We need more Greeters/Mentors

I am unaware who to direct this too and I didn't want to "Hotline" it so here I am.

With the population growing by about a thousand every 2 days, it seems to me that we need a LOT more Mentors and Greeters. I know of many people who say they have applied and are still waiting. In my opinion this should be a TOP PRIORITY given the massive influx of people we have experienced since the basic membership went free.

In a recent meeting with Robin and Philip it was stated that the MAIN REASON given by brand new residents for the reason they remained in SL was they "made a friend." I believe Philip when he says this is one of the most important things to him (converting basic members to premium and keeping them a part of the community) and I think this issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Thank You!

agreed 100%. i applied a while ago, and guess what...still waiting.

Exellent points, Rick. I'd also suggest that any future plans for SL Mentors involve a meeting (or several) so that Mentors are all on the same page, helping one another help newcomers.

Thanks again,
N.

Totally agree. I've been wondering if there should be a meeting (yeah yeah, yawn, I know ANOTHER meeeting) bringing together all 3 groups, the greeters, live helpers and mentors, and maybe trying to assess what is lacking or needed.

Totally agree

I volunteered to help out on the help desk a while back

Being a scripter and a builder I felt I had something to offer - also being on european time I thought might raise an eye and get a mention ( whenever I ask a question it is 2am PST - and there have been times when no-one is there )

But no - nothing for months.

Now I am going back to full time work (RL) and wont be around much - so I think it is sorry Linden you missed out on a chance.

Rick more mentors?! have you seen the amount we have already!! We have alot as it is. as for greeters again you have no real understand the position of this job. Gesh just because you talked to phil does that make you a expert onwhats going on in the game. Anyone can come here and go bla bla and say this. Please in all fairness rick stop blowing your own horn. I smell a fix in the game............Drama drama drama

The number of mentors in the group does not well reflect the amount of time they are tagged up and active. There are a few hardore devotees and a lot who probably never tag up; I've also seen mentors tagged up and hanging and just playing. So Rick is likely correct. Neither would I take his citation of Philip to be grandstanding or self-aggrandizement as I've watched Rick in action and he does demonstrate altruistic conduct and quite a bit of it. Had I not left mentor a year ago as I was no longer discharging the duties of the post, I'd likely still be in mentor too.

I agree that there need be more support for newbies. I also know that marshalling volunteers is indeed hard work. Unfortunately, as only a Linden can make a Mentor, Live Helper, or Greeter, I don't know that there is much the players can do about it.

Just so you don't think I'm picking sides, Usagi, I know you too to be a dedicated and concerned volunteer.

Knowing you from many of experiences with LH and mentoring I can say you are fair in your judgement. But resently there been alot of grandstanding regarding rick`s way of blowing his own horn and he is to lead the way for us. Who is this guy and why all of the sudden does people "THINK" he in the same bad with LL. Something does not smells right this. I beak my butt for months doing what i feel is what is expected of me as a mentor and greeter. Then all of the sudden this guy comes in a makes pitches as he is leading us into battle. This is not flaming(its not my style). But having he Brag he has this card and that card and says "I SPOKE With Philip" really give he a pain in my rabbit tail. We are in the mentors and greeterand LH with helping members make their happy way in sl. But This guy and his style just does not seem natural. I seen this game progress from my time almost one year。So i have some REAL understand how this game does inter spaces works. I am not the greatest mentor and greeter but atleast i don`t go around making remarks like this. Anyone can say they done this and that without going in to battles. But I been throught them and lived to talk about them. The is a game not a race to know everything in the shortest period of time like some Bang Bang Shoot them up game that says "GAME OVER". This game is is a never ending bliss of grace and charm. Not a race to the end.

I cannot speak for Rick, but I will note that there have been many instances where players have endeavored to remedy the failure of "official" attention to the problems of burgeoning immigration to SL. Awakening Avatars, The Shelter, and New Citizens, Inc. come to mind; my apologies if I have not been aware of similar groups with similar agrenda.

I've seen these three groups in operation and never once have I gotten the impression that they wanted to do anything other than help newbies. I've also never gotten the impression that anyone wanted to replace the Linden annointed volunteers, merely help also. In fact, if memory serves, while The Shelter was a newbie entry point Travis or Rick had specifically solicited the aid of Mentors who were used to being in the Welcome Area, and so were "missing" quite a lot of new players at the The Shelter.

I just don't see it as a contest, merely an adjunct. Speaking for myself, I'm as likely to help someone whether I am wearing a Linden tag or no tag. I also note that had the legendary Viola Bach not greeted me upon entry to SL my experience might be totally altered; I have no idea if Vi had a group affiliation, she was simply caring and kind.

