Great All right so first I'm going to so. I'm really excited to be here and actually I know so much that it wasn't a big group it's a pretty big group to me I've been to some of these meetings before this is probably about what it usually is so. First of all I have sneakers on I know I look very fancy with my sneakers on because I had actually had foot surgery three months ago and I'm still recovering it's like a nine month recovery might I had tendons transferred in my foot and my heel was moved over six hundred or so anyway I didn't have an injury it was I was born with it Has anyone ever heard of a cave this foot sea it's a really high arch. And after years of being super S Leduc and doing all that stuff. After a while what happens is your ten year tear tendons wear out because you're constantly rolling out so anyway so it's a long process but I had to put the sneakers on so I'm super excited to be here Dave you have the Dave is actually an instructor with us. And so it was wonderful that he wanted to attend but so what we're going to talk about today is the organization that I founded about four years ago it's called blue hair technology group and we'll get into the reason why I started it and all that stuff but. Our mission and you're going to see this on the slide but our mission we are a five A one C. nonprofit Ireland C three nonprofit here in the Atlanta area and our mission is to show seniors how to use technology modern technology. So that they can stay connected to family friends and the world all right so what I want to play first in this is about a minute and a half so don't you don't think that you're going to fall asleep here but we were on very it we were very excited but around the. Remember in a November time frame we were we were actually were interviewed by Jonathan Siri who is a Fox News. Correspondent and this is the ninety second story feature story that we got on this is national Fox News I mean whatever it was big news so so let me see if I can I hope I didn't mess it up it looks like Yeah go ahead and press on but I'd like to do let's make sure we started the very beginning. Do you want to miss any story down there we got. The only new. Can't. Get. More on this. Morning here in the states to my dad why the whole Listen part of our it is our own computer I know well I won't watch this. Offloads on. It's a homage to slate seniors having trouble because. That's where she comes here. For you were created a nonprofit blue here technology group to teach seniors have the smartphones tablets and other gadgets are you texting you if they want to stay in touch with their kids or grandkids back to the test exact our people who want to keep it. Easy. Because of his drug with. Different language so the instructors and all the teachers take extra time to translate high tech concepts into terms. Well which is the British public about are we really say are people that the forties who are looking for here is free and he turned the radio on and you listen to radio show that's exactly the pod cast and yes. Technology like this is become so commonplace it often allies in the box without any ideas slouches quality if you're grown up with it but you're also a little with it it's always good to have a little here and laugh at Ariel Sharon's they all used to have a live bomb was in the books. They. Are the. Usual things overview of you so you go to. The subway go home this week man. This is the start of a business of paper if you. Know that. You're still. Having another crack. You see this is boomers because the first really is a dirty. Bed earlier we're never really focusing on well so you need high never major and works a little bit weird because you really obvious which is a wonderful We got a lot of compliments from people who love it believe that your technologies are really your advice to people throughout that whole World War two generation so we're looking at the sort of big state and that blue here technology but having it who knows more technology not Boomer technology but other things so that we can sort of expand our reach because there is a lot of baby boomers out there on the baby boomers I'm an old young baby boomer but there are baby boomers out there that definitely are are challenged and. So we want to make sure that we're you know because we teach that we teach relief and say from the fifty five or fifty year olds and above so so do I just click it let's see that it go Yeah so we're going to talk about this is what we're going to do who we are got a sense of that why we started this nonprofit so it's really why we are I I started the nonprofits all story everyone typically a nonstarter nonprofit because of the story the workshops that we teach I mean our workshops scuse me our workshops and the people that are involved in the workshops we have students we have instructors we have volunteers the curriculum that's part of the workshops are plans for two thousand and sixteen and if we have time I was going to go through some tips on the i Phone How many of you have an i Phone and here. How many have an android one person. That's sort of our classes go as well so there's a couple of probably now so we have a young age young group in here so the tips I'm going to show you probably you guys know but what I'll be amazed that if I show you something and someone says I didn't know that now John you might say I didn't know that you're going to say OK OK So if we have time sir he mentioned the mission we saw the video. Modern technology is probably one of the key things here we are not. We're not teaching seniors how to use their flip phones right we're not doing we don't