White Tiger Mentors

From Second Life Wiki
Revision as of 18:09, 29 January 2010 by Lum Pfohl (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Welcome to the White Tiger Mentors Wiki Page
(Including the New Resident Services Group)
Help PortalWTM Logo.jpg
White Tiger Help Island
Help PortalHelp-portal viewer.png
NEW! NEW! NEW!

White Tiger Help Island (WTHI) is now ready and will welcome you to a great and safe virtual environment.

For an alternative experience in interactive helping visit White Tiger Help Island. Basic colourful tutorials, free shops, building area, firework display, music cave and mini art gallery. Still under construction to a degree but more than enough there to have a happy helping experience! A landmark to ROF Orientation Area is on the island for those who want more intense and detailed learning. Have fun with your new Residents.

Keywords: Help. Lessons. Tutorials. Assistance. Helpers. New. Support. People Helping People. Fireworks. Free Clothes. Building Area. Gallery of Original Artwork. Mentors. Guide. Guides. New Residents. Learning. Learn. Fun.

Of course, even though White Tiger Help Island is affiliated to the White Tigers Mentors group, we will still be available to help at all locations where help is needed!

All the White Tiger Volunteers are always welcome to help at the Inworld Locations for Volunteers.

Feel free to visit us, we will support you as best we can, that's our priority in Second Life®.

Here is the SLurl to White Tiger Help Island. Enjoy!

How to Join & Guidelines
  • Applications for membership can be sent in-world with an Instant Message (IM) or a Notecard to a listed Owner or Helper (See Group Info from in-world).
  • Only the Owners are able to set specific roles, therefore those who are interested in participating for mentoring have to contact them. However, Advisors and Trainers are allowed to dismiss Members from their role if necessary.
  • A training is required and will be provided at ROF on Sunset Arts II SIM to get the role of White Tiger Mentor/Linguist or NRS Greeter Helper.
  • The Linguist role is optional, and reserved for qualified Mentors. They must be able to speak at last 2 languages to get it, more than 2 will be appreciated.
  • General talk is OK, but disputes, unauthorized advertising or vulgar spam in both group channels will not be appreciated and can lead to loss of membership.
  • Due to the size of the group, the ability to send Group Notices have been disabled for WTM Mentors effective 29JAN2010. If you have a group notice to send, please send a notecard to a group Advisor, Trainer or Owner for review and posting. Notices will be subject to screening.
  • All Members of both groups have to abide by the Second Life Terms of Service and Community Standards. The White Tiger Mentors have also to follow the WTM Tao of Volunteers below.
  • Any in-world activity which is against ToS, CS or WTM Tao when wearing WTM or NRS tag will lead to a definitive removal from both groups. Do not forget to detach your WTM tag when you are not actively mentoring as well (Mentors only).
  • The Members of WTM group who have been offline more than 6 months may be removed from this group at any time and without advance warning.
Group Charters

White Tiger Mentors: Active Volunteers who are willing to help people by sharing knowledge and useful tips. Real international Network of assistance for online, 3D virtual environment Users (OpenGL). Six months of tenure in Second Life® (SL) is required to become a White Tiger Volunteer. Associated with White Tiger Help Island, R.O.F. Community Orientation Area, Solace Beach Welcome Area and Ajuda SL Brasil (PG).

New Resident Services: To offer quality Help and Support for people in SL, new Residents, older Residents. Our Orientation Area contains tutorials with additional information for progressed learning and is accessible to those with visual disabilities. Part of the Remembering Our Friends Group, who offer peer support for HIV/AIDS, Disabilities, Sleep Disorder, MS, and work with many dedicated support groups in SL. Affiliated with White Tiger Mentors Group.

Who We Are
Help PortalHelp-portal support.png
Founders
Help PortalHelp-portal support.png
Co-Owners
Help PortalHelp-portal Com-Social.png
Total Group Members
  • White Tiger Mentors: 500+
  • New Resident Services: 100+
White Tiger Mentor or NRS Greeter Helper?

Newcomers in Second Life® can ask to join the White Tiger Mentors group at any time if they wish to get any live help by using the group channel. However, we encourage them to join the New Resident Services group first for an easier experience regarding the group channel usage and any other basic learning. When they consider they are experienced enough and want also to become a Helper themselves in the New Residents Services Team, they will have to follow a basic training to get the title of NRS Greeter Helper. If a NRS Greeter Helper wants to provide more technical knowledge to people, he/she can apply to become a White Tiger Volunteer as an Apprentice. White Tiger Apprentices must complete a traning session, including a simulation of mentoring with some Advisors. The Advisor(s) will advise the group Owner(s) that the Apprentice is ready to be a qualified Helper and the Owner(s) will make the final decision to accept the Apprentice as a Mentor/Linguist, according to the skills of the Apprentice. The Volunteers can stay in the New Resident Services group as a NRS Greeter Helper even if they have been upgraded to a White Tiger Mentor/Linguist.

WTM Tao of Volunteers
Help PortalHelp-portal communication.png
First Impressions

Each White Tiger Volunteer has the ability to influence new Residents’ first experiences of Second Life®. How we do so may vary by personality, but we must also adhere to standards. We have adapted the Second Life® Tao of Volunteers to our group.

Mentors are teachers or trusted counselors. If you are simply answering questions to passersby on Help Island Public, you are not mentoring – you’re providing support services. If you take aside a new Resident and take time to show him how to use the tools given to him (such as Search, or Make Outfit) or spend hours or days helping him with a technical problem, you are mentoring. Mentorships often end up in friendships with their charge.

