Events- Questions and Answers 1. Can I host an event which is not listed on the sign-up sheets in this dashboard? � Yes! The event must be approved by me. � 2. Which types of events can I host? � - Awareness Week (Week long| 7 days) - Awareness Days (1-3 days) - Awareness Month (Maximum of 2 weeks) - Fun holidays (1-3 days leading up to the holiday) Special Events - 7 Cups events and Mental Health Awareness These are pre-planned by me and require mentors and teen stars to sign up] � 3. How often do all sub-communities collaborate for events? � It fluctuates depending on the needs of the community and annual events. Next collaboration will take place in October 2020. � 4. How do badges work? All participants should be directed to my monthly events masterpost, they can complete a form and will be awarded the badge being given out for that month by me! � 5. What activities can I organize for events? Icebreakers and a Forum Discussion � Forum Discussion, Trivia and Chatroom Discussion � Icebreakers, Forum Discussion and Chatroom Discussion � (Each of you have moderation abilities in the room tied to your sub-community. If you haven�t already, please be sure to reach out to me for �information regarding the moderation abilities) Best Practices for Community Mentor Leaders & Community Teen Star Leaders Outlined below are guidelines that can serve as a framework for excelling in the Community Mentor Leader role: ❑ �Be a good listener (apply active listening skills in all chats with the team) ❑ �Be approachable- team members must feel comfortable with reaching out to the CML/CTSL with questions, concerns and ideas. ❑ �Treat team members and other leaders in the community respectfully. ❑ Be open to feedback from Community Managers and ambassadors. ❑ �Be a friendly face in the 7 Cups community. ❑ �Set healthy boundaries. ❑ �Check-in with team members at least once every 2 weeks. ❑ �Make sure that the sub-community description, leaderboard and discussion schedule are all up to date. ❑ �Be an active participant in the forums and group support rooms. ❑ �Take responsibility for the decisions you make for your projects, team and the sub-community as a whole. ❑ �Be a good problem solver. ❑ �Make sure that communication between group support, forum and feed tracks is happening in your sub-community. ❑ �Before taking a self-care break, find coverage, inform your team, notify the Sub-Community Ambassador [Tazzie] and/or the Community Manager assigned to your sub-community. ❑ �Host events in the sub-community that are relevant to your specific sub-community topic. You are encouraged to collaborate with other teams for events as well. Inform fluffyunicorns84 about the events you are planning to organize and execute. Fluffyunicorns84 has been helping with putting community events together here! ❑ �Fill in roles when team members go on breaks. The sub-community must continue to run efficiently. ❑ �Host team meetings once/month- in PM�s, SC Leaders Room or SC Leaders Bubble. ❑ �Complete the Monthly Check-In form once every month. ❑ �Participate in the Monthly Check-Ins in the SC Leaders Bubble. ❑ �For support in your role, reach out to the Sub-Community and CML Ambassador [Tazzie], for group support issues [fluffyunicorns84, Lorraine234 and sweetlily41] ❑ �Access to all trainings, dashboards, team related documents and applications must be granted to Community Managers and Sub-Community Ambassador. Please review these guidelines for dashboards! 1. � A community works much like a family. �There are lots of personalities and schedules and dynamics at play but there are also unique skills and strengths and perspectives. �We may disagree or we may have different leadership styles but ultimately we are in this together and know we can count on each other. � 2. One thing that stands out about 7 Cups is everyone�s focus on creating a warm and inviting place for newcomers to join in and receive support. �Everyone works so hard to create valuable discussions, forum posts, and interactions that are helpful and meaningful to another person. And that isn�t even considering the time spent doing listener chats! � 3. Building a community can be amazing, but can also feel both frustrating and overwhelming. �Sometimes we put lot of love and effort into something and then no one responds or it doesn�t end with the anticipated new subscribers. �We feel like we are talking to ourselves in a forum or that no one is really participating in our discussion. In these situations it is important to trust that someone, somewhere is getting value out of our efforts even if they don�t post or just lurk. �Sometimes they may read what we�d written and take a while for it to fully make sense to them and that is okay. � 4. Personalities are fascinating. �We all have our way of doing things, our quirks, our expectations of both ourselves and others, and our level of interest to name just a few. �This can sometimes create conflict amongst a teams, leaders, admins, and beyond. The real challenge is finding a way to work