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Resource Report - 21 Triceratops Tech · Resource Report

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Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today,
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I have the pleasure of bringing you Triceratops
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Tech. Here they are. I am here at KAOS Radio
1:03
Station with Griff Masters and Azure Sensabaugh
1:07
of Triceratops Tech. How are you guys doing?
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We're good. We're excited. Okay. Can you introduce
1:16
yourselves, your positions, and how did you come
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to be here at Triceratops Tech? Basically, if
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you can find a nonprofit that you want to do
1:34
an internship at, they will pay you to go work
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there for a few months after you graduate. So
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I came and I decided to do my internship in 2023
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at Triceratops Tech. And then it turned into
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a part -time job. And then now it's my full -time
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job. So that's how I got here. That's awesome.
1:53
And I'm Griff Masters. I'm the executive director
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and founder of Triceratops Tech. So high points
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are, I used to work in the tech industry and
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I used to work in the nonprofit industry and
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I saw a lot of gaps in each of them that seemed
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like they really had a need for some of the expertise
2:11
in the other one. And so me and some friends
2:14
of mine just started trying to make some connections
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to fill some of those gaps. And that was about
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seven years ago. That's awesome. Explain to us
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what Triceratops Tech is, what y 'all do. And
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I'm really curious how y 'all got the name Triceratops
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Tech. I have to know that. Yeah, we can start
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there. When we first started taking on projects,
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we just had a few very kind of systems thinking
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people. And so we didn't really have a great
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need to incorporate or form a 501c3 nonprofit,
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but it just seemed like. Kind of an interesting
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system to learn about if we were going to be
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working with nonprofits. And so in filling out
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all the paperwork, we found that we needed to
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name the organization to do that. And so my son
3:02
was five at the time, and that was his favorite
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type of dino, and when we asked him what we
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should name the company, he said Triceratops.
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I love that story. So Triceratops Tech, y 'all
3:17
help people with technology. That's right. Yeah.
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So when I was in the software field, a friend
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of mine worked at Google. This was in like 2015
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or so when they had a really, really strong program
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for supporting employees doing charity projects
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and working with charities and good causes. And
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he told us the story one time about how. The
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team that he was working on, they had a day where
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they went and picked up litter in Marymoor Park.
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And, you know, talking about this project, it's
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great. I'm really glad that they did it. It's
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a good cause. But, you know, we were just thinking
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this is a team of some of the best software developers
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in the world. Like, I feel like we can get some
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more out of them than that. And with my background
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working with some nonprofits or in the Olympia
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area, you know, the kinds of problems that I
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saw them dealing with were just... Uh, you know,
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they're very real and very valid problems, but
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technology wise, they're not that complicated,
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you know? And so it just seemed like there was
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a real, uh, a real easy, some real easy wins
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to make connecting those, those two together.
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You know, people who work in the technology field
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who, uh, want to do something good and help make
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a difference and, uh, organizations out there
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with, with great missions, trying to make the
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world better, getting stuck behind, uh, technology
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problems that, that we could sort out pretty
4:38
quickly ourselves. That's awesome. Y 'all saw
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an obvious need and a simple way to fix it. That's
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great. And so the services that y 'all offer,
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can you talk about those? Yeah, all day long.
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Let's go for it. We're a pretty broad sort of
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gap -filling, capacity -building organization.
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We have some specialties that we've built up
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over time, some things that we do over and over
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again. Our favorite organizations to work with
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and the ones that we find are really the most
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under-served are small organizations and newer
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organizations that really don't have the language
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or the context to go and seek help from other
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more established organizations. They have problems
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that they don't really understand what they are
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a lot of the time. They just are stuck and they
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don't really understand why and it's really hampering
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their operations. work with them to, even if
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they're not aware of how to articulate the problem
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that they're having, we'll work with them to
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figure out what their needs are, if it's some
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repairs that they need done to their website,
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or some maintenance, or they need to change a
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tool that they're using for tracking their data,
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or the computers that they use for their operations,
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for their employees, for their volunteers. We'll
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work with them to figure out what their problem
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is. And then most of the time, we can either
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give them some instructions that they can sort
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them out themselves, or we can do some work to
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do some repairs and then hand it back off to
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them. Occasionally, we'll even refer people out
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to a broader network of technology companies
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and other engineers and people that we know that
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can take on bigger, more specific issues. Yeah,
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we really try to target that low -hanging fruit
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where we can get quick wins to get people back
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up and running more effectively and get them
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using tools that they're able to own and maintain
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themselves so that they're not really stuck paying
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for somebody to manage their services on a subscription
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basis for years and years. That sounds like a
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great overview. Let's expand on that a little
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bit. You have listed on your website application
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development, IT support, data services, staff
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training, web development, CRM support, and vendor
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management. Can you share a little more deeply
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about those, please? Yeah, so like Griff was saying,
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we... Kind of just come in to help an organization
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with whatever they're stuck on. So it's very
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random and fun to learn a lot of new things all
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the time. I would say the biggest three that
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we help with are websites, IT support, and data
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support. So if I was going to pick one to expel
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out, it would be data. Nonprofits have to manage
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a lot of data, a lot of types of data. So you
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have to keep track of who your supporters are.
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who's donating to you, who's showing up to your
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events, who is responding to your calls for support
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and volunteering. You have to keep track of the
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people you're trying to help and the people you're
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trying to serve to make sure your programs are
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working the way you think they are. And maybe
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because you also have to report to your funders
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about whether your goals are being met with your
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programs. And so we love getting to come in and
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help them. organize how they analyze their data,
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how they interact with it every day, how they
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enter their data, like if they work with a lot
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of people who need case management, how they
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might handle their case management. So that's
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one example of an area where we enjoy working
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a lot to help people organize their program data
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and their supporter data. That's awesome. In
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the matter of IT support, what are some good
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examples that y 'all have of that? Sometimes
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it's pretty straightforward stuff like I really
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need to get my email working on my phone or I
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really need to set up for the first time having
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staff organizational accounts instead of everyone
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doing things on their personal account. Sometimes
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it looks like troubleshooting someone's internet.
