PC Workshops

[paschott]

I've done a couple of PC Workshop/Repair Clinics now and have been very pleased with the results. I'm glad that God has given me a way to serve and that I'm able to use my skills/talents to meet a real need people have. Anyone want to share their experiences or ask questions about PC Workshops? Let us know by replying or starting a new topic to share your team's experience.

For Him,
-Peter Schott

[Stuart]

Good question Peter. I've been trying to get something similar running at my Church and was encouraged when I saw Jim post about his previous Church and their workshops.

I have two concerns with the whole idea / process.

1. Lack of tech volunteers to assist. I could run one myself and see what happens but would likely get swamped
2. Whether to try and preempt the day and purchase spares or just advise on the day as and when I come across hardware issues.

The other aspect - though no a concern per se is the running of the event. What kit to bring (how many screens, keyboards, mice, etc)? Is it done on a first come first served basis or appointment only... lots of things to consider but the biggest issue is item 1 above!

[paschott]

Lack of volunteers can be an issue. I'd ask around for people who are even a little tech-savvy to get some assistance. From my experience, most of the questions/problems can be fielded pretty easily. (Malware, how do I ..., etc) Training someone to run an anti-malware scanner is usually a good first step.

Beyond that, we do a "first come" method for the most part, with a little cherry-picking as needed. How much you bring is completely up to you. We have gotten by with 3 monitors/keyboards/mice, but you may or may not need more. More than likely your first run would be pretty small. Keep it in house and try to be clear about what you're offering. Perhaps even poll for interest to better judge the day. You'll either be swamped or have lots of free time.

At least from my experience, the first time is pretty small and can be controlled pretty well. A lot of people aren't sure what's going on, forget, or just can't make it. Once you get a little word of mouth going, I think the event will grow naturally.

As for spares, my thought is that I'll advise on hardware they may need and will try to improvise with spare parts if I have them, but I try to encourage them to buy their own when possible. I'd probably have pretty much a spare machine handy and a variety of video cards and adapters. If you only have VGA monitors and no DVI adapters, you'll have trouble. Same for PS2 vs USB mice/keyboards. AGP, PCI, and PCIe video all appear during these events as well so be prepared there. I always bring a card-reader just in case and a handful of spare cables. My biggest item I have forgotten each time is my USB-Hard Drive adapter for IDE and SATA. That would have been very helpful in the past rather than taking a drive out into a new PC.

I'd say do a little planning and just go for it. You'll get a better feel for what your community is like. If you try to over-plan, you'll probably never get started.

Have fun and let us know what happens!

-Peter

[GregSimmons]

We held our first PC workshop this past fall. I would say it was rather successful. We were able to address many issues. The biggest and most time consuming was getting some machines up to date on the latest Service Packs, patches, etc.

One thing we did which worked VERY well was we used a couple KVM switches that were donated to me. That way, I was able to use an old monitor and one keyboard and mouse to manage multiple PC's being serviced. I also used a 4 port router to provide the network connection down the table to the different machines in "sick bay".

A few things I learned:

1. Setting up the night before is a big help - especially in getting network connections, KVM setups and power strips in place.

2. I'm going to allow more than 4 hours next time. May only advertise 4, but I will allow for 1-2 hours of bleed over. Due to older machines.

3. Set expectations when you start. Make sure people understand you will do what you can, but some issues may not be cleared up. (Usually hardware probs)

4. Provide something for people to do while you work. If they leave, then you don't have them there to approve changes. We're planning on some basic mini-classes. Safe web surfing, emailing pictures, moving pictures/video from your camera to your PC, etc

We also provided a "tip jar" for any donations people wanted to make. We were very clear that all donations would go toward Media Ministry needs.

Next time, I'm changing the name from PC Workshop to PC Clinic.

[Stuart]

Cool stuff Greg.

I like the idea of having something for them to do. Obviously (well maybe not) for us this thing would start as a Church only event and then hopefully the next one would have gained some praise, word of mouth advertising, etc and consequently spread to the general public.

If that doesn't work we have local newspapers we can use to advertise in

I like the idea of this becoming a modern day evangelistic tool.

[jimwalton]

I have good intentions to put something together with guidelines I have in mind for these kind of events and things that I have learned. it's totally cool that others are "copying" this idea. I have seen someone else do this kind of thing and we got to know each other but have kind of lost touch again. His events are highly structured, where you check in, drop off your computer and leave, come back later and voila, it's fixed. My vision always was for the "customers" to hang with us and this serves 2 purposes. It allows them to show you specifically what is going on, what error messages etc or to even express in greater detail what they are experiencing. It's also a time to get to know people. Finally, it ensures that you don't end up with extra machines that might be abandoned or just slow in getting back to the church.

Ideally, your church members can use this opportunity to bring their non-churched friends and neighbors to get their computers worked on and it allows a non-believer to get a glimpse of Jesus in your service. It also can show the non-believer that these church people are ok, know how to have a good time and are not always preaching at them or condemning them.

After acquiring some old dead hardware, I made it a point of requiring everybody to take with them whatever they bring in. The church does not need to become a final resting place for other people's old hardware, in my opinion. After I ended up with stuff I had no use for, I have been very willing to carry there old dead monitor back out to their car or whatever, then advise them where they can properly dispose of it.

There's a lot I could've done better and been more prepared. I would recommend making 5 or 6 CD's of the latest download of AVG, SpyBot, C-Cleaner and other handy free utilities. We generally had 4 -5 CRT monitors with corresponding keyboards, mice and power cords. For the most part, we didn't tap into a network, but in the end, I had a switch connected. We would download the utilities onto jump drives, usually that morning. Food is always good. One thing we started doing is have the people fill out a form with name, address, email, phone, PC brand, etc and the problem. We also had them sign a legal disclaimer. This releases the church, the tech team and the PC Workshop from any liability. that way, people understand that you will do the best you can but in reality not everything can be fixed.

By the way, I built my team by doing to PC Workshop. The people that helped at the first one were really my core team.

Here's a link to a site I have begun that has links to the documents I used. I intend to grow this site into something usable.

http://sites.google.com/a/jimwalton.org/pc-workshop/

Also, here's a site to links to the utilities that I like to use. It started as a Fairview Tech Team site but I am in the process of migrating into a CTM site.

http://sites.google.com/a/churchtechmat ... -Utilities

Feel free to use this info as you wish and please continue to share your stories of your events.

Jim

[paschott]

Thanks, Jim. That is definitely helpful information. I know I've used your format before and had some success. I need to do another one soon. I've been pretty slow in putting on another one.