Burning Life

We are working Performance this year and it is a great time. Oct 17-25

Use your Map and type in Burning Life and come Burn with us...

Doc's Rezz Party 1 pm slt-till we log the hell out!!!

SL6B Volunteers Thank you!

SL6B is coming

It is that time again. For us to see where we have been and see where we are going. This year the theme for our birthday is called The Future of Virtual Worlds.

800 Light Years away we are spiraling through outer space on a Meteor disovered by Space Explorer Ghorman Dallier in 2499 while searching for new worlds to inhabit! With that in mind, we took our Exhibitors far away from the green grasses and sandy beaches of their Second Life Grid and sent them into the stratosphere as the first colony of Dallier's Hope. A vast, open landscape waiting to be developed by the first new residents of the future of Virtual Worlds.

The SL6B festivities

* June 23rd - Gates open!

* June 29th - Official closing ceremony

* July 6th - Gates close

SL6B Mentor Greeters

Mentors have been asked once again to Greet SL6B. If you are interested please get back to me (in world) by next thurs 5/21 drop notecards on me (with your name and SL6B) so no one is missed if my IMs cap off.

Mentors are being tapped for this because we are the best. If you know any mentors not in MM please pass the word to them and have them drop notecards on me as well.

A tentative short meeting is schedule with the SL6B team for friday 5/22 at SL6B headquarters (which is also volunteer day)so plan to make an appearance If you can.

Meeting at 7 pm slt 5/22 short one

The Mentor Cooperative

This week I said to Rails we have so many resident help groups and Mentor groups we need a group to to communicate with them all.

It is obvious to me, that Mentors have to evolve, and this Mentor Cooperative is part of that evolution.
As dedicated Mentors we have watched the reduction of the VTeam staff.
As dedicated Mentors we know what new residents want and need, we eat, sleep and breath being a Mentor, we excel at what we choose to do.
The Mentor tag is nothing more than a way to identify who Mentors are, it does not make us super-human.
There is not one Mentor who is better than any Second Life resident. As Mentors we are all Second Life residents.

The aim of this Mentor Cooperative is to bring together the owners of Mentor Groups and Gateway Owners, and any resident help groups with the aim of building a foundation for mentoring in general.
If all responsible and respectable Mentor Groups adopt and retain the good foundations that we all hold dear, then Mentors as a whole will be respected and be a teaching force to be imitated.

There will be a number of owners of this group, mainly so as many time zones are covered as is possible and to provide a diverse knowledge base for the group.
Invited group owners will form the council of the group, and may elect to converse with other group members by the best possible means, for example, group chat or via notecards.
All Group Members will have notecard and voting rights
Only the Group owners can invite other Mentor Group Owners.
The Mentor Council will be the nucleus that will discuss the best way for all Mentor Groups to progress.

I fully expect lively discussions, but at the end of the day it is what is best for new residents that should be the priority and how the various Mentor Groups conduct themselves.
I also envisage, that at some point gateways will need to sign some form of formal agreement, whereby they will commit to not poaching residents from each other, whilst at the same time come to an agreement that it is in the best interest of any new resident, to send said resident to the gateway that can best help them, particularly if there is a better understanding of the new resident's language capabilites.

I hope that this esteemed group of Mentor Group Owners can work together for the benefit of New Residents.
Cheers

The Mentor Hiatus

Go Steelers!

Right before Christmas I decided I needed a break from Mentoring and decided to only work when I was feeling inspired. As if it was meant to be, the new Greeter program was temporarily put on hold for some programming changes and technical enhancements.

So if you have been to HIP or the HIs and said where is Doc? I was actually exploring SL for a change. With the newest edition to Clan Mentor of Daniel Voyager and the passing of our friend Master Pye it was a very busy holiday season in SL and RL.

In order to be a good Greeter you have to get out there and know your landmarks.
So those of you who want to be Greeters try to read the SL blog and keep up with what is going on around the big grid.

Make yourself a folder of cool places then sub-folder them to include Music, Fashion, Weapons, Building, RL places, Nature, etc...

