Newsletter May 2021

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From the Chair

We’ve started Term 2 with a hiss and a roar! Most classes are full or close to it which is always pleasing to the Committee and our Tutors. It’s great for us to see that our members are finding something in our programme that they can learn and it’s our pleasure to be able to offer the number of classes and workshops that we do. SeniorNet Kapiti is in good heart as we head into the cooler months of winter – and our new aircon is working VERY well indeed!

Peter Jones and I attended the recent SeniorNet Federation AGM and Symposium in Dunedin. It was a well run affair with lots of interesting topics to discuss and lots of guest speakers to update us on everything from the technology inside Suzuki’s cars to the ethical issues surrounding AI (artificial intelligence). Peter J was our voting participant and has written a summary of proceedings below.

The AGM saw two new Regional Representatives (Mike Lawrence – Central North Island and Roger Pittman – Top of South) join the Executive Committee. I have already met Mike and Roger on Zoom a number of times and I look forward to working with them. Regional Reps are appointed for 2 years before being eligible for re-election after that. Things are arranged so that only half the Executive is up for re-election each year providing good continuity

The previous Chairperson (Harvey Porteus – Whanganui SeniorNet) retired so we have a new Chairperson – Marilyn Goodwin from the Northland Region (Warkworth SeniorNet). Yours truly was, once again elected as Deputy Chair!

At the May Kapiti Committee Meeting, it was proposed (and agreed) that we should alter our policy regarding offering advice to our members who are planning to purchase PCs, phones or tablets. While this advice will remain generic, we realise our members are seeking our knowledge and guidance so we feel it is only right that we assist them in making an informed choice. The article below explains the changes

Please make a diary note to attend our AGM on 23rd June at 1:30am. Heather Newell will be our Guest Speaker (hopefully in person this year!) and afternoon tea will be provided at the close of proceedings. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible – this is an important meeting for your organisation and your participation is important.

Peter Bunkall
Chair, SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.

Our New Contact Details

A reminder that our email address has changed to kapiti@seniornet.nz
and our website url has changed to kapiti.seniornet.nz

Our phone numbers remain unchanged

Term 2 is well underway – You should book now!

Our course and workshop timetables for Term 2 are on our website. For courses, click here and for workshops click here or at any time just go to the home page of our website (here) and click the links on the right-hand side – they are always the current links

Everything is filling fast so if you want in, on any of these courses or workshops, please contact Elaine on 021 169 6256

Our AGM – 23 June 2021 @ 1:30pm

Please make a diary note to attend our AGM. The guest speaker will be Heather Newell (Executive Officer of the SeniorNet Federation) and afternoon tea will be served afterwards.

Formal notification of the agenda was sent to you yesterday as required in our Constitution – our apologies for the year error on one of the lines, we will definitely be holding this year’s AGM in 2021

Committee Nominations for 2021-22 Year

If you or a (member) friend are interested in serving on our Committee, nominations are being sought now. The nominator, seconder and nominee must all be paid-up members of SeniorNet Kapiti. Click here for the online nomination form.

Changes to the Advice our Tutors can give you

For as long as we can remember, members planning a technology purchase/upgrade have been asking our Tutors for advice about what to buy and where to buy it. Until now our policy has always been to avoid giving anything but the most basic advice. However, with the bewildering number of purchase options out there, we have agreed that our Tutors can offer members generic advice when requested – this will mainly occur at How Do I…? Workshops in a one-on-one session.

The primary purpose of our advise will be to assist you to make a reasoned, cost-effective and appropriate decision to meet your personal needs.

  • We can advise you on the most appropriate type of device to meet your technology needs
  • We can advise you on the general specifications of that equipment to suit your needs (size, memory, screen, connectivity etc) – this may involve minimums and maximums, which you should write down, to help you keep your expenditure in check
  • We can outline the advantages and disadvantages of specific items you are considering purchasing (incl accessories) to help you weigh up your options
  • We will describe to you the information you should take with you to the shop to ensure your new device is set up in the most efficient manner and integrates smoothly into your existing environment (eg passwords etc)
  • We will not advise you which precise make and/or model of device to buy (other than helping you decide whether an Apple or Android device best suits your environment and needs)
  • We will not (and must not!) advise on which local supplier you should purchase from
  • We will not accompany any member to the store to assist with their final purchase

The following disclaimer will apply to any advice given.
While every effort will be made to ensure the accuracy of information, verbal or written, or of advice given, such assistance and advice imposes no responsibility or liability on those members who provide such help and assistance or on SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.

Report from AGM & Symposium (Peter Jones)

This year the AGM was held in Dunedin at the Chisholm Links clubrooms.  This location was ideal for the purpose.  Around 60 people attended the AGM and Symposium.  The proceedings started with a warm welcome followed by two rounds of table topics sessions led by representatives from SeniorNet Learning Centres around the country.  Topics discussed included Using Mail Chimp (Kapiti), Structure issues of SeniorNet, SeniorNet Resources (Bream Bay), Ryman Healthcare (Ryman), Receipting, Members Attendance and Registration Program (Ashburton), LearnWin (Kapiti) and Learner Hours Funding (Nelson).

The Table Topic sessions were repeated again after lunch followed by the AGM at 3:00pm.  This ran for around an hour with the election of half of the Executive, the passing of a resolution to update the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), adoption of the budget for 2021/22 and reports from the Chairman and Executive Officer.

Following the meeting, there was time for social gathering and an evening meal with more socialising.

The following day was filled with a variety of Symposium topics from a many of our national sponsors including Suzuki, WestPac Bank’s Fraud Manager, InternetNZ, Google, the Hon Dr Ayesha Verral (Minister for Seniors) and Dr Vinay Karanam SeniorNet Federation SeniorHangouts Project Manager.  Check out this video summary of the Symposium – it’s a great overview prepared by Roger Pittman (Nelson)

Key things that I found interesting from the Symposium included, the integration of computing technology into our vehicles, the struggles that authorities have to convince people that they are being scammed, the exciting new logo that is being considered as a replacement for our present logo and the opportunity to meet people that I have communicated with over Zoom over the past year and a half.

Next year’s AGM and Symposium will be held in the Auckland. I would encourage anyone with an interest in sharing our activities with the wider SeniorNet community and learning from others, to plan on attending.

Peter Jones

Please Support our Sponsors

Please don’t forget to support our National sponsors – they’re important to SeniorNet and help us at the local level in many ways, including offering discounts to our members.

Always show your membership card and ask if there’s a discount for SeniorNet members – you might be rather surprised!

The best example is Noel Leeming where the SeniorNet discount extends well beyond computers to everything in their store!

Suzuki has recently reconfirmed their offer to our members of free on-road costs on new vehicles so it always pays to ask.

There are more details about the individual sponsorships on the Federation’s website here