Hello all,
I'd like to chime in on the support issue thread as well. I work as a
technology consultant with an organization that provides technology support
solely to nonprofit organizations in Minnesota (Twin Cities metro mostly).
The number one, hands down, need for our clients is a functional,
multi-purpose, relational database (with websites a close second). We have
more and more groups looking at and using ebase. Since we are really the
main game in town, people are looking to us for support. As the Mac and
Filemaker user here I have been stepping in to provide support to those
using or evaluating ebase. But I am, by no means, the end-all expert I would
like to be. I have tried to interest for-profit FM Pro consultants in
learning and consulting on ebase but have met relative indifference outside
of an informal FM user-group.
I guess I'd like to find out if it might be possible for an ebase training
institute of sorts to train trainers. I'm an intermediate FM Pro
user/developer learning more and more primarily due to the availability and
affordability of ebase. I took Alice Aguilar's one-day "ebase 101" user
course when she came to town. It was very helpful but I want all the
clients I now see to be able to take this class. It would be great if we
could have someone locally who could teach this. I suppose I might be
willing to do this if I could get more intensive backend training on ebase
myself. It sounds like there may be interest in other areas for the same
thing.
Can we pool our interest and our knowledge and our resources to become a
better trained and more geographically diverse network of support people?
Can we set up materials and a network to create local area user groups where
people can face-to-face with other users and consultants to work out
problems and share customization solutions and insight?
I am now convinced that ebase is worth the time and effort we as support
people can put into it. The organizations I work with are infinitely better
off with ebase than they were without it (am I right Beth?). Giftmaker and
Blackbaud are often not perceived as options (for many reasons including
financial) and organizations are more likely to go to the
ED's-nephew's-database-class-project or scattered spreadsheets as an
alternative.
If there's significant interest, let's take initiative and see what we can
work out with TechRocks.
--
Barry Madore
Technology Circuit Rider
MAP for Nonprofits
St. Paul, Minnesota
Direct: 651/632-7235
MAP: 651/647-1216
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MAP web: http://www.mapnp.org
------------------
Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to
http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email address
you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: [email protected]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