Your greatest asset as a Greeter is your ability to take someone new and give them places to go and things to discover. The discovery that is SL for new residents is the best time. It is the very tempo that sets the rest of their SL. It also gives you satisfaction to pass the torch on to new people.

Happy Greeting!

Changes to Tao and New Mentor/Greeter FAQ

Tao Changes

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Tao_of_Volunteers

The Tao is a serious committment you make when you choose to volunteer is SL.

My suggestion is to read it and undestand it. When you are in a situation when you feel you may not be able to uphold the Tao, walk away. Take your tag off and go chill.

What we do as volunteers is not easy and it is not without pitfalls. Try to focus on the good things and not the negative.

Volunteer Program Changes FAQ

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Volunteer_Program_Changes_FAQ

If you have any questions about any of this let Rails or I know or contact a Vteam member.

Goodbye Old Friend

It always is hard when one of us leaves. This time it was harder than I expected.
Master Pye died in RL last week. When I found out it was numbing.

I have so many memories of my friend Pye. Rambunctious days on OIP. Blue's office hours, him standing next to the big office chair. Many a Mentor meeting. He was a talented guy. Builder, innovator.
He sent me a picture of his RL office once. Talk about multitasking.

Master Pye was a great Mentor. More patient than a saint. Able to leap tall HIs in a single hop.
He was a Master.
Goodbye old friend, your will live on in our memories and in every pond on SL.

His pond is available on xstreets as a freebie
http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1055633

Taking a Break

After this weeks newbie sex craze I realized I had the flu. Well Jezzie told me I did.

After some denial and then a series of fevers I realized she was right.

So this week I am sitting in bed with a cup of tea watching the SciFi Channel while Till threatens to bite me, Tess warns me of not eating right, Sully tells me if I do not take better care of myself I will keel over, Cel tells me to stop being a knothead, Rails tells me to go back to bed and all of you wish me a speedy recovery.

I think after Burning Life I needed to spend some time resting and I just did not do that.

So on the wise and sage advise of many Mental Mentors and Many Mentor Wives and Many friends I am going to be resting up.

Thank you

You Never Know...

In and around Mentorland I often hear a Mentor complain about another Mentor.
Some examples:

TypesB4 Thinks: don't ask that guy, ask someone who matters in the forums

NotNice Notever: I am here to complain about a notice. The person who sent it is unavailable but I am going to tell people outside of the group it was in all about it and the jerk who sent it anyway.

Minds URbusiness: I didn't like what she said even thought personally it is just my opinion but I am going to make sure I talk about how I disliked it to as many people as I can.

These are examples of how you get labeled a troublemaker. These are also examples of how you make an impression on other people in a negative manner. Assumption is never your friend in this manner. Nonconstructive criticism is never going to be taken as good advise. It is going to bring negativity to the table every time.

You should never assume everyone understands your point of view. You should't talk about another Mentor in public text or group IM in a negative way. Try and take all your disputes to IM.

One day you might need that person (who you found to be lacking) to help you out.

We all work as a team. When you step out of Tao and into being disrespectful you go to a place where you are not using teamwork.

How would you feel if someone "took you on" in public if you were not there?

What if it got reported to you that your ideas, thoughts, advise was called into question by a person without them giving you the opportunity of an IM to explain, clarify or even know you had an issue. What kind of teamwork is that?

The truth to the matter is this, if you participate in any of these types of actions you are doing yourself a disservice. You are not following our standards of Mentor communication and Tao. You may even polarize other people. If you dislike someone or what someone said, take it to the source, work it out with whomever the issue is with.

If you choose not to do this then you do not have the right in all fairness to take it to open forums of chat or public text. Take your opinions to IM and keep your negative assertions to those on your friends list or to yourself.

In these transitioning times for our group, we need to make an effort to work together and pull together.

If you choose to still behave in this manner don't be surprised if when you need help you do not get it. You will only have to recall that you put your pixel foot in your pixel mouth.

Be kind to each other!

