[Tech-core] Re: [Ccil-user] Helping CCIL

[Jackie Patti]

Eric Reischer wrote:
> FYI we should probably keep this excess traffic off of the ccil-user 
> list.  It's good to know that you'll be available during the summer 
> though.  I'll be partially available during most of the summer, as I'm 
> attending PSU, but I won't be a guarantee, since I'll be traveling 
> around the state doing various contract jobs for PSU.

Agreed.  Technical volunteers should subscribe to the 
tech-core@lists.ccil.org so they can begin to be filled in on the 
details of current projects.

I also want to clarify something Eric posted earlier.  While Chuck is 
definetly working on backups, We *do* already have backups in place. 
What Chuck is working on is off-site backups, which will allow CCIL to 
recover from a catastrophic loss at the physical site.  I just wanted to 
clarify so users were aware that backups ARE currently occuring - when 
we have a problem like the recent hard drive crash, your email and data 
is not lost.

We've had a lot of technical volunteers step to the plate since we began 
and that's great; there's a lot of technical work to be done.

In addition, there's a lot of non-technical work to be done as well.

CCIL needs administrative assistant help (the secretary of CCIL is the 
board member mentioned with the spouse in ill health), people interested 
in outreach (to inform people about CCIL and sign up more user accounts 
and increase our user base), help with the OIC project (training 
immigrants and the homeless on how to use computers to write resumes and 
the internet for job-hunting and other practical uses), the rebuild 
project (which needs a leader and some folks experienced at using Linux 
on the desktop for end users), someone to help local nonprofits with 
technical assessments required in their grant-writing, people interested 
in developing CCIL community-building activities both online and in 
person and fund raising ideas.  You don't need to be technical to 
volunteer for CCIL - we need a lot of help!

We also need as much participartion on this list as possible - we need 
ideas and plans for the future.  We hope that leaders for many of the 
projects as well as for CCIL overall will be developed through this 
conversation - and it needs to happen for CCIL to thrive and grow.  We 
are poised to do a lot of good in Chester County.

It's already begun - I saw Emil's email about not understanding what 
CCIL needs for donations.  We'd need to sit down and do the math to find 
out, but I can see us calculating the cost of providing a dialup account 
or an email-only account, asking users to pay that amount if they can 
afford it, letting them know that paying twice that amount covers a 
"scholarship" for the cost of someone who can't afford their own ISP, 
letting them know if they can pay half that amount, it will still help 
CCIL and be appreciated.  Expanding our user base will obviously 
increase donation levels, but letting people know what it costs to be a 
"free" ISP might help also - Emil's post made that clear to me.

And that is what we need - more input from the users and potential users 
  of CCIL.  We hope to have a meeting in which many of you can come and 
discuss these ideas in the near future, but realistically, the ideas 
need to be developed here first.  Chuck notes there are approximately 80 
users of this list - getting all the ideas out there and heard at a live 
meeting isn't practical, but it is practical on this list.  Please chime 
in - we need *your* input.

-- 
Jackie Patti, Director of Project Management
MainLine Consulting Consortium, Inc.
http://www.mainline-consulting.com
(610) 873-2589