do that. You know we probably have done we've done we did it in like an open house one time where people brought all their technology and all these flip phones flip phones are not easy to work they're easy to work if all you want to do is dial a number and answer a call but you try to add a contact on the flip phone. Impossible so we don't do flip phones we really don't do a whole lot with computers basic computer training. Most people or most people are a little bit beyond that at least. To the core that we're looking at so. So that's what we do. So behind the why so why. This is my mother. And she's the story she's the reason why I started Blue her Technology Group so four years ago she's now ninety four years ago she turned eighty six. And she got an i Pad because my brother said I think Mom needs an i Pad Why because she needs to stay relevant First of all because everyone has technology to keep connected with her grandkids and if my father dies first who is the computer guy or was he still alive but he has now he is also armor but he was the computer guy everything she needed from the computer he gave to her Well what happens if something happens she then would at least have some ability to get out there and be somewhat independent so I gave her the gift because she lives here she lives it atria of North Point over by the rising amphitheater it's a senior living community that's where they live so I gave her and I that's close to me I gave her the gift of weekly lessons for three months so once a week I went over on the same day at the same time and I gave her an hour lesson and it actually worked well now how many of you have experienced interacting with your parent or grandparent trying to teach them how to do something and it really doesn't work out real well the frustration builds the annoyance builds it's just like and that's typically the way it goes that's you know that's another reason we do what we do because typically the interaction between parent and child typically. Or anything you know it's just the way it works unfortunately so but it went OK for me and it's you know what I realized is that there was an approach how you approach teaching somebody. Something that was brand new to him that they were fearful of most of them are fearful they're frayed they're going to break it not drop it and break it that if they touch something they're going to break it. And the i Pad or whatever tablet is all about interacting so I realized pretty quickly that the fear of touching it was part of it and then just obviously just you know having no clue how it works so I understood the importance of how do you peel back the layers until you get to what's the very beginning thing that you need to talk to them about. So I realize here it is I also realized during that time the importance of high touch instruction you know they weren't going to get it from reading a piece of paper they weren't going to get it necessarily from watching you know somebody I mean I think more importantly they weren't going to buy me talking to her over the phone how many of you again raise it how many of you try to give instructions to your parents over the phone. That's hard right you're trying to visualize where they are so I realize the importance of high touch instructions high touch it's really high touch instruction and the simple steps that go along with it so it was after during that phase that I said gee there's a whole generation of people that are totally left out and there really are no places for them to go to learn how to use their device sure they can go to the Apple store we hear some of them do some of them go to the Apple store but we hear they're intimidated it's noisy it's overwhelming there's not a place that older people want to go it's a place that younger people want to go because it's energy right and also sometimes it is specially good horizon everyone say well eight hundred T.V. gives me lessons that's hit or miss depending on the store. At Apple probably does the best but the other thing with Apple is that the senior will come in and the Apple representatives will say What do you have a question about. So they already need to know the question and most of these folks that we're teaching don't know the question so we over four years have learned what is the most important stuff what do they want to learn so we've. Develop the curriculum that we know. They want to learn and it's based on feedback and all that stuff so and it's not rocket science you guys probably can figure out very quickly what is it that they want what do you think they want to learn. E-mail you know what else. What. Photos. What. You know they did that with and that might come afterwards but if the weather they don't really they don't really that's not that's not a key thing no they want to learn. To Rexton How do I get directions what else. Texting. That Facebook thing yes. Face Time Yeah you know what's interesting about face time everyone thinks my gosh they must love Face Time you know a lot of them don't like it because they don't like the way they look anymore. And you wouldn't know that unless you were in the classes because of the outside perspective it's called it's the love and then when we bring Face Time up what's the first thing they see when they bring up Face Time their face it's like my gosh you know so that's an interesting you know that's a new guy should know that stuff I mean you guys realize that stuff that's why you do research because you can make an assumption that they love Face Time you know not all of them look so. What else do they would all stay let's see what we teach them about