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You need functioning internet to be able to run
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your programs. You need functioning computers
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to be able to run your programs every day. Helping
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people troubleshoot. Their devices and their
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online accounts and their apps. That, I think,
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is the bulk of the IT work that we do. Yeah,
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one of the biggest, one of the most common questions
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that we work with people on is what to do when
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somebody leaves. If there's... Most organizations
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have one person who just kind of unofficially
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manages all their technology stuff. And we've
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seen it be any... any different role in an organization.
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Sometimes somebody on the board or an operations
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manager or just whoever the youngest person is
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on staff ends up just kind of doing that on top
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of whatever their job actually is. And then when
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this person leaves, they have accounts set up
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all over the place. They have files on their
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computer that are critical to the organization
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running. They have that one spreadsheet that's
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got all the formulas in it that you need to keep
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running. And it can be really, really hugely
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impactful. I mean, we've seen organizations that
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have ceased operations over not being able to
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recover from something like that. And so one
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thing that we'll work with people on a lot is
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how to prevent big problems from that, how to
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recover from it. Sometimes if there's a lot of
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chaos and uncertainty, then... We've had projects
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where we start with just bringing a bank statement
10:36
the first time and we'll start with what you're
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paying for and make a list of the accounts that
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you're paying for and just go from there. Start
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recovering things and getting them into a place
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where you're back in control of them. That sounds,
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wow, that is impactful. And I think that a lot
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of people have peace of mind hearing that they
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have a problem solver there now for that. That's
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awesome. I'm curious about application development.
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So that sounds like a real specialty kind of
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thing. Are you like developing special applications
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unique for organizations? Is that what I'm reading
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into that? We do do that. We haven't done that
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before. And it is a service that we offer. We
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kind of joke about how we spend most of our time
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explaining to people why they don't want to build
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their own app. Why? where they don't want custom
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code in their solution. But that's actually where
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my background is in software development before
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I started doing this. And honestly, when we were
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first toying with the idea, what I pictured was
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building custom software because that's what
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I knew the most about. Once we got in and started
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working more closely with organizations and seeing
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what problems they actually faced, we started
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getting a lot more tactical about. the kind of
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changes that we were making, learning how to
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effectively use and configure the tools that
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they had in place so that they can continue to
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own them in the long term so that if an issue
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comes up, they have an avenue to find support
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and it's not just, well, this is a custom piece
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of software that you built, so if it breaks,
12:15
then go learn to code so you can figure out what's
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wrong. So we do do that, though. There have been
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some cases that come up. We have a very high
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bar for that because owning custom code is pretty
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onerous. But there have been cases where we worked
12:31
with a group and found that now that's the right
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solution. We did just recently, we built a custom
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little app for an organization doing some interview
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transcription to build some automation for that.
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They were doing a lot of... just writing out
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transcripts by hand. And so we were able to build
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a little standalone app that doesn't need any
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other infrastructure support from anything else.
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It can just run on its own. So it's very simple
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and we have a good relationship with them to
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help maintain that. And that really touches on
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the other side of our organization, which is
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our educational piece, because that's where we
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really like to get students involved and custom
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code development, anything that has to do with
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software development, because that's a place
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where... We have a really thriving volunteer
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network that's grown just by leaps and bounds
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in the last couple of years. And it includes
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a lot of students and people who are making a
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career change or interested in making a career
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change, as well as a lot of people who are really
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established in their fields. So we can set up
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mentorship with them. We can spin up projects
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that we don't even do anything with ourselves
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that are entirely run by volunteers. And it lets
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them get some experience on their resume that
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is actual. production code out there running
13:47
in the world on the internet that you can go
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and see, which is really valuable for job hunting
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in addition to whatever training and certifications
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they might already have. That sounds exciting.
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We'll come back to that in a second. I'm curious
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more about the, I'm still curious about the application
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development stuff. You said it could be onerous.
14:07
Can you explain what the pros and cons are of
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having that? I think basically The con is that
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if something breaks and you don't have anyone
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on your staff who knows how to code, it now becomes
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a huge problem. Whereas if you're using an app
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that's really popular, like maybe you use a CRM
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that a lot of other organizations use, if you
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start Googling your question when something breaks,
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you can probably figure out how to fix it yourself.
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But if you have a custom app, which we usually
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don't recommend, it becomes very expensive to
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try and fix it and try to find someone who knows
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how to code who can help you fix it. So that's
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basically the main con. The pro is that if you
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have something really, really specific that you're
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trying to do, sometimes making an app can save
14:58
you a lot of time on that. So that's another
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big goal of ours, not only to help the nonprofits
15:04
serve people better, but their actual staff can
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save time. Pro, it can help you with very specific
15:12
tasks. Con, it's very, very difficult to troubleshoot
15:14
and fix. Yeah, and that leads to my next question,
15:26
actually. I don't know what CRM support is. What
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is CRM? Basically, CRM is a database of all the
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people who interact with your organization and
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what they're doing. So if you have a CRM, you
15:40
can log into it and you can see who are all the
15:42
people who have subscribed to my newsletter?
15:44
Who are all the people who have volunteered with
15:46
me recently? Who are all the people that if you're
15:49
a food bank, we've distributed food to? That
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might be one thing we'll track with a CRM. And
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it gives you a way to track them all in one place
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instead of having a lot of separate spreadsheets.
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Like, oh, I'll track this in this spreadsheet,
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this here and this there. It's all in one place.
