Monthly bytes e-news, Issue 10, August 2009

Stephen.Blyth — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:52:41 +1200

We're now using CommunityCentral to send the e-rider newsletter. You may have received this issue twice as a result of a teething issues when preparing it. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Every month we send out a short email newsletter about making the most out of your computer, the Internet and other technology. We'll select tips, news and articles specifically relevant to organisations signed up to the Wellington e-rider IT service.

Get in touch to find out about the IT advice and support offered by the e-rider service. Our roving IT professional will meet with you to understand your IT support needs, and discuss the packages we offer. Ph 473 5959, support [at] e-rider [dot] org [dot] nz

Please forward this e-newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.

A quick update
First e-rider learning lunch: "Case study: keeping track of members, contacts, relationships and more". You're invited!!
- September learning lunch
People are starting to talk at CommunityCentral
Auditors watching how organisations manage IT risks
Wellington ICT supports the eDay - New Zealand's e-Waste cleanup.
Round-ups from the web
- From the CommunityNet Aotearoa panui, July 2009: "Who visits your website?"
- From Groupings, the blog of webguide: "How Teenagers Consume Media - from the horse's mouth"

A quick update

Once again Wellington ICT has been busy filling in application forms for grants. This time to expand the e-rider service. Through the Community Partnership Fund (CPF) we've been given the thumbs up to deliver one-to-one teaching and run workshops on all aspects of using computers and other technology to organisations.

With $32,000 available through the CPF we're applying to other funders to help match this amount. The Trust staff and trustees will be providing significant contributions on top of the cash grants. We'll keep you up-to-date with progress.

As we shift from a pilot project to a permanent service we've introduced a membership structure. Members are entitled to discounts on services and other benefits - find out more on the website.

Thanks to those organisations that have signed up. Remember, if you're already using our services we'll give one free hour of support if you sign up a as an e-rider member by 31 August.

Last issue I promised introduce you to Joel Umali, Wellington ICT's new director. The healthy arrival of his second child in early August means this story will have to wait until the next issue.

Until next time, safe computing.

Stephen Blyth
Newsletter editor
www.commonknowledge.net.nz

First e-rider learning lunch: "Case study: keeping track of members, contacts, relationships and more". You're invited!!

Community organisations are always juggling contact with lots of different people. One day there are members or supporters to keep up-to-date, then the next day specialists to ask for input into a submission or new service plan. There can be hundreds of people to keep track of.

This type of information is often held on a variety of lists, scraps of paper and in different peoples' heads. Fortunately, there is software at hand that can help organisations manage this multiplicity of contacts and people.

Find out how Living Streets Aotearoa (LSA), who use e-rider services, are using CiviCRM to help manage relationships. Alongside LSA's director Liz Thomas, we'll have Pete Davis from Fuzion who helped with the technical side of things.

September learning lunch

12pm Wednesday 16 September, @ Wellington City Council commitee room 2, 101 Wakefield St
Lunch provided. Please RSVP to Paula Loader, admin [at] wgtn2020 [dot] org [dot] nz, ph 473 5757.

Formal invitations will be sent out very soon. This is one of the benefits of being a member of the Wellington e-rider IT service. Join today.

People are starting to talk at CommunityCentral

The first discussion networks are up and running at CommunityCentral. If you visit the website amongst the list of new online networks you'll find Human Rights Porirua and a Volunteer Manager's Hub. People interested in these subjects are beginning to gather and converse.

Discussion networks are one of the new features on CommunityCentral freely available to anyone working in a tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector organisation.

This feature is described as "a virtual roundtables for learning and connecting". If you've got a network that you want to supplement meeting face-to-face with an online existence, you might like to take a closer look.

Also newly on offer are Private workspaces. This feature is for a committee or project team to store computer files (such as minutes, agendas and reports), work on simple documents and hold discussions. Web tools like this can assist with productivity by reducing lost documents and endless emails.

The Wellington e-rider IT service is starting to send this e-newsletter through CommunityCentral. It has a number of benefits including:

viewable online or via RSS, as well as being sent out by email
convenience for members who sign-up to the website so you easily subscribe or unsubscribe
less time to produce both a website and email version
more advanced design options
access to a wider audience (CommunityCentral already has over 400 members).

With CommunityCentral about to showcase the website around the country, it is growing to be an important hub. Take a look today.

PS If you don't want to receive this e-newsletter, find unsubscribe are at the bottom of this message. Or email us at: office [at] e-rider [dot] org [dot] nz

Disclaimer: I've been involved in setting up CommunityCentral.

Auditors watching how organisations manage IT risks

Computer systems will increasingly be the subject attention during an organisation's annual audit . Changes in the way auditors do their work means all systems with an organisation are subject to some level of scrutiny. Lindsay, our roving IT professional, heard from a few organisations he visited recently that auditors had been asking about back-up and data security.

An approach to the Institute of Chartered Accountants helped to explain this trend. Kerry Price, Grant Thornton Audit Partner, and member of the Not for Profit Sector Advisory Committee set things straight:

An auditor has always had the obligation under professional standards to at least document the clients systems and processes and this includes IT systems. Data integrity is crucial to most organisations where total loss could possibly result in the failure of the organisation to continue altogether.

An auditor is asserting confidence to the public that an organisation is a going concern beyond the date of the audit report so anything placing that assertion at risk is of concern to the auditor.

This scope of enquiry and level of understanding of a clients systems, processes and internal controls has significantly increased in the last 1-2 years as the auditors professional standards (previously a NZ set of standards) are being phased into International Auditing Standards. You can expect these sorts of enquiries to only increase in future.

The Wellington e-rider IT service is available to give you advice on the robustness of your systems, and recommend options to address any shortcomings.

Wellington ICT supports the eDay - New Zealand's e-Waste cleanup.

eDay is a community initiative designed to raise awareness of the benefits of recycling computers and the hazardous nature of electronic waste (e-waste), while offering an easy way for households and schools to dispose of old computers.

It is a cars-only drive-through recycling event which gives you the opportunity to recycle old computers or mobile phones in an environmentally sustainable way.

In 2008, at 32 sites across the country, a further 946 tonnes of e-waste was diverted from New Zealand landfills. This included more than 87,000 computer items.

eDay 2009 happening on September 12, aspires to be even bigger. Get involved as a volunteer, or let your friends and family know how they can dispose of unwanted computer equipment.

Find out more at: www.eday.org.nz.

Round-ups from the web

From the CommunityNet Aotearoa panui, July 2009: "Who visits your website?"

"When I discovered recently that most visitors to one of my websites, MacTips.info, arrived from a search engine, stayed less than a minute then left immediately, I was shocked.

I was shocked by every element of that short statement.

Most visitors came from search engines? 90% or more of them? What about my loyal readers?"

Read the full article and other news from the monthly Panui

From Groupings, the blog of webguide: "How Teenagers Consume Media - from the horse's mouth"

"Every organisation that hopes to have a future needs to understand the next generation of potential clients, workers and supporters. And the next generation is definitely connected, but in ways that are not always obvious to us old people. Which is why Matthew Robinson has made such a huge splash.

Just over a fortnight ago, Matthew Robson had never worked in banking. This was mainly because he was 15 years and 7 months old and attending a comprehensive school in South London.

Today he is the talk of Tokyo, Wall Street and the City. Fund managers, CEOs and analysts are poring over his report, How Teenagers Consume Media, which he wrote last week while on work experience at Morgan Stanley."

Read the full story