the importance of context how they don't walk in thinking old contacts adding contacts to my phone is probably one of the most important things I could do but we teach him that it is because it is you have people seniors coming in with their i Phones and no contacts. What else do we teach them internet how to access the Internet on their devices that's probably not a high priority but when we teach them the importance of it yes downloading apps. Downloading apps is another then yes. Yes. Yes I just did a class the other day we went into the clock I mean to the control panel OK so you swipe up there's the control panel and they didn't know that was there or whatever but then I said this is the clock clock up now the thing about it is what's interesting about the clock app and we went into the a long arm and set the alarm and how to you know set the timer and I said you know what's interesting even for me when I'm cooking something and I know there's a timer on my i Phone I still go to my stove and I put the alarm home that way because that's my way of doing it in fact I do I think that some seniors are going to use the still alarm on their phone to you know to for their baking Probably not but we do shown that stuff yes absolutely yes or. You know we do some. You know and that's an interesting you know we we teach them we go into accessibility when we look at the fonts I think that's where accessibility is so we show how to increase the fonts. What else do we do it on I think that's an. You know we don't go into that as much because we don't we haven't. Well probably number one is that we as instructors probably don't understand it that well although you know we obviously understand the fonts and the contrast but I think there's there's a hearing aid stuff there's a whole bunch of stuff that would be wonderful to learn and actually have classes specifically on that where people do have I know there's tons revision right that improves the vision now for macular degeneration though nothing's going to improve it right nothing on the i Pad will improve the visibility for someone with macular degeneration Yeah. We haven't had a lot I know is about voice over that it annoys me so but for somebody that would I think we. I actually have to have a class for people who and how to how to use it because there's there's tricks on that too right how to how to how you navigate what voiceovers on right. Yes we teach in Siri and they somewhat love Siri but they really we teach them that but I think again for someone who either has visual problems there could be a lot more instruction on Siri because that is not a comfortable place for them as far as being ready and that when they push that button and it goes Boop. Knowing what to say without any. So that's great we'd love to do more in that in that area actually so. This is this is what we did a brainstorming session the other day and this is what we decided we were to people who are professional. And we have our shirts we have our blue here technology shirts I don't know where they're going but we're professional were exciting they come to our classes they're excited. We're trusting reliable we're prepared we're patient were accessible accessible really means that we are cost accessible Yes We're nonprofit we do charge for our classes unless we get grants and other ways that we can provide these classes at no at no cost I'm actually going to be working with the city of Atlanta in the month of April teaching classes at five south east Atlanta. Senior centers and they have a grant so we're going to be able to do that which is really nice and we're knowledgeable. Maybe not all about all the accessibility stuff so but we feel it we're knowledgeable We also are knowledgeable because we've been doing this for over four years so we are knowledgeable about the market from our perspective so. If you any questions obviously just raise your hand I think I have plenty of time left at the end. So I put this in here and I thought my gosh is research scientists they're going to ask me how I got these stats the Survey Monkey OK so. So this is this is just you know straight out of my Survey Monkey which which we probably have like we got how we try to get the students we try to do this this is hard and you guys probably could help us so much in this area but to really get stats on where people before the classes begin. Where are they after the classes begin and where are they from the perspective of. A. Very good look at hey you know to be able to say our classes are making an impact sure we have a little you know like Survey Monkey You know so we have things like they're saying and I was going to put some quotes up there from Survey Monkey But you know we had a great time and I've learned a lot you know but that's not you know that's not really measurable and we'd love to and we're going to be doing this with the city a month after we finish the classes to come in and say now what do you do because a lot of them don't do anything and then they lose everything so that would that would be awesome but just to give you an idea seventy percent a lot of our classes are women now seventy percent of the classes and we're talking about let's say we taught about. Trying to think we taught about two hundred fifty classes last year each class has about ten ten people in it so you know it's but this is like ninety people who actually completed the survey but in general you can imagine that we have mostly women and why is that. Research people could figure that out probably better than us but our gut feel says that most men die sooner so we're dealing with an age group that