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So a lot of... People use it for donor management.
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A lot of people use it for program management.
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Just help you keep track of everyone interacting
16:11
with your organization. That sounds kind of like
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the other service, vendor management. Is that
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different? I think it totally comes up there.
16:20
Griff might speak to this more. He loves doing
16:22
it. But basically, at some point in the history
16:26
of the organization, someone made a decision.
16:27
We're going to buy this product. We're going
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to buy this app. It's going to solve all our
16:31
problems. It's probably what the sales team told
16:33
them. Then later down the line, they realize
16:36
like, oh, this product is not quite what I expected
16:38
or we're having a lot of trouble transitioning
16:40
or launching it or actually getting to use it.
16:43
And so vendor management basically looks like
16:46
us coming in and getting to say the right techie
16:50
words to that app or the sales representative
16:54
or the customer service representative and advocate
16:56
for the nonprofit and say, no, you need to help
16:59
them with this. You need to do what you promised
17:02
them you would do. And Griff loves. getting to
17:04
do that yeah that's one of my favorite things
17:06
to do because it's really the the it can be the
17:09
biggest bang for our buck really for all the
17:12
services that we offer um because uh on on one
17:16
side a lot of people if they're not really uh
17:20
knowledgeable about the tools that they're using
17:22
um people get into a headspace where they just
17:26
kind of expect that well my my boss bought this
17:28
thing and now there's another tool that we have
17:29
here and It doesn't really seem to, I don't really
17:33
understand what it does, but it's another thing
17:34
that I have to do to put some data into this
17:37
now. And that's Bergen. You don't have to put
17:41
up with that. If tools aren't making your job
17:43
easier, then something's wrong. It's either misconfigured
17:47
or maybe it's not quite the right fit. And you
17:51
don't have to give up on it, really. A lot of
17:52
the time, there are contracts in place that will
17:55
get you everything that you need, but it's just
17:57
a matter of really articulating to the vendor.
18:00
what it is that's not lining up. And it's like
18:03
there's a separate language that they all speak.
18:06
And so if you can just say the right set of words
18:08
to them, it unlocks the dialogue tree to make
18:10
everything work. And we've had projects where
18:13
we have just really just one email thread and
18:17
a whole project will just go away because they'll
18:20
just fix it. So that's vendor management is a
18:24
term that we kind of came up with to cover that
18:26
because it was coming up so often we needed to...
18:29
Call it something. Okay. Okay. That makes sense.
18:32
And staff training is like you're helping train
18:37
different staff members with different organizations
18:40
on how to use their technology? That's right.
18:44
Broadly for office skills and some basic computer
18:48
training and more advanced things. We've had
18:51
some cases where an organization will have some
18:55
technology in place and... We'll have not really
18:59
worked with it before, but we've worked in that
19:03
space. There's trends among all of these. And
19:06
so there have been some sessions where we have
19:08
to go learn it ourselves and then we put together
19:10
a training for them. Even if the tools are all
19:14
working perfectly, it's easy to forget about
19:17
that. getting up to speed time and that handoff
19:19
can be kind of broken. So we've done some on
19:22
specific tools and then we also do a lot of best
19:26
practices for managing your passwords, collaborating
19:29
on sharing documents with each other. Anytime
19:33
we change something, part of the change management
19:36
that goes into that is making sure that everybody
19:38
can use it well so that it's more effective at
19:41
saving time. That sounds good. Wow. Yeah. And
19:46
then are these services only for nonprofits or
19:50
do you also work with individuals, community
19:53
members? The services we've been talking about
19:58
are mostly for nonprofits, but we do have programs
20:01
where we work with individuals. On the educational
20:04
side of our organization, we have technology
20:07
training for the public. So, for example, we
20:10
might go to the library and hold a computer basics
20:12
class. Or a cybersecurity -based class for people
20:16
who want basic technology skills. And we also
20:19
have drop -in technology support. So at a few
20:23
locations around town, we set up for an hour
20:25
in the common room. And people can come just
20:28
get help with whatever is not working with their
20:30
computer. And we'll help them one -on -one. We
20:32
love getting to do that as well. We also do more
20:35
advanced tech education sometimes. We'll do coding
20:38
clubs for youth, for example. Or like Griff was
20:41
saying. Another way we can incorporate education
20:44
into our programs is by allowing emerging technology
20:48
professionals to come shadow our work as we do
20:50
work with nonprofits. So they can come see what
20:53
does it actually look like doing hands -on technology
20:56
work, which is sometimes hard to get practice
20:58
with. So we can do those services for individuals,
21:03
but I think mainly for individuals, the main
21:06
thing we can offer is... educational services
21:09
and also devices sometimes so we have this network
21:13
of people who will donate computers or phones
21:16
and also organizations and we try to incorporate
21:20
that into our educational programs whenever we
21:24
can whenever we have enough that the people can
21:27
come to a computer class and then when they leave
21:30
they have their own computer that they actually
21:32
have practiced and know how to use so For individuals,
21:36
we have education programs and devices sometimes.
21:39
So is that referring to the community projects
21:43
that you have listed on your website? Oh, yeah.
21:45
Yeah, I would call that one of our community
21:47
projects. Okay. Yeah, so you had done, like I
21:51
saw you were doing like a workshop or a training
21:53
or something at the library recently downtown.
21:57
That's right. Yeah, we had a... cybersecurity
21:59
training at the library. We have a series of
22:03
a curriculum that we really like for basic technology
22:06
skills that includes, it starts with a real,
22:10
really basic, just how to use your computer,
22:13
what a file is and how to open things and get
22:16
to the internet. And then there's some components
22:20
that build on that for using email and surfing
22:23
the internet. safely on video conferencing. And
22:27
we did one on cybersecurity that had a really
22:30
positive turnout for. And we're hoping to do
22:33
some more of those at the library coming up soon.
