I'm still working on locating and updating resources in our online, resource database. I'm also working on 3 grants with Ronda, my supervisor:

* Compassion Grant
* Kennewick CDBG (Community development block grant)
* Richland CDBG (Community development block grant)

For the Compassion Grant, we're proposing to work with 50 organizations (non-profit or faith-based) to help them reach out to their communities with asset building and online, self-help resources to help at risk people get out of poverty.

For the Kennewick CDBG Grant, we're proposing to supply 20 young mothers who recently, or will have, their first baby with computers and internet access and provide them with tools for baby development and care, online education about Microsoft products (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint), resume writing, and office etiquette -- all to help them become more self-sufficient.

For the Richland CDBG Grant, we're proposing a project similar to that for the Kennewick CDBG Grant we're proposing to supply a number of at risk families with computers and internet access, online education about Microsoft products, online education about resume writing, online education about office etiquette, and online access to information about social services to help them help themselves out of poverty.

In the coming month, I'll be ending my term of service as an Americorps CTC Vista. I plan to continue volunteering for RECA Foundation and 4People.org, maintaining the online, resource database and assisting with grant writing.

Appalshop is suddenly brimming with new energy! Lots of summer interns have arrived, and all this good weather certainly is keeping everyone in a good mood!

I'm feeling good about my decision to stay on longer. I feel like a lot of the projects I've been working on all year are just now coming to fruition, which is no time to leave! And I just get busier by the day, so I might as well stick around and get some of these new ideas and concepts going!

I finished creating our work plan, which was very helpful in getting us to think about what skills and assets each of us have and how to best move forward. I'm excited to be doing more work coordinating our volunteers and helping grassroots groups develop campaigns around their own goals. I'm working with a woman in the Virgin Islands to help them develop a campaign to bring VI prisoners who are currently housed in Virginia back home to the VI and to stop interstate contracts that allow for prisoners to be shipped across the country. You can check out the blog that they've created to get some idea of the work they're doing. And the post at the top about being on the radio is how they've been teaming with us so far. We have this radio program that allows them a way to connect with their loved ones up here in Appalachia.

The migration to the CRM SalesForce database is moving slowly. Our old FileMakerPro database computer has crashed (major virus), so we're struggling to migrate all our contacts. and also trying to figure out the best way to customize the new database to fit our needs. We're still on the lookout for a consultant to aid us in this, so if you know anyone, please let me know!

The online social networking stuff continues to aid our work. I've been twittering and we've developed a pretty good following, though it would be great to have even more followers! Check us out at twitter.com/thousandkites. And I finally made us a facebook page (moving from just having a group), which is exciting because it means that people can more easily read about what we're doing. Become a fan!

Let's see. I'm also preparing for our intern to arrive next week. And then we're bringing on a new VISTA member, Andy, to start working with us in July. So a lot of my work in the next month is going to be around preparing work flow charts and organizing our lives here so that we can seemlessly move into having a third staff member.

On another note, if anyone is interested in going to a a great festival next weekend, come down to Appalshop! It's Appalshop's annual Seedtime on the Cumberland. Music, crafts, food, literary readings, dancing, watermelon seed spitting, jamming. It's gonna be a great time!

It is done! We have sent our Wired for Wireless report to the printers. This long awaited report is a best practices document that provides case studies of municipal-led wireless networks (i.e. City of Philadelphia & City of San Francisco). So, we have worked on a distribution strategy. We are thinking of using Twitter, Facebook, and IssueLab.org. You might have seen me at NTEN’s NTC distributing a one page teaser on the report. If you would like a copy please let me know by shooting me an email.

Other than that, I have been working on managing the database. I will be honest; this whole process of figuring out our distribution plan definitely placed great importance in updating our database. It has helped me to see our key holes.

Another of my tasks is to document procedures and methods to help current staff as well as setting up workshops for them to learn about useful tools such as podcasting. I am trying not to do so much so that the staff may not be overwhelmed. Three basic tools that I would like for staff to learn and continue to apply are: 1. eBlasting procedures, 2. how to podcast, 3. how to screencast (if I decide not to continue my service). Maybe how to map out their constituents through Google Earth. It is not much or too complicated as say, teaching others how to maintain a Drupal website, but I think it will benefit the organization.

By the way, it was great seeing all the VISTA peeps at NTEN. Thanks Morgan for taking us to that one neatloaf place. What’s the name of the restaurant? A lot of people are excited about going there.

I've got just about a month and a half left before my VISTA service ends. Some of my main projects between now and then will be preparing for the tranisition of my responsibilities and ongoing projects to whoever will be assuming them, training new staff members and working on documentation.