husbands have died in a lot of cases I also think and an instructor said this is one of the instructor said this it could be that the name of our organization could limit men wanting to attend because they don't feel like their blue hairs you know we don't know and then but I think that's the biggest reason also women really weren't part of it we didn't work a lot in this to. And aeration So they they aren't as adaptable or they don't understand technology as well but would love to but there are a lot of men out there that need our assistance so we'd love to change that but I think we always see that there's going to be more women than men doing this. That gives you an idea of the age range at least of the people who completed the survey. Most of them are in the seventy to seventy four years of age range this is changed over the four years so in the beginning it was a gift you know so we have three questions when we ask that how did you get your device it was a gift I bought myself a hand me down I don't even know those are valid and so they hand me downs do happen but they're not as not as often but in the beginning it was always a I got as a gift now when someone gets it as a gift they're a different learner then they went out and bought it on their own and they're they're focused so that's interesting I think that also just shows how much technology is now part of everything and even the seniors realize that So here we have we had over two hundred fifty workshops each workshop. Just so you know a workshop is comprised of either a four week series or an eight week series so. Two hundred fifty workshops doesn't mean that those are all individual unique workshops it's really no no it is I'm sorry I'm saying that wrong so we had the workshops means that they're either a four week workshop or an eight week workshop so we have an eight week i Phone workshop an eight week i Pad workshop which means that they come once a week and they learn a different topic we also can cut those classes and those workshops in half where they can do four weeks but we have. Big plans and this is John just number we have specific strategy on how we are going to really increase the number of workshops that we teach this year and we've got that all together in a in a business strategy and marketing strategy and a whole bunch of strategy because there are. So many places where we could be. So. That's so that's the students. Are instructors so we actually have loops our volunteers excuse me that I I think I might have missed one let me go back. So we do have an on boarding process for instructors so instructors actually do get paid their ten thousand contractors not a lot but they do get paid we're still I still feel that we're sort of in the start up mode still still trying to get the grants and everything but I don't know if any of you know best work data but best work data is an assessment tool we do have an assessment tool that allows us to assess you know sort of that there are the skill of the instructor because we look for very specific skills we look for patients but we look for high energy. Those are two things sometimes can be opposite ends of the spectrum so that test tells us very quickly does this person have the energy because the energy is really important but do they also have the patience to be able to do this are we like in the volunteer or two of our sessions we like them to observe and then we get into it Cohen struct ing and this is so they were up there instructing with another instructor in twenty fifteen we had total of seven instructors based on our projections would have thirty instructors and this is all in the metropolitan Atlanta area we're looking at. So please. Our volunteers so we have over two hundred fifty volunteers in our the way we really get them is through Volunteer Match out or giving every week we get there I mean we get lots of people challenge and is most people are not available during the day during the week so we we because that's when we hold our classes that's when the seniors are available but we like volunteers. At all of our classes because the volunteers help ensure that the student is staying with the instructor so we typically if we have a classic. Fifteen we liked three to four volunteers so the instructor can teach and the volunteers can make sure that the students are following along and believe me volunteers are critical in the success and the volunteers are loved by the students. And then you can see their responsibilities pretty pretty straightforward with the do. Our curriculum so I brought some examples. Of we do write. Our own curriculum. There's a lot of curriculum out there probably. But we write it first of all in the way that we want the class to run in that structured approach as well as we write it in a way that you know I don't know our passes around but big with pictures and all that so we have not if this is time consuming so that's one of our that's a bet's a I don't want to call it a challenge but keeping the curriculum current We currently do that in-house so I'll just you can you can pass this down so you can see so that's an i Phone curriculum Here's an i Pad curriculum and this is this is a four week Android curriculum that you can look at if you'd like just to see now yes we would love to print the whole thing in color. It's too expensive but it would look great I'll tell you so we do the cover in color. We're also starting to produce finishing our e-commerce site and the curriculum is going to be available for purchase they can download it as a P.D.F. not very expensive or we can actually ship them the actual hard bound books that