22:38
Awesome. And do y 'all set up those workshops
22:42
at different locations? And do you go to schools?
22:47
Yeah, well, I'm excited to answer the first one
22:49
because we were... We have done a couple trainings
22:52
before at the library, and we were a little bit
22:55
not stuck there because we love working with
22:58
the library. But there were a few places that
23:01
we could hold classes because we needed to use
23:03
their devices and their internet. But we're so
23:06
thrilled to be a part of that Inspire Olympia
23:08
program this year for the first year. half a
23:13
percent or one percent little municipal sales
23:15
tax a couple years ago that we that we passed
23:17
goes to support a lot of local uh non -profits
23:20
and and good causes and we were fortunate to
23:23
be one of those and so we were able to use some
23:26
of that funding to uh get ourselves a mobile
23:29
computer lab setup so we have 20 laptops and
23:32
wi -fi hotspots now so we are completely set
23:37
loose we can hold events and trainings anywhere
23:40
that we want now any of those phone signal. Wow,
23:43
that's awesome. Yeah, it's really exciting for
23:46
us. It's so exciting. Yeah, we are so excited
23:48
to keep partnering with even more organizations
23:50
this year. The types of groups that usually have
23:54
benefited so far with basic digital skills training
23:58
are groups like seniors, immigrants, refugees,
24:02
formerly incarcerated people, formerly homeless
24:04
people, but people of all walks in life. need
24:08
like basic digital skills. You need technology
24:11
skills to do just about everything these days.
24:14
So yes, we are so excited. Any location that
24:17
has people who they think would benefit from
24:20
some technology classes, we would love to work
24:23
with and hold a class there. Are y 'all going
24:25
to schools? Yes, Griff was part of a coding program
24:29
in a Tumwater school, I believe, Black Hills
24:31
High School. So we've done a little bit of coding
24:34
education and technology education. Griff and
24:36
one of our former board members launched that
24:39
coding class at that school. We also have been
24:43
chatting with Boys and Girls Club branches a
24:45
little bit to have a club there because our funding
24:49
is growing and our program is growing and we
24:51
keep expanding and offering. We've also worked
24:54
with a group in Tacoma that does youth projects.
24:58
So we're going to go teach a little STEM workshop
25:00
there. Yeah. So those are some places where you've
25:04
held youth activity. Less in schools recently,
25:07
but we had worked in a school before. New Market
25:32
Academy for their game development program. We're
25:37
an affiliate of Girls Who Code, which we were
25:40
really surprised to find that there's we were
25:44
really surprised to find that there wasn't one
25:47
here already. We started Googling to see who
25:49
to connect with to start up their program. They're
25:52
a very well -established program that does coding
25:58
classes and curriculum not just for girls but
26:00
they try to encourage more women to join the
26:04
software field and we found there weren't any
26:07
between i think like Centralia and Federal Way
26:09
there wasn't one around here so we're our Girls
26:12
Who Code affiliate now and that's part of the
26:13
program that we're talking to different schools
26:16
and organizations about that's awesome I've actually
26:20
never heard of that what is that um it's It's
26:25
another nonprofit that we're partnered with.
26:27
Their whole program is centered around coding
26:31
education. And their original mission, they launched
26:36
to try to encourage more women in STEM fields
26:39
they're connected to. There's a famous Grace
26:43
Hopper conference, an organization with a similar
26:48
mission. They do encourage really everybody to
26:52
join STEM fields and learn to code and try to
26:55
get more people just broadly to have a knowledge
26:58
of how software works. So they have some really
27:01
good tools and curricula that we have access
27:04
to through them that we can build on to help
27:07
improve our classes. That's awesome. And how
27:10
do people reach out to set up for receiving a
27:14
service or joining a program? It depends on which
27:18
program. If someone is listening and they work
27:21
at a school or they work with youth and they
27:23
want to chat about maybe bringing the club to
27:26
their program, they should send us an email and
27:29
we can chat instead of a meeting. That's the
27:31
first step for a lot of our programs, I think,
27:33
is that we would just want to meet and talk about
27:36
it. If you work in a nonprofit and you think
27:37
you might need a little technology support, we'd
27:40
love to meet with you and chat. If you are interested
27:44
in digital skills training or you're interested
27:45
in bringing digital skills training to the people
27:48
you serve, We would love to email with you and
27:51
set up a meeting to talk about what that might
27:52
look like, what topics might be best, what formats
27:55
of class might be best for your communities.
27:59
So, yeah, there's both options on our website
28:02
if they want to set up a meeting or they just
28:04
want to shoot us an email and we can learn more
28:06
about what they are looking for. Okay. And anything
28:09
that we do in the public, too, is on our social
28:11
media, too. Any individuals, if you follow our
28:15
social media, any classes or anything that we
28:17
have, all those opportunities are. on Facebook.
28:20
Okay, y 'all are just on Facebook? We're on Facebook,
28:23
Instagram, Blue Sky. We've got a lot of opinions
28:27
about a lot of social media platforms, but they
28:30
are the default for how the word gets out for
28:33
a lot of things, so we try to keep them updated.
28:46
So, y 'all are located in Olympia, but what areas
28:51
do you cover? Where do you go? We meet organizations
28:55
all across the country. What? Not just Washington.