with each other despite our differences and to stay focused on our common goal of a healthy 7 Cups and active subcommunities. �Sometimes just asking the person you have conflict with how they would approach something can teach out a lot about them and give you some fresh ideas. Don�t be afraid of change, jump in and stay positive. � 5. Consistency is truly key. �When someone visits your subcommunity through a room or a forum they will quickly make up their mind if they want to stay. �Having new and interesting posts and welcoming environments are so important, even though sometimes the behind the scenes of getting it all done can be a chore. �Really leaning into team communication can help ensure this consistency. Utilizing your team area of the bubble is a great way to keep everyone informed. Also not being afraid to reach out to other team members to get to know them is a simple way to feel more connected. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Possible Changes to Team Self Care Breaks - A notification to the team members when this happens, possibly auto-done, or done by the person responsible for making the self care break change happen - If we can get this auto-done, is it also possible to give each individual the possibility to have control over moving on/off the self care break section on the leaderboard? Inactivation of accounts, self care break not announced - Sometimes this is voluntary, sometimes not. � At the very least if an account is inactive it should be automoved to the self care break section if not removed from the leaderboard altogether (with ease to get it back when activated), New Leaders - �Announcement, I see this being done often recently �yes Leader Roll Change - Adding, Subtracting or Switching within the same team - Easy enough, the person could state it themselves or an announcement by another team member Autoremoval - �If someone loses a roll due to autoremoval can the team be notified of this somehow? An autonotification to the team or the CML/Admin could inform us. Leaving Team, Voluntary - �If someone has notified one of the leaders they have left the team it would be nice for the entire team to be notified. Name Changes - This is tough, as it's confusing to the team if not notified, but these are also often wanted to be kept private. � Possibly a notification about one leaving and another about one joining the team? � If the person who changed their name is really concerned about others figuring this out a delay between the 2 (so they are off the team for a little while) may be helpful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CMLs - help me better support you! Hello my dear Community Mentor Leaders and Community Teen Star Leaders - I am trying to get some more tools and ideas how I could better support you in your role, but here, I do need your help! Can you help me to see what you need by answering in a few simple questions: enlightenedDo you feel supported in your role as CML/CTSL? Why or why not? enlightenedWhat are the questions that you feel you are facing the most when leading a subcommunity? � enlightenedHow could I better support and check with you to help you grow in your role? enlightened What type of communication you prefer - email, forums, meetings or PMs? � Also, just a reminder that we had a CMLs meeting recently - you can find notes from it here ! (Thanks @emsworld for the notes) Plus, it's the end of the month but only a few sub-communities filled out Monthly category updates form - I want to remind you all that it's one of your role requirements that has been added recently - please help me out by filling it out here !!! IMPORTANT !!! We are looking for sub-communities that are willing to help us with welcoming team trial! If you want to help out, please refer to this post and let @Laura or @RaCat know as soon as possible! � Hello, Glorious 7 Cups Community! We are one big 7 Cups �community! But within this bigger ecosystem, there are many smaller communities. We've layered �in �sub-communities to enhance the support and connection building within these topic-based communities. Sub-communities give us a tool to build community in more intimate and supportive ways. � So far, we have launched 14 sub-communities (check out the full list here). Overall, we have done a great job at building up these spaces! From group support to forum and feed, it has been fun to watch you all adapt to this new environment. We have learned a great deal about how to best build-up our subcommunities to increase connection and support giving. But, we need your help, dedication, and commitment to make our sub-communities even better! � Based on what we have learned, there 5 tasks �that EVERY sub-community subscriber can do to help make their sub-community a more connected, welcoming and supportive place for all members! �This list is meant to serve as a road map �for every subscriber! If you want to see your community grow and become even more supportive, here is how you can help! Remember, these sub-communities