The Computer: The Grass Roots Orgainzier's Best Friend

There are a number of things necessary for a successful grass roots project. The main focus of the project will have to be researched thoroughly so that your statistics and supporting information are both current and accurate. Chances are, with a Google or Bing search, information on your particular cause will already appear online.
You will be able to see what others are doing in your area of concern, how successful others have been and what tactics were used to bring supporters to the cause. You may become aware of concerns that others have faced, such as any legal issues surrounding your cause. You may also find funding sources, and what experts in the field think about projects like yours.
A technical approach to research is to ‘optimize your search engine’ so that the information you find is more to the point. You can learn to do this at: http://www.seo.grassroots.org. There are sections for Volunteers and Non Profits. You can even sign up for a ‘webinar’ (online seminar).
One important step is to create a Logo. You don’t have to be a design pro to do this. Experts tell us that the logo should visually communicate what you are about. Black and white can easily be duplicated for print materials, however, a colour logo has more eye appeal for web and poster designs. Logo design can be done online. There are a number of sites, such as LogoMaker where you can design a logo http://www.logomaker.com/ppc2-1/?source=PPC|1|16|2, If you like your design you can purchase the files for under $100.00
For a free logo, check out http://cooltext.com.
Another important tool for growing your grass roots project is your ‘online presence’. Many people today use the internet to find out how motivated and realistic special interest groups are. As mentioned before, the facts and figures you have gathered can be presented in a meaningful manner. You can state clearly just how anyone can participate. Events can be advertised and you can showcase your positive results.
Your website or blog should have a name (URL) that is easily remembered. It helps to have pictures or video of members participating in your activities. You should also apply your strong teacher skills when laying out your information in a manner that will capture the interest of anyone checking out your cause.
There are many free web hosting services. Well, free is not quite true. In signing up for the ‘free’ hosting you agree to have advertising posted on your site. If this is not a problem, then a free site is the way to go. Check out:
http://www.freewebsites.com/. If you need to build your site, check out: http://www.lola.com.
Free Blog space can be found at http://www.blogger.com/start. Of course, if you can afford to pay for a website, you have a lot more control over what is on your site and who has access to add or change site information.
The most successful way of getting a message out is through the social networking sites, It is estimated that on an average day, 13% of all internet users visit at least one social networking site. An excellant ‘How To’ video has been produced to guide you through this process.
http://www.howcast.com/videos/88596-How-To-Create-a-Grassroots-Movement-Using-SocialNetworking-Sites. Using this method of communication, your message or project can be spread as far afield as your network extends. It is also a cool way to bring people together with a variety of expertise to look at different aspects of the same cause.
You don’t even need to have a computer with you at all times to benefit from the Social Networking aspects of grass roots projects. Many people are using a cell phone or Blackberry to keep up to date with FaceBook, YouTube or other networking sites. It doesn’t take too much time or effort to set up online video conferencing using your cell phone, night or day.
Record keeping is so much easier when computerized. You may want to have a membership application form and be able to quickly pull together a phone list that is up to date. Check out the Microsoft download site for templates at;
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=membership&av=TPL000.
One last suggestion would be to remember to back up all of your information on CD, DVD, Flash Drive or Portable Hard Drive, often. You wouldn’t want to lose all that hard work if your laptop is lost or your desktop crashes.

Computer Ease is a regular feature of the
RTO/ERO Renaissance.
Share your ideas with the author at: mail4wayne@cogeco.ca or http://rtocomputerease.blogspot.com/

EBooks
Your book is now ready to be published. You can go the route of submitting it to publishers such as Random House, and in the process possibly rack up a number of rejections for a variety of reasons. To circumvent this situation, a number of authors are turning to publishing their work online as Online Publishing, EBooks or Publish On Demand.

There are a whole host of companies who will sell you a number of services. One very popular POD (publisher on demand) is Lulu, (www.lulu.com ). They offer a variety of services such as Publishing Packs. It would appear that if you want Lulu to take care of such things as ISNB numbers, Amazon distribution, copy rights, author support, custom covers, including a sample copy, etc. then their “Classic Pack” would cost you just under $1000.00 US. A bare bones publication package costs about $370.00 US dollars.

Now, you need to get printed copies. In addition to Lulu, there are many online printers that will print as many or few copies as you wish. Instant Publisher (www.instantpublisher.com), for example, will sell you 500 copies for just under $4000.00. Companies such as this specialize in small run printing. By the way, be sure to get a quote for shipping when you are thinking about an online printer.