28:59
I was expecting like, oh yeah, we'll go all the
29:02
way out as far as maybe Seattle. But like, are
29:05
you serious? The whole country? Oh yeah, we work
29:07
with places in Virginia, New York. There's a
29:11
group we worked with for quite a while down in
29:13
Northern California. Because it's similar to
29:15
the work they do online, we can work remotely
29:18
pretty easily. That makes sense. Most of the
29:21
places that we work with are local. We do like
29:24
to build up relationships. We really like to
29:26
get into a position where we just get to know
29:29
an organization and we get to the point eventually
29:32
where they start to call us about little things
29:34
that we can sort out really quickly. So then
29:37
we can have a sure conversation early on so that
29:40
a big project isn't needed later on. It's a world
29:45
tipping point when they call us before they make
29:47
the big software purchase instead of calling
29:49
us after to see how do we get it to actually
29:51
work. It sounds very preemptive and helpful.
29:54
Yeah. So what services and programs are free?
30:06
Do you have a guiding scale? What are some costs?
30:10
Can you go over those details, please? Everything
30:14
we do is sliding scale for our services from
30:17
our profits. And our goal is to make them as
30:20
cheap as we possibly can. So those are subsidized
30:23
by grants. They're subsidized by donations. Sometimes
30:26
we're able to be flexible and actually help an
30:30
organization get a grant that will go to a website
30:33
project, if we can explain it in terms of the
30:35
impact of their organization or programs. Yes,
30:39
everything is sliding scale, and we try to do
30:41
things for free when we can. Our services for
30:45
the public are always free. If someone wants
30:49
to show up to one of our classes, those are always
30:51
free. Those are paid for by our funders. And
30:53
so, yeah, all of our services for nonprofits
30:57
are signed scale, and we try to keep it as low
30:59
as we can. Cool. Like, what's the range? Totally
31:04
depends on what kind of project it is. We could
31:08
take websites as one example. Basically, people
31:11
Google, How can I make a website for free? WordPress
31:14
is really, really popular. Something like half
31:16
the websites on the internet are built on WordPress.
31:19
And it's really old and it's open source. It's
31:21
really difficult. It's really difficult and convoluted.
31:25
And its quality has changed over the years in
31:28
terms of the plugins and the tools that are available.
31:31
And yet... A lot of people use it and they have
31:34
it and it's a huge hassle to move off of it.
31:37
So they might come to us and say, we don't know
31:40
what's going on, but we don't know how to do
31:42
X on our website. We don't know how to change
31:44
this on the page. We don't know how to make sure
31:46
we're not having a security issue. We're not
31:48
having a hack or anyone able to access our website
31:51
data. And so there's always an element of going
31:55
in and just having to troubleshoot and investigate
31:58
a little bit. So those are usually smaller projects.
32:02
in the realm of like 100 to 500 dollars I think
32:06
which is just we go in we kind of do an audit
32:08
of how does your website look behind the scenes
32:10
can we fix any common problems like right here
32:13
right now and then give it back to in a better
32:15
state with a little training if they want to
32:17
do an entire website redesign and that's quite
32:21
a large project that could take many months of
32:23
meetings and going back and forth and deciding
32:26
on your vision and who you want the audience
32:29
to be and what information you want them to get
32:31
from your website. So those can range from like
32:35
$1 ,000 to $10 ,000. It's quite a huge project.
32:38
But again, we love getting that subsidized by
32:41
grants. We're going to keep it as cheap as we
32:42
can. Or maybe they just have like a really specific
32:47
thing where they want someone to just make small
32:50
updates to their website for them. So that's
32:53
pretty cheap. That's like $100 a month, $100
32:56
to $500, depending on how often you need to update
32:58
things. So really, even in that one little area
33:02
of our services, it really varies widely on what's
33:07
going on. But yeah, there can be huge projects
33:11
in the website area. You know, a lot of the groups
33:14
that we work with, the place they're starting
33:16
out at is just something's not really working
33:18
right. They have some need and it's not really...
33:20
specifically a technology need and we help articulate
33:23
that and we get to the end of that first stage
33:26
and the goal really is to have a couple simple
33:29
steps to say, oh, all you really need is to configure
33:32
this thing or you need to move off of this tool
33:34
onto another tool. Right on, right on. Have y
33:46
'all dealt with viruses? before? And how does
33:51
that go? In the time I've been working here,
33:55
I don't think we've helped someone who has actively
33:58
had a malware or an attack, but we have absolutely
34:01
advised and helped people who are very worried
34:03
about it and helped with preventative stuff like
34:06
that. We've also had people come to our classes
34:09
who are saying, I'm here in this cybersecurity
34:12
class because I got scammed and I really know
34:15
how can I avoid being scammed? That's another
34:18
thing I'm related to AI is it's enhancing how
34:21
credible sounding a scam can be in the new AI
34:25
era. It's so scary, man. It's very scary. Yeah,
34:28
but it's so much harder. It's much stronger.
34:30
So, yeah, I don't know if your answer is different.
34:33
In the time I've worked, we haven't helped someone
34:35
who actively has like malware, but we have helped
34:38
people prevent that and work on that. Yeah, data
34:42
security is a big part of that. Data security
34:46
has really been growing a lot on our landscape
34:50
and the place that we work, especially with some
34:53
of the organizations that we work with, just
34:55
realized in the changing political climates lately
35:01
that they don't really know what controls they
35:05
have over their data, who's storing it, and if
35:07
they were to get some kind of a notice that they
35:10
need to hand over some of their data, what are
35:12
their... How would they even do that, for one?
35:16
And then what would their options be for how
35:19
to work with that? And of course, we can't give
35:21
any kind of legal advice, but it is surprising
35:25
how much it can sneak up on you to just collect
35:30
data and not realize where you're storing it
35:32
or how until you need it to either generate a
35:37
report or just answer some questions about what
35:40
you're... what your organization is doing. And
35:42
then you realize that you don't really know it.
