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: