Community Computer Club Information Brochure

It’s about getting connected

No club exists in a vacuum. This is especially true of a club like ours, where sharing of ideas and
information is actively encouraged, and facilitated by that super highway – the INTERNET. So it is
doubly fortunate for us that we should be offered the use of the new premises of Symphony High:
their refurbished Media Centre could not have suited our purposes better, and the IT facilities it
offers are world class: uncapped internet, free Wi-Fi, Intel i5 workstations, whiteboards and data
projectors, surround-sound, virtually unlimited local storage – not to mention state-of-the-art
printing and scanning facilities. A huge Thank You to the Principal, staff and learners of Symphony
High: without their active support and encouragement, this initiative would not have been possible.

Please take time to read the information supplied in this brochure. It has been put together in order
to make your membership experience a happy and fulfilled one. Knowledge ‘tis power2 , and
‘empowerment’ is the buzzword of the day. So enjoy!

Club meetings
The club will be meeting in the school’s Media Centre
as from July 2018. Generally there will be two meetings
per month (with exeptions – in August 2018 there will
be three, and in December 2018 only one). Meetings
will start at 7:00 pm sharp, and are sheduled to finish at
or about 8:30 pm (depending on the nature of the topic
– see further below). The formal part of each meeting
ends with a Q&A session, in which members are invited
to interact with the invited speaker to obtain clarity on
issues that may have been unclear during the
presentation, and is followed by tea and coffee (and sometimes snacks!) and a general ‘catching up’
between members – all in a relaxed social atmosphere.

Format
While the format of the club meetings themselves remains fairly fixed (standard venue and time,
presentation by invited speaker, refreshments afterwards, etc.), there are a number of variations in
terms of content – both in relation to the fixed meetings, and in relation to ‘other things’ that we get
up to (see further below).

Mobility is king today, and any device that does not ‘talk’ to another device is considered a
dinosaur of note.
Variety of content
We try to be as interesting, diverse and relevant as we dare – which is not difficult, given the ‘nature
of the beast’. These are some of the things you can expect:
A. Presentations by invited speakers on a wide variety of IT topics, from how to add a second hard
drive to your machine to Data Mining to Internet of Things and beyond.
B. Outings to places of interest, such as control centres for large operations and tours of IT-
controlled installations. (Yip, the silicon chip powers more than your smartphone.)
o Hands-on demonstrations of the latest hardware and software offerings, by
acknowledged experts in their field.
o Fun evenings – computer gaming, bring ‘n swop sessions, quizzes, competitions – you
name it, CCC does it.

Inaugural meeting
The first meeting of the ‘new’ CCC will be held on 5 July 2018 in the school’s Media Centre. The topic
for the evening is Creating and maintaining professional websites, which will be presented by the
Chairman himself, Mr Khalib, an acknowledged expert on this topic. We would like to have as many
club members present at this meeting as possible, as an important item on the agenda is the
election of the new committee for 2018/2019. Photos will also be taken to commemorate the
occasion, and we have it on good authority that ‘snacks ‘n sips’ will not be in short supply!

Arrangements
Special arrangements for the inaugural meeting, as far as ordinary members are concerned, fall
under two heads. Please take note of the items below.

Catering
While we do have a ‘Catering and Functions’ portfolio on the committee – the person who would
normally organise the catering requirements for club meetings – we would like to appeal to a wider
base of members for this special occasion. Firstly we are expecting a larger number of members than
usual, and secondly it is fitting that the inaugural meeting should be celebrated with a little flair. So,
if you would like to contribute in this way, please speak to Ms Tomlinson ASAP.

Parking
Always a headache in the past, when meetings used to be held in the Lyceum under the old bridge,
parking for club meetings will now be a whole lot easier within the school grounds. There is ample
parking available on the south side of the school, between the Media Centre and the hockey fields.
See the diagram below:

Media Centre
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Hockey Fields
Election of Committee
The new term of office for committee members will run from 01 August to 31 July of each year. We
have found it better that the change in management should take place over a ‘quieter’ period of the
year, when it is easier for new members to become acquainted with their functions and tasks.
The following key portfolios need to be filled (currently there is only a chairman, who is informally,
but very ably, assisted by various helpers):
 Secretary
 Treasurer
 Librarian
 Convener

This committee will also be responsible for drawing up the draft constitution of the club, that will be
presented and discussed at a special club meeting (date still to be confirmed).

