As most of you know, we have been working on this program for quite some time. Finally, we are ready and rolling and very excited about this opportunity to be of some help to someone who is newer to gliders or who wants one specific person to go to for advice or encouragement.

Please take a moment to read our introductory post and to familiarize yourself with the program. If you like what you see, please recommend it to new people or to those looking for a little extra support.

Introductory post can be found here:
http://thesweetspot.forumotion.net/rules-why-and-board-orientation-f38/welcome-to-the-sweet-spot-t577.htm#4880


Some background information:

Last February, at the SUGAR Group’s RRRoundup, we asked a group of interested owners, friends and staff to sit down over dinner and discuss “newbie issues.” I specifically asked a few people who were new to FORUMS (and don’t even have gliders), a few people who are new to gliders, and a few who had been glider owners for many years to participate. This group was one of 3 different “discussion groups” during this dinner and was open to anyone else that wanted to participate. This was the largest group, in terms of participation, by far.

From this discussion came many issues that some of us may not think of or remember from when we were newbies. Issues were discussed about feeling lost on the forums (not understanding terms or how to navigate the forum), feeling “left out” of discussions that are not at all about gliders, and feeling scared or embarrassed to ask questions in open forum. Many concerns and issues were shared and discussed. It became clear that we could maybe do a better job at helping "newbies" integrate into the community, make sense of sometimes conflicting information and learn to navigate the forums easily.


This is a LOT for a newcomer to have to process. So, I wondered if there was a way to make things easier, to get good information into their hands and to address all their “feeling” statements by showing them that we understand and that those feelings are important and valid.

Thus was born the idea of this mentor program. So, that’s how we got started.

Each of our mentors are here because they are passionate about helping newcomers. They are committed to their volunteer position and to TSS. Our mentors have a code of conduct and rules that they must abide by. Mentors are supervised by TSS Staff.

Mentors are easily identified by their purple names and by the title of "mentor" under their screen name.

awesome! saved it to favorites ! Thanks for all your hard work Val!!! I have been trying to get myself more familair with the forum. There is just so much!!!! Also thank You so much for the opportunity to mentor here. The one thing that could mess me up is my computer skills (or lack thereof) and bad habits....................................like that..............I keep finding myself backspacing those dots all the time. OK enough fooling around! Again, Thank You!!

What an awesome idea!

Awesome idea but how do you get selected to be a mentor? Do you just volunteer or are you nominated?

LOL...and me being a "trained observer" should have noted that! Thanks!!

My eyes skipped right over that part. Oops. :)

Can you get a mentor if you do not have suggies yet? Could sure use some help.

LOL. Yes. Our mentors are available to help anyone who would like a 1:1 person to go to with questions or concerns.

If you would like a mentor, hit that little button that says "PM" under this post and send me a "private message" telling me you would like one. Easy as that to get started. :)

I would love a mentor - sign me up. I spoke with Val yesterday and she answered so many questions for me.

Look for a message in your inbox soon. ;)

I really love this idea, every forum should have it.

I hope that one day I will learn to navigate this forum enough that I will be able to mentor but I also hope that my Luna's over-grooming is enough of a health issue because I don't want to experience worst with my ladies!! :]

wellll shadow sent me here to get a mentor lol. Im thinking about breeding my joey (currently 5 months old) in about 6 months to a year. He is alone right now but i have another glider in the room...they just dont get along because they are both non neutered males and one is 9 months old (soon the adult is to be neutered)

so i figured i should round up some info first...then figure out how im going to pick a girly... and such!