National Capital FreeNet 1994 Board and Organizational Annual Report "Building an on-line community for all to share" By: David Sutherland (aa001), Chairman Lisa K. Donnelly (am412), Executive Director Contents - Part I: The National Capital FreeNet Mission Message from the Chairman and Executive Director Highlights of 1994 (for more detailed information see individual reports) *** Mission: The National Capital FreeNet is a free, computer-based information sharing network. It links the people and organizations of this region, provides useful information, and enables an open exchange of ideas with the world. Community involvement makes FreeNet an important and accessible meeting place, and prepares people for full participation in a rapidly changing communications environment. *** Message from the Chairman and the Executive Director: Two years ago, Howard Rheingold wrote a phenomenally successful book called "Virtual Communities." In this book, he showed how computer technology and communications helped recreate the neighborly communities that had been destroyed by the industrial age and he devoted no small part of his discussion to the FreeNets of North America. When we created our FreeNet two years ago our intent was to make the computer and communication revolution available to the largest number of people, in the friendliest, most accessible way possible; and also to create an on-line community of sorts. We did not completely expect to create the full-fledged societies, with their values, passions and policies, as Rheingold had described. Quite to our surprise, some members of the FreeNet have taken the Rheingold prophecy to fruition. They cherish their on-line community, devote their time and energy to it, and participate quite actively in the activities and governance of the organization. For many of our members however, the NCF is viewed basically as a communications tool. Perhaps there is a sizable third group that, grateful for the usefulness of the tool, has developed a loose loyalty to this on-line community and shows the beginnings of the feelings of belonging. The Freenet is all of this and encompasses all of these individuals. None are more right than others and therefore the issues created by the explosion of our membership in its entirety are all equally relevant. Of course, we should remain true to the values of the community that has miraculously, and in some ways spontaneously, arisen. Yet we should also make sure that the tool not only remains but continues to have a technical relevance, and mostly, stays accessible to all. In that sense, we have many challenges ahead. As high as we are buoyed by the tidal wave of our popularity, we very much risk being drowned by it. And as strongly as we commit to upholding the ideals of equal access and equal communications opportunity we must remember that no community, be it on-line, can thrive on chaos. Managing our resources professionally with out turning into bureaucrats, increasing our number of lines and modems without mutating into a fundraising firm, and managing the transition toward a more user-friendly environment without becoming just another on-line service are some of the hurtles we face in 1995. The challenges ahead are certainly not insurmountable. Because we have had, and still do have, the freedom of forging our rules together as we go, because we are navigating these roads together, and because we are a living experiment and enjoy as we learn, we will continue to move forward. It will be the combined efforts of the membership, and the off-line community as well, that will keep National Capital FreeNet growing and serving all. *** Highlights of the Year: "Making the Connection" Board Progress: 1994 was a year of growth for the National Capital FreeNet Board of Directors. It started in March when four newly elected members attended their first Board meeting and continued into the summer, when the Board engaged in Board development sessions on effectively governing NCF. Via this method, the Board accomplished a great deal of foundational work. Over the last eight months, and on top of the monthly and daily guidance they provide, the Board created NCF's first formal mission statement and organizational chart. They also drafted Board priorities and values, analyzed their own mode of operations and decided on moving toward a Policy-oriented Board structure. These were key steps for our young organization. Despite being a unique example of a community, and of an organization, NCF must still have a concrete infrastructure and directional documents - just like other non-profit organization. Staff and Operational Progress: One of the Board goals for 1994 was to become a more professionally run organization. In February 1994, NCF was operating with a Systems Administrator and an office manager and our size demanded that we hire fundraising and management staff. In April we hired Gordon Pearson, a fundraising professional with twenty years of successful experience. In October we hired Lisa Donnelly as our Executive Director. She holds and MBA in Non-profit Administration and has five years experience in the non-profit sector. We also hired a new Administrative Coordinator, Mike Anderson, to replace Kyla Huckerby as office manager. Along with our Systems Administrator, Ian Allen, this team of one staff and three contract workers has been bringing a new level of organization and procedure to NCF. Why hire new staff members if everything can be done by volunteers? Because volunteers cannot donate full-time skills that they are probably being paid for - especially when there are deadlines to be met. Operational activity is reported monthly via an Operations Report to the Board. This document can be found on-line in the Board Meeting Support documents (go agenda). It is posted on the second Tuesday of each month and we encourage all interested members to consult it regularly. Membership Growth: In February 1994 NCF had approxiamtely 19,000 registered members. Twelve months later the number had