Special projects and functions

We pride ourselves on our willingness to explore new avenues of involvement and new ways to
present ourselves and our subject to the community. Hence the wide variety of topics presented in
the course of our meetings, and also special projects and functions that are planned from time to
time, such as outlined below.

Community courses
A need has been identified within the community for certain computer courses to be held, that will
benefit the increasing number of people who are venturing into the world of SOHO as a means of
making a living. We have consolidated the many requests received into 4 separate courses, which
should accommodate most people. Further courses will be considered, upon demand.

Naturally we have had to take into consideration the prior claims of the school, as far as classroom /
Media Centre accommodation is concerned. A maximum of 24 places (workstations) are available in
the Media Centre; but in the interest of optimising the lecturer/student ratio, we have limited the
number of course members allowed per course, to somewhat lower values:
Course nameStart date Cost Places
Social Networking 23-07 R95 14
Upgrading & Repairing25-07 R165 10
Word for Business 30-07 R140 16
Excel Advanced 01-10 R140 20
You will note that the courses have different costs. This is not a whim of the organisers, but is
dictated by practical considerations, in terms of the resources needed to present each course. For
example, the Upgrading and Repairing course requires a small investment in hardware items,
whereas the Social Networking course relies more on a BYOD approach.

The above courses have already been advertised on the school’s

intranet, and places are filling up FAST (the Upgrading and Repairing course is
already fully booked). If you are interested, please contact the (acting) secretary Ms
Tomlinson at AFTom@lantic.co.za without delay.
Bring ’n Sell
As the name implies, Bring ‘n Sell is a wonderful opportunity to recycle your unwanted electronic
goods, either by selling to the highest bidder, or by negotiating a fair swop with another club
member. In this way a host of different items have changed hands: keyboards, game pads, screens,
graphics cards, motherboards, DVDs, smartphones, chargers, converters, networking
paraphernalia ... the list goes on.

We do require that participants complete a Selling Sheet beforehand, in which the total value of all
items that are SOLD is recorded. 20% of this amount is payable directly to the CCC, and is used to
boost club funds. Here is a sample sheet:

Selling Sheet – items sold

Currency Amounts
ITEMS SOLD AMOUNTS
Selfie stick 50
Webcam – Model HD-2000 200
Computer Headset (USB) 250
Huawei USB 3G modem 350
Joe ** Expression
TOTAL
Bloggs is faulty **

General
The remainder of this brochure is directed to a brief discussion on a few other aspects of club
membership, that are equally relevant and important: the quarterly newsletter, the CCC library and
– for want of a better word – ‘contributions’.

Quarterly Newsletter
The very first CCC newsletter was put out shortly after the club started, in 1994. It was indeed simply
that – a double-sided sheet of paper folded in half and popped into an envelope! Things have moved
on since then, and we now use email and other electronic means to keep club members up to date.
We’re considering dropping the email attachments (and who uses them for newsletters these days
anyway?) and using only a web-based interface.

BUT some people still enjoy receiving their quarterly newsletter, with the traditional articles of
interest, line-up of meetings to come, and the usual snippets of useful information, birthdays (yip,
some things never go out of fashion!), contact details, etc . If you would like your email address to be
added to the mailing list, please contact Ms Tomlinson without delay.

CCC Library
The CCC library performs an essential function. A large amount
of archival and other material is available to members at no
charge, and the loan periods are generous. There are three
main sections:
 Computer Books
 DVDs and CDs

 Shareware
The above IT resources have been made available so that you can make the most of your
membership experience, and pass on your knowledge to others. Remember, the CCC is all about
sharing – and HELP is only a keypress away!

Contributions
We are looking for people who are prepared to give of their time and expertise, in a variety of fields,
towards the furtherance of the prime objective of the CCC – community upliftment through ICT
initiatives.

In no particular order, these are the channels of giving that we have identified, and in which you
might like to become involved:

<< Insert contents of the Channels file here >>

Closing
At the Community Computer Club we hope to be able to give back as much as we dare to take.
Learning and teaching are really two sides of the same coin, and what brings them together is the
spirit of sharing the discovery of new things. The one helps the other. Mark van Doren puts it well:

‘The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.’

By this definition, every learner is a teacher also; and every member of CCC should equally be willing
to embrace both roles.