Technology Update

1. Questa Demonstration Project: the project installation has been completed and the actual demonstration has begun with the four community based organizations: Questa School District, Quest Health Clinic, Youth and Family Center, and the Quest Village offices.  A press release is being developed by the Governor's office regarding the demonstration project, the purpose and the impact on Quest community.

 
2. Questa Dial in Service: We are coordinating with the Community Center, moving the 56Kbps line, the Questa server, 5 modems and adding the 3 new modems.  The cabinet is being built and the order has been placed with USWest for the line and modem move.  I will report specifics at the Board meeting.

 
3. Taos Dial in Service: The new modems were installed on December 23, 1998 and were adjusted for dialin use on December 24, 1998.  The busy signals have ceased.

 
4. Connectivity: We are now experiencing a problem with users not being able to connect and/or being disconnected in the initial stages of connecting. We are collaborating with USWest, US Robotics, and Integrity Networking to resolve the problem.  Integrity consultants were at La Plaza on Friday, January 08, 1999 to work with the Technology Director to diagnosis and solve the problems.

 
5. Hardware: Integrity Networking is providing consultation in determining the technology needs for upgrading and replacing our system hardware.  I will use the baseline upgrade to develop the funding request to the LANL Foundation for the hardware upgrade.  The request is due at the end of January, 1999.

Community Development

1. Assisted Bill Swan, consultant, with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Managing Information in Rural America proposal.  If you MIRA grant is approved La Plaza will submit a proposal to be a Community Support Organization for the initiative in Taos County.  The MIRA proposal will be approved in February 1999 and the CSO proposal is due in April.

 
2. Met with Taos Pueblo Casino Enterprises and Integrity Networking to discuss possible wireless connection from La Plaza to the Casino.  We will meet again on January 20, 1999 and present to the Casino Enterprise Board a proposal for Internet connection not only to the Casino but also to the Tribal Government offices and community service departments.

Fund Raising

1. I received verbal approval from the Benton Foundation the Open Studio: The Arts Online project was approved.  The original request was for $25,000; however, the Foundation has not determined what the actual funding allocation will be for La Plaza.  A conference call will be held within the next two weeks to discuss the budget and content of the request. The funding will begin to flow in April, 1999.
   
   

Nancy Montano will be Project Coordinator of this grant and will coordinate the training for the underserved artists to learn the use of information technology in marketing their art products.  The grant is for 6 months with an opportunity to apply for another 6-month project for more advanced Web page building training and education.  An application will be submitted for the second phase of funding in August, 1999.
 
2. A request for Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation will be sent at the end of  January for system administration hardware and software upgrade and replacement.  We are developing the request with assistance from Integrity Networking Systems.

 
3. The Department of Commerce has released the 1999 Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) RFP.  TIIAP provides matching grants for information infrastructure projects to develop a nationwide, interactive, multimedia information infrastructure that is accessible to all Americans, in rural as well as urban areas.  An Outreach Workshop will be held on Tuesday, January 26 in Albuquerque to discuss the 1999 TIIAP round, the funding priorities, application requirements, and lessons learned from previous TIIAP grantees.  I will be attending the session to determine the potential for La Plaza developing a grant response.

La Plaza Web Site

After discussion with Nancy Montano and Albert Cota, I have assigned to Nancy additional duties of maintenance of the web site.  Nancy has increased her web skills and knowledge by teaching the Web classes and training the school district teachers on use of the web.  She developed additional and pertinent content to meet the objectives of the million dollar Kellogg grant.  Her immediate tasks include:
• Cleaning up the site and current pages; i.e. deleting "Foundation" and adding current info and stats
• Editing and adding listings; i.e. lodging, restaurants, recreation, etc
• Reorganizing the directories; i.e. government, schools, etc.
• Develop a core of volunteers, who under her direction, will be trained and
• assigned different sections for maintain and develop content.
• Fresh Content maintained for the site.

Staff Planning Day

A staff planning day has been scheduled for Friday, January 15, 1999.  We will close the La Plaza learning center and offices so we can concentrate on a full day of discussion and planning.  Staff will conduct a simple survey of existing services and then exchange ideas for value added services.

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December Monthly Statistics

Public Access Users

Classes

Registrations

A detailed breakdown of registrations was not available this month.

Closed Accounts

Net Change In Accounts: 66 gained

Telephone Statistics

Dial-in Statistics

Judith Pepper, Executive Director, La Plaza Telecommunity