:-( removed from the group

Can anyone help me with this, please?

I received this message:

"Dear Aischa Akina,
your submission in the Mentor Directory has been removed.
This may be because you have submitted a new listing, or because you have
requested its
removal.
You've been removed from the Second Life Mentor group"

from this adress: [email]no-reply@lists.lindenlab.com[/email]

I am german, not native english-speaking, so sometimes i miss some information between the lines, but for sure I did not submit no new listing, nor did i request my removal.

So what has happened? From my point of view I have been doing a quiet but sufficient mentor's job, why this now? I feel terribly disappointed.

Is there anything to be done?

You missed the questionnaire. It was announced in the group a while back and was on the blog. http://vteamblog.com/2008/08/26/second-life-mentor-membership-renewal/

Well, as Second Life Mentor applications are closed, I guess that's : Good bye

What a shame. I hate seeing folk in this situation. Some cynics will probably come on and say things like 'Mentors should read all notices rah rah rah rah', but given how infrequent notices can come through, I think it's a real shame that someone who obviously wanted to be part of the system has been let down by it.

My advice Aischa: keep helping whoever you can, whenever you can. I got booted out the Mentor group a while back for similar reasons, but it hasn't stopped me helping anyone who asks for it.

I recieved no notification from the Mentors group about this, and I know a lot of other mentors who also heard nothing about it. For something that was supposedly "well-publicised" there are an awful lot of good mentors who are now lost because they just didn't know.

You can always join the Newbie Helpers group, and simply continue the job.
I don't know if mentors get any pay at all though.

Second Life Mentors is purely a volunteer group. So, no pay. (^_^)

And, yea, there are a billion and one ways to be helpful without the silly tag. (^_^)y

It is not about the tag. Volunteering is not all about walking around with a fancy titles. People choose the causes they support and the extra-curricular activities they dedicate their time to.

I started out in 2005 as a Greeter - when that program was in its infancy. Once they decided to get rid of the Instructor and Greeter group we were asked to put in tickets to get the Mentor Tags. Many of us went through that process. To be thrown out of the volunteer group completely because of an technicality is just something you do not do to volunteers.

Using a poorly advertised made-up procedure to 'thin the heard' is an outrageous act. I never thought that they could possibly manage 3000 volunteers. But it became a group of 3000 because they mixed the greeters and the instructors with the Mentors.

And now they have decided to re-instate the Greeter group once again. Why not just make the old Greeters into Greeters again - while moving the old instructors into the Mentor Educators group? That would put everyone back where they were in 2006 and keep everyone happy.

*coughs*

Don't leave out Live Helpers . Mentors never was a good fit for a lot of (ex-)helpers.

I agree that being a Mentor has nothing to do with the tag, which is why in all practical terms, I don't really ever wear the tag. I was helpful without it before... I'm helpful without it now. The difference is information. (^_^)

What I do is use the group and the access it allows me as a resource. Because of this, it looks to me that the questionnaire was hardly "poorly advertised"... I have an Email history that shows at least 2 instances when it showed up in group announcements. And mentions of it can be found in office hour minutes, blogs, wikis, and such. If that was "hardly advertised", I'd like to see what more could have been done. (=_=)

As a mentor, I find it to be my place to be as informed, accurate, and knowledgeable as possible. And, when I reach the point where I don't know something, I must use the tools supplied to me to gather this knowledge as a learning process for both myself and whoever I'm helping. I achieve this by taking time to stop and read the blogs, announcements, updates, group chat, attend office hours and meetings, and generally paying attention. (^_^)

If anything... The good Mentors that have been removed from the group due to the questionnaire have proven that they can be perfectly fine helpers without access to these resources. Might I suggest they start another help group, join an already existing resident help group (NCI? =^-^= ), or something of that sort? Or... Was it really actually just about the tag? (=_=)y

I just received my "You're kicked out" notice yesterday. I have spent almost two years as a mentor, never received a notification, and suddenly I am just dropped by the wayside.
Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

I have to be honest; I am feeling pretty angry about this. Big whoop, it was a tag. But it gave you legitimacy when you instructed other people. It smoothed the way for offering assistance. But mainly it was the impersonal and unprofessional way in which this has been done that has upset me.
The lindens will come to regret this decision. No doubt it was "trimming the fat" or "Culling the herd" or whatever analogy they want to give it. But they have lost a lot of good people, and more importantly a HUGE amount of experience.

If any of you lindens even bother reading these posts anymore, I would love to hear your take on things.

I disagree.

1) Mentors are hardly regarded as legitimate helpers by a large number of residents. Particularly the crowds that hang around the welcome areas. Why do you think the "How do we defend ourselves" thread exists?

2) The majority of first timers I meet and help have to be told what a "Mentor" is.

I'm usually in some odd or humorous tag unless I need to take advantage of land privileges. I "smooth the way" by starting with a greeting and asking the person in a friendly way if they're enjoying their experience so far. From that point on, I more often than not get a stream of questions and requests. (^_^)

If you feel as though you ~NEED~ the tag in order to be helpful, I think it would be best that you revisit your methods of being helpful and find a way to be your best without labeling yourself. (^_^)y

First off, this entire process was not necessary - or had any pressing urgency at all. It was by some whim of the Lindens in charge of the volunteer group. If they wanted the mentor group to be trimmed down - then they should have let the Greeters become greeters again and make the instructors Instructor Mentors - as it was in 2006. That is a more 'user-friendly' way to thin the heard. This way was very distasteful and could be fixed by contacting each Mentor and making sure everyone is informed.