EBooks are an option some people are looking at. The simplest way is to create a PDF copy of your book, put an excerpt on your website, (or make arrangements to have your book listed on a commercial site), include a picture of your book, and send the full pdf version to people when you receive payment. One difficulty with this is that multiple copies can be printed from your pdf version, which you would not have any control over. However, if the cost of publishing and distribution are issues, then this is the most economical route to go.

There are companies such as Amazon.com who do all the work for you. Pat Doyle has written a ‘how to’ for publishing with Amazon.com. http://www.patdoyle.com/publish-an-ebook-in-amazons-kindle-book-store/169/. With Amazon, they are pushing their new reader, Kindle and since many of the Kindle titles are $9.99, the author would receive 35% of that price.

Please keep in mind that there are many issues to consider when publishing. Receiving payment for books that are sold is one of them. Are you dealing with a reputable distributor? Do they have major advertising that you can be part of? Do they help protect the DRM (digital rights management) of your work? Finally, are there hidden costs?

An online search will bring forth a lot of ideas and support for writing, publishing either in paper or online, and distribution either electronically or physically. You can even get help from Microsoft Office. There are techniques for automatically producing a Table of Contents, and an Index. There is no time like the present to put your ideas to paper and have fun.

Computer Ease is a regular feature of the
RTO/ERO Renaissance.
Share your ideas with the author at: mail4wayne@cogeco.ca or http://rtocomputerease.blogspot.com/

Green Computing

It was estimated that over 500 million computers became obsolete last year, with many of them ending up in our landfills. These old computers contain hazardous materials which can leach into the ground and find their way into our water supplies. A better way begins with your decision to discard your aging computer.
Do you really need a new computer? Have you considered updating your current system? It is a myth that older computers consume more energy. It all depends on the configuration. Besides, updating is often less expensive than purchasing a new system.
The best advice I found while researching this article is to turn your computer off at night. You would be surprised how much electricity this saves.
If you have decided on getting a new computer, what will you do with the old one? Your first option to consider might be to donate your old computer. Jim Lynch of Tech Soup (www.techsoup.org) lists a number of tips for donating a computer.
First determine if your old computer can be reused. An older computer can be set up to entertain visiting grandchildren. This computer doesn’t need to be connected to the internet so you don’t have to worry about privacy issues. There are also software packages that will let you turn your old computer into a network storage system or file server. A Google search will locate many ‘how to’ articles on configuring a file server or network attached storage (NAS) system.
You could also use your old computer to learn a new operating system. There are many distributions of Linux that are free. Download one and install it on your old computer. There are tons of free ‘Open Source’ programs that you can add. Have fun.
If you have decided to recycle your old computer, look for a reliable recycler. RCT (Renewed Computer Technology), has 5 locations throughout Ontario that will take your old computer, refurbish it if possible and make it available to Non Profit organizations and students. Check them out at: http://www.rcto.ca/Default.aspx. For those of you in B.C., check out Free Geek (http://freegeekvancouver.org/). Both of these organizations will give you advice and instructions on donating. There are recyclers in most communities now. Check out their policies and procedures before committing to using their services.
There are some MUGs (Mac User Groups) that will take your old Mac computers and refurbish them. When you purchase a new Mac at a dealer, they will transfer your old files onto the new Mac and give you the opportunity to recycle your old system, no matter what brand. (http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ program/index.html).
There are many things to consider when donating your old computer for refurbishing or recycling. The most important thing is to make sure that ALL of your personal information and files are erased or cleaned from your hard drive. Most refurbishers have a policy printed on their web pages concerning this issue. It is important to check this out.
You may want to do some hard drive cleaning yourself. You can use a commercial cleaner such as WipeDrive selling for $40.00 US. There are also some free drive cleaning solutions such as Active@ Kill Disk HD Eraser, found at: (http://www.killdisk.com/). For the Mac, there is a built in utility found under “Security Options”, or you can use a program such as WipeDrive for Mac which also sells for $40.00 US. Check them out at http://www.whitecanyon.com/erase-hard-drive-mac.php.
It is important to mention that just reformatting your hard drive does not erase the information on that drive. You need to perform a disk cleaning action to make it difficult to access information on the drive. You can also go to a local professional to perform a hard drive cleaning for you. Please also remember to run a thorough virus scan.
When you donate or recycle your old system, remember to include any accessories that came with the computer. Gather up that extra keyboard and mouse, along with the original documentation and set up disks that were originally installed. Don’t forget the operating system. If you are donating your computer, you might also take the opportunity to clean out any older office suites, utilities or other programs that could be used with your donated computer. Non Profit agencies often need and appreciate all the help you can give them.