35:44
You don't know how to find out. So in terms of
35:48
malware, really that's the place that that comes
35:52
up a lot is trying to prevent issues with your
35:56
data. And the best, most general advice is to
35:59
make it somebody else's problem. Guru and Microsoft
36:03
Cloud products are HIPAA compliant. Their security
36:09
is better than anything that you do yourself.
36:12
You have to, again, use them right and do your
36:15
research or let us help you do your research
36:18
to use it correctly. But it's true, we haven't
36:24
really encountered any projects dealing with
36:28
malware, which is great. And a lot of that is
36:31
because of the shift from a lot of people tending
36:35
towards saving their data on servers that are...
36:39
on -site that used to feel like the safest option,
36:42
and it's really not now. It's one of the least
36:45
safe options. As more and more people go to the
36:48
cloud and use these other services, there are
36:52
trade -offs with everything, but broadly, it
36:54
makes the security and the malware not as much
36:57
their own problem, so they don't have to worry
36:58
about it as much. Yeah. What are some malware...
37:07
like antivirus programs and stuff like that that
37:10
y 'all would recommend is is is like the best
37:13
um yeah absolutely uh so on windows has windows
37:18
defender built into it um it's good and it's
37:21
free and it's built in um the only way you can
37:24
really run into a big problem with that is if
37:26
you try to install another malware program over
37:29
the top of it and then they do fight a little
37:30
bit so um You know, it's kind of a case of trying
37:35
to do too much good and it circles back around.
37:37
So use a window defender effectively is about
37:41
the best thing that you can do on Windows. If
37:44
you use a Mac, then there's an open source program
37:47
called Malwarebytes that's free and open source.
37:51
Macs are not less susceptible to viruses, but
37:54
there are fewer viruses that are targeted towards
37:56
them. And so it's a little safer there. But if
37:58
you do want some extra protection, Malwarebytes
38:00
is a good product. And if you use Linux, which
38:04
is a great product, I use Linux, then you don't
38:07
really have to worry about it. I think we are
38:10
less focused on getting someone to purchase a
38:13
product and more focused on education. One, at
38:18
the cybersecurity class, one of our fabulous
38:20
cybersecurity volunteers ran that class. Her
38:22
name is Quinn. And I really liked what she said
38:25
during that, which is the easiest way to break
38:27
in is through the front door. It's to get the
38:30
key, your password, and to come through the front
38:32
door. So a lot of scams are very focused on getting
38:36
a password, not necessarily on like actually
38:40
breaching and breaking into your systems. So
38:43
it's also about what does a phishing email look
38:45
like? How can you make sure you only enter your
38:47
password in a very secure place? How can you
38:50
make sure you store your passwords in a secure
38:52
place? How can you make sure you have secure
38:54
passwords that are long and complicated and difficult
38:57
for an algorithm to guess? So if we were going
39:00
to help someone try to avoid getting a virus,
39:02
we'd probably be less focused on buying something,
39:04
although they are useful, wonderful products,
39:06
and more on how can you protect your passwords?
39:09
That's really important. Yeah. Thank you for
39:12
saying that. Yeah. It sounds like a lot of them
39:14
may come through emails. That is totally a section
39:17
in our cybersecurity class. Yes. What is a warning
39:21
sign if you're reading an email that should raise
39:24
your alarms? Some of the ones they talk about
39:27
in that class are if there's anything really
39:30
urgent sounding in the email, like if they're
39:32
saying, you need to reply to me right now. You
39:35
need to reply to me in three hours or by the
39:36
end of the day or else. X will happen you'll
39:39
lose a lot of money your account will be deleted
39:41
something like that that should already raise
39:42
your alarm bells if they're trying to get you
39:44
to act without thinking um there are other indicators
39:47
like typos if there's bad grammar if the logo
39:52
looks a little bit off if they're trying to impersonate
39:54
a certain account and they're trying to get you
39:56
to log into it if the logo it looks blurry uh
39:59
if uh what else am I missing. One thing that has
40:05
stuck out at me sometimes that has made me side
40:09
-eye is it's in the To. There's a bunch of different
40:14
emails that look like my email and have these
40:18
long weird strings attached. Totally. Weird
40:21
strings are a very big red flag in internet mail.
40:24
If you look at who it's from and the domain,
40:30
the address doesn't match. Who it says it is,
40:32
that's a quick, a dead giveaway. But really any
40:37
kind of gibber strings could be an indication
40:40
of something weird. That's a great point. You
40:43
want to check the to section, like you said.
40:46
You also want to check the from section. You
40:49
also want to look at what it's asking you to
40:51
do. There are certain giveaways. Like we even
40:54
had one of our volunteers, someone sent her a
40:56
Spain email and it said, Hey, this is Griff.
41:00
They got that from our website, I assume. Hey,
41:02
this is Griff. I need you to buy me some gift
41:04
cards. Get back to me soon. That's suspicious.
41:08
That's a classic. I need you to buy me these
41:10
gift cards. And you might reply and be like,
41:12
why does it have to be gift cards? And they're
41:13
like, no, you don't question me. I'm your boss.
41:16
So, A, there are certain types of things that
41:18
should be a red flag. Clicking on links also.
41:21
If you're not expecting someone to send you an
41:23
attachment or a link. You should just be pretty
41:26
wary of them and cautious of them. Doesn't mean
41:29
all links are bad in your inbox. But yeah, the
41:31
to section, who is it being sent to? And also
41:34
the from section. So if you get an email that
41:36
says, this is Google, I need you to log in. But
41:39
the from, if you actually click and expand and
41:42
see who it was sent from, doesn't have the official
41:45
Google domain on it, which means it's not info
41:48
at google .com. It's anything else that contains
41:51
the word Google. you can pretty safely discard
41:54
that and not engage with it. There is something
41:58
I came across one time and I was able to reach
42:03
out to the customer service representative to
42:06
check it. And they pointed out to me to look
42:10
at the letters carefully, that there's a difference
42:14
in some of the characters, like they're formed
42:17
differently, like in a different font or something,
42:20
like the letter A. Like where it might, you know,
42:23
have that little hook over it versus not having
42:27
a little hook over it. Oh, interesting. Yeah.