You have e-mails concerning this- I have all of my e-mails from the mentor group from 2007 and 2008 - none mention this. Of course - offline messages get capped at 100 - so this is one of the most unreliable ways to communicate with a large group.


We are expected to pshyically knwo we are missing out on information. I - like hundreds of others - felt "informed, accurate, and knowledgeable as possible". Perhaps Linden Lab should have tested this mode of communication by sending out a benign 'role call' and see how many responded. That would have been more responsible than using a unreliable communication method to thin out the group.

Rubbish. If you had been caught out because of this 'process' I am sure you would have been whistling a different tune. I do not understand why anyone would take the time to justify a procedure that hurt so many innocent, giving people.

Try to understand - people join a group for long lengths of time and begin to be identified by being a member of that group. To be banned or discarded in such a manner from ANY group is very upsetting and completely unfair. Our service provider should be more sensitive to the social dynamics of group affiliations.

I can't word it any better than this... So I'm stealing lines from Toy on the other thread:::
Though... It is a privilege to be in the group after all. Being a Mentor a great recourse for getting the latest and most pertinent information needed to introduce a new resident in to this wild and woolly little slice of the internet. But, that's just it. Information, education, research, and as shown now, quizzing and testing is needed to prevent the organization from going stale. (=_=)

I mean... Knowing the history of the Jessie Wars is fun and entertaining trivia, but knowing that the library avatars were going to be replaced a month before it actually went through is far more productive information to have when it comes to helping new residents. (^_^)y

In all this, I haven't seen a single Linden posting at the situation. I have been kicked from Mentors group too. Yes, a tag is a tag, but I enjoyed showing to others that I was a faithful community helper and was proud to be a mentor to others.

I have been a mentor for years and even own The Free Dove where I have been helping a lot.

This is sad that they do this to us.

I didn't see anything coming my way to fill out.

SO now we know why Toy is not a professional Volunteer Coordinator. Volunteers are to be treated with the utmost respect. They are resources. Even though my boss pays me to work - I get recognition and privilidge for being on the job for a extended amount of time. It is called 'positive reinforcement'. No one has ever told me 'you did'nt get the e-mail' and cut me loose. Ever.
Utter nonsense. Rezzing a prim has not changed. Nor has finding the Free Dove, changing my clothes or adjusting volumes. When these activities 'go stale' then Linden Lab will close up from lack of participation.

Many of usl read the Second Life Blog - so we know that the avatars were updated. I think you are assuming because we weren't informed of this change and you happen to know - that you are much more knowledgeable than the ones that were kicked out. Again, utter nonsense.

I find it strange that ex-mentors now claim they knew nothing of this and me not a mentor heard obout it several times.

I dont need to be a so-called proffesional to know what is right, I did my time as a mentor, SL Instructor and Live Helper. NowI enjoy helping NCI, which I have done since it started. So please dont attempt to lecture me. TY

And now we can clearly see the absurdity of this 'process'. Free Dove is one of the biggest Mentor resources available to us. This Mentor may not know that there were new avatars in the library - but her contribution to Second Life has been enormous. To put a bad taste in the mouth of Mentors who have contributed so much just because their IMs were capped is just so ridiculous.

As I said before: Someone is going through all 3000 Mentor names in the group and sending INDIVIDUAL E-MAILS to the hundreds (if not thousands) of Mentors that did not know to respond. The same e-mail could be sent and include a link to the place where they could have a last chance to sign in. Or just click a link and be re-certified.

Again, we have no need to get together and lie about being informed. Really.

When the owner of Free Dove is kicked out of the Mentor group - something has gone very wrong. If you do not see that then your right and we are wrong. But since your not the injured party here - I guess it does not really matter.

what can I say? I certainly wont appologize for my opinion. I will always poost my opinions wether they are popular or not. Me not being a mentor now doesnt negate my opinion.

Well, I am not going to fight this because then some will start saying it is my fault for my IM's to be capped and not receiving everything and others "do" receive everything. But well..

I enjoy having the Free Dove and help.

I am and will be a mentor at heart.

All I know is that I DID NOT see whatever you all talking about. I just see that some of us have not be lucky enough because we got kicked of the group.

It lasted a while, but I guess now I have a free group space for something else.

What a shame.

Odd how all of us who have been in the program for a while seemed to be the one's who somehow didn't get the memo. Just a trend I am noticing.

Mmm, what can you NOT say? You were not impacted by this decision, nor do you have any stake in arguing for or against it. In essence you are simply posting for the sake of argument, and you're not being helpful. I am only interested in relevant opinions.

Imnotgoing, I am not sure where you are hanging out hun. My tag has rarely failed to impress upon someone I am assisting that I am a legitimate and sanctioned knowledge base who might actually know what I am talking about. It is the difference between joe off the street offering first aid, or having the Red Cross provide the assistance.
Also the term "Mentor" is pretty well standard in the English language, as far as I know. The first day I ever rezzed into SL I had no trouble figuring out that the nice looking avatars in the middle of the Island with special words in front of their names probably were the guys to talk to. This has proved true for me as well, though I do throw an "IM ME FOR HELP" sign above my head for good measure.
I am so glad you feel it necessary to explain to me why your methodology is superior to mine. However, you're deluded so keep that kind of opinion to yourself. You just come off narcissistic.
And please don't spout out that double speak nonsense about volunteering being a "privilege". That is crap; having me work for free at something they would have to hire someone for otherwise is THEIR privilege, not mine.
Cheers.