SL new mentors

Now that LL, in their ultimate god-like wisdom, have disbanded the official SL mentor group, is there likely to be ex-mentor offshoot 'greeter/volunteer' groups springing up, or are all you mentors going 'freelance'? (I am aware of 'The White Tigers group'), I am hoping against hope that the anarchy and bad behaviour that currently reigns at newb central will be a thing of the past. On the plus side, the organisation at Help People Public seems to function quite well under volunteer training to become apprentice helpers. They have a vigorous 'vampire' policy and the new folks there are generally well mannered with enquiring minds.

/me, who was an official mentor, has been wondering what to do now. Sure, I can just wander the grid and help folks at random - that's mostly what I did before - but being in a group is nice.

Despite any other problems I had with the way LL ran things, that was one of the good things about the official mentor group; one of the people in charge having a bad day or going off their meds or whatever was unlikely to make the whole thing fall apart, get a bad reputation or turn griefer-group.

What happened at NCI makes me a bit nervous about joining any group. (that said, I think I'd be lucky to join up with anything Carl's doing)

A lot of mentor groups formed when it was disbanded. It was certainly MUCH easier when there was one central source for information so I am not sure how this helps anyone, especially the new residents.

I do most of my mentoring in Second Ability Mentors (at Virtual Ability Island).

Come to Oxbridge, Meade.

The experience from a mentor's point of view is much the same as hanging out on Help Island when another Mentor or two is there to talk to in quiet times and share the load in busy times.

Except that the build is better, the security is better, and you can rez things there to demonstrate. And of course, there's Caledon to explore, right there in walking distance. With your draw distance turned up, you can see Steam Sky City.

Oxbridge is a model for what the "new user experience" should have been, and never was under LL's mismanagement.

This topic got me back to doing something I used to do, which is go to Hyles, where I originally rezzed. Pretty soon someone came running up to ask, "How do I get this damn skirt off?" and "How do I get my hair back?"

It was great.

This was someone who signed up almost three weeks ago, but hadn't figured out how to do the most elementary things. She learned fast once someone explained.

I was in NCI before I became a Mentor. Over time I have joined both Mental Mentors and Mentor Lounge. Both are great resources made up of long time former Mentors and very well managed. (^_^)

I have not taken any of the neo-Mentor groups into consideration. In my opinion, they were all created under rash and kneejerk motivations. (>_<

I also rezzed at Hyles. Certainly has changed hasn't it? Used to be a barren rock, and now is a thriving newbie community. They have SO many mentors there now that I wonder if they'd even welcome a freelance.

With the Caledon Holiday project in mind, although I am not part of that as I don't want to create an alt for it, I started visiting some info hubs and community gateways, just to see what it was like out there. Many, I'd never been to before. I had also found the Memory Bazaar early on in my SL journey, and visited that again too, along with Hyles; I saw Prok's Ravenglass area which is quite lovely, but nowhere nowhere did I find any newbies in need of help. I browsed SL for about 3 hours doing this and wondered, where ARE they??? Finally gave up.....I wasn't wearing any group tag, just exploring SL and looking for somebody in need of help. Didn't check Zindra though, is that where they are?

Where are the newbies?

Good question. I see a few in the free sex areas with high traffic counts. Try "Free Sex Land!" and "Neva Naughty's". But even there, most of the people have SOME experience.

A lot come through the help areas and gateways. Oxbridge is the one I know best, and there's almost always a few there. Help People Institute often had scads of them there, the last time I visited.

The places touting "Free Lindens!" are noob magnets. But the people you find there tend not to listen. They are suckers, and they are determined to be fleeced.

You can have better luck at the freebie places. People come here for bargains, but not looking for a free fortune.

Some find their way to Help Island Public or Orientation Island Public (the old, old OI design) through landmarks in their Library. HIP in particular is mobbed, not only with new people, but with crowds of older residents seeking answers to questions, or just wanting to socialize.

