuilding Apple Systems, old and new, and helping push a broader range of gizmos into our Thrift Store. A new Spanish Mac Build shift is planned for the near future; keep your ears to the ground!
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Printer Reuse: Printer testing is done, almost exclusively by two excellent volunteer interns, for up to 8 hours/week. In the last 4 months of 2011, they processed about 150 good printers and scanners which were made available to the store and grants departments. We have been instructed that the store does not want anything that is large or without a USB connection. The grants department has provided us with direct access to their on-line wishlist. We have generated tested printers faster than Free Geek has been selling/granting them. Therefore, many good printers are being sold to bulk buyers (for reuse) or recycled. In 2011 we sold 73 tested printers, 764 untested printers (including multifunction) and maybe 100 scanners to bulk buyers. Our high supply-to-demand ratio means we do not generally spend much time trying to fix an imperfect printer. Printer testing involves checking to see if a device is currently working perfectly. Occasionally we will swap out ink/toner or clean the print head. Jashcraft 00:30, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Prebuild: The end of 2011 saw Prebuild utterly swamped in systems, with the volunteer schedule filled out months in advance. Things have started quieting down at the end of January, and our beloved NPAs helped to redesign the layout of our Research Station and Sorting Cart! New and expanded documentation is enabling Mac desktops and Servers to be evaluated in Prebuild. Cynthia Prevatte, who is everywhere all of a sudden, is taking the lead as Prebuild's newest Coordinator, and making sure systems continue to flow through halls.; Spanish Prebuild and Hardware ID are happening thanks to our Spanish speaking staffers, Cynthia and Liliana!
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Server Build: Server Build is happening every Wednesday AM & PM with an additional 5th slot opened to address increased demand from volunteers. Attendance has been sporadic, but production has been steadily climbing. Unfortunately, there isn't yet a well-formed system for pricing Servers, and so our backstock has started piling up. Thankfully, Brian Keefer, our new Sales Coordinator, is working on developing a new pricing metric and seeking alternative avenues for selling and/or disbursing them.; The Server Build area is set to be reorganized in the near future to better use what little space is available for the program. Additionally, Aradan Thompson, one of our Reuse/Sales Staff, is going to begin training in Server Build soon to increase available staff coverage and hopefully provide some useful insight for the Sales Department.; Server Build remains one of the best gateways for volunteer involvement in the Technocrats Committee and Cabling Parties.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Hardware Grants: Hardware Grants is currently under the purview of Production and is a Post-Build option which builders can apply for. Darren Heiber coordinates the volunteers and workers who help to shepherd grants through our system to get reused computers and other electronics out to folks who need them. We currently have three grant shepherds and are looking to bring on two more. Hardware Grants is also currently looking at ways to reach out to more Portland-based organizations in an effort to ease the FG-PDX system overflow.

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.
Bulk Sales (Wholesale): We currently have established bulk buyers for telephone equipment, non-working flat panel TVs, surplus printers, scanners, ink-jet/toner cartridges and related accessories. Staff time for supporting bulk sales is currently extremely limited. Over the course of 2011 we saw an aproximate 100% increase in income from bulk sales, primarily due to increased staff attention and expanded offerings. There is interest in attracting additional bulk buyers and expanding the program further. Jashcraft 21:45, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Technocrats

Technocrats every Saturday at 4PM, either in the Meeting Room or on IRC (#freegeek on irc.freenode.org).

Liaison with Coders group: Currently Ryan Niebur is our chief coder and has made many improvements to the database and is working on more. The Technocrats are consistently pushing to only utilize internal services, rather than relying on things such as Google Docs, and Ryan has been quick to implement suggestions brought forward by the various committees in Free Geek.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

liaison with ASS group: The ASSes have officially been merged with the Tehcnocrats, and a cleanup of the wiki is in progress.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Selection of software commonly used at Free Geek: Darren Heiber is investigating updating our website's look and feel, possibly with some code borrowed from Free Geek Providence. We've been using LimeSurvey for quite a while now with generally positive results. More and more features and services are being offered internally, with a long-term goal of incorporating all Free Geek related waitlists and volunteer schedules in the FGDB.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

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: With the influx of fancy new server hardware coming through our doors and a spike in Server Build volunteers, most of our load-bearing systems have swapped out for nicer, newer stuff with a large stash of cold-swappable systems in the event of hardware failure. That is to say, it's better than it's ever been!; Nearly all servers are running Debian's current stable distribution, Squeeze.
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Cabling parties: Cabling Party turnout has been fantastic in recent months! A delegation of students from PSU's Computer Action Team have been swinging by regularly and offering their valuable skills. We've been regularly having two Cabling Parties a month, and have lots of progress to show for it. Among other things, almost ever run of cable in Free Geek is now clearly labelled and documented!! (SHOCK. AND. AWE.)
Scellef 01:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)