Recently I've been working on a DVD for a documentary about a four year project my HOME Inc was involved in a few years ago with several schools. We're planning to make it available for sale, so the quality has to be top notch.

I also recently edited a video shot by students who attended the inauguration back in January. Copies will be given to the students and donors that made the trip possible.

We're in the process of hiring new staff and restructuring the organization to work with new schools, with our program in the Somerville school district expanding. I've been interviewing many of the candidates for staff as well as assisting in the plannign for the summer and the following school year.

Through March-April, a very intense month, I guided several initiatives to create new training programs for youth and adults, to build volunteer activities at the IMC, and to make general improvements to our facilities. The most involved of these is the Champaign, IL Don Moyers Boys & Girls Club (DMBGC) Teen Computer Lab project, a partnership between the Boys & Girls Club, the Independent Media Center, the University of Illinois, and the local, private computer consulting firm SupporTech. During the first month of planning, the partnering organizations agreed to a vision and mission for the new computer lab and training program to be offered by the DMBGC, which will be an ongoing program available to youth ages 6-18, throughout the year. The IMC has led the development of surveys, curriculum, and budget, informing the design and staffing being organized by the other partners. Our Program Development Intern Jason Keist wrote the surveys to assess the children's experience and interests, and I have been composing the lab budget and compiling a variety of technology and media tutorials and activities, all of which will also be stored with the IMC as documentation.

Along with IMC member Danielle Chynoweth, I presented a workshop on producing radio news for Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), a grassroots independent half-hour newscast available online and syndicated to over 100 stations worldwide. Please see the attachment for the training guide I wrote (geared towards Audacity, though any audio editor is appropriate). Anyone can pitch a story, headline, or feature to FSRN, and once you produce the content, FSRN pays you and includes your piece in one of its daily newscasts. I strongly recommend that other VISTAs encourage members, customers, and trainers in your organization(s) to learn and participate in FSRN as a resource for citizen journalism, media reform, smearing the digital divide, and earning income for a job well done.

I also participated in a roundtable discussion on social media presented at the University of Illinois by Chicago's Community Media Workshop (CMW), a group devoted to training news producers and journalists, and strengthening ties between media and populations in Chicago and the midwest. I recommend CMW as a useful resource to anyone working in these geographic areas. They inspired me to create a Twitter account for the IMC - simple, but necessary.

Spring was productive in even more ways at the IMC, and I organized three volunteer workdays - one for the Shows/Booking group to troubleshoot, repair, and re-organize the PA, mixer, stage, and cables; one for WRFU 104.5FM to produce new station IDs and clean and paint the studio; and another for just plain spring cleaning of the building. Along with volunteers in the Librarians and Tech working groups, Nicole and members of the Community Connections group, I setup a staffing desk with a computer workstation, IMC merchandise tables, and staff storage space in the entry to the main space of our building.

For the Production group, I offered three more workshops on video editing, wrote Terms of Use and Borrowing for our production room and public equipment, and upgraded one of our video workstations with funds we raised during the Film Festival. Finally, following Nicole's hard work to obtain summer youth (ages 14-24) positions at the IMC through the Champaign Consortium, I defined one of the positions, a WRFU Audio Trainer and Archivist, who will join us soon to produce regular on-air content, update our public affairs automation, train members on live and studio broadcast, and archive our existing audio materials.

And then there was all the planning for another major fundraiser, the IMC Fest... (see next month)

Jan-Feb began a two month period in which both Nicole and I barely took a day off - no exaggeration.

The possible exception was a trip that a few of us made to Washington, D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration. We planned this trip on short notice, to correspond to a community organizing event taking place at the IMC on the night of the inauguration - the idea being that we would film a documentary, or more appropriately a video diary of our experiences, post daily clips to our web site, and then have a Skype video conference with everyone "back home." Going with both my VISTA Supervisor and VISTA Leader gave me an excellent opportunity to get to know them better and learn from their areas of expertise. Many superlatives apply to being in the capitol for that ceremony, mostly having to do with the sheer numbers of people crowding the streets and the willingness of strangers to be interviewed in the cold by other strangers.

As soon as we returned, I went straight back to the planning for the IMC Film Fest. There was still much to do, including designing and distributing fliers and posters, doing interviews with local press and arts/events magazines, recording and broadcasting radio advertisements, and working with filmmakers to determine the final schedule. The Film Fest was a success, comprising three days of independent, and most local/regional films, covering all lengths and genres. We raised money for the IMC Production group, the group I helped create that maintains the media production facilities and builds a team of trainers who can assist and teach others. I learned quite a lot about event planning and management; the small group of us that put it all together have a vast train of e-mails and Google docs that we are archiving with the IMC to help others create similar events in the future.

