La Plaza Telecommunity Board of Directors Meeting June 20, 2000 Executive Directors Report
II. Community Outreach- 1. Barb Hau has been collaborating with the Community Wellness Council to put the Council's information and referral resource directory online, http://www.laplaza.org/cwc/index.html. Oban and Alex created the above web page for the resource directory and Barb was able to showcase the site at the Harvard Internet Conference on May 30 and 31. Please take time to view the site, it is extremely well done and very easy to navigate. 2. Harvard Conference, The Internet and the Publics' Health - one of 24 showcase websites, in conjunction with Harvard and Society Conference. Barb Hau and Jovanna Poe presented the La Plaza website using an Intel kiosk explaining the La Plaza Telecommunity model of including health in the La Plaza mission of access, education and content. A web page will be developed with pictures. 3. Department of Commerce Ecommerce Bridging the Digital Divide Conference in Albuquerque on May 31 - I presented the Penasco wireless project for the Success Stories and Case Studies: What Works? Workshop. I was also invited to attend a VIP luncheon with Robert Mallet, Dept of Commerce Deputy Secretary, at the Sandia National Laboratory. I had the opportunity to give a brief description of La Plaza to Mr. Mallet and the other attendees. 4. Taos Tango IV Charity Golf Tournament: Nancy Montano was given the responsibility of facilitating the La Plaza fund raising for this event. The dollars raised will be used for the 3rd annual La Plaza computer essay contest for youth. The tournament was held on June 10, followed by a silent art auction and dinner and dance. Nine artists in the La Plaza Open Studio project and Alex Chavez, webmaster, provided art for the auction. Nancy has done an outstanding job with this project and we hope to have funds to buy more than the 5 computers we had for the 1999 computer contest. La Plaza volunteers at the event were Ray Vollmer, Judith Pepper, and Nancy Montano. III. Technology Update 1. Penasco - The wireless system is almost completed. After the May install of the 4 additional solar panels and batteries, Bryan Williams has determined the need for more power, particularly in the winter when there are fewer hours of sun during the day. The two alternatives are: ? Additional solar panels and batteries ? Wind generator I will review the proposal with Bryan, Integrity engineers, and Mike Ortiz to determine the best solution for completion of the project. 2. Questa - I recommend La Plaza dissolve the partnership with the State GSD Information Systems Division and develop a private wireless system into Questa. The State has issued another request for proposal to lease space and/or system with a due date of July 24. I have begun discussion with Integrity and Bryan Williams to develop a proposal for a wireless system similar to Penasco - Once the proposal is received I will present to the Board for consideration. The State system has proved to not be reliable. The 3 agencies currently on the system are Village of Questa administrative offices, Questa Health Clinic and the Cisneros Youth and Family Center. The Youth and Family Center and La Plaza have a signed Memorandum of Agreement providing public access in the Centers' computer lab. Because the system has been unreliable, the public access site has not always had Internet access for the visitors who come for access and classes. Also, as La Plaza was not allowed to Ethernet the dialin server onto the system, the Questa community has hardly benefited from the project. To reiterate my recommendation, dissolve any partnership with the State and develop a private, reliable wireless system into Questa. 3. The ISPpower billing software that was purchased in September, 1999 has not properly billed the dialin users once in the past 8 months. Staff has had to manually correct errors since the installation and we have spent hours on the phone with the tech support. We have exhausted all efforts with the ISPpower tech support and are now researching reliable, efficient billing software. I have sent a letter requesting full refund of the cost of the billing software. IV. Funding Acquisition 1. USWest Telecommunications - I have not received notification from USWest regarding the $100,000 request to build the training classroom. John Fitter, USWest representative, visited La Plaza on May 26 and toured the facility, discussed the request, and stated he supported the project. He recommended I go to Albuquerque and present the project to the approval committee - to date I have not received any call or email from Mr. Fitter regarding the presentation of the project. I have left numerous messages for him and have not received a return phone call. June 20, 2000 is the date of allocating any/all dollars remaining in the USWest Economic Development Opportunity Fund - if we are not approved, I have several other funding sources I will submit a proposal to for consideration. 2. National Cancer Institute - AMC cancer project - I have signed the contract for the initial 5 months of funding. The project has been funded on the Federal fiscal year - Sept to Sept. Another contract will be sent for the year 2001/02. Barb Hau, La Plaza project director, has met with staff and job tasks have been assigned. 3. Benton Foundation - Alex Chavez has begun developing the Open Studio gallery website, go to www.laplaza-arts.com and view the home page of the gallery. The artists are completing their individual web pages that will sell the respective art..I have seen several and they are spectacular. This website will feature the Open Studio artists and then other Taos area artists can either link or be hosted on the site for a small fee. The gallery will meet the sustainability requirements of the Open Studio project for all recipients of Benton Foundation funding. Nancy has done an outstanding job with this project - over 30 local artists have participated in the web design training and will hopefully will benefit economically by selling their art on the web. Nancy plans on having a reception to honor the artists and present the gallery - all board members will be invited. I hope you will make plans to attend and experience first hand the completion of this very successful project. V. Fiscal Reports 1. Pete Warner, board treasurer, interviewed two CPA's to complete the 1999 annual audit. Pete recommended Gary Benn, CPA, in Albuquerque and a letter of engagement was signed with Mr. Benn and La Plaza, with a proposed cost of $4500. The audit will begin the first of July and be completed within 60 days. 2. Financial Statements will be presented at the board meeting. I. Monthly Statistics 1. Public Access Users Location Total Users Total Hrs Avg Session Taos 964 893 .93 Penasco 240 359 1.50 Questa 276 260 .94 2. Classes Intro to WWW 10 Open Studio 30 No web classes in May Total 40 3. Registrations New Primary Accts 58 New Secondary 4 Reactivated 29 Total 91 *Note: The total registrations for May appear to be on the low side; however, to date for the month of June through June 8, we have registered 65 new accounts. 4. Closed Accounts 161 notices sent regarding past due balances and 44 accounts were closed due to past due balances of >51 days (of the 44 accounts which were closed 13 have reactivated as of June 7) Closed Per User Request 55 Computer broken 5 Moved 19 No reasons given 7 Secondary 8 Moved to another ISP 10 Not Using 2 Unable to connect 3 Temporary 1 Respectfully submitted: Judith Pepper Executive Director