are for you! It is up to you to build them up, help them grow and make them special. Get creative, work together �and be deliberate about engaging in this process! � 1. �Be a friendly and familiar face in your sub-community! �When you log on to 7 Cups, check in with your sub-community! Here are some things you can do: -------> Post to the feed with the sub-community hashtag -------> Spend 15-20 minutes the group support room (s)! Attend discussions! Get to know other regular contributors in the sub-community group rooms. -------> Post in the forum! Reply to threads and get to know other participants by replying threads and be consistently active. -------> Get to know the regular participants across the community, make friends, introduce yourself.. don't be shy. Lean in! 2. �Participate in the sub-community rituals! �Many of our communities have one or two daily or weekly rituals. A ritual is any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner. All you need to do is… JOIN IN! Here is how: -------> Post to the Daily check-in threads (if your community has them) -------> Reply �to any pinned threads -------> Make a daily feed post for the community -------> Attend the Group support discussions weekly � 3. �Be the reason your sub-community is a welcoming place! �Each sub-community has a new subscribers list and welcome threads or welcome sub-forum! Make sure each new subscriber feels welcome! Give them a welcome in the feed, forum or group rooms! 4. Invite others to join in! �Don�t be shy! If you know someone who may benefit from being part of your sub-community, invite them to join! No harm, they can �always unsubscribe if it�s not for them! How can you invite people to join: -------> Share a thread you love on your feed! Tag those individuals you'd like to invite. -------> Let a member or listener you are working with know about the sub-community. Send them a link and explain why joining may be helpful! -------> Post about it in another forum section (where appropriate and relevant) � 5. Appreciate your leaders & fellow subscribers! �Appreciation goes a long way in making someone feel valued for their contributions. Go out of your way to share a kind note with someone who has made a positive contribution to your sub-community. Be deliberate about letting people know you appreciate their contributions to the community!! Here are some ideas on how to do this: � -------> Give a shout-out to a group mod leader who leads an awesome discussion (can be in Feed, forum or PM) -------> Give a shout-out to someone you met in the group support room for their positive contribution to the chatroom conversation �(can be in Feed, forum or PM). -------> Send a PM to someone who made a really thoughtful forum or feed post or reply and say thank you! Let them know you liked what they contributed! � -------> Get to know your sub-community leaders! All leaders are listed on the sidebar of the subcommunity. These individuals do an incredible job keeping our sub-communities active. A little appreciation for their hard work goes a long way! Send them a PM or take them in feed or forum to let them know you are thankful for them! Today, I joined the.... [insert name of the Subcommunity you joined today here] Right now, there are 5 you can join! 1) �7 Cups Internship Community 2) � �Anxiety Support Community 3) �Cultural Connection Community � 4) �Depression Support Community � 5) �Disability Support Community � 6) �Healthy Living Support Community 7) �MOGI/ LGTBQ+ � 8) �Laura's Office � 9) People of Color Support � 10) Relationship Support Community 11) Student Support Community � 12) Teen Only Zone 13) Welcoming Team Community Which communities have you joined??? � What are the top 3 things you find most important in maintaing and growing in your suncommunity? What are the top 3 most challenging components of maintaining and growing within your subcommunity? � What works to encourage participation? What are some ways you collaborate with the team leaders, group support leaders, other team members? � What are some ways you have tried without success? What were the challenges? A Navigation Guide for the 7 Cups of Tea Forum for Members (and Guests) � I don't think we have ever published site navigation guides in here and if there's any, I am sure I have not yet heard or am not aware of it. To those who know that post, please kindly link it so that I may discard this thread. Since that I think the Forum is a truly magnificent resource members and guests can have, it's time to show it some more love, and perhaps cleaning lol. What you will see below is a guide dedicated solely for the purpose of 7 Cups of Tea Forum navigation.