Penelope

Daniela - thanks. I've come to the conclusion that it's not me who decides where I fit into the scheme of things. I did decline being a moderator some time ago and quite honestly I prefer the idea of being a mentor.

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Poetry Editor @ Sacred Twilight

Aevin

Hee hee. My number of squares actually went UP when I became a Mentor, since I was a "Prolific writer" before. I gain one square AND the purple. Good deal.

Chrispian: I can only echo Daniela on thanking you again for including me.

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--Din from Namco's Tales of the Abyss

Selorian

I also want to thank Chris for including me as a mentor. I am very honored by it.

I also understand the mentor program to be like Eleutheromaniac described it. Right now, I look at it as almost like goodwill ambassadors to the new members, making sure that they feel welcome and show the in's and out's of the site to get the most benefit they can from the forums. I may be all wrong here, but it's a starting point.

Cliff

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Utopia can only exist in a violent society.

NaShoStoMo? The Hothouse?

sky

Hi Chrispian,

This mentoring idea sounds great. It sure takes the edge off us newbies that just might need a word of advice or direction until we get our feet settled on firm ground.

Glad you're out there.

love & light
sky

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Write for the night is coming.

Ilan Bouchard

The Mentor program so far seems to be doing it's job grandly, from what I can see. They greet all the newbies, offer lots of critique.
I'm still a bit skeptical of it though. Is the Mentor program just a way of showing off a bunch of people who do what would be ideal for everyone to do? Because I've seen many other members do that same thing, though Mentorless. It's a great idea, but for the benefit of non-Mentors, could Mentors clarify their job for me a little? Simply curiosity.


A trivial matter, but perhaps you (Admin/Mod) should take one of the "Mentor" titles away. At the moment all the Mentors have it written twice, once in the title and once in the purple square picture. Looks slightly goofy. Just a suggestion.

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Ruthless comments encouraged!

huni

Ilan, The forums can take a while to get use to. Like any new place. I just thought I would both welcome you and tell what I understand of and appreciate in the mentor system.

Rather than being an elite sector of this community the mentors are a group of people who are willing to act as guides and helpers for newbies and those of us who may get stuck with something. They are also a friendly face and welcoming team for us. This is not, as I see it a Job, but something all of them where already doing with skill and knowledge. The title on their avatar, is, in my opinion, so we can be aware of who may be available to help us and gives the mentors a public face. I think this is a good thing when so many people are interacting on a site as big as this. I think it's a good policy to give some special recognition to those that volunteer, don't you? They can have gold stars as well eh!

I can understand you wondering about the rest of us who carry out mentors type activities. It has already been said, that having mentors, in no way prevents any of us from being welcoming, helpful or commenting constructively on the work of others. That is what makes places like this great sites. I hope sharing my thoughts helps you work the system out Ilan. warm regards huni.

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daniela

That was wonderful way to put it, huni.

Ilan: Joining an online community can be quite an intimidating experience at first and it helps to have someone recognizable to turn to when you have questions or problems.

Here are our basic duties.

• We interact with new members and help them settle into the community (by greeting them, answering their questions, commenting on their writing, drawing them into discussions, etc.).
• We try to keep topics from getting out of hand when we can.
• We work on new content for the site (hopefully you will see an example of a team effort soon).
• We act as an extra set of eyes for the moderation team (mostly by reporting abusive posts, duplicate posts, spam, posts that are in the wrong forum, etc.).
• We help members when they are having trouble posting, commenting, or logging in.

I think that is just about everything. As WF grows and changes, so will the Mentor program.

If you read Chrispian's posts, you may have noticed he mentioned that the Mentor program is based on his experience as one at Sitepoint.com. I strongly suggest you go there and do a search on mentors. It may help you satisfy your curiosity about what the Mentors do and what it means to be one.

--DM--

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"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable." - Mark Twain

Penelope

Ilan, I had similar concerns but as long as I can keep on doing what I've done all along, I'm happy with being a mentor. Prior to becoming one, I got PM's on a frequent basis asking me for critiques of posted poems and questions about various subjects. I figured if I was going to be someone writers contacted, I might as well accept the title. I had reservations because I don't like elitism or having unacceptable demands made of me when doing something on a volunteer basis. I'm a socialist so I prefer a collective. When the moderators came on board earlier, I noticed nothing much changed. It's why I like the forums, there is a sense of community instead of people behaving like dictators. That has never happened here. I've gotten slammed only once due to someone chastising me for being a 'bad' mentor. I thought it was funny because the person being critical wasn't the writer I'd commented on.

