GIIP’s mission to upgrade the informational capacity of community groups was a unifying theme of this summer’s events. TechCamp, a collaborative effort with the Progressive Tech Project (PTP) is a stellar example. Designed to teach technology skills, build confidence and provide hands on experience, TechCamp is an intense 4 day training program designed for non profit organizations. In all, over 80 community and grass roots activists took part of this innovative program. Last year’s popularity and over full capacity prompted PTP and GIIP to add an additional TechCamp in Minneapolis, MN to this years schedule.

TechCamp 2007 brought together organizers from a variety of NGOs from across the country, including Tribal Environmental Watch Alliance, PODER, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Panta Rhea Foundation, La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities of Mississippi, and Coalition For A Safe Environment to name only a few.

Led by PTP’s Arif Mamdani, GIIP Associate Director, Adam Thompson, and GIIP fellows, Christina Hill and Maira Sutton, the participants attended a variety of training sessions ranging from hardware basics, HTML/CSS, internet safety and desktop publishing. Evaluation and reassessment of the session objectives were a primary concern for TechCamp’ facilitators. Nightly debriefings were held in order to get feedback from the participants about how the training sessions were meeting their expectations and the needs of their organization. Changes were made on the fly to subsequent sessions and overall scheduling.

TechCamp served as a reminder of the impact that even basic ICT skills can have on the efficiency of community organizing. The response from the participants was overwhelmingly positive as they each left with new tech skills to take back to their organization. Bringing together this group of motivated visionaries was an inspiring event.

Thanks to GIIP fellows Elliott Collins, Christina Hamill, Rehan Iftikhar, Dmitry Kogan, Jon Madden, Katie Roper and Maira Sutton for their part in making this year’s TechCamp such a success. Watch our TechCamp digital video at: http://giip.ucsc.edu/content/view/119/40/.