A Conversation with Catherine Ettinger

Usually when I get to tell someone new about this project, initially there is skepticism. Then I explain the structure and the elements built in for sustainability, there is optimism.

My conversation with Catherine, president of Foxbright (here in Grand Rapids) was a little different. She wasn’t pessimistic per se, but she wasn’t exactly beaming. I contacted her after listening to her podcasts “Inside Grand Rapids”, and read her About page that expressed great interest in learning about new and existing projects making a difference in the city.

Her studio develops websites for schools, nonprofits, social organizations and regular profit businesses too. Hospice, Goodwill, Phoenix Society among other are some of her company’s clients.

So, we met and talked downtown on Friday during lunch.

Some condensed, paraphrased, versions of her statements, questions, comments:
• Internet access is essential to this programs’ success, the wiMax program will be important
• Relying on a third party to provide internet access (which is integral to the program) is not a great thing
• Education is going to be difficult, people don’t like learning past a certain age, it’s going to be a challenge to get people to be receptive
• You can solve data loss issues with thumb drives, people use those all the time
• You won’t be able to give 24 hour support, staffing that is going to be nearly impossible
• Laptops, not desktop computers. Portable, small, strong tech devices
• Getting technology will be no problem at all
• The pilot program sounds good, kids in the same neighborhood is an optimal situation
• Eventually you’re going to need storefronts or workshops all over the city, coverage similar to the public library and their branches
• People will need to be able to walk to your locations as transportation is a major issue
• You could probably use those rooms at the public for some of the classes
• Security is going to be a big issue for people, build in a strong base in the program, because in this day and age…
In short, it was great to talk with her, she had some fantastic feedback, and comments about logistics, practices.

It was also good to hear about her perspective as a parent, she has two young boys at home who she personally wants to educate about the internet and technology herself. It sounded like she wouldn’t need the program for her kids.

She acknowledged that while she and her children have the resources and skills to harness the power of those tools, that not everyone in our community has the same advantages.

If I understood her correctly, over-all she thinks this program is a good idea and it could really work.

She expressed that she’d like to stay in the conversation as well.

Catherine, you bring a unique perspective to the table, you’re a mom, a small business owner, and a strong, intelligent voice in the community.

Thank you for the conversation, and we hope to hear from you soon (and yes, once we get this pilot program off the ground, I’d like very much to be a guest on your podcast, thank you for the invitation).

For everyone reading here, please poke holes, and keep those comments coming. Thanks and cheers.

A Conversation with John Helmholdt

About a week and a half ago, I had a phone conversation with John Helmholdt, Communications Director for Grand Rapids Public Schools. I left a voicemail a day earlier for him, and he called back less than 24 hours later.

Lee Weber from Dyer-Ives suggested I call him a week prior. She said he might be interested in this project.

So, he called me, wanting to know more, and was interested in how something like this might impact students, teachers, parents, the board etc. We talked about the potential structure, the benefits, the pilot program. I mentioned several times that we were just starting out, still int he discovery stage of this project.

And still.. the conversation after that went something like this, not quotes, just the jest (except for the part in quotes, that’s real):

John: So this would cost money right? And the machines would be leased or machines on loan?

Me: “Nope, once we get going, the laptops would be free and belong to the students’

John: Ah, interesting. What’s the catch? What would you want from us?

Me: ‘You would be our test audience, so you’d need to bear with us, and we would like feedback, that’s it’

John: Huh

Me: ‘Seriously, that’s it’

John: “Well, it’s a no brainer.” Marie-Claire, we should find a classroom, the one with the greatest need, and test it out’

Me: ‘Really?’

John: Yeah, let me talk to the right people and get back to you.

Me: ‘Okay then, great’

John: You’ll have to be patient with us, there’s a lot of people to get through before we’d be able to get back to you with a yes or a no.

Me: That’s good, because we have a lot more work to do on our end, you’ll need to be patient with us as well.

John: Okay, this is great, thank you so much for calling me.

So, what does that conversation mean? We may have a local audience, one that potentially lives in the same neighborhood together. They are potentially a complicated group, with special needs, and English may not be their first language. They are under served in the community in more ways than one.

What else does it mean? The pilot program organization is a little higher on our list of to-dos.

A Conversation with Lynell Shooks

So, last week I talked with Lynell Shooks from Comprenew Environmental in Grand Rapids, MI. Comprenew is the leading recycling and upcycling entity in the region. They’re mission is much different than ours, but still involves computers and assistance to the community.

“Last year, Comprenew Environmental kept approximately 1.5 million pounds of electronics out of landfills.”

“The mission of Comprenew Environmental is to inspire the local community to live and work in a sustainable manner. This mission is accomplished through the mentoring of community partners and inner-city youth who, along with committed staff and volunteers, provide corporations and the community with electronics recycling services that represent the best possible practice.”