I'm curious as to why you don't raise the same question regarding moderators when it comes to the avatar. I think theirs is also double but in orange.

Huni, wonderful way of putting it for sure. Thanks.

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Poetry Editor @ Sacred Twilight

Ilan Bouchard

Ok, that cleared things up for the most part. Thanks to the three of you who responded.
I hope I didn't seem critical of the idea, I was just confused as to what duties were 'expected' from the Mentors. Even if it was just to greet newbies I'd think it's a great idea, but I see it extends past that greatly.

Pen: I just noticed now the double title in the Admins and Mods as I was reading this thread! I suppose it was just more obvious in the Mentor's titles because it was a smoother color, not as neon and whatnot.

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Penelope

I've never considered red/orange as a soothing colour in comparison to purple.

No, I didn't read it as criticsm because I'm familiar with how you express yourself. I doubt anyone else did either.

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"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." Ronald Reagan ~ 1981

Poetry Editor @ Sacred Twilight

Rkay

Congratulations to all the mentors!

We have 9 as per the above listing and I have signed up after October 2004 (if memory serves) and have neither been welcomed [save for Aeryn - thanks for that] nor guided. What gives?

Just a question there. I pretty much thrive being left alone to write and respond. But maybe there are others in the Forums that would trully benefit from this program. Not that I'm saying it isn't working. Just an observational question. I guess the word "mentor" denotes more than what we use it for here. And that doesn't even deal with its connotations.

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Poets never die_____________________________________

Londongrey

Rkay,

If when you join your go to the section 'introduce yourself' one of the mentors or moderators will say 'ello and give advice if you ask for it.

Alex

Penelope

When I agreed to be mentor, I continued in the same manner which was being a frequent commenter on poetry and participating in a couple of the word games.

Did you need guidance? From what I've noticed, you seem to be finding your way around the forums.

I tend not to guide individuals if they are coping okay.

Does your comment mean that you expected all of the mentors to say hello to you? I will rectify that immediately.

Hello!

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"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." Ronald Reagan ~ 1981

Poetry Editor @ Sacred Twilight

Rkay

Hey Pen,
Never had a problem with you.

It must have been a rash reaction when I read the 'mentor' post. That was about two months ago when I first posted here and since then am getting the hang of it.

I feel you have gotten the nail on the head. It was somewhat confusing the first several weeks and that's the period when most (I feel) would need mentoring. I did introduce myself and got a Hello from Aeryn.

Anyways, I suppose if new members are asked to introduce themselves and write a bit about what they expect to get out of the forums and which particular fora they are planning on frequenting - then a mentor may take them under wing. Say, a poet may not necessarily need to be mentored by a nonfiction writer as such.... so on and so forth.

I guess the only other thing that irked me was that in the early stages I had an unfortunate run in with one of the more less amiable members of the site - and since then have been guided by a couple of non-mentors. The offensive posts have been deleted and not a word was spoken, I wasn't even notified by the higher ups that this was happening. And I have not been harrassed and maltreated since. Maybe that bit of information will shed light on my post. I know the mentoring program is new and it isn't foolproof.

But I thank you and Alex for your quick response. You guys obviously take these responsibilities seriously and are an asset to WF. Keep up the good work. Again, I thank you

Rkay

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Poets never die_____________________________________

Penelope

I hope you knew I was being a bit sassy with my response. Most of the time I try and keep an eye on things. If a new member introduces themselves and no one else has said hello, I will. As you know, most of my activity is in the poetry forum where I am most comfortable.

Other members have PM'd me asking me to review their writing and I'm happy to oblige. I did that prior to being a mentor as well.

What keeps the forums ticking along isn't the mentors but the active membership.

I don't know about your spot of trouble but am very happy you stayed. One bad experience can wreck the whole thing. God knows I'd have left another site long ago if I followed that agenda.

Diversity makes for an interesting site and it's because of the open atmosphere here that it's my favourite hangout.

__________________
"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." Ronald Reagan ~ 1981

Poetry Editor @ Sacred Twilight