Community Technology Center:
Notes from staff retreat

Comments from the Plugged In staff retreat:

• There need to be more things for teens to do at Plugged In
• May need additional charges for the web design station, or refocus on serving EPA residents
• Web volunteer for that area
• Marketing the membership program: reducing fee, or adding benefits (discount on copies or members first policy)
• Define customer expectations: we help you do things, we don't do things for you

Agenda we used:

1. A good moment: when we feel good about our work
2. A discussion about the past 9 months, lessons learned, things to do
3. Vision brainstorm: what it looks like in 2 years
4. The CTC: how we can make it a better place to work
5. Action plan for 1999

Misc. notes:

• Importance of "making the rounds" and being proactive about helping customers
• Importance of respecting customers' privacy
• Some of the black youth who use our phones (15-25) never take advantage of other services we have to offer. Some of the Latino youth from the East side will not come to this side of the freeway for fear of gang activity. Similarly, there seems to be a gap between kids and then adults, with few young adults using our services.
• The importance of feeling safe, physically and otherwise. When thing became more quiet on the block, evening customers started coming back
• Ruth was great in providing one-on-one help with resumes
• One of our customers works at Kinkos

How the Community Technology Center can be a more comfortable work environment:

• Need to keep working at being able to say No to supervisor
• Need to have some absolute limit on how long customers can work on a computer (8hrs straight on the desktop publishing station is too long)
• Dealing with rude customers
• Attending staff meetings at least once a month
• Managing flow of younger children who always end up in our program

I feel good about my work when...

• When I can help someone
• When kids are doing great work
• When I see community members helping other community members
• When a customer comes in and tells us he found a job
• When a customer lets us help him with something that's very important for them
• I know I make a difference
• We provide community members with access to knowledge
• The things kids do help them to well in school
• Every time that, as a customer, I feel: I've done it, with help from the staff

What one customer does at the CTC:

• Practice computer skills
• Look for jobs
• Move forward in life
• Do correspondence
• Stay in touch with friends and what's going on in homeland
• Do work for my church

I feel bad when I look up and down the street and see people that don't take advantage of our services.