Digital Arts Service Corps - ctcnet

in and out of state travels

Wilson Bull — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:11:35 +0000

It’s that time again. Field REPORT! As there have been a few developments lately I’ll share some updates with you all. I went to my first computer distribution on November 10th in Everett, WA. It went well but it definitely was not what I expected. As it turned out I was the one who ended up running the distribution and “training” the recipients how to use their new computers It seemed like some of the recipients didn’t really want to be there, or at least I was under that impression, and they just really wanted to sign for their computer and leave. I’m not really sure how to handle that but maybe in the future we’ll have the training as a requirement before we give out the computers. I was really glad that another person from my organization, Chris Florez, was there to help out and to make sure things went smoothly. All in all it was a successful distribution and we gave 6 families new computers.

As some of you know I was at the CTCNet conference in LA. Although it wasn’t quite what I expected in terms of a conference, it was cool to see some fellow vistas and hang out. Also stopping in San Fran on my way back to Seattle was really sweet. I had never been to SF and biking across the Golden Gate Bridge was probably the highlight, that or biking up Twin Peaks (I think). After my out of state travels, I had the opportunity to travel to eastern Washington, which is really like a whole different world compared to western WA. The landscape and the people are completely and totally different than the western side of the state. It’s a really mountainous region and towns seem to pop up out of nowhere and are incredibly tiny. The reason for my trip was to visit some of our TechREACH Alliance Project (TAP) clubs. It was fun to be out on the road as I don’t have a car and drive rarely. Belting my favorite tunes out was particularly enjoyable. The club visits were interesting because again, like the distribution, I had envisioned the clubs using the materials we had supplied them and basically going by the book. This was not the case with either club. They both really focused heavily on the hands-on, which definitely isn’t a bad thing and looking back on it it’s probably true that if I were in an after school club the last thing I would want to do would be read from some student manual (even if it is awesome/informative).I was impressed with the clubs, At least now I have an idea of how the clubs function and I’ll definitely learn more from each club I visit. That’s all for now. Happy T-gives.

CTCNet Conference

Carl Seifert — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 23:55:12 +0000

Does anyone know if there will be an annual CTCNET conference this year? I checked out their website and found two contradictory pieces of information.

One here that says there will be no conference due to strategic planning and one here that claims there is one and it shall be in LA in June/July. Talk about contradictory.

I call upon the powers that be to straighten this confusion out.

Carl Seifert

VISTA in VA

CTCNet's National Conference Recap

Patricia Conrad-Wexler — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:52:40 +0000

By Patricia Conrad-Wexler

Attendees of the CTCNET Conference in July 2006 arrived by many modes of transport but I and my director at Young Entrepreneurs Society, Tim, drove to Washington D.C. in a Toyota Prius. It was surely an economical way for a VISTA and the director of a nonprofit to show how folks can get by on almost no income!

Driving to Washington DC for a conference was a first for me. The Hyatt Regency afforded us beautiful accommodations at a very good price, even if it was beyond our budgets. How exciting it was to get there and meet so many new faces, particularly at the dinner given for us at the restaurant at Union Station, where we ate well and shared stories. It's always fun for me to finally put a face to the name that I've been seeing on the computer, not unlike finally seeing a radio personality for the first time.

Signing on as a volunteer prior to the conference allowed me not only to attend the conference for free, but it also gave me the chance to meet more people and see the mechanism of the workshops from the inside. I monitored sessions and turned in evaluation sheets to Kavita Sing and the other staff and organizers of the conference. It was a very easy job to perform for so much benefit.

My only challenge was how to squeeze in a trip to the American Indian Exhibit with fellow CTC VISTA, Shannon McCue. I was scheduled for the whole day each day of the conference, either to be at the registration desk (another way to meet far more people than I would have otherwise), or to be monitoring the sessions. Luckily for me, another volunteer took a two hour slot, Shannon rented a scooter, and we were off to the museum in the midday sun. It was surely hot, but well worth the trip.

There were daily events for us to mingle in the registration area, including a raffle. I was so enjoying the responses of the teens who won prizes that I almost missed my chance to win an HP Printer when they called my number! I finally realized what had happened and got my goodie. I'm always saying I'm not lucky. What nonsense!

It was a great trip; I learned a lot about volunteering, accessibility, IC3 training, free computer training with GCF Global Learning, and had the chance to enjoy a reception just for our group at the Canadian Embassy. There's an echo chamber in the elevated circle outside of the entrance to the Embassy and I enjoyed it with other tourists in the area. This was a most exciting time as a VISTA, and I highly recommend that all give it a try.

CTCNet Conference Video

danielle martin — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:07:26 +0000

Check out the video of VISTAS at this summer's CTCNet Conference.