A week full of Clubhouse training
This week at the Flagship Computer Clubhouse we housed new Coordinators from around the world for a week of extensive training about all that we do here at the Clubhouse.
Some of the Coordinators and Clubhouses that were here this week include…
Paballo- Sowetto in South Africa
Huss- Meadow Heights Australia
Jamie- New Zealand
Joevaughn- FBR Branch in DC
Franklin- South Boston
Jenny- Worchester
Betsy- Blue Hill
Matthew- Eastmont
This weeks training consisted of a lot of our training week staples. Starting our week off with a series of introductions to the staff and trainees as well as an introduction to the History of the Computer Clubhouse from Gail and Clubhouse Co-Founder Mitch Resnick from the MIT Media Lab. All of this followed by a trip to the brand new MIT Media Lab building to see their new space and some of the work they are doing over there, and our traditional dinner at the Royal East Restaurant in Cambridge.
The days to come would be filled with a great deal of explanation about their roles as coordinators and how to deal with certain issues. But probably the most interesting things throughout the course of the week are the training sessions on all of the software available in the Clubhouse for their youth to use.
Some of the workshops included:
- Photoshop by Jeff
- LED Throwies by Keith
- Basic Web Design by Patricia
- Scratch by Jay Silver from the MIT Media Lab
- Flash by Jeff
- Introduction to the Music Studio and video production by assistant Coordinator Roy
- Free tools & Open ideas by Keith
Although this training may sound like a lot of time sitting in front of a computer screen, there was actually a great deal of discussion on topics regarding marketing, measuring the impact of the Clubhouse, caring for your technology, responsible internet usage, and our first ever attempt at quick session on Social media; more specifically Twitter.
Probably the most important thing that everyone seemed to pull out of this past week are the friendships that were formed. As you can tell from the coordinator list above, there was a very large diverse group of coordinators that arrived here to Snowy Boston. Maybe it was the weather, or maybe it was all the free toys we gave them, but something brought this group together. Everyone got a kick out of all of stories “The General” (aka Paballo) told, Joevaughn had a blast at the Celtics game, and everyone seemed to have a good laugh about getting lost so many times with Franklin. Overall, even though half the people came from warmer climates, they all kept their enthusiasm going through the bone chilling cold weather Boston brought our way this past week. This group definitely came together this week, and hopefully they can inspire each other and provide a great deal of resources to each other and collaborate across the world.
Overall, it was a tremendous week of training and a very productive and successful one as well. To celebrate we once again headed to Il Villagio in the North End for our graduation dinner. Laughs, stories, food, and good times were shared by all. It is always incredible to see all these people from all over the world come together and find so many things they have in common as well as learn from each others differences. It is a true testament to the spirit of the Computer Clubhouse Network.
A lot of photos were taken, so hopefully as soon as we are able to get those up, you can check out this amazing group for yourself. Thanks to everyone who came to Boston this week for the training, all who helped throughout the training, and everyone in this Network that has helped us get to where we are today.