I left a message but didn’t get a call back for about two weeks, I called back this week to see if I could catch her at a different time of day. Got her on the phone…

I took cruddy notes while talking with her:

General Information:
Offer discounted electronics at the store
Laptops for $380-400
Offer support
Two week warranty, No long term warranty provided
Geared towards regular users, but work with lower income
Build computers
Non-profits get discounts
(Gave Degagé Ministries monitors for $10 each)
(Sold to Schools for labs all over the county)
Machine comes with software and an OS, keep the OS with the machine
They make recommendations to their clients for upgrading their OS

Comprenew Academy:
Teaching sustainability practices
Offers agencies and non-profit sustainability education as well
Hope Network, retaining, and financial, taking apart computers, factory work
AARP, job retraining factory
Internships and volunteers at the center constantly

Computers 101?
Community, not really involved yet

Repair services, cheaper than Best Buy
Support offered at the facility

I asked if Comprenew would be interested in contributing to the conversation, Lynell was interested in contributing AND partnering in some way. She mentioned that we could call her anytime and that this sort of initiative is much needed in the community. I gave her my email, phone number, and the blog url too.

Check out the Comprenew website here.

recycle@comprenew.org
616.451.4400
629 Ionia Avenue SW
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
U.S.A.

Potential Players, Partners

Grand Rapids Community College
Calvin College
Aquinas College
Grand Valley State University
Kendall College of Art and Design
Ferris State University
Davenport University
Michigan State University
Wood TV 8
WZZM 13
Grand Rapids Press
WMEAC
CompRenew
Local First
Neighborhood Associations
G-RAD
GR-Now
Viget
George Wietor
Grand Rapids Public Schools
Chamber of Commerce
Business Association
Design West Michigan
AIM West
The Right Place
Cool Cities
Hispanic Center
Creative Commons
YWCA
YMCA
GR-Now
Rapid Growth Media
The Rapid
Grand Rapids Public Library
Local Cable Access
Local Radio
Grand Rapids Media Center
Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation
Compucraft
AMS
Innovation Works
Degagé Ministries
In the Image
Herman Miller
Steelcase
GFS
NTEN
Child Discovery Center
Stepping Stones Montessori
UICA
Volunteer Match
Facebook Causes
Changing the Present
Kiva
Good Magazine
Tinkering School
826 Valencia
Shannon
Craigs List
Craigslist Foundation
Yahoo Local
Google Local
Bre Petis
Philadelphia Wireless

Help me out, who else? Please add on…

Potentially Existing Community Programs

Organizations that may already include technology education or client internet access into their curriculum/program. Or organizations that might have computer labs open for their clients.

Senior Citizens

Special Needs groups
At Risk Children
Disability

Welfare to Work
Veterans
After-school Organizations, Student Aid Programs
Disaster Aid Organizations

Deaf Community
Blind Community

K-12 Education Facilities
College-Bound Student Organizations
College and University Organizations

Drop out boost up Programs
Young Mothers
Single Mothers
Mental Health Community
Terminal or long term Patients
Hospital Patients
Hospice Community
Physical Therapy
Head Start

Ex-Convicts

Group Homes
Welfare
WIC
Missions, Ministries
Immigration
Continuing Adult Education
Faith Based Organizations (Catholic Society of…)
Women’s Shelters
Scholarship Programs
Arts and Music Education ProgramsParks and recreation
Library Education
Community Media groups
Community Colleges

Community literacy organizations

…who else?

Why do we care who’s already working to maintain programs?

It only makes sense to work with these organizations, help keep them going by providing support in some way. Form alliances, create partnerships. Why compete to help the same people? We might be able to help existing programs stronger, better, more effective. Who else is missing from this list?

A Conversation with Laurie from the Community Media Center

On Thursday, I had a brief but interesting lunch conversation with Laurie from the Community Media Center here in Grand Rapids.

We first discussed some of the CMC programs in place for area nonprofits and residents, http://www.grcmc.org/nposervices and then talked about a new program coming out once the city gets its WiMax working. It’s in charge of eventually processing and granting up to 5% of the area’s residents discounted rates on WiMax. They have also taken the task of traveling to local schools and talking about the available WiMax discount to schools.

So there will be education about our new wireless access, and discounted rates from an organization in the city. I’m not meaning for that to sound small, I mean for it to sound like a step in the right direction.

I explained to Laurie about our project idea. I talked about the pilot program, the gaps in the system, and some other stuff we’re working on. She seemed genuinely excited. She all but volunteered a venue for the pilot program when I explained some of our current stumbling blocks.

I’m pretty sure she also suggested that we piggyback the CMC for the pilot so that people and companies can get tax deductions on their donations, (but I might have dreamed that part…).

Laurie agreed with several statements that I made about the large number of residents and individuals that go unacknowledged in our community. We talked about the populations of under-served, and some potential programs that aid organizations might be struggling to launch, maintain or keep afloat.

I told my two most relevant stories, Red Cross Indian Village shelter story, and next door neighbor laptop story. The Red Cross story is the one that still makes me sad to think about. I’ll tell it soon here. When I’m ready.

Laurie’s questions about the pilot and the program were great, she asked things like “So how do you avoid people from doing bad things with their computers?” and “What happens if one is lost, broken or stolen?”. I liked that she answered that in the many years that her team has been loaning out equipment, that they have had only one problem with theft. People are respectful if they know that you are a good place, and that you can trust each other.

I feel like there’s some real similarities in thoughts, missions and intent between this infant project and the CMC. It makes sense to make them part of the project family.

So that meeting went well. She gave me all of her contact info, and then headed back to her office to prepare to leave on vacation to Italy for a few weeks. She said that I could call her anytime to talk.
When I got back home, I starting drawing a revised diagram, and listing groupings of our under-served neighbors. That one’s coming soon too.

Thanks for the meeting Laurie, hope to talk with you again soon.