Suggestion : Team Australia Mentoring Project
Team Australia is growing rapidly. The tireless @choogirl has been putting out new recruit posts for a long time now and they are getting bigger each time. This week we welcomed 17 new members. Last week it was 15. On the one hand it is great, but with so many new members coming on board it can be easy for some of them to fall through the cracks.
Source
I personally have been trying to spot a couple of new members from each intake that have some similar interests to me and make a point of engaging with them. STEEM can be a tough place to get going and when you pour your heart and soul into a post and get a $0.01 payout with no engagement it can be really discouraging. I’ve been here long enough to have learnt the basics and I’ve seen a few newbies fall by the wayside and a few others really blossom into really top quality posters. What I’m suggesting is a mentoring project that will help encourage more newbies to successfully make the transition.
![transition.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmawLTHqBrtK2JUye9xwR5QFcSTEthAjcvBfn6RJa4royE/transition.jpg)
Source
At this stage I’m just throwing the idea out there, but my initial thoughts are that if you’ve been a member of Team Australia for 3+ months and have a Reputation of 60+ then it would be fair to say you’ve been here long enough and tasted enough Upvote success to know how things work. You would be a valuable mentor for a newer member even if you've never been a mentor before.
![mentor.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUVrEAydCM3k5Lg7DFoVNwuGUSyNa3b66RRhakymkcmfQ/mentor.jpg)
Source
I’d suggest that if we can get a volunteer group of Team Australia mentors going then when @choogirl puts out her new recruits post we can get together and make sure each new member gets 1 (or more) mentor from the group that might have similar interests. Being a mentor would not be a big deal, all you’d have to do is :-
1. Add them to your Following list
2. Commit to Vote for their posts
3. Comment on their posts to foster some engagement
4. Be there to provide some advice (if it’s wanted)
![engage.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmRSZHa5fyxjif3WM6p2pdMzCqBroCqFArHEdv6MAjY3SF/engage.jpg)
Source
You don’t need to have a high SP. Remember that most newbies are probably coming from somewhere like Facebook so the interaction is probably more important than the post rewards for a new user to the STEEM platform. If we can collectively help a few new users to find their feet a bit quicker and boost our retention rate then a mentoring initiative will be definitely worth the effort.
![TeamAust_buggedout.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSfn8N9CPKHUUsqp7KUXwbUJEyT96qLw91AWdz2gTiVcr/TeamAust_buggedout.png)
https://pixabay.com
https://www.fastweb.com
http://www.naswma.org
http://blog.sumall.com
Thanks for writing this @buggedout. I think it is a great idea. I'm sure some of us are doing it informally already, but I think it's good if people can consciously make the decision to take on this role when newbies are getting introduced. There are so many talented people joining TA (and steemit generally) with various interests, I know I'm always finding new people to follow and engage with. This is something that should be easy and fun to do.
I agree, I’m not even from there and I’m hooked on meeting all of you someday! Let me know how I can help :)
Easy and fun sounds good. If we can keep it that way we have the greatest chance of success and longevity :)
100% behind this, love it. I'm most certainly on board to mentor.
Resteemed as well.
Good to hear. Thanks for the resteem and stay tuned. I'll probably start poking interested people about it on Discord tomorrow.
I've been reaching out to featured ballers; might start commenting my discord username too; although I'm not sure how many of them use discord.
DMs can be a little less confronting, particularly for those who don't want to ask potentially 'stupid' questions publicly.
Yes, your recruitment and mentoring effort has been exemplary. If every one of our senior members matched only a fraction of your effort we would be going great!
Thanks mate, that's really kind of you.
Several of my earlier recruits, @holoz0r and @o07 have really stepped up their own efforts in this. @necromortis and @thegoliath have also been on a recruiting spree.
There's no way I could look after all the mallsballers single-handed now; happily I don't have to :)
It's the way to do it. Mentor the new recruits and then they can become the mentors. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. It's the only way we are going to be able to achieve massive growth and also maximise it.
The monthly meetups are going to be a big part of this.
Not sure how to buy steem?
Have some questions about the platform?
Not sure how to cash out?
Wait a week or two, come to the Jade monkey, and address all three.
Bring your steem and ask around for a buyer.
Bring your cash and ask around for a seller.
Bring your questions, and get them answered. (also the questions the answers raise and the questions those answers raise)
It's ironic that meeting in person is such an effective way to build an online community, but it absolutely is.
The mallsballers haven't stopped talking about the last one; guys are taking annual leave to get the day off work.
We're really building some momentum.
Adelaide leading the charge. Who would have thought!
I think it's awesome what you guys are doing over there. You're miles ahead.
You've described me to a 'T' @mattclarke I have just had to be prepared to look like a dummy (which isn't too hard) and dive in with discord. I saw the benefits of interacting there when I first joined but was rather intimidated to begin with. Still am......but 'Nothing Ventured-Nothing Gained!'
I wasn't that keen to try discord but I'm really glad I did.
You caught on much quicker than I did.
Well, I don't think I have caught on properly yet but I will continue to ask questions in order to make the most of it. (:
Yup fantastic idea, and while I haven't received...
I am more than happy to give back to the community anyway I can.
Thanks. Great to hear. I am not one to exclude volunteers so if you think you can add value then that's great.
I'm kind of doing it with people I'm trying to introduce to Steemit so they join the platform. It's been difficult getting newbies onto Steemit, I have one friend who's been waiting for his Steemit approval email for about nine days.
I think that's one of the biggest problems. How can you convert users from other platforms when signups take so long.
Also Choo is the best mentor. Maybe you could download her consciousness into a bot and then clone it for every new member.
If you're signing people up you can fast track by using this tool :-
https://v2.steemconnect.com/accounts/create
It will cost you a few STEEM which will be vested with the new account. I think when I last did it was 6 STEEM.
What a great idea and initiative. Count me in. I have years of mentoring experience behind me, just not really on STEEM but if I can help a few people and build the community then keep me in the loop.
You're in the spreadsheet now. Thanks :)
Stay tuned.
It's a great initiative/suggestion. If you don't find enough people with 60+ reputation that have time, there's always some of us in the mid 50s that are willing to help out :)
Thanks. Glad to hear you're keen. Was just throwing out the 60+ as a bit of a guide, but I don't see any reason why someone who is keen and in their mid 50s couldn't be involved.
Mid fifties to the sixties seem like a long way in real life (and maybe also Steemit), but then before you know it you start wondering where the time disappears to...
Consider my name thrown in the hat then :)
Love reading about these genuine offers of help to newbies @buggedout It makes all the difference and sets a great example for us to follow as we progress. Thanks for this post.
I wanna say Im in, but Im swamped at the moment but I do want to help so... Well chat?
I love this idea by the way :)
I don't want to see anyone get burned out so no pressure at all. If we keep it easy and fun it hopefully won't be too much work. I'll talk to you more on Discord :)
If there are any new gamers for team australia i'd be very happy to mentor them! Give back to a community that has given us so much more :)
Awesome. We have actually had a couple of pro gamers join the team in recent times, so they'd be a perfect match for you to mentor I reckon.
Sounds good! Hit me up on discord under "Vien" in the South Pacific (AUS/NZ) discord. More then happy to support the local gamers and the scene <3