The remainder of this period involved less training than usual, just a couple of sessions on audio and video recording, and I continued to update and troubleshoot the WRFU radio automation system while helping to facilitate meetings of those interested in learning this "back-stage" aspect of radio production.

I've been continuing to work on finding hidden social service resources within the state of Washington in order to post them on our website. I spent a considerable amount of time checking our listings and finding new resources for Spokane county. I must have found at least 200 more resources for Spokane county and updated another 100 with website links.

Ronda, my supervisor, was on vacation for a couple of weeks, so I attended a senior networking meeting in her place. It's amazing how many services are available for senior citizens in our community. We have a strong support network for seniors to retire, from in-home help to long term care, there must be at least 50 organizations providing some sort of residential care. Some new folks providing services attended the meeting. One I noted was an attorney providing estate planning services for seniors at half the normal hourly rate. That's a bargain considering that the going rate for doing a living trust runs around $2000.

Hey there,

From March 31-April 4 I attended the NFCB (National Federation for Community Broadcasters) annual conference in Portland, OR. What struck me immediately when I arrived at the Hilton was:

1. I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person at this conference
2. The radio station I represent was the most illegitimate, pirate, DIY station out of any other station being represented
3. I thought I was nerdy but I barely was at all compared to these people

All the different sessions were separated into the following tracks: All, Producers, Development/Underwriting, Fundraising, Management, Youth, Community Engagement, Technology. Naturally, I chose sessions under the producers and development tracks for the most part because that is what I focus on developing in my work at ZUMIX Radio. I dabbled in a bit of everything to get a comprehensive learning experience at this conference.

The following are the sessions I attended: Interview Techniques, Strategic Planning, Marketing, Setting Up a Membership Program, Producers Shaping the Sound of Tomorrow, How Do I get more Latinos to Listen to My Station?

Generally, I found the conference to be an excellent learning experience. I was disappointed by a few of the sessions that I was counting on to be helpful, namely the marketing and getting more Latinos to listen sessions. I couldn't have expected every session to be amazing! I wished there was a session specifically geared towards getting underwriting going for a community station. Underwriting is something I have been working towards achieving for ZUMIX Radio since I began my year of service but sadly hasn't gotten much of anywhere. Bummer.

There was a field trip for conference attendees to KBOO which is a community radio station in Portland. I enjoyed this part of the conference immensely because KBOO is full of some of the most eccentric people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, including this dude with this insanely tricked out bike:

Here is a snippet of the inside of KBOO:

My jealousy festers over their insane music library, and its color-coded organization!!!

I was invited to participate in a late night show after schmoozing with some staff people there! Sadly, none of the contacts I made followed up with any of my e-mails, the same goes for the people I met at the actual conference. Shrug. People are busy I suppose. All in all it was a great experience and a pretty cool city. I think I brought back some useful knowledge to ZUMIX and I would recommend this conference to anyone working for a community radio station. I would like to attend next year!

Comment from Nickey Robare on May 11, 2009 - 4:45pm

Ha, I totally know that guy! He's big on the bike scene. He's pretty wacky, alright.
You should've emailed me, I woulda shown you around...

Comment from Megan Donovan on May 11, 2009 - 5:16pm

is your e-mail nickeyrobo@riseup.net? if so, then i totally did e-mail you on march 30th

Hello everyone, there are no real big changes from earlier post. I have still been working on getting the Arts & Education build up and running again. The individuals involved have decided to form a partnership to push the project through. The members involved include Technologists inc, a private company that has contracts with the United States government’s Energy Department. The company provides a portfolio of engineering and management services to public and private sectors world-wide, through exceptional design, engineering, construction, and operations services that ensure powerful solutions for their clients. Another group the DC Project consists of members of the Obama campaign. Father Jean-Claude Atusameso a program coordinator from Earth Rights Institute who is very interested in obtaining grants for the implementation of our green program. Lou August of the Wilderness Technology Alliance, for who I am a CTC Vista volunteer representative, is also very much involved in procuring funds and jobs for the homeless community.
Together we set a round table discussion, here at the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), where we invited individual from the District Government and also local companies involved in Green Technology. The DC Project members were very instrumental in getting a great turn out and support. The Technologists inc, has offered a contract through WildTech/CCNV to test a program called MOM, they are hoping that the homeless individuals at the shelter will get involved with the training. WildTech/CCNV performs the task of training other homeless individual in computer skills ranging from computer refurbishing, Microsoft office programs, ecommerce training, and a recycling program which is in plans for next year. Some of the material may have been repetitive but this is all I could think of at the moment.