May 26, 1996
We (Ronda Evans & Bruce McComb) just got back from our trip to Taos, New Mexico. The Community Networking Conference - Bringing People Together (May 14-17), hosted by the La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation, was an awesome experience. The Conference was sponsored by the Apple Library of Tomorrow, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce), and the Pacific Southwest Regional Technology in Education Consortium (California State University, Long Beach). Participating organizations included: the Town of Taos, University of New Mexico (Taos), Decker Communication Systems, Morino Institute, Connect New Mexico, and Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL).
The attendance was somewhere around 400, speakers and presenters came from all over the world, and, in the end, a new International Association for Community Networking was born. We're proud to be a founding member of that organization. We're also proud to have authored one of the twenty papers published in the proceedings. A complete list of speakers, conference proceedings, and lots more about the conference and community networking in general can be found at the conference website .
The most valuable aspect of the conference was the sharing of information about community networking at a personal level. Not just the successes, but the failures. All the many stories can be found on the conference website - what's missing are the faces to go with the names, the personalities, and the passion for community service that is so obvious in a face-to-face environment. We have our own story. Because of the conference, we are encouraged to tell it......
Patrick Finn, Managing Director and Co-Founder of La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation, had this to say in his introduction to the CN '96 Conference Proceedings (complete text available on the conference website):
Before I attempt to answer that question, I would like to share a quick story. I had been bargaining with our local plumber on the cost of installing an air conditioner in what we call the Smart Room where the central server and modems are located. We were negotiating a deal to trade a PPP account for part of the installation costs. I have known the plumber since I arrived in Taos 14 years ago, so we were playing hardball with a smile. We finally reached an agreement and complimented each other on what good horse traders we were.
After I got off the phone I asked myself, is this community networking - trading PPP accounts for air conditioning? The only answer is YES!
To start a community network you only need to be a lawyer, a plumber, a computer technician, a bookkeeper, a marketing executive, an accountant, a politician, a fund-raiser, an administrator, a community developer, a therapist, a teacher..... and if you are not, you better know at least two of each. The most important one is the therapist. People have to be nuts to start a community network. I know, we did and we are.
I don't mean to discourage you. But since this conference and these proceedings deals with the practical issues of starting and maintaining a community network I thought you should know up front the many challenges we face.
Really, it has been one of the most rewarding and challenging undertakings in my life. And as you've guessed a lot of hard work. Now to try and answer that question, what is a community network? Its not easy, but here is a starting point.....
A Community Network (CN) is an association that serves the communications and/or information needs of a group of people who have a common interest via online technology.
There are many variables that come into play once you begin to look at how to deliver this service at the community level. Some of those include: Organizational Structure, Technology, Local Politics, Audience, Leadership, Access, Training, Funding, Services Offered, Community Outreach, Partnerships, Staffing, Volunteer Management, Cultural Issues, Marketing, and Sustainability.
Well said, Patrick! Wehave a much simpler definition that says Community Networks are "Public Telecomputing" and have their place alongside their more familiar cousins, Public Television, Public Radio, and Public Libraries. But the above account lays a better foundation for understanding our story.
The Beginning. From the RECA Foundation 1992 Annual Report, Ronda Evans, President said:
"Richard T. Lincoln left me $11,000+ to form a nonprofit that would assist seniors the way that I had assisted Mr. Lincoln with estate administration. With these funds the RECA Foundation was formed as a Washington nonprofit as of 9/30/92. The RECA Foundation began working with the Senior Centers to install modems, train staff to use the Tri-Cities On- Line Information Service, and to administer the on-line checklists and other information to area senior citizens."
People do, indeed, have to be nuts to start a community network - so we found three other "nuts" to form our five member board and launched the Tri-Cities On-Line. We didn't know there were such things as Free-Nets already in existence so the name change to Tri-Cities Free-Net came later. Armed with lots of enthusiasm, good intentions, a little money, and lots and lots of naivety, we set off to "educate" the community on the benefits of a community network.
We talked to the Chambers of Commerce, City Governments, Port Districts, Economic Development Organizations, School Districts, Service Clubs, individuals, ............. on and on ...... we were apparently speaking a foreign language! We had a very clear vision - why was it so hard to get that vision across to other people? We tried everything we could think of to get the message out. We had a functional community network running on a donated PC with two 2400bps modems but it was beginning to feel impossible to get people to see the potential. "Ask not what the Free-Net can do for you but what you can do for the Free-Net" was a concept totally foreign to nearly everyone we talked to. It got very depressing!
By March, 1993, we were working full time to gain support for our community networking efforts. Funding was nearly non-existent so there was no money for salaries, let alone basic system operation. We went from a combined income in six figures to ZERO. We didn't have a clue at the time, but we were about to enter into a three year "experience" of state assistance (e.g. welfare), food stamps, and community assistance programs! In retrospect, it was a very positive experience. It is very difficult for someone who "has it all" to fully appreciate living in bare minimum conditions. The "bottom up" approach we have always professed took on a new reality. We were operating a foundation out of the kitchen of an apartment located in a multicultural complex, sometimes behind on the rent, learned to appreciate first hand the local food bank, had to ask for help in paying the electric bills, and did without things we had previously taken for granted and many consider necessities. We're still not quite sure how to effectively match our "bottom up" approach to the "top down" power structure that seems to have a need to dictate (i.e. control the funding) what the community needs, but we're getting closer. The CBPIN program today would not have the sharp focus and clarity of purpose without that experience.
In March we also received our 501©(3) exemption letter from the IRS. Our problems were over! We were eligible for grants! We wrote grant applications to corporations, philanthropic organizations, local governments, and revisited all those hundreds of people who "didn't get it" the first time. . We looked at other communities for success stories. We looked at Taos, NM where La Plaza and Los Alamos National Laboratory were working together - surely we could do something similar here with the vast resources of Hanford, the DOE, and the contractors? But at the end of 1993, our total donations amounted to $235.00 and we still received mostly blank stares when we talked about community networking. We didn't give up.
1994 saw the development of the Lewis and Clark Information Highway Project. The project was made into a grant application and submitted in 1995 to the TIIAP (U.S. Department of Commerce). It was also translated into Russian for use in a similar project in the greater Moscow area. The Project was later presented at Telecommunities '95 (August, 1995 Victoria, Canada) and is available at:
http://www.swifty.com/TC95/PROCEED/pro.htm and on the Tri-Cities Free-Net. We joined the NPTN (National Public Telecomputing Network - sort of like the PBS of Public Telecomputing) and changed the name of our network to the Tri-Cities Free-Net. We were slowly gaining support and forming partnerships in our grant writing endeavors. Our donations for the year jumped to a whopping $2,212.00. We remained unsuccessful in gaining financial support from the Hanford organizations, local governments, or major businesses. The "top down" folks were still not interested. We didn't give up.
CBPIN is a network of organizations dedicated to providing the widest possible access to the Information Superhighway. Our goal for this project is to ensure everyone has access appropriate to their needs - business, educators, students, children, non-profits, the rich, the poor, the disabled. The CBPIN will take the RECA Foundation's Lewis & Clark Project to the next level in Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon. The RECA Foundation will act as the primary agent for the CBPIN and endeavor to expand the Tri-Cities Free-Net©; establish and maintain a World Wide Web Server for educational, government, and other not-for-profit organizations; and generally facilitate information dissemination among the network members and the general public.
The "top down" folks were still not interested. But we didn't give up.
Bruce McComb Ronda Evans
Executive Director President
p.s. "The rest of the story" is about the thousands of hours of community service working on other boards; helping the disabled, seniors, youth, under served; teaching classes.... want to know more? Just ask.