� Another purpose of this guide is to help Members and Guests with issues/problems/concerns they have and navigate the forum efficiently, as I believe they are concerned or bothered with questions already answered within the divisions of the Forum. This will be presented in a quirky way. Lol. Question and Answer type of thing. I promise that this will be incredibly, insanely long so navigate only the questions you have, or relevant to the question you have. Further questions can be asked in the Comments below. If you don't know how to place your comment, I'll show you how below. You may want to look for that too. � Happy reading! � Where is the Forum located? When you log-in to your account, the page you are seeing is what we call, "Dashboard" which contains everything related in you being a listener. There are several tabs, beside the 'Dashboard' tab. In their precise order, you will find: Dashboard-Conversations-Support Forum-Settings Click on the tab which says 'Forum' and it will direct you to the 7COT Forum. � Ta-da! � Great! Now, I want to find some Member/Guest resources. How do I do that? Since you are already in the forum, there is a blue category bar in there that says 'Welcome!' and underneath that are called threads. There are lots of categories displayed in there. You may scroll further down to explore the different areas and topics. Once in there, you will see a whole lot of Categories which is available for everyone. This is a public forum after all.� Say, for example, you are looking for help for a Depression. Just near below the Settings tab, there is a bar there where you can type your search query. Type, for example, 'depression', press enter or click the magnifying glass icon and it will load for a while saying "Loading Results..." which is presented into a long bar with green and light green twirling colors (which is pretty fun to look at). The system will then show you all the relevant posts you have in your search query. It is up to you to choose on what topic in there suits your listener needs. � I have found the content I was looking for! I really liked the post and would like to comment on it. How can I do that? What you clicked is what we call a 'thread' which is under a 'category'. Now, it depends on what you want to do. If you'd want to reply to the author, that's a different thing. The first message or content you'd see once you're inside a particular thread is the one created by the author, which is bordered by a distinctive grey color (or a dark shade of blue) that separates it from all the other comments or messages within that thread. There's a bright green bar on the author's post, under a really thin grey line that says "<-Reply" click on that and a pop-up will flash on your screen. Well, what's that arrow up thing besides the "Reply" button? That's what we call an "Upvote" you may click that only once, if you agree or liked the author's post very much and thinks that the post is worthy of your upvote. It is similar to the concept of Facebook likes. � Oooh, I see. That's nice. Well, I clicked "Reply" and a text box appeared. There's a fancy-schmancy buttons there, above the text box. What's that? The title text of the text box says "Post to this Thread". Under a very thin underline, you should New Post and under that there's a grey bar that has several icons in it. The first icon from your left is called "SCAYT" which stands for "Spell Check as You Type". If you click that icon, which is darkened, therefore enable by default, you have the option to Disable SCAYT. You can turn it on once again by clicking Enable SCAYT, and under that, you can also click the About SCAYT and a new box will appear which tells you a little something about SCAYT. Then there's the other basic buttons which you can see if you frequently use a word processing software. B stands for Bold which makes texts�appear like this. I stands for Italicized which makes texts appear like this. and U stands for underline which makes texts appear like this. Then there' are two icons there that look like two chains. No, I am not referring to the rapper that did a solo on Jason Derulo's song, but I am talking about links. There's a button that says Link and besides that is a button that says Unlink. Now once you click the Link button, a new box will appear at once, and blurring the site interface into a white mist. Once you see the Link button, there's a grey bar that says Link and underneath that are two bars: one that sats Link Info and beside that is another bar that says Target. Under the Link Info tab, you will see a drag down menu under Link Type. Click on the arrow pointing down and it will show you three options. You can either choose from those three options. Under protocol, there's yet another drag down menu that says "http://" you may choose from that yet again, and beside that is where you'd want to link to the post you will create. Now for the Target selection, there's yet again another drag down menu that says "". Click on the drag down menu and it will show you six options. You may select on that and click into whichever option you wish. That's just for the Link and Unlink buttons. Beside those buttons are the Headings which is a drag down menu which lets you select whichever Heading you'd want for your post� Then besides that is where you can select the font colors for your post. And the button beside is here