The July issue of Community Technician Richard Milne’s newsletter is about to hit the notice boards, staffrooms, principals’ desks and inboxes of the Central Plateau schools involved in the Community Technicians’ project.
Called ICT Solutions, the A-4 double-sided newsletter is also being sent to the region’s local media and community groups.
Richard, a long time Ohakune resident, says that even though he is well known in the community, the newsletter is a way of raising the profile of the Community Technicians’ project and informing people of what he is doing in the schools.
“Some people within the schools have no idea what I do or that I’m part of the project and the newsletter will give them a better understanding of what I do and what Comtec is all about,” says Richard.
As well as giving an overview of the Community Technicians’ project, the newsletter details what Richard has been doing at the various schools within the cluster, including making the time to meet with all the principals to discuss each school’s ICT needs.
Richard has also been tutoring ICT evening classes at the local college and says it’s another way to meet people and let people know what he’s up to.
“I started my own IT business at the beginning of the course and although the schools are my mainstay, to make my business sustainable I have to look beyond the schools, and tutoring is a lovely way of meeting new people who could be potentially need me to help them fix their computer.”
Digital Opportunities Project Manager, Garry Falloon, is supportive of Richard’s newsletter and says the building of relationships within the community as well as the schools is what the project is all about.
“This is an excellent way of promoting the project and developing a client base at the same time” says Garry. “It is really important that our technicians forge positive relationships with the whole community, and this is a great way of doing just that.”
Richard is thoroughly enjoying the course and is looking forward to heading down south in the coming weeks and catching up with his fellow community technicians in Christchurch.
No doubt you’ll be able to read all about it in his next newsletter.
