I’ve got bad news and good news. The bad news is that Free I.T. Athens will no longer offer tech support on Wednesday evenings.
The good news is that this isn’t bad news at all! More on that in a moment, but first I need to make a few points clear.
We Still Offer Tech Support on Fridays and Sundays!
You can get great donation-based technical assistance on Sundays from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. and Fridays from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Free I.T. headquarters on 160 Winston Dr. Suite #9.
We’re also not changing our donation-based policy: Free I.T. won’t charge you for support, but we will asked for a donation so we can keep providing excellent support to the Athens community. Paying whatever you can afford goes a long way to helping your neighbors and the environment.
This no-Wednesday-tech-support policy won’t go into effect until May 1st.
If you forget and come by for tech support on a Wednesday night before then, we’ll give you a gentle reminder of the change and do our best to help solve your computer issue that evening.
As always, feel free to come by on Wednesdays to volunteer, shop, or drop off donations. We’ll be open—we’re just not offering tech support.
There are two important reasons why we think this change is good news, and I think you’ll agree with our decision:
1. Two Hours Isn’t Enough Time
We’ve found that two hours is not nearly enough time to provide the Athens community with helpful technical support.
As many of you know, the process for support is interactive: we want you to leave your Free I.T. support session knowing more about your computer than you did when you started. This means having a conversation about technology, doing research together, and maybe even opening your machine and taking a look.
This process takes time, and often more time then Wednesday allows, especially when people arrive late in the evening or several folks come in at once.
So rather than rushing through assistance or dividing your tech support session over multiple days, we’re going to provide you with the attention you deserve on Sundays and Fridays.
2. Tech Support Training to Better Help You
We’ve discovered a problem. Tech support has become so popular that there is no time to train new tech support volunteers!
We’re going to dedicate the two hours on Wednesday to educating and training new volunteers so that the assistance you receive on Sunday and Friday is better than ever.
Are you interested in becoming a volunteer to learn more about tech support? Check out our volunteer page and attend orientation—upcoming dates are posted on the Free I.T. Athens event calendar.
Need Assistance on a Wednesday?
Don’t hesitate to email us at support@freeitathens.org, leave a Facebook comment, or Tweet questions to @FreeITAthens.