I think a good start would be Andy Krell's email. Since Thomas King attached it to his email on the GWLUG list in early August I'm going to assume it's OK with Andy to repost it here.

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Gentlemen,

Thanks again for putting this event on, I had a great time, met some good folks, and of course helped out some local kids! I wanted to provide some ideas and suggestions for next time around, or for people looking to do this kind of event in their city. I've sorted this ideas from highest to lowest impact. I was pretty heads down with hardware, so my suggestions are centered there.

HARDWARE:

Overall I was really happy with the hardware team, a lot of focused and capable folks who quickly took to each other. Figuring out how to effectively use the surplus of labor is the real challenge.

Triage Manager

This person would lead the hardware team, and would focus on managing the incoming queue of computers to repair. The idea is to work on the newest and least problematic machines first to maximize the use of limited time. For example, the batch of Sempron 3.0+ machines we had without hard drives, I tried to prioritize these as they were low hanging fruit. Once these are complete move on to machines of middling age and issue, then finally, to the real problem children. The triage manager needs to be willing to call a machine "scrap" and harvest it for parts in a worst case scenario. (*cough* RAMBUS *cough*) We spent too
much time on a handful of machines that bordered on obsolete (P3,
celeron), someone overseeing the queue could address this.

Build Sheets

Pre-printed spec sheets to be taped to all machine cases. This sheet would allow volunteers to record vital information about the machine hardware, condition, and any issues. This would help triage machines quickly, keep accurate notes on machines issues, and route them. We had some machines bounce back and forth due to misunderstandings, or machines get cracked open that we didn't have parts for. Suggested sample attached.

Parts Manager

I spent a fair amount of time sorting out RAM, and this came in VERY handy. Another one of the fellows did this with hard drives, but we had an informal mess of video cards, cables, and accessories. This isn't a glamorous job, but having someone who shows up early to separate all the parts (drives, ram, cards, etc) and can quickly parcel them out as needed would really speed up repairs. If this person had even a $50 budget they could obtain screws, ziploc bags, and other necessities in
advance.

FACILLITIES:

Power Planning

Having an idea of what the power circuit layout is of the locale would help divvy up power strips not just on different outlets but on separate actual circuits. This could be tackled with some long extension cords during setup by someone familiar with the location wiring.

Regards,

Andy
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Andy Krell

Director of IT & Customer Data Services