Call for Mentor Help - Post-Orientation Experiment

As you may already have heard, we are currently running an experiment on Orientation Island where we offer four different experiences for entering Second Life. Two of those options are on Linden land and two are resident created. These four options will be available for 7 days, and we'll be tracking the percentage of newcomers who choose each option, and whether they decide to stay. Read more about the project here.

The four locations (addresses below) have various levels of staffing and this is where you come in – I’d like to request, if you have time over the next week, that you stop by these locations and welcome the new Residents to Second Life, assist them on their way, etc. The options will be rotating, with other locations switching in as the experiment progresses, I will keep you informed of the changes via this forum.


Thank you for all of your volunteer assistance! Please let me know if you have any questions.

The locations of the post-Orientation Island experience have changed again. Please if you have time, stop by these locations and welcome the new Residents to Second Life, assist them on their way, etc.

Locations Are:
Welcome Area, (Ahern)
Luskwood, (Lusk 186, 89)
Belle Feu Nouveau, (Olive 223, 231)
Cordova Sandbox, (Cordova 123, 123)

Thanks Jeska for the updated locatoins:


Welcome Area, (Ahern)
Luskwood, (Lusk 186, 89)
Belle Feu Nouveau, (Olive 223, 231)
Cordova Sandbox, (Cordova 123, 123)

Interesting -- no more Shelter?

I wonder why?

It's hard to get statistics on which places are better than others, if you don't cycle them around. It's a rotation system after all.

From the inception the locations were to rotate - and they have.

Yeah, I knew that, for some reason the thought had exited from my head.

Well, hopefully they'll get around back to The Shelter at some point; everyone seemed so excited that newbies were going to show up there.

Well, wherever they turn up, we have to find them, and help them.

I'm not sure how successful tracking whether they stay or not, if they start alone and lost without a soul to help them, is going to be Jeska. I was called to the Abbotts Aerodrome location just two days ago by a desparate newbie, who was completely lost and befuddled, as well as totally alone, but he did figure out how to call Live Help. (His Greeter was offline when he came in...and yes, I know, it happens.) I stayed with him and tried to help, but wasn't able to stay long (RL stuck its nose in...sigh) and he refused to let me get him another Greeter.

The point I'm trying to make here is that these new locations aren't much good if no one is at them to help. Are we going to lose potential new residents because its all too complicated to figure out?

Posting the locations here is a good start, because I KNOW that if Mentors know where to go...they will be there! Notecards in world perhaps? More notice to Mentors on the location changes? The email hotline is another good idea btw...and thanks for that too.

Keep up the good work Jeska, just don't put too much into them not staying if they have no one to lead them.

Seconded. Just as The Shelter had staffed up to handle the influx, poof, there goes the rotation. I understand the principle of fairness intended by the cycling, but the rate is too rapid to generate useful data, let alone increase retention.

I have no connection with The Shelter but did observe quite a lot of good being done. Put another way, my exposure to The Shelter showed me that it was astronomically more welcoming than the Welcome Area.

Could I suggest that Greeters get the new residents' cards beside the ubiquous IM (like it happens right now everytime a new user refers you)? That way, we could track them easily on the Map (and we could always tell them to discard the card after we're finished with them).

(BTW, this is being posted in the wrong group I know that! But the whole thread is a mix of Greeter/Mentor questions)

I also want to throw in a suggestion here.... Last night I was working with a new resident who felt "overwhelmed and all alone here". She was afraid to go and explore because the last time she did, she got lost and when "teleport home" returned her to her spawning area in Lusk, it made matters worse.

The rotating spawning area one is worth further invenstigation, but I strongly suggest that "home" continue to be set to the WA for those who spawn elsewhere. It is just too confusing for some of our new residents when their "home" is set to a place that they chose in a moment of impulse.

Yep, the Shelter is no longer a Welcome Area. Completely fine - Lusk & Belle Feu are great establishments that deserve a chance to try & give new folks a good experience as well.

I wish them all the best of luck with this, and if I can help at all from our own experiences at the Shelter, I'm happy to do so

This doesn't change anything for us at the Shelter, however. We'll still be greeting & helping new folks when they come our way, just like before. They just wont be coming to us directly now, and we don't have the convienience of the hub. So - we'll just work harder We survived before on word of mouth, and I don't see that changing.

Thanks to everyone who came by and helped us out. Especially those of you who had paid us a visit for the first time because of this experiment. The fact that you visited us, and came back - is the best compliment I could possibly receive

Lets hope this experiment continues to be a success!

Same deal here. Really it's been great in Luskwood, getting people started off in SL like this and being able to show them our vision for SL.

I do hpe this program expands into the future. It's been positive, not only for the newbies, but it's shown me how many promising new users there are now. I'm surprised at how many great new people we have coming in.

Why not have more places offered as choices at OI, why not have 20 or 30 places right now?

A lot of them are probably already starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the time they get to the end of OI. It would also spread our helper resources pretty thin. We've already had some trouble providing coverage to all the new entry points.

Well like the song "Elementalelectrofunk" I think it's because it's still very experimental and maybe it'll be increased if there's a smoother way to do it in the future but it's like coming along and stuff.

I'm a newbie and am definately feeling quite overwhelmed... I've been seaching for my Greeter and unfortunately have not been able to locate him or find another that is available. I've definately met great people along the way that have helped me tremendously, but I want my greeter, lol... If there is any way that I can perhaps find another one, please, please PLEASE, let me know!

Lucci Cinquetti

I have a question: How are you rotating? Are you giving hosts advance notice so they can properly contact helpers and staff their locations? I'd sure would be sad if I'm out tormenting Gurgon when the post came out and neither YadNi or I checked the forums that day. I don't want the newbies coming to our location already bewildered and have us not be there. OUCH!

Many of us, who offered to host, are dedicated game players and truly want to help the newcomers by showing them a possitive first experience, teach them and help them on their way to other learnings, explorations and experiences of their own liking/choosing. All of us, as hosts, do this because we want to, because we care for the individual newbie and because we remember what it was like to be one.

When we communicate, co-operate amongst ourselves and offer ideas, thoughs and possible solutions to LL and then they have these ideas tested then making the necessary adjustmetnts and eventually implementing the best... this game will keep its newcomers.