Greeters Needed for Mentor Graduation Party

We are in need of Greeters for the Mentor Graduation Party Scheduled for November 15th from 10am slt til 12midnight slt.

Greeters will welcome the Graduates and guests to the party and ensure that they know where to find things, and help to keep the party lively

You may sign up for more than one time slot. We are hoping to have at least 4 greeters per time slot. Make a copy of this blog page and return it as a notecard to Jezzie McCellan or myself.

****Remember all times are SL Time*****
10am to 12pm:

12pm to 2pm:

2pm to 4pm:

4pm to 6pm:

6pm to 8pm:

8pm to 10pm:

10pm to 12pm:

The Future of Mental Mentors

Recently it was brought to my attention that rumors has been circulated after the Mentor Group renewal that Mental Mentors was closing. Rest assured that is not the case.

We did remove some inactive people from the group. Mental Mentors is not going away anytime soon. Regardless of change of mission or Greeter group or any amount of renewing

and refocusing, Mental Mentors will go on.

Rails and I have worked very hard over the last nine months to bring a stress free zone for Mentors. It has never been easy. I never thought it would be. Keeping everyone fair and balanced when everyone was over 800 people was a large task in short order.

In the process I learned a great deal about others and myself. I also learned that loyalty and respect are words until people demonstrate those ideals.

I have argued, begged and pleaded with some of you. I have asked of you what was necessary to keep the group whole and cohesive. Some of you have risen above what can often seem unfair or biased and have been loyal and respectful even thought you did not always agree. Some of you agreed to disagree. Some of you told me the hell off. Some of you left MM.

All of these transitions are never easy. I would like to thank you if you chose to help me and abide by what Rails and I decided. I also want to thank those who chose to agree to disagree, often that is something that keeps us united but with our own views intact.

Lastly I would also like to thank those who decided that they needed to leave MM because it was not where or what they wanted to be and they were smart enough to know their limitations and not stay where they did not want to be and would not be happy.

I fully support the decisions made by the co-owner of MM, Rails Bailey. Before there was the helm of MM there was Rails, my friend. We would shoot the breeze about life, liberty and the pursuit of Mentoring.

During the great MM spam war of 2007 Rails left MM. I went to him and said come on back and luckily he did. I went to get Rails back because I just could not imagine the chaos and the craziness in MM without him. Obviously JayJay thought so too.

Everyone has friends in their SL. I have been real lucky in that I have friends that understand loyalty and respect.

There may come a time in MM when I or Rails ask you to put aside an argument, topic or some issue. We might ask you that because we feel it is not good for the group. You might disagree. Please try and remember that what Rails and I do is never easy. Some days it is very not easy. The stewardship of MM is big and diverse and takes up a lot of time and energy.

Try and use your loyalty and respect and at the least agree to disagree.

MM is a family and all of you are part of it. Sometimes in families you have to look at the

(Star Trek reference) good of the many versus the good of the few.

Corny I know but very true.

All things are not always easy to negotiate. I learn that more and more these days. Sometimes you just have to go with what is good for the many. I often will err on the side of being prudent.

I am sorry if that is not popular but it is loyal and respectful.

Thank you all for being part of my family and for your support.

SL Forum and Negative People

I often try to keep my blog positive. Today I was sorry to have to read the SL forums
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=289874&page=1&pp=15
the above post made me very not happy. Why? The people who posted to it did it to harm 1700 other people. To demean the work of so many people because you did not remain active enough in a group to read your notices and renew your Mentor tag is just selfish beyond reason.

I encourage you, no I implore you to take the positive side. Go to forums and answer negative attacks with all the style and patience of a Second Life Mentor. Kill the rumors and negative attacks with resources, facts and solutions. Do not feed into their negative vent. That is how they win. I also invite you to take any negative rumors or accusations to the horse's mouth. If someone states a rumor that you know is untrue, verify it! Use your resources, IM a Coach or a Buddy or a Vteam member.

The people who spun that load of crap on the forums were aiming for us. Their aim is weak. Too bad we are prepared with facts and the many resources that all SL residents have at their disposal.

