From the Chair

Its so pleasing to see and feel our country returning to some semblance of normality after the worrying days of Lockdown and Levels 2 & 3. I hope you’ve been able to catch up with family and friends while enjoying some of the local hospitality here or around the country.

At last week’s Committee Meeting two important decisions were made for SeniorNet Kapiti.

Our AGM on 24 June will now be held at The Learning Centre with a Zoom Meeting option for anyone not able or comfortable to come in person. There will be refreshments afterwards.
We have reaffirmed that our onsite classes will resume at the start of Term 3. Our Term 3 Timetables are already online here (courses) and here (workshops) so why not have a look then call Elaine to make a booking?

It’s been a long time since we were able to interact with each other personally so the AGM and subsequent Term 3 classes will be a great time to catch up.

Pleasingly, our online interactions have continued throughout this period of restricted movement and we’ve had over 500 “Learner Hours” of Zoom time which confirms my belief that our members are motivated to use all the computing tools available to them to keep in touch and also to continue learning. As an aside, our Learning Centre in Kapiti has been recognised by The Federation as a leader in using Zoom to continue our workshops and meetings. I’m especially pleased that The Federation have agreed to compensate us for these Learner Hours (as they have always done with onsite classes) which means we have had a trickle of income over the past couple of months. These unexpected funds will be put toward ongoing and unavoidable fixed costs like rent, broadband and electricity connection fees.

Anyone living in the Raumati Beach area will be aware that the National Fibre Network has finally been extended further down Matai Rd, past our front door. After much to’ing and fro’ing between Chorus, their contractor, Vodafone and KCDC we have finally been able to get agreement on the routing of an underground fibre past the council services near the footpath and into our building. The latest tentative date for full hookup is June 26th so hopefully we’ll have super-fast broadband to celebrate the start of classes next term. I look forward to the end of those “brown-outs” when our Tutors say “let’s all click on this” to a full classroom!

I hope to see you all at the AGM on Wednesday 24 June at 1:30pm. Please don’t forget to contact Elaine to confirm attendance (for catering).

Peter Bunkall
Chair, SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.

AGM 2020 – Wednesday 24 June 1:30pm

Our AGM will now be held at The Learning Centre on Wednesday 24 June at 1:30pm.

Our Annual Accounts have been Reviewed, the Annual Report written and all the paperwork for the meeting is available here . If you’re planning to attend, please contact Elaine by email (snkbookings@gmail.com) or leave a message or txt at 021 169 6256 so we can get some indication of the catering needed for the “aftermatch”!

Our Guest Speaker at the AGM will be Heather Newell, CEO of The SeniorNet Federation. Heather is a very accomplished speaker (and Upper Hutt Councillor) and I look forward to hearing what she might say about the impact of recent events on SeniorNet as a whole, She will be joining us online, so sadly, you won’t get a chance to meet her in person this time.

We will also be running a Zoom Meeting to give all members access to the AGM if they are unable or unwilling to attend in person. We will circulate the Meeting ID and Password closer to the time.

Committee Nominations 2020-21

Nominations for the 2020-21 Committee close on Wednesday 17 June – there are still a few places available! The online Nomination Form is available on our website (front page, right-hand side, big icon). If you wish to nominate someone to join the Committee or take up one of the Executive Positions, click here to make your nomination.

Please be aware that you, your seconder and the nominee must all be fully paid up members of SeniorNet Kapiti at the time of the Nomination.

Onsite Courses and Workshops Restart in Term 3

We will return to full onsite training at the commencement of Term 3.

Our Term 3 Timetables have now been agreed and are available on our website here (courses) and here (workshops). If you’re interested in attending any of our regular courses or workshops, please contact Elaine on 021 169 6256 and she will put you on the list.

All necessary Level 1 precautions will be taken with contract tracing, increased equipment cleaning between classes as well as new paper towel dispensers in the toilets. We are also trying to get one of those fancy contact tracing barcodes for our members to use!

Coastlands Day & Open Day

We will be holding a Coastlands Day on Tuesday 21 July to promote ourselves to prospective new members, so if you know someone interested in joining SeniorNet, please send them to see us at the mall. Alternatively, we will be holding an Open Day at The Learning Centre on Saturday 25 July. Why not drop by and say “hello” and book a class or just bring along that friend who’s always asking for your help!

Annual Membership Renewal

The majority of our members have already renewed their membership for the 2020-21 Year and we thank you for your ongoing support. If you haven’t yet got around to doing so, you can use Internet Banking to pay directly to our bank account ($30 individuals and $50 couples) – ANZ Bank a/c 06-0501-0746900-00. Please remember to put your membership number in the Reference Field so we know who’s paying us.

Of course, if you’re not comfortable using Internet Banking yet you can mail us a cheque, and while you’re at it, why not contact Elaine on 021 169 6256 and book in for the next Introduction to Internet Banking Workshop on 30 July at 1:30pm.

COVID-19 Helpdesk Continues….for now!

The Committee has agreed to continue operating the COVID-19 Helpdesk until the end of Term 2 (10 July).
If you have any technical problems, please call 04 299 0754, leave your details (incl phone number) and a description of the problem. We will then assign one of our Tutors to call you back.

If you don’t hear back from us within 48hrs, please call again and leave another message.

You can also email us at kapiti@seniornet.co.nz and leave the same information.

Once Term 3 starts, we will revert to How Do I…? Workshops where you can come along and discuss your problems in person with one of our Tutors.

The next How Do I…? Workshop is on Tuesday 28 July at 9:30am.

An Apology!

We apologise to everyone who tried unsuccessfully to join our recent Google Maps online Zoom Workshop. There was a typo (wrong Meeting ID) in the email we sent you and it wasn’t discovered until people starting trying to connect. By that time it was too late to fix and only those who used the url in the email were immediately successful. Teresa called everyone she knew was joining and was able to salvage the Workshop but if we missed contacting you, we are very sorry.

We’ll be running the Workshop again in Term 3 (24 August) so please call Elaine on 021 169 6256 if you’d like to try again.

Our Sponsors

Google is now a sponsor of SeniorNet in New Zealand. There is an interesting article here regarding the nature of their sponsorship.

Please don’t forget our National sponsors – they’re important to SeniorNet and help us in many ways, including offering discounts to our members. They will all appreciate your support to help rebuild their businesses. Always show your membership card and ask if there’s a discount – you might be rather surprised! The best example is Noel Leeming where the SeniorNet discount extends well beyond computers to everything in their store!