Wow I can't even imagine where this came from or why. I am not a mentor or greeter but have considered applying and have on occasion been lucky enuf to 'stumble into' a greeter/tour guide role and it was very satisfying. I can't crawl inside UR head and see how U saw Rick's post, but the few times I have encountered him IN world and on the forums I have not seen him as the type of person to 'blow his own horn'. I certainly hope UR not looking at his join date and assuming such from that.

Wowwy. Well first of all I would like to thank Jeska who Sunday welcomed many new Mentors and Greeters into the program, myself included. I spent a few hours in the Welcome Area last night and it seems this new group of volunteers were eager and ready to help where they can. (waves hi to Persephone)

I agree that more mentors and greeters is not an automatic solution to helping more new players adjust to SL, but it certainly cannot hurt.

I would hope that you would re-read my post Usagi. I did not say that I spoke with Phillip, it clearly says, " In a recent meeting with Robin and Philip..." This was a meeting on behalf of The RAC and I was just in attendance. The topic of how rotating the New Resident Welcome Areas worked was brought up and there is a transcript located here: /120/5d/61206/1.html#post640455

Umm...I'll become a Greeter again when the Lindens fix the system...It's no fun wasting time waiting for the newcomer to log in.

I didn't find Rick's post to be grandstanding in the least. So far, he's spent a great deal of his time attempting to be an asset to the community - and for that, he should be commended - not attacked.

There are serious flaws in the system, agreed. But providing the selection process is sound, I can't see how adding more people to help could be a bad thing.

First, please don't personally attack those you don't agree with.

Second, as is mentioned on the Volunteer management page (https://secondlife.com/account/volunteer_account.php ), we add Live Helpers as needed, and you may be approved and placed in the "waiting pool" to join the team at any time. This means that we will only add more Live Helpers as they are needed and you will not be invited into the group until that time. The Live Help group is purposefully not as large as the other volunteer groups. We have been adding Mentors, Greeters and Instructors as they apply, often with a 1-3 week delay between application and inotification.

Someone report me a flame report? I am the last person in the world to flame people. I just speak my mind.

No, you flame people. Go away.

Ok travis there are problem stops in the lh thats for sure. The mentors well their are a few as well. Greeters we are still working out the bugs and it takes time. But adding more staff to these areas not including LH in this problem is the wrong thing to do. Why? because you adding bodies for money in this probem with no problem fix at all.

I've got to agree with Rick on a point. Between 2am and 7am SLT (weekdays), there's a shortage of operational Mentors and Live Help. Doug is a happy exception to that rule, but not there for the whole period, or swamped with LH IM sessions (It's amazing he's so cool through it all). Fortunately there are a bunch of the rest of us trying to fill that gap - just not always as successfully as we might. And it's good to see the new Mentors. I've just met a few of you popping around the grid, getting your kits and landmarks together for duty. Great to see.

And yeah, the influx has been crazy nuts. I'm not around during 'regular hours' so I don't see so many of our annointed volunteers at work. I'm sure they're doing a great job. It's that 2am-7am SLT timeslot where we have Ozlanders, New Zealanders, Asians and Europeans appearing on the grid where I really appreciate all the help I can get. Hard to give things that personal touch when you're trying to put three new residents at once at ease. Or five.

This is my time zone. Since I am in Japan. I had my share of mass amounts greeter time. as for Live Help i never had any problems. Besides contact a linden if you need ER for you needs.

I'm one of the few Mentors that actually spends any time in WA and also think it is way understaffed. The Mentor group is vast, but I rarely see more than 10 or so regularly at the WA, why are all those people still in the group? Being a Mentor should come with an implicit understanding that you are volunteering to spend at least 2 hours in the WA a week.

I also keep my Greeter status deactivated until such time that newbies can click on a sign in the WA to request a Greeter right then, not select one during sign up and maybe show up in an hour, if at all. What I would like to see:

1) Last stop before you teleport in-world for the first time - a big sign that says "If you need help, find a Greeter, Mentor or Live Help" maybe with a nice graphic of someone with their Greeter tag active and one with a Mentor tag active.

2) Kiosk in-world for Greeter request and Mentor request. Let people sign in and out to cover shifts like Live Help.

3) Instructor group is also huge. There are enough instructors that we should be able to hold a beginning building class at the Morris Sandbox every hour, on the hour, for approx 15 minutes to teach the basics. Post big signs at the WA and the Sandbox so people know...

4) Please, for the love of all that is sacred, nix the ability to play audio clips at the WA.


