Thanks to a grant from Coastal Maine Regional Broadband, Boothbay Region Adult & Community Education, in collaboration with Boothbay Region High School, will host a Tech Night from 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30, in the library.

Tech Night invites community members to bring their technology devices and questions to the event for on-the-spot help from staff and student “experts.” Support will be offered for Apple and Android smartphones, laptops, tablets, Macs and PCs, common hardware and software, Zoom and other online meeting platforms, Google Workspace and Microsoft Office products, accessibility features, and other bells and whistles.

Help with the tools required to be connected in a digital world is the No. 1 request Boothbay Region Adult & Community Education receives for classes, according to program director Raye Leonard. “Older people frequently call looking for someone to help them figure out all the apps on their iPhones, or how to host a Zoom meeting,” she said. “Some even invite us to come to their home to troubleshoot internet issues.”

Participants are asked to sign up in advance at boothbayae.maineadulted.org. At the event, they will be greeted by a Tech Night concierge, and directed to a Tech Station, where a staff or student host will offer their support. Hosts are experts only to the extent of their own knowledge and experience, so some issues may be beyond their scope of understanding. Light refreshments will be served and additional resources offered.

“We hope the Boothbay community will take advantage of Tech Night to further develop their IT knowledge. CMRB looks forward to continuing our work with AOS 98 communities to offer more classes and help sessions in the future,” said Brandon Look, a digital planner with CMRB. 

Coastal Maine Regional Broadband, a regional broadband partner of the Maine Connectivity Authority, is working to expand public access and digital equity and inclusion to the Midcoast area. Funding for Boothbay Region Adult & Community Education to expand its offerings in information technology education and training is one of CMRB’s first steps towards accomplishing this goal. For more information, visit CMRB.me.

Boothbay Region Adult & Community Education offers high school completion, career and college advising, workforce preparation, and enrichment courses to adults in the AOS 98 school district, including Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb, Georgetown, and Southport. For more information, visit boothbayae.maineadulted.org, or email program assistant Kate Winslow at kwinslow@aos98schools.org.