42:29
And so that was something that I've come across
42:32
before or like an O that's maybe shaped slightly
42:36
different than like the typical O. Yeah. And
42:40
I would say that's a great instinct that you
42:42
had, too, because one way that you can be extra
42:44
super safe if there's something that you're a
42:47
little bit concerned about or you want to double
42:49
check is if. a company sends something to you,
42:53
you should be able to reach out to that company
42:55
through another channel and verify it. So if
42:57
you go reach out to them, there's nothing that
42:59
a scammer can do about that. For example, so
43:02
in terms of keeping your data private from law
43:06
enforcement or from anyone who might be interested
43:08
in taking in data by your programs, there are
43:11
open source ways to store your data. but they're
43:15
very difficult to use. So that's always the spectrum
43:18
we're helping people find for their organization.
43:21
Are you able to keep your information safe if
43:25
you use something like Google Drive or Microsoft
43:28
SharePoint? Or are you so concerned that you
43:32
really need to have the open source, basically
43:34
the Linux equivalent of storing your data online?
43:37
It's not the same answer for everyone, but we
43:40
will help them do both, whatever is the best
43:42
fit for them. And so you mentioned different
43:54
applications like Linux and Apple. What are the
43:59
types of devices and operating systems that y
44:04
'all work with? Well, we work with everything.
44:08
We actually have a new partner who has just a...
44:13
A person out in the community who had this really
44:15
cool side project. We get a lot of really interesting
44:18
projects just from people bringing to us little
44:21
things that they already know about. And this
44:24
guy takes laptop donations and he has a version
44:28
of Linux that he puts on them that's very, very
44:31
easy to use, even easier to maintain than Windows.
44:33
You don't have to do anything to it. It just
44:34
works smoothly. And he... just has a little passion
44:39
project where he gets these donated laptops,
44:42
converts them to this Linux distribution, and
44:46
hands them out into the community for free. And
44:50
so we've been working with him to help build
44:53
up that program a little bit to get a stable
44:56
drop -off site at our office so that he doesn't
44:58
have to set up individual meetings with people
45:00
and things like that. We want to name drop and
45:03
give him a little free air time. Mike Kelly.
45:07
You might want to interview him also. He's really
45:10
cool. He is giving away over a thousand laptops
45:13
in Olympia. He's a really cool side project where
45:16
people will bring in their laptops and he will
45:19
turn them into something usable if they've kind
45:22
of fallen out of date. And then he just gives
45:25
them away. It's very cool. Like for homeless
45:28
people or people who like they need their computer
45:32
got stolen and You know, they've got their student
45:36
and they need this or whatever. I think she could
45:39
talk more about the people where he helps, but
45:40
I've heard him say there are people who just
45:43
need a really basic laptop for school. They just
45:45
need a really basic laptop for internet browsing.
45:48
So like Griff said, what he does is he kind of
45:51
strips away the old operating systems and puts
45:53
this version of Linux on it. And if you've ever
45:57
used a Chromebook, it kind of operates like a
45:59
Chromebook where most of the things you do are
46:02
inside of Google Chrome. You don't need to do
46:04
a lot more. So for people who have pretty basic
46:08
computer needs, it does everything that they
46:11
need. On October 4th at the library, we're teaching
46:13
a class on computer basics. And that one is going
46:16
to be a Windows class. So if you need to learn
46:18
how to use Windows because you have a PC. or
46:22
because your work does, or just because you want
46:24
to be more comfortable using Windows, you can
46:26
come to that class. But we also have a Mac version
46:28
of that class. Same with our cell phone classes.
46:31
So we teach Android cell phone classes, also
46:33
iPhone cell phone classes. Yeah, we work with
46:38
both. We're pretty fluent in both. Although,
46:40
Griff is an engine. He does love talking about
46:43
Linux. Yeah, a lot of the organizations that
46:47
we work with, they have... devices they have
46:51
laptops and and phones maybe that belong to the
46:54
organization and that again that touches back
46:56
on you know what happens when people leave or
46:59
if you know this this one computer has all the
47:02
files on it for the organization how do we how
47:04
do we protect that because we're Really, generalists,
47:08
we work with whatever technology that an organization
47:11
has. Whatever we want to be in a position where
47:14
we say, well, we use Windows, so you need to
47:16
get rid of all of your Macs and move to Windows
47:18
before we can help you for anything. We'll figure
47:20
out whatever you have. We've worked with just
47:24
about everything. I do love Linux myself. My
47:29
primary laptop that I use has Linux on it. It's
47:33
very exciting when we work with somebody who
47:35
uses Linux, but we... You've got to meet people
47:38
where they're at, and it's not worth learning
47:39
Linux in order to check your email if that's
47:43
not what you're used to using. So we do a lot
47:46
of work with Windows, and a lot of training,
47:48
too. Windows 10 is in end -of -life right now.
47:53
Next month, I think, is the switchover where
47:55
you can only be on Windows 11 now, and it's a
47:59
little contentious what that actually means.
48:01
You can only be on Windows 11, but there's a
48:03
lot of work to do for that to stay safe. keep
48:07
getting security updates and keep everything
48:09
in working order. Awesome. That's good to know.