they want so we're hoping we haven't really launched that yet but we're about ready to launch that. So I mentioned plans for twenty sixteen or growth and again this is not just pie in the sky we actually have plans around this but our group workshop so. And I explained that we do group workshops where we have fifteen students we go to places such as senior living community C C R C S senior centers churches churches are actually becoming a very big. Target for us synagogues and we have new plans and I think I have it on here for next year other places that we you know so we go to the seniors we don't have a physical location. We do want to one sessions where we go to people's homes or in the case from from a liability standpoint since I'm a one the one employee I can actually go to the home because we are covered but our instructors were to ninety nine we would meet them in a library or a place like that where we could provide the one on ones for right now that's how we have to do that but we have a lot of people who want to do one on one. We want to recruit retired executives This is our key We're going to figure out how to get retired executives who know how to sell who know how to market who know how to do all those things. Would love to establish an advisory committee we don't have an advisory committee just yet but would like to get an advisory committee and maybe your thoughts on who those people would be would be great we want to secure strong partnerships sponsors and more so we have a lot going on as far as our plans for next year but the key thing is growth growth growth because we've barely touched the surface and these folks will be part of how we get the growth. And then lastly on the last page. Well question let me before I said that because I didn't I didn't put the stuff in here so I mentioned some of the places where we go today but we're also looking at homeowners to starting to look at homeowners' associations where we can go because there's a lot of communities in Atlanta that have aged in place. For example where I live in Johns Creek saying I've seen beautiful Country Club I mean beautiful but it's been around about twenty twenty five years and the kids are grown up and. It's an older community country club of the South I mean it doesn't have to be the Country Club communities H.O.A.'s in general if you think about how Atlanta if this there is subdivisions so if there was a way we're going to figure out a way to connect with the the boards of those H.O.A.'s and figure out how we can bring our art classes to their. Communities so and then what else were we thinking We also have done. Big workshops with I.B.M. retirees they have retired retiree groups with all the corporations have big retiree groups where we could go into classes so there's a lot of there's just limitless opportunity there's tons of people who throw out there that are trying to learn so. What questions can I answer that's sort of that's that's what we do so that's who we are questions yes or. No. Free. For Christ. That's right. OK And who is the person you mention First though who is a. Are they part of the senior center you know OK. Awesome young awesome they have they have wife I committed community want it's pretty cool. OK great love to connect with her. Right. I only knew there was one in the north I only knew of one in Tokyo Hills Is there another one. Right right right. That's going. Now the Atlanta area agent but it lanta. If you know someone introduced me to the challenge and I'm a very personable better spent I you know you introduce me to someone on there that is a tough group that is a tough nut to crack that agency because I went you know and we've been around for a while and I've attempted Carolyn rater radar but she was one she's retired so she's quick. I would love to connect with them because one of the things we try were true we were struggling with is the grants there has to be grants in Atlanta for aging services and this type of interest and it's been difficult I don't I see I don't have anyone on the staff right now who's like a grant researcher. OK. OK. I have some brochures I'm going to hand out guesser. Yeah. Yeah. That's a so my initial thought is this is how we typically do it if we go it's going to be a per person cost. However I mean I'm thinking about this now maybe if the H.-O. if the H. away wants to organize it and they're going to commit to at least X. number of people then it would be we it would be twelve hundred dollars for eight weeks for fifteen people so so typically that means it comes down to about twelve dollars per person for each class for each hour and a half class it's twelve dollars and for eight weeks it's ninety six. So I mean because eight weeks is a long I mean eight weeks is a long time and you doing it for an hour and a half so I don't think it would be the way that would be paying I think it's the H.