I bet more and more, newbies will start to fill up the Help Islands. I wonder what LL will do when they're all full of confused, frustrated newbies? Send them a helpful message, I bet..."The region you are attempting to access is full. You have been moved into a nearby region"...and dumping them in Waterhead and Aherne.

Didn't Marianne say that they are piling up in Bay City?

Some find their way to Help Island Public or Orientation Island Public (the old, old OI design) through landmarks in their Library. HIP in particular is mobbed, not only with new people, but with crowds of older residents seeking answers to questions, or just wanting to socialize.

or stiring up s*** and pushing newbies around

Mentoring? I just give them some land marks, free things like huds, shoes, clothes, i.e. everything they need to de-newb their appearance and answer any questions they might have.

Easiest way to spot them? Work security where part of your job is to check their profiles. Otherwise, just hang around starting areas.

What more do they need?

I was part of the mentor group on both accounts. Best years were before 2006 mentor wise. This is a classic example of LL being quite lazy. They allowed tons of people the ability to become a mentor, which created the flood in terms of the bad element and drama starting individuals in the group, then LL abandoned ship when things got bad enough instead of enforcing policies and rules, and actually attempting to resolve the conflicts within the group.

Oh well, which is exactly what I said when I found out I was no longer an Instructor, when they abandoned that group, as well as Live Help (RIP).

I see that a lot in the Welcome Areas, but not often on Help Island Public.

They did indeed make it easy to become a Mentor. I do not believe, though, that the "bad element" is what caused them to "abandon ship". I was a mentor in the 2008 time frame, part of the "flood"...and I found nearly all of my Mentor colleagues to be dedicated, knowledgeable, and helpful. The things that caused the most "conflicts" were things LL themselves did. Poor communication, cutting about a third of the Mentor staff through use of a poorly-advertised "recertification" program, failure to follow through on promised changes to the "first hour experience", and so on.

The Mentors themselves produced most of the program's achievements, including tha "Help Island HUD" which would show you which locations needed your presence the most. LL abandoned the program because even though volunteers were doing most of the work, it still required SOME Linden oversight, and any time spent dealing with those cantankerous Residents is just too much.

/me checked it out last night. It's very nice! Seems like it'd be pretty helpful to the new folks.

I expect I shall be spending more time there.

Nice, the account I wanted to use for mentoring was not old enough when I went to apply. Because LL in their infinite wisdom do not link accounts I used my older one. Then they shut down new applications after that.

Well throwing freebies at them can be helpful but too often the newest of noobs have no clue where to find what you sent or how to open it or even if they should choose Keep or Decline from that little blue box at the top corner of their screen. Not all noobs are proficient at English either and that was one resource that will be missed, being able to call upon a Portuguese, Arab, French, Italian. ect Mentor for assistance.
I was able to keep one of my Mentor alts on a HI and I do know of a few others who have created alts to stay at the HI’s to help too. Things have picked up at Languagelab so I can get my regular fill of helping there.
What’s crazy is we are coming up on the busiest time of the year in Second Life when the number of residents seems to always sore and the Help Islands are already seeing more traffic. There has to be some agenda yet to be seen that required the group be closed when it was ….. right?
(crickets)

Maybe they want to push traffic at SL Answers.

I agree that just handing newbies stuff isn't enough. Some people don't need any help at all, but I think most people get stuck on SOMETHING. And if they can't get over it, they leave. It might be "why is a box stuck on my arm" or "how do I go someplace else" or "where did my hair go" ...

But I think the main thing is, they need a contact. They need to meet someone who is sympathetic, at least to some extent, so they can feel like there are PEOPLE in here.

yeah ive seen some of the traffic that comes through SL Answers
… more like a drive by shooting

True, but I think that's what they want. SL Answers is like a fast food place with no tables or seats. You ask a question, get one "correct" answer and two "helpful" answers and you're out of there.

Right now people on the HIs only have a sign with a link on it ('the green mentor'). It looks just like any other sign there. It was not until I was sent a picture of it that I even was able to find it and I am hardly a new resident! The sign has a touch handler, it does not respond to something obvious, like someone saying 'help'.

kind of like the Forums