The Digital Unite Blog

We are Kate Norman and Rick Crust, and we are part of the Digital Unite team promoting Silver Surfers Day 2010, which is on 21 May 2010. In this blog we’ll be telling you about the amazing events and partnerships we’re lining up for this year’s Silver Surfers Day. We’re excited… we hope you are, too.

To register for this year’s event, go to http://silversurfers.digitalunite.com/how-to-register

To contact Kate (Media Officer)
email kate.norman@digitalunite.net or phone 0798 2063062
twitter @sarahkatenorman

To contact Rick (Event Manager)
email rick.crust@digitalunite.net or phone 0800 077 6144

Follow us on Twitter

Sign up to the Event on Facebook

Last year, we clocked up 1055 events on and around Silver Surfers Day, and we estimate we reached more than 8 million people. With your help, we can reach and surpass these numbers in 2010.

Read about SSD09 [pdf]

View the video Silver Surfer Day 2009 [YouTube, 2:40 mins]

“There’s lots of pleasure, work and friendship transmitted through this machine. Who would hesitate?” Joan Bakewell

I loved the video to promote last year’s that included endorsements from Angela Rippon OBE, Martyn Lewis, Patricia Routledge CBE and Joan Bakewell. I found it inspiring and lovely to hear about how those individuals use technology in their everyday lives – and how they feel it has helped them and how they would like to encourage others.

But many of you will know the reality of the barriers that lie between an older person who has never used a computer and the satisfaction that they can enjoy. It is a journey – and the journey has to start somewhere. Silver Surfers Day is a call to action for older people, their families, friends and supporters.

It shows them:

• what they can do;
• where they can go; and
• that there are great people, groups and companies – like you – to support them as they reap the benefits.

You are already doing this work, and we know of some wonderful places for older people and some heartwarming success stories. We also know how hard it is for these places to be sustainable, and we want to help you make the job of running a Silver Surfers Day this year as easy and as fun as possible.

Rick Crust, our Event Manager,  has the perfect experience to help community centres, UK Online centres, libraries, schools and individuals in business and community venues around the country to open your doors and welcome potential Silver Surfers to peer in.

Will you be there with a smile on you face to help them make a start with a mouse and keyboard? We have some themes for this year to entice newbies and banish their fear of new technology. We believe they will be astonished by just what they can do if they take up a course or class to continue their learning – and use the libraries and facilities close to them to keep going.

I will take you through these themes and how you will access them via the On the Day Portal (which you’ll soon be able to start having a play with). So get registered and ask as many questions you would like about this year. Rick and I will be on hand to answer your questions so if you want to call, email, tweet or comment then take your pick and ask away.

We’re a friendly bunch, and between Rick  and me and the rest of the Digital Unite team we have a wealth of experience. If you would like to take part this year, but don’t know how – just call us and we will try to help you break down any barriers.

This year we have the BBC on board this year as a media partner. So don’t worry about putting on an event and having no-one turn up! We will do all we can to help you promote your local event and cover all regions of the UK to make this year bigger and better than ever!

April 27th, 2010 kate | 1 Comment »

Tags: Adult Learners' Week, computer training, internet, Silver Surfers' Day, try something new today

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