On a final note, we have enough to deal with without Mentors attacking other Mentors. We are all on the same team here, folks. Anyone with fresh ideas is welcome at the table.

I am doing so much in world mentoring i don`t have time to get to the wa as much as i did before. spend 2 hours a week there? where is this written?As for the Other mentors well who heck knows. I am all for not having sound files played in the wa. Remeber many like the Mentor titles because its just another title to them. I don`t know i do more then my share of mentoring and greeting during my game time. As for mentor attacking mentor Rick is not a mentor nor is a flame.

i'm a new mentor, and have tried going to the welcome area a few times. on those occassions, all i saw were a bunch of people hanging out talking amongst themselves. on several occassions i saw newbies rez, try to ask questions, and were ignored because the people were too caught up in their own conversations. i don't know if these people were mentors or greeters, since they didn't have that group activated, but i'm assuming they were since they were not newbies. again, i'm new at this, so it could be that this doesn't happen on a regular basis, but somehow i don't think that's the case.

perhaps there should be more clear-cut stations that newbies can go to with questions. go here for mentors, go here for help with building, etc. i know there is a "help" area designed to help newbies in this manner. but i don't think 1/2 of them find it, or know to even look for it. if i'm walking into a new world, am bombarded with people who basically ignore me, i'm probably not going to feel very welcome.

question for other mentors...do you generally hang out in the welcome area? if so, do you approach newbies or wait for them to approach you?

Hey Anya, welcome to Mentoring

The best thing to do at the WA is to hang out inside the Information Pavilion and wait for new residents to rez. When they arrive, say hello and ask if they have any questions. Some of them will just walk off any ignore you because they aren't quite sure what they've signed up for in SL and have experienced predators when starting in other worlds/games. The best thing to do is just let them know that you are available if they need help or have questions.

You will be a happier Mentor if you stay away from the fountain area in the center. There are a number of people who hang out there just because it is a high traffic location. Some of those people are helpful and nice, some are there to make trouble and be jerks for an audience, and a few are there specifially to mess with newbies. Your wisest course of action is to ignore them and not get involved in their drama. If you see things gettting out of hand, IM whichever Liason is online and request adult supervision.

Feel free to IM newbies you see wandering around to say hello and let them know you are available if they have any questions. Remind naked newbies who have lost their clothes that the WA is a PG area and they need to be dressed then send them some clothes.

Staying inside the buildngs is easier since you are out of chat range from the mob in middle and you can converse quietly with those needing help.

Newbie spawning seems to go in waves. 15 minutes may go by with no newbies and then 6 of them may rez within two minutes, so you will go through times of being a little bored (sort inventory ) and times when you have 2 chat conversations and 3 IMs going.

I have suggested a number of times that there should be a Mentor/Greeter "lounge" in the Information pavilion where one is almost always assured of finding someone to help. Someday we might hope that LL will realize that new resident retention starts with the first hours in world and specifically the WA.

If you find me in-word, I have Welcome Kits for newbies that I will give you copies of

The Welcome Area has a few structural problems. As it is the default home for all new accounts, many players do not choose to home themselves elsewere, or are unable to, or are unaware that they can. The WA is also one of the few "public" spaces provided by LL and is certainly the best known; this has turned the WA into a "squatter camp" for players who have found nowhere else they prefer to hang.

As a squatter camp full of players trying to out-goof each other, the WA makes a terribly confusing entry point for new arrivals.

I have some concrete ideas as to what could be done to help reduce this issue and make the Welcome Area more welcoming:

1. Linden Lab could provide alternate public spaces
   
2. Linden Lab could rehome players older than say, a week, or some number of logins, to somewhere else
   

To my eye, the WA "squatters" aren't particularly interested in showing off for new arrivals, just each other, so I don't think these changes would compromise their "game"; that is the squatters are there by "accident" more than active choice. If someone was re-homed elsewhere they could always choose to travel to the WA.

When I hang in the WA, I will sit with my LH tag on to "adverstise" that there is someone there to help. I will occasionally welcome a new arrival with "Welcome, X. Let me know if you have any questions". In my experience, anything more tends to confuse or intimidate new arrivals.

Interesting idea but what our problem or advantage i always see is idiots like me who always squat at the welecome area just sittin around chatting! Weather or not there mentors around, reugular players help out just as much, if not more! U will never see me as a mentor, but ive helped out many newbs just with simple questions, getting started and just having fun! Of course as many of you seen meh, just playing gestures and laughing with pplz at the WA. We all meet&greet around there, so just have fun, and relax! There's a list of dozens who wanna be in each group, the lindens know what there doing <for the most part> so just worry when the world blows up, and were all left with a disease known as SL addiction.