grown to over 38,000. We have doubled our size in one year and continue to average fifty registrations per day, seven days a week. Approximately one-third of our members arrive on the system via telnet but we can expect to see an increase in that amount as local InterNet Access Providers continue to open for business. One factor in our favour is that this growth is not, strictly speaking, exponential. It is steady and manageable, meaning that we can make forecasts for our equipment and other needs. Volunteering: One of NCFs special strengths is our ability to attract, organize and inspire volunteers from all walks of life. Freenet is truly a community-based, community-run effort with a dedicated volunteer structure of 367, about 80 of whom are active at any given time on an astonishing variety of projects and standing committees. These range from the more mundane, such as opening and sorting mail in the office to the most intricate, such as writing our new database program. On average, 30 volunteers register to participate per month. We have two volunteer coordinators who work with staff to keep tapping into this invaluable resource. Just how invaluable is it? Our managerial ratio is currently 1 paid personnel per every 9,600 members. Given that high ratio, it becomes evident that without the NCF volunteers, not one of the myriad services we offer would still be available. Hardware and Capacity: Keeping a large community network running, especially one with non-stop growth, requires constant additions of hardware - not to mention ever-increasing ingenuity on the part of the Systems Administrator to match the growing complexity. In order to add any new lines at this time we must obtain a whole new set of equipment. This means a new computer, terminal server, annex ports and cables, modems and of course, purchasing telephone lines. The ideal ratio of modems to members is 1 per 100. Right now, we are at 1 per approximately 220, thus the often lengthy re-dial time to access the system. Moreover, our present 1 megabyte limit of storage space for each member is unrealistic. Were every user to take advantage of it, the system would instantly overload. In order to just keep up with Board objectives for the system, we need to thoroughly refurbish the facility. Fundraising: The National Capital Freenet is free to join but certainly not to run. Acquisitions of new hardware, obtaining and retaining competent staff, and the monthly payments for telephone lines add up. To meet our fundraising challenges, NCF focuses on individual donations, line sponsors, corporate sponsors, in-kind donations of hardware and obtaining grant money. Now that the ONIP grant, which covered start-up costs for NCF, is coming to an end, the need to receive additional grant money is urgent. The Director of Development, assisted by a committee of creative volunteers, is working hard to obtain new funds from all sources. Our biggest flaw is within our own walls: for lack of a proper donation-tracking database, we don't even have a way of telling which annual contribution is due. This project is currently top priority, and will greatly assist NCF in meeting its funding challenges for 1995. Information Providers: Information Providers (IPs), the organizations which provide content on the NCF, are a large part of what this project started out for. It is a symbiotic relationship it which we feed and unite each other. Over the last year we have made phenomenal progress in this arena, surpassing the goals set by the original Board in 1993. In February of 1994 we had approximately 100 Information Providers. Now, one year later there are over 250 organizations on the system. On average, 8 new organization put menus on NCF per a month. How was this growth made possible? Partly by our popularity as a system - and partly by creating an IP procedure in the Spring of 1994. We can now handle, track and support our IPs, which increases their satisfaction and participation. This is important as they too comprise our on-line community. Public Access: Making NCF available to all, including those without regular access to a computer, has always been part of our vision. In 1994 NCF assisted five new organizations in becoming Public Access sites, bringing our total number of public access locations to nineteen. Terminals can now be found in the public libraries of Ottawa, Goucester, Vanier, Gatineau, Hull, Nepean, Kanata, Cumberland, Manotick and North Gower as well as the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton and City Hall. In order to provide maximum ease to libraries and other community centers who want to house a NCF public access terminal, we have collected machines for their use. Again, 1994 was a terrific year. We now have ten vt100 terminals and twenty 286 machines to offer to new sites unable to afford their own equipment. Outreach to the community: If our product is content and community, like any other product it would be nothing without "customer" support. And like any booming organization, we are struggling to meet demand for support. To be sure, we offer monthly public meetings on the first Tuesdays of every month, an excellent on-line help desk and "new-to-the-net" area, and a phone-in help line staffed by volunteers in the NCF office. We also provide speakers and demonstrations to the community upon request. Still this is not enough. We plan to increase our presence and outreach in 1995 because getting people on-line and participating is part of what NCF is about. Media Relations: Since hiring the Administrative Coordinator in mid-October, NCF has embarked on its first consistent approach to dealing with the media. In the last five months we have sent out numerous press releases, held several successful events, and appeared countless times in print, radio and TV. Our information is reaching more people that ever via traditional communication methods. *** For information on Board priorities and challenges for 1995, please see Part II of the 1994 Board and Organizational Annual Report ***