-A way coordinates getting people to the class and the individual's pay so that would be twelve dollars See we don't really teach a one time class as much because what we're although we would would come in and we do a one time class but typically what we're doing is a series because people don't know how to use a lot so we can come in with a four week class which then would be forty eight dollars per person so it's when I say it's accessible I mean that's with no great nothing I mean we're not I mean it's twelve dollars That is not a lot of money for an hour and a half class. I mean as you can imagine so expect it's about twelve dollars for an hour and have classes so it's either forty eight for a four week or nine hundred ninety six for a eight week class. At me in these Or did I have amount that I did President two three four five six yes. Nothing is not a concern OK I'd love to. Talked about that we don't do any now when you say elder abuse risk if where if you're in a group can that still happen. Yeah I'm. Sure. You're. Absent No that's a very good point we. All. Know that's a good point i. Recently went through this. Guess. What happened how did it happen. You know that's we should we don't do that so I would love to know. First of all is that going to be costly about. Your life. Or. We don't do anything like that so I mean I think that's very important for us to look at and I prefer to bring it up. I'm the only one that goes into someone's home from a liability standpoint because I'm an employee and I have a waiver and all that stuff the contractors it was a huge life we were I was going to have to get bonded and all that stuff so but they are going to you know work with them in the library and you're right that's of that's a very good point Dave. Could you make a note of that so but I'd love to find out I mean that you don't know of any so what I can do is find out about that John you might know about that because you guys probably have to screen employees for stuff because you go do you guys go to people's homes or you know yeah. But there's a difference between you know going in someone's home and giving a personal care and all that stuff versus you know I don't know if we have to go that extreme but I think that's a very good point yeah. But other questions one two three four we're. Here. And we're dealing with their passwords Tom. We're dealing with their passwords all the time it's the number one biggest problem they don't have it and then we're resetting it and then we're entering it in for we're constantly doing that so it's a very good that's a good point to. At least to be able to whoever asked the question initially to be able to say yes this is what we do versus nothing you know that's I mean I was just being honest I mean I'm sure someone else would be politically correct but I just said nothing because that's what we're doing right now so that's a very good that's a very good. That's something that we need to make sure that we have so that we can show people that this is what we do so thank you. What else. Yes. I would love to yes I do I know you we were going to come in yeah but we haven't had that happen yet it's surgery and. That would be that would be great with our instructors because I think it would be awesome to have classes that are specifically around those excessive especially you know whether we're teaching them sort of the basic ones in a in a generic class but then being able to have classes that are specifically for people who are visually impaired or any of the access abilities we might find out. Yeah. OK Why. Don't you turn him off. Right. Right. Right. Out there. We do text and bold text we also make it bold That's another one right yeah yeah. Although I'm sure OK great now that would be wonderful would it take to learn about the accessibility. Was. OK. I love I think would be great just to meet with you guys had to write stuff all right. Yes. You're. Right. Up. To you. Four dollars you know so when we were talking about this you know. We do not although I think it's a we don't do a lot in that area as far as what. We're actually. You know what to answer your question just as directly as I did the other one we don't teach anything all in you know I. Call it what security what did you call it or Internet scams or. And I know that the police departments are very familiar with those things so there's a you know and so maybe partnering and having them come out and do this the talk I don't know if we are the right group to be the experts on what cyber crime and what's happening out there but and because let me ask you this we don't do we do e-mail but it's not a lot doesn't a lot of the I guess the fraud happens a lot on it can happen a lot on i Pads but isn't a lot of it on an on P.C. based laptops no you're seeing it on. E-mail primarily And phone I guess phone calls. Yes. Interesting. Yeah I'm. OK. Yeah yeah. Very intimidating. To watch. Georgia watch read though that's critiqued that we should do that there yeah. No And I think again I think that may be something that we should offer I mean it's part of that the whole is sort of to me it's all part of the whole it's the whole thing and we don't. We're actually talking with an identity theft organization called. To do some partnerships with them but that's identity when to identity is to be in. Identity theft type stuff you don't recovery but that's that's great you know I think it's very very important and they'd be so interested in it they're so interested in that stuff because they're always concerned about being scammed Facebook's another no no in Facebook at Facebook's another one you know we teach Facebook and I had someone say What do you teach tell them about all the concerns about Facebook and what can happen and you know we really don't. We don't force anybody to do anything on Facebook we just let them know what the what the operator opportunities are but they could be clicking on stuff and Facebook you know what was your question that's a good point though yes I'm. OK. She was. Very trusting Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah I think it's awareness just building awareness of what the scams are and what when to say you know this is really seem right so that's that's great. But I'm. Just stunned because all the viruses are on there now so. What else. OK my. Loyal K. on time. Perfect on time OK. I brought.