A big thank you to Nick Ali, Josh Chase and Amber Graner for putting together the Atlanta Linux Fest! It was hugely successful, I heard there was somewhere around 900 people registered, and we had a wonderful time.
You can download QuinnCo’s presentation from the show as ODT or PDF.
The video from our presentation at the South East Linux Fest is now available! You can watch it here.
I wanted to take a moment, to thank all of you who came out for the Florida Baptist Children’s Home build-day. We had a very, very successful day, and without all of you, our day would have been a colossal failure.
First, thanks to Dr. Pharr, for her wonderful babysitting services. She was, genuinely, the keystone for the day. Without her, I would not have been able to be at the build-day, let alone trying to coordinate.
The build-day is one that I will carry with me for the rest of my years. We may have others, but there will be nothing that will stay with me quite the way this one will. It took my breath away, to look up and see what must have amounted to 75 people, working away together, in rhythm and sync. Half of the attendees were residents of the children’s home, and I must say, I was incredibly proud of the way the adult participants took the kids under wing, and really mentored them through all of the stages of computer repair and installation. I was so proud to see everyone working together, doing their parts and pitching in. And, at the end of the day, our numbers proved how strong we functioned as a team. We processed a total of 47 computers.
There were moments, in all of this, that took my breath away. I watched a 17 year old boy teach an 11 year old girl how to take RAM out of a junk computer. I listened in as a young college man taught a group of teen girls about electrical circuits, and how computers read data as 1s and 0s. I received several squeeze hugs, and thank yous, from kids who were incredibly excited to know they would have a computer they could play with.
All in all, the day was an incredible success, and nothing I write here could adequately describe how thrilled I was, or how proud I am, to call all of the participants friends. Thank you, each and every one of you, for touching my heart, and helping us accomplish this goal. Maybe, hopefully, we managed to change a child’s life for the better. That’s all I can ask for.
Children deserve access to technology. Not just for technology’s sake, but for the freedom and knowledge it represents. Children everywhere should have this freedom. That’s why we founded QuinnCo.
One of the best things about QuinnCo is that we are focused on our community. Communities know their needs better than anyone else, and so we are able to put our limited resources to work most effectively this way. Unfortunately, this approach puts so many communities in need beyond our reach. (more…)
