It’s here : www.thirdsectorhub.org.uk/makingithappen

Why?

It’s about practical IT.  Where we (you?) try out new IT or put ideas into practice we want to blog about it and share how we did it (or how it failed!).

So rather than just point you in the direction of resources, we’ll tell you how we did it.

It’s a series of documented experiments – mostly from VANEL, but also from a couple of other partner organisations.  You might want to get involved too?

Visit the site.

Lots of useful resources and links were shared throughout the morning and I’m going to be making sure that details are posted here so that attendees (and non-attendees) can follow up on the points discussed.

Just a few first comments from this morning….

Thanks again to Chris and Glen from Virtual Riders for supporting the event today (by both attending and funding the venue & food!).

For those who didn’t make it, our agenda covered…

IT Trends to watch in 2011 for organisations in the VolCom sector.  In particular we discussed

Databases / capturing and using data
Cloud technologies
Collaborative tools
Social Media tools

We also learned more about Virtual Riders and spent a while too “cooking up a website” – discussing the practicalities of getting a website/online presence working for your organisation.

A lot was shared and needs following up from this morning.  I’ll be posting it all here over the next few days so keep an eye out for it!

Next quarterly networking meeting will be 12 April 2011.

The event – “IT Matters” is now being finalised.  An agenda/details flyer can now be downloaded from here.

We’d appreciate knowing if you’re coming or not.  Please call Karl or Vicky at VANEL on 01472 231123 or email karl@vanel.org.uk.

Free to attend.

Thanks to Virtual Riders for sponsoring this event.

Mon 17 Jan 2011
2pm – 4pm
at VANEL offices, Melbourne House, Grimsby
FREE to attend for North East Lincolnshire based voluntary and community sector organisations.
Limited places – booking essential.  (A £20 admin fee will be charged for non-attending bookings)

What is it?

what ingredients does a website need?
how much does a website cost?
how long will it take to build a website?
who needs to be involved?
how long is a piece of string?
can I get a volunteer to build it?
who should I approach?
what are html, css, php?  should I care?
will someone do it all for me?
why should we bother?

If your organisation has no website at all or has a website that needs work, how are you going about getting a useful website built or rebuilt?

Do you have the money, skills or resources to get a website sorted out?

Do you need to know what you don’t know?

This 2 hour briefing/training session/workshop is designed to talk you through all you need to know about getting your organisation online.
We’ll look at the key ingredients and the different recipies you can use to build a website.
We’ll look at who you might need to get the job done – DIY, keen amateurs or professionals?
We’ll dispel some myths, give some tips, answer your questions and worries and point you in the right direction.

The session will hopefully help educate you further and leave you understanding what to do next.

Session delivered by Karl Elliott, Hub Manager and IT Network Manager at VANEL.

Book now by calling Karl Elliott or Vicky Hardy at VANEL on 01472 231123 or email karl@vanel.org.uk

Aimed at those looking after IT in local voluntary and community organisations and looking to tackle the subject of their websites.

It’s an only-slightly-technical briefing designed to explain what ingredients go into a website, what flavours you can have, methods of cooking up a website etc.  We’ll tackle terminology and techniques as well as busting some myths and sharing lots of tips.

You’ll be able to leave understanding your next steps – whether you decide to build or develop a website yourself, use a volunteer, hire a professional, buy software, use a template or whatever else.

Places will be very limited so please book soon.

Tuesday 25th Jan 2011 – to be held at Grimsby Nieghbourhood Centre.  Planning to start at 9.30am (refreshments from 9am) and finish around 1pm with lunch.

More details fairly soon, but put the date in your diary.  Free to attend for any members of the IT Supporters Network.

Get in touch (01472 231123 / contact details) to book a place.

Thanks very much to our sponsors for this event.  Virtual Riders are supporting our Network by helping to fund this event.  More information about Virtual Riders and the service they offer here soon or visit their website :  www.virtualriders.org.

You can download it from here.

One session will take place before Christmas, on Friday 10 December.

Further sessions will then start in 2011 approximately every two weeks.  Confirmed dates are:

21 Jan
4 Feb
18 Feb
4 Mar
18 Mar
1 Apr

All are Fridays.  All sessions are held in the VANEL IT suite at Melbourne House, Grimsby.

Each session starts at 9.30am and runs until 11.30am.  However, people are welcome to turn up from 9am for a coffee and a networking chat – sometimes the most useful IT tips come from idle discussions!

Each surgery has a formal ‘topic’ which is normally the focus for around an hour from 9.30am.  But the sessions are also an open forum or chance to discuss anything and everything IT.  If you’ve got an issue and you want to find a solution, why not see if someone else in the session can help.

Sessions are free – but space is limited so please try and book with us first.

The sessions are aimed at IT supporters within the voluntary and community sector.  They are potentially on the more technical side, not not necessarily aimed at end-users.  The technical surgeries are there to help you get better at supporting and developing the IT within your organisations.  If your’e not already a member of the IT Supporters Network, please use this as an opportunity to get involved.

Any questions, please contact us to discuss or book on.

Thanks to Virtual Riders for these surgeries. VANEL organises, hosts and faciliates the session as part of the IT Supporters Network.  But the surgeries are run by Glen Greenwood from Virtual Riders who provides developmental IT support to volcom organisations across the Humber sub-region.

Contact Karl or Vicky at VANEL on 01472 231123, or email karl@vanel.org.uk to book a place.

The Network is run by VANEL as a Third Sector Hub initiative, and works with Third Sector Organisations across North East Lincolnshire.

Read more about the network here, or contact us here.

We have events (including training) coming up, and details of dates for your diary are here.

Keep reading the blog to find out what support you might be able to get & what we offer.

This website provides a method for everyone in the network to connect, communicate and learn from each other.  If you would like to be involved, contact me (Karl) and I’ll get you registered.

Welcome.