Help PortalHelp-portal beginner.png
Attitude And Behavior
  • We will help anyone to the best of our ability.
  • We will be humble, polite, and patient with those we help.
  • We will treat those we help with dignity, despite knowing it may not always be returned.
  • We will mentor and help and ask for no reward.
  • We will work as a team and help each other solve problems.
  • We will be reliable, committed, and trustworthy.
  • We will be funny and playful.
  • We will be respectful of the guidelines under which we serve.
Help PortalHelp-portal tutorials.png
Group Notices
Mentors of WTM can request to send useful notices.
  • Notices must have relevance to the mentoring program or be used to promote non profit events and charities.
  • If you have questions to the group, broadcast it in group chat - not in Group Notices! Consider using the offline mailing list (see below)
  • Notices may be used to share full perm gifts providing the person sending them out has created them or obtained written permission from the creator to distribute them.
  • Notices may NOT be used to promote your own for profit business. If you would like to share information about cool sims, great shops and live performances -- please do so in Group Chat and NOT via Group Notice. The exception to this would be events like the ROF Performances and Notices, major upcoming meeting SL events (like Burning Life). Again -- common sense stuff.
  • If you have a group notice to send, please send a notecard to a group Advisor, Trainer or Owner for review and posting. Notices will be subject to screening.
  • Group Notice rights may be changed at any time, based upon WTM Management discretion, temporarily or definitively.
Help PortalHelp-portal wiki.png
Offline Mailing List

We've prepared an offline mailing list (Beta status) for the group's disposal, in lieu of in-world Group Notices. Post your announcements and questions here. Create a Yahoo! ID and sign up to receive email notices to directly to your inbox so you can stay in touch even when not in SL!

Help PortalHelp-portal about.png
Stay Informed

Each Volunteer is responsible for reading notices and guidelines beginning with the WTM Wiki Page. It will have useful information and links to relevant materials as we build out the site.

An accomplished mentor may be able to operate alone in situations where no other help can come. That mentor is aware of the many resources available (translators, grid statuses, Second Life Knowledge Base Articles, etc.) and can tap into them, on-the-fly.

Help PortalHelp-portal what.png
If You Don’t Know The Answer

It is perfectly OK to say to the Resident, “I do not know the answer to that.” It is BETTER if you tell the Resident, “I do not know the answer, but I know someone who might,” or “I can research that and get back to you later.” In doing so, you are taking ownership of an issue, and providing good mentorship.

Help PortalHelp-portal navigation.png
Consequences of Not Following the Tao

White Tiger Mentors should be aware there are consequences of not following the WTM Tao of Volunteers. Just as the Community Standards and TOS are the policies and rules of Second Life, the WTM Tao is the policy and rules of White Tiger Mentors.

KBcaution.png Important: Volunteers who do not follow the Group Rules and Tao of Volunteers will be removed from White Tiger Mentors.

Please be aware the decisions of the WTM Management are final. Both White Tiger Mentors and New Resident Services are private help groups and as such, are not endorsed by Linden Lab®.

History and Intent
Help PortalHelp-portal navigation.png
Main Focus: New Resident Basics - General Help - Technical Issues - Multi-language Support - Peer Support.


The White Tiger Mentors group is an international Network of assistance for online, 3D virtual environment Users and has been created to provide an additional & effective help to the Residents in need at the Help Islands Public 1 & 2, Welcome Areas of Second Life®, and anywhere in-world that help is necessary. This Organization includes both Newcomers who can use the group channel for the questions they may have, and qualified Helpers who will respond if they are online & available, in all cases a large range of friendly people who wish to get in different ways a good experience in their virtual world. The goal of the WTM Team is innovating rather than imitating, and the potential of each New Resident is the engine of our motivation. WTM is an independent group of Helpers, and not reserved for only Ex Second Life Mentors, it means that all motivated Residents who want to join us have also a chance to become a real Volunteer. Obviously, those who are Ex Second Life Mentors are welcome to be a part of this Team if they wish it. Although unofficial, the W.T.M. program requires a certain standard of help and the motivated Resident who wants to provide some help with the White Tiger Mentor title will have to follow a specific training. This training will focus particularly on the assistance to the persons who may have some disabilities in real life. The White Tiger Mentors group is now partnered with the ROF (Remembering Our Friends) group, founded by Mike Burleigh. At ROF we are here to provide peer support. However, we are NOT professional counsellors. When appropriate, you will need to reach out to real life support. The satisfaction of each new Resident in Second Life® is our priority.

The New Resident Services group was set up by Treacle Darlandes to work within the ROF Organization, to play a role helping new people and those who wish to learn more technical elements of Second Life®. The ROF Organization offers many peer services on their SIMs and one area of land is allocated to Orientation. Training for Greeters, and classes for learning are held at the ROF Community Orientation Area, along with live music events. Treacle has a lot of experience in Second Life®, formerly Manager at Help People Institute, now a SecondAbility Mentor and White Tiger Mentor. Also a member of Destination Orientation, the new Orientation Area for this group is under construction. The association of New Resident Services with White Tiger Mentors is that as two separate groups they work side by side to assist New Residents or even any seasoned Residents in need. The Orientation Area at ROF is openly available and welcomes unreservedly all WTM Members, NRS Members and any New/Seasoned Residents if they wish to bring along for help or a safe place to stay. Together we will co-ordinate training for Greeters, pool our knowledge and resources and continue to plan learning classes and live music events. NRS and WTM Members will support each other as partners, associates and friends in helping, greeting, mentoring and any other associated activities that Members from each group would wish to be involved in, whilst retaining individuality both in terms of status and goals.

Links, Locations, Resources
Photo Gallery