Interested in becoming a Bellisseria Mentor?

[Mini Mole]

Are you passionate about helping others and knowledgeable about the Bellisseria Community? Join our volunteer team as a Bellisseria Mentor. Share your expertise, guide residents, and enhance their Second Life experience. Be part of a supportive community. Apply today and make a difference!

Application Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfwGikQLbOWDGVGQq9jtvNd1mVh42d6aIV9Z4nTtZfsQd5tBw/viewform

Update:  The Bellisseria Mentors volunteer program, established in June 2023, is a dedicated team of Bellisseria - Second Life residents passionate about assisting fellow residents with their inquiries about the Bellisseria community and Linden Homes. Our mentors are well-trained, having attended various offered classes, ensuring they provide accurate and helpful information to those seeking assistance.

We periodically open application submissions for individuals interested in volunteering their time and contributing to our community. Applications are currently open for a limited time. If you are enthusiastic about helping others and wish to join our friendly team, we encourage you to apply.

Edited November 16 by Mini Mole

[belindacarson]

It's a bit cheeky to be asking people to volunteer since the lab just cut staff and cut support hours down even lower.

[Annie Evergreen]

This is why I don't use self checkout at the grocery store.

[Nika Talaj]

3 hours ago, belindacarson said:

It's a bit cheeky to be asking people to volunteer since the lab just cut staff and cut support hours down even lower.

Cheeky it may or may not be, but from LL's point of view, it's the perfect moment to enlist help from residents.  The rumor mill reports that this round of layoffs hit governance pretty hard, so the more up-to-speed new residents can be, the fewer abuse reports and weirdo questions governance will have to handle.  And, as Mini points out, in this case the task can be very satisfying and genuinely helpful.  Tho TBH, I've answered a whole lot more questions from new residents here and from reading Belli chat than as a member of the Bellisseria Help Group.  Maybe one needs to go stand in the welcome hub to find newbies to help.

FWIW, Rosedale has always been a huge fan of crowdsourcing, even for tasks that would not appear to be good choices for volunteers.  Write the LSL manual?  Moderate SL's forums?  Code algorithms for use in High Fidelity infrastructure?  SURE!!!

 

[NiklasDean]

As a mentor I will probably have to pass to avoid a possible ban. But I am very happy with this game and would like everyone to experience the same as me.

[belindacarson]

So let's be clear:

lot of lindens gone.

 

Support, which was already open ridiculously low hours,  is now closed on a weekend,  when you'd imagine there's a need for them with so many residents online, and when more people are likely to be joining.

 

Ll solution: "hey let's ask for volunteers to do our job for us while we take the *bleep* out of our existing customers."

 

Yes. I can see the logic.

Edited November 16 by belindacarson

[Alwin Alcott]

without  education / proper training, powers to act on things, and avoiding the clique to join it might be a solution. But if none of this is done, will end as a disaster.
 

[Love Zhaoying]

There should be requirements such as, "must be patient", "must speak noob".

I don't think I remember how to be patient or speak noob anymore.

[Teresa Firelight]

I think this thread is about Bellisseria mentors, not about SL mentors. The program has been running for quite some time and over time there is natural attrition. I think this is just a natural replenish of the mentors due to normal attrition, not some scheme of LL to replace their staff with resident volunteers.

Also, since this is Bellisseria mentoring, it deals with issues around linden homes and/or using your land allowance for mainland property. It is rather specific and most people moving to linden homes for the first time dont tend to be brand-new newbies. Some hvae been here for months (or years) and now want to get a linden home. Also, long time Bellisseria residents can run into issues and want help with them... such as they always lived alone and now have a partner who they want to be able to rez at their linden home, etc.

I did the Belli mentoring for several months and I very rarely dealt with new residents. The main reason I stopped is because I have a lot of other commitments and was too busy.

[Love Zhaoying]

This would really save LL a lot, if "many/most new Premium residents have Belli homes"..

 

[Nika Talaj]

29 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

This would really save LL a lot, if "many/most new Premium residents have Belli homes"..

 

As Teresa says, the Belli Mentors/Helpers program has been running for quite some time, I believe Mini first posted about it in August, 2023.  Whenever residents can help each other, it not only saves:LL effort, but more importantly, it gets people answers very quickly, leading to happier residents.  Which, in a small way, helps with retention. 

Most of the questions I've fielded are sensible, like the ones new Belli residents ask in this forum.  I've rarely had questions from people who are completely new to SL, usually they're recent accounts, but not BRAND new, and ask about Linden Homes or Premium memberships.  Little need for "speaking noob".  Sometimes people ask things that are answered in the covenant - not everyone is au fait with walls of text! -- but most often it's simple issues on operating a Linden Home, setting up security, or getting a new one.

I think it's one of the more intelligent uses of crowdsourcing that LL's tried.  

[Persephone Emerald]

5 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

There should be requirements such as, "must be patient", "must speak noob".

I don't think I remember how to be patient or speak noob anymore.

Understanding Noob is the first step toward communicating in Noob. Listen to what they say, then use the terms they use.

Second, avoid SLisms such as "rez" and "sim". A "sim" means what we would call a "bot" to many outsiders. Speaking with a Noob is much like speaking to a non native English speaker. Avoid slang and coloquiolisms that they're unlikely to be familiar with.

[Love Zhaoying]

4 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Understanding Noob is the first step toward communicating in Noob. Listen to what they say, then use the terms they use.

Second, avoid SLisms such as "rez" and "sim". A "sim" means what we would call a "bot" to many outsiders. Speaking with a Noob is much like speaking to a non native English speaker. Avoid slang and coloquiolisms that they're unlikely to be familiar with.

I was surprised that Teresa said above that as a Belli mentor, she rarely dealt with new residents.

[Teresa Firelight]

2 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I was surprised that Teresa said above that as a Belli mentor, she rarely dealt with new residents.

It is true, as a Bellisseria Mentor very few of the people I worked with were "new." Most new people want to make sure they like it before they fork out the monthly or annual fee required for a Linden Home, so they spend some time in SL before considering becoming premium and getting a linden home.

However, I am also an SL mentor (work at the Welcome Hub) and there I help brand new residents all the time