48:22
So how can people get involved? Like, are you
48:25
hiring? Do you have, you know, you mentioned
48:27
volunteers before, internships? What's going
48:32
on? Supporting the program, we're always looking
48:37
for tech donations because we love to distribute
48:40
them to people who come to our classes. We love
48:42
to install them at homeless shelters or tiny
48:46
home villages. We love to get them to people
48:48
who know them. So that's one way that the community
48:50
can be involved. If you have old tech lying around,
48:53
you can drop it off at our office anytime. We
48:57
always love meeting new volunteers. Also, volunteers
49:01
can be... ranging from new people to very established,
49:05
very advanced tech professionals, depending on
49:07
what kind of projects they want to work on. So
49:10
if you want to be a volunteer, we would love
49:12
to meet with you and chat about if you want to
49:14
be more on the techie backend side, or if you
49:17
want to do education programs, or if you want
49:20
to help us with other administrative stuff that
49:22
we have going on. That's very exciting for us
49:24
too. We'd love to talk if you want to volunteer.
49:29
People want to bring if they say, hey, I work
49:31
at a vocational place and I want to bring some
49:33
technology training. Like I said earlier, we'd
49:36
love to meet with you and hear more about that.
49:41
Yeah, we have. Definitely follow us on social
49:44
media and subscribe so you can hear about our
49:46
events and keep up to date. What else? Yeah,
49:52
we're really, you know, we're really building
49:55
everything. all the time as we go so uh it's
50:00
all it's all new all the time one thing we can
50:02
always use more of is uh we just need a couple
50:05
extroverts around we've got a lot of uh a lot
50:08
of really good problem solvers and and technologists
50:11
and uh um yeah building up scaling the organization
50:15
uh making those connections and and just getting
50:18
the word out about what we're doing and and how
50:20
uh how impactful can be How can people donate?
50:26
What is the best method to donate, like funds
50:29
or, you know, devices? Devices are something
50:37
that we can really make a lot of use of. You
50:40
know, refurbishing laptops, it's amazing how
50:44
much power you can get out of some really old
50:46
devices. You know, Windows is really... a heavy
50:50
program to run. And if you swap out to some light
50:53
versions of Linux, you can really get a lot more
50:55
life out of a lot of equipment. If people want
50:59
to donate devices, they can drop them off at
51:02
our front desk anytime from 8:30 to 5. For other
51:07
kinds of donations, our website donation page
51:10
is a good place. If you want to give your donation
51:13
to something specific, then we would love to
51:16
chat with you. We'd love to meet with you, hear
51:17
about what... your goals are. If you want to
51:20
help bring technology programs to Olympia and
51:23
want to partner with us on building that, we
51:25
would love to meet with you and help make Olympia
51:28
a more technology -accessible place. Where are
51:38
y 'all located? We're in downtown Olympia. Our
51:42
address is 400 Union Avenue Southeast, and our
51:46
office is in Suite 200. Thank you for that. And
51:49
what's your phone number? 253 -254 -6548. Awesome.
52:02
Is there anything else you would like to share?
52:06
Griff has been building this organization since
52:08
2018 with his friends. And in the last two years,
52:11
it has exploded and granted something really...
52:16
uh, really, really cool. And I am just so excited
52:20
to be a part of it and excited to make Olympia
52:24
a more technologically accessible place. Yeah.
52:28
Yeah. I guess there's, there's one thing that
52:30
I, there's so many things that, uh, we have a
52:33
training coming up for a cohort of, uh, nonprofits
52:36
in the area that we've been, uh, working on compiling
52:40
what's all of our, our most general advice, uh,
52:43
for all these organizations. Um, But I think
52:46
that one of the things that we see the most is
52:48
just that we see consistent value out of is just
52:53
spending some time like acknowledging how complicated
52:56
and how much work it is to manage the technology
52:59
at these places. I've talked to some groups about
53:03
how if you have like a program that has 20 trucks
53:10
in it, then That's a big part of your program.
53:13
And when you talk to people and think about making
53:15
plans for the future, you take into account that
53:17
we've got all these trucks, so we need to manage
53:20
them. And we need to make sure that if we hire
53:22
somebody, they have a driver's license. And we
53:24
need a relationship with a mechanic, if not one
53:27
on staff ourselves. But people will get programs
53:32
that rely on having dozens of computers and phones
53:35
and networking equipment and all this really
53:38
complex equipment. They get sold a lot of the
53:43
time, this sales pitch that like, well, it just
53:45
works and you just get it and then everything's
53:47
fine and you don't have to deal with it. And
53:50
you do have to deal with it. It's a lot of work
53:52
to deal with. And it's really easy to get caught
53:56
by surprise. And so, you know, we really try
53:59
to just validate the person stuck doing all the
54:03
IT work for their organization who wasn't trained
54:05
for it and didn't really sign on for it. But
54:07
it just kind of got dropped in their lap a lot
54:09
of the time. It's a whole job. And we like to
54:14
try to help with it a little bit. Awesome. Thank
54:20
you. Thank y 'all so very much for coming. I
54:23
appreciate y 'all. Yeah, thanks for having us.
54:33
What a wonderful resource Triceratops Tech is
54:37
in our community and across the country. Once
54:40
again, you can find them at 400 Union Avenue
54:44
Southeast, Suite 200 in downtown Olympia and
54:48
call them at 253 -254 -6548 or go online to their
54:56
website at www .triceratops -tech .com. That's
55:03
it for today's resource report produced by Pathways
55:06
to Agency. At Pathways to Agency, we are driven
55:10
by the belief that everyone should have the tools
55:12
and support to achieve their goals and thrive
55:15
in their communities. Our mission is to bridge
55:18
the gaps in understanding, accessibility, and
55:21
trust by connecting individuals to resources
55:24
and sharing information and processes that can
55:28
lead to personal and community growth. Resource
55:32
Report offers information about existing and
55:35
emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
55:38
Find out more at pathwaystoagency .org. From
55:43
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55:46
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55:50
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55:53
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55:59
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56:03
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