Workshop guide

This is a guide for leaders of volunteer workshops. It contains a lot of information specific to FCS, and will need editing if we shop work in other spaces. It should contain everything you need to know about running a workshop.

If it doesn't, then it needs to be updated. You can edit it yourself, or contact one of the other contributors (see the 'View History' tab) for help.

If you don't have the answers necessary to update this guide, then please cry out for help on the FGSEA Google group or our IRC channel, #freegeek-sea on freenode.net or webchat. If you are at FCS, then User:Boxcutter or another experienced person might be around to help you.

Preparation

Before you arrive

The first step in leading a workshop is in announcing the fact. The Main Page contains a green sidebar on the right-hand side labelled Upcoming Events which contains a list of events by date. You can choose the date of the workshop you want to lead from there, and click the 'e' link to pre-populate it with the usual template information. From there you can edit it as normal.

Currently you must have a wiki account in order to lead workshops.

If the date / workshop you want isn't in the list, you can create it manually by creating a page of the form `YYYY-MM-DD_FCS_Workshop` and adding template {{FCS_Workshop}} at the top. Then hit `Show Preview` and you should be able to add your information according to the embedded instructions.

When you're filling out this information, do some thinking about what you want to accomplish in this particular workshop. Keep in mind that many of our volunteers are experienced IT people who are not in the Build program- when people like this show up, talk to them about what they're planning to do and try to have some guidance or tasks for them to work on if they haven't brought anything with them.

Don't waste volunteers' time. It's the most precious resource available to us.

When you arrive

On arrival, boot up gundam and sign in to our IRC channel, #freegeek-sea on freenode.net or webchat. There is usually someone on the channel on Saturday, you can ask questions and announce anything interesting you might find or do.

Also open up https://docs.google.com/a/freegeekseattle.org/spreadsheets/d/1qL1FNq-c2DyKyWD55ToccATMkC3zCsvsWAa09X9TsEM/edit?usp=sharing and record there the volunteers' arrival and departure times. Don't forget your own times! We need this information so that we can provide it to grantors as evidence that we're providing service to the public.

You'll need the following:

All the necessary paper forms should be on the wire shelf above the printer. If any are missing, you can print out more from gundam.

Worksheet Links

Inventory sheet

Volunteer hours sheet

Sign-ins

Everyone present needs to sign in.

This includes you, any volunteers, anyone who is doing anything for Free Geek Seattle.

Use Inventory sheet to track sign-ins and hours.

All NEW volunteers (anyone showing up for the first time) need to fill out the Volunteer Application form. There should be plenty of copies already there. If not, find Jon and get him to print out more.They should read the Volunteer Orientation Packet first so that they know what they are getting into.

Orientation

Each workshop will begin with a New Volunteer Orientation for any new volunteers that arrive. Please see New Volunteer Orientation HOWTO if you are conducting a workshop and need guidance on how to conduct an Orientation.

Additionally, please have all new volunteers complete the volunteer sign-up sheet & read through the orientation packet.

Once the Orientation is complete, it's up to you and your volunteers as to what to do next. Most volunteers will probably be doing a Build and will need assistance or instruction. This may or may not leave you time to do something else

Room Layout

This information is no longer accurate, please update

There are a series of tables in the room. On the north wall is the Eval table. To the left of it is a pile of new hardware to be evaluated. When a volunteer is ready to start Build, this is where it begins.If you have volunteers who have completed the preliminaries then you can start them here on teardown or Eval.

Hardware

If you're doing any recycling or refurbishing, there's a small set of tools available in a small black folder. There's a small and a large hex driver, a Torx driver, and some screwdrivers and a grounding strap. Please make sure all these tools go back in the folder after the meeting. There are also some little plastic bins for spacers, stand-offs and screws.

There's a box labelled "Recycling", which is there to collect parts destined for recycle. We have still to coordinate our recycling efforts. Total Reclaim closes at 16:30, 3R at 18:00. If the meeting runs later than that, please make some arrangement to get the recycling done. We need to keep parts moving out of inventory so that we can receive new donations.