Mentoring Program

[Connor Imes]

>> On the Beginners Team, we have found thta the best way to keep
>> interested users involved is to interact with them on IRC.  While
>> people
>> still come and go, the contributions they make while they are involved
>> are much easier to follow and help is only a matter of typing the
>> question into IRC.  This means that "transients,"  as our team leader
>> refers to them, don't end up in the process and are therefore taken out
>> of the recruitment cycle before serious effort is made in trying to get
>> them involved and accepted into the team.
>> This requires that other team members be (more) active in the IRC
>> channel as well.  While this may take some time, it is definitely
>> feasible and may be one of the best ways to keep people involved.
> 
> With respect, the beginners team is an entirely different entity, as it is
> by far the largest group on the forums and seems to be one of the "sexy"
> groups that people attach status to joining - so I can see that transients
> would be an issue.
> 
I pointed this out because it has proven to be an effective method of
organizing an Ubuntu team online, in an environment where it is
difficult to keep track of people and provide organization.  I'm
throwing ideas out there for everybody to consider.  As for the comment
about joining the team being "sexy" or some sort of status symbol, I do
find that a little offensive, but that's a different issue and doesn't
really apply to this situation (point not taken personally, it's ok).
Simply because of the nature of working with volunteers, in any
situation, but esp. online, you will have transients.
I didn't mean to suggest that IRC should be required, but that you may
want to push its usage a little more.

> I don't like IRC personally as I spend a lot of time at work, in an
> environment where every port except 80 and 25 are locked down (even then,
> Internet access is pretty restrictive). As Matthew said earlier - there
> aren't many regular contributors and for that reason you will reach a wider
> audience by emailing the list than by using IRC. I certainly wouldn't like
> it to be used as a yard stick for commitment!
> 
I understand the difficulty in using IRC, most people would not have
access from work.  Then against, _most_ people wouldn't/shouldn't be
interacting with the team from work (you're an exception to this).

> There's no getting away from it - its not a question of method or procedure,
> the team is simply small and works a little slower than other groups!
> 
Agreed, but speed is not the issue.  I certainly support standardizing
the introductory package.  We can take baby steps with this whole process.

-Connor