Love the Commute-Aug #1

This first month at California Community Technology Policy Group (CCTPG), which is a program under Community Partners (CP), was a welcoming experience. The people at CP are very warm and since most are not part of CCTPG, it has been great getting to know more about their work. Not only that, my supervisor has allowed me to go to non-CCTPG meetings so that I can get a good feel for CP. This of course, has helped me adjust to the work setting and to culture of CP.

At CP, we have had many people leave and find new jobs and so it has been very busy in recruiting for the open positions. On this note, my supervisor has been with CCTPG for less than a year and so he as well as I has been striving to make sense as to what direction CCTPG needs to go. He came to CCTPG with the database problem on his plate and so far, it’s been clearing up because he is understanding what needs to be done.

CCTPG is staffed by three people, including myself, and so recently it has been getting a bit busier. One of the things I have been working on is website issues. Our website is based on Drupal and there are some database issues that need to be fixed. I was assigned with the task of looking for a Drupal consultant. We have been looking for a few weeks and we have had some good candidates. However we might change the website platform to Joomla! (I like how they added the exclamation point at the end, you know it makes me wanna shout! Shout!...) since CP’s website is also based on it. Also, we have been working on a huge California Wireless Report with case studies on cities that have applied wireless in their communities (i.e. Anaheim). I have been editing and looking over the report. It should be out soon. I will post as soon as it comes out.

Just to give you a bit of a background on what CCTPG does: our basic push is for policy that will fund CTCs, education tech, and other technology that will contribute to workforce development and close the digital divide. We have state wide coalition, which I am attempting to manage by setting up meetings and clarifying what policies to push for (this will be one of my main jobs this year).

On other issues, my commute from my apartment to work is very enjoyable. I get to sleep in the train, read, talk to interesting people—sometimes I get to meet visitors from other countries. My supervisor is very understanding of my situation and so on the first week he declared “Edward you will not go hungry” and that same week he invited me out to lunch a couple times.

Finally, to stay updated with the newest tech/programs, I have been reading CTC emails and checking out TechCrunch. Hope all is well CTC VISTA peeps!