you can highlight the text to a different color. And the button besides the Highlight is the Smileys button �You may select which color, highlighting color or smiley you may wish. � . � Wow, that was pretty long. I really just wanted to reply. Anyway, I finished typing my reply. Is it all right now to send it? Yes. After you've finished typing whatever it is you'd want to send, you may send it by clicking "Add Post". And then, Ta-da! Your reply is now created! � I think what I said doesn't make sense. Ah, forget it. I'd rather not send it. You may click Cancel, which dissolves the text box that appeared before you. You may now continue browsing the Forum. � On second thought, I did send it but, I made a mistake. I can't seem to find a delete post or edit post anywhere. I believe that the Edit Post and Delete Post is a function which is available to Forum Mentors or Forum Moderators. PMing (Private Messaging) one would be very helpful, if you feel that making changes or deleting your post is deemed necessary. (If it is available, you may disregard this whole question and answer.) � Oh, creating a new thread indeed sounds tempting! I wanna try it. Teach me how do to it! Since you have properly navigated the Support Forum, the task is up to you on which category fits your post perfectly. Say, I made this guide and I titled it A Navigation Guide on the 7 Cups of Tea Forum for Members and Guests� I think it is appropriate in the 7 Cups of Tea Literature Club, which is still under the Support Forum, and I am going to create a new thread. Once you have located that category which suits your article/post/content, click on the blue bar which will gain you entrance on the other threads on that category. Once you?ve clicked that, there should be a green bar on your top right corner, under the Search Forum bar, that says "+ Create New Thread". Click that then a pop-up will come up and you have to fill up the necessary requirements on that pop-up to make your post. Ta-da! Your post is now created! � How will I know if people have upvoted or replied to my post? On the very top most dark blue bar which has: Browse Listeners-Support Forum-Self Help Guides (Space) About-? Become a Listener-Member Name-Globe The globe is pretty much the notification system for the forums. If you have received a notification about your post, or posts you are following, then a very light green bubble will appear beside the globe. You may click on that and it will show you the notifications regarding your post or the post you are following. You may click on the notification you found interesting or close the notification you do not wish to click. You may hover over that certain notification and an ?x? will appear at the right end of it. Click that then it will redirect you to that particular post and like a deleted file, it will disappear. � I am definitely open to additions, suggestions, corrections, questions, opinions or reactions, both violent and non-violent. You may do so in the comments section below. :) Teens: Get Involved in the Forums! Hey there my lovely teens! I need your help - each and every one of you, both members and listeners ^-^ You see, our participation in the forums is pretty low right now. Trust me, I know firsthand how terrifying the forums can be at first, but don't worry, I'm here to help! We want to work towards having some more teen forum supporters (Don't know what that is? Click here �for more info!) To do this, we need active teens in our forum categories and subcommunities. Now, I know that seems super overwhelming and you may be wondering where to start - well, don't stress! Just drop me a pm saying you'd like to get involved �and I'll help you figure out the forums, I'm here to support you every step of the way � �Whether you're a newbie, an experienced member/listener who's been too scared to venture into the forums, or a forum person who isn't sure what community to apply for as forum supporter, there's a place for you in our forums �- I'd love to see you all there! @MonBon @Anomalia @MelAllyouneedislove @Keanan Subcommunity Ideas 1. Relaunch Subcommunity Rockstars: https://www.7cups.com/forum/CommunityProjectsEvents_184/SubcommunitiesLeadersh ipInformation_2076/SubcommunityRockstarsVoting_224877/ 2. Create or Update Project Masterpost: https://www.7cups.com/forum/ListenersOnlyForums_38/CommunityProjects_116/Project Masterpost_31126/ 3. Icebreaker Idea: https://www.7cups.com/forum/CommunityProjectsEvents_184/Previous7CupsSpecialEv ents_736/Ifeelmostsupportedaroundnameonepersonlistenerfriendetc_76322/1/ https://www.7cups.com/forum/CommunityProjectsEvents_184/Previous7CupsSp ecialEvents_736/7CupsTaughtMefillin_44456/ Forum Team Shout-Outs I was digging through the Chronic Pain & Illness Category, and what did I see? Two lovely forum friends giving amazing contributions! Shout-out to @AffyAvo and @JoyIntoDarkness for their wonderful contributions to that category!! Notice any of your forum team peers doing a particularly awesome job in a category? Let us know here!