Lastly I want to thank you for all your hard work and efforts. For being on HIs, WAs and Infohubs. For taking time out of your Second Life to make time for people who just need a little support. You are exceptional people one and all. You didn't deserve those attacks. The people who did that were just plain wrong.

Good Mentoring!

Graduation Party Planning

Monday is the planning meeting for the graduation 10 am SLT at Center Stage.

If you would like to participate please join us.

JIRA Hijinx

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-1728

Have some fun with it. The issue has been resolved. It is just for amusement.

Gesture Project Deadline Extended Till Monday Oct 20

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Gesture_Project
The deadline for submissions has been extended to MONDAY October 20th so if you have any entries drop them on a committee member listed on the wiki entry. This is a great time for you to enter a gesture you find helpful or fun. Have a look. Come on people look over your gestures and throw some good ones this way.

If You Did Not Renew Your Mentor Tag and Need a Help Group

If you did not renew your Mentor Tag and have been removed from the Mentor group, please see Rails Bailey or myself as soon as you can.
We can get you into a Help Group (SAM or Help People) while you wait for applications to open again.
If you are upset or angry please IM us and we will try and help you as best we can. If you need to speak to a Vteam member please do so.
Rails and I will always be around to help any of you at any time. Just IM us.

An Open Letter to the Upset Mentor in my IM Box

Dear Upset Mentor,

It is truly nice to talk to you. Thank you for only IMing me when you are really ticked off.
I wish we could have said three words to each other when things were nicer. Maybe had a nice discourse on the Help Islands or what you thought of a Wiki entry. But you did not give me the courtesy of a baseline conversation and now you are in my IM box losing your mind in 2000 words or less.

I am all about helping other mentors. I am very pro mentor and pro resident. So I am going to be courteous and read this small novella you are typing to me. What I am going to do is try and figure out which one thing needs attention first.
In the meantime, while you type away, I am going to list off some things I have wanted to mention to you about IM messages and common courtesy.

Doc this is all screwed up! is not how you say hello.
You are a giant butthole!!!! is not how you get my attention.
Rails told me to IM you, doesn’t tell me why.

If anything as Mentors, we should know how to IM someone. If you are not in a chat group at the time of the need to contact someone, please remember to say hello. If you are talking to someone in a chat group then you do not have to say hello because a conversation is already in progress.

If you are angry or upset over something someone said, do not take it out on the person you go to for help. This is a matter of focusing and trying to find solutions if you have IMed me. It is not about unloading your frustration on me and making me into the target. That doesn’t help anyone.

Issuing threats in an IM is a TOS violation, DO NOT do it!!!!
MUTE is your friend!
Just because someone is saying something that hurts you does not mean you have to listen.
You do not have to like everyone but you have to be courteous to them as it states in the Tao.

Not everyone thinks before they open their mouth, unfortunately, and sometimes they put their foot in it. Learning to know when to say nothing and walk away is a great skill. It can be your skill as well.

This has been a hard week for us all. Mentors not renewing and being removed. The group being cleaned up and our roles in the volunteer program changing. Change is something that in SL and RL happens. As with any other challenge we will all work together through the difficult patches.

The volunteer email list is not the place to air these issues. If you have been removed from the mentor group, do not email 2000 people to tell them about it. If you have any questions about your removal go directly to the source and IM a Vteam member.

Emailing 2000 people to tell them about how you think the renewal should have been run and your thoughts on it also not good. IM the Vteam and tell them. You need to speak directly to the source.

If you are upset, by all means, IM me and tell me what I can do to help you. Just try and communicate effectively. I know you know how.

If You Did Not Renew Your Mentor Tag (or Know Someone Who Did Not)

Please check the following Wiki entry for instructions

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Mentor_Membership_Renewal

The Mentor Program renewals ended Sept 30th. If you did not renew please do not panic.

If you are removed and still want to be part of a group IM Rails or myself and we will find you

a group to join till enrollment opens back up.