Good to see we finally have someone mentoring all those out of control local and global champs.

I would be interested. For the benefit of all, are there any details on the structure and expected time commitment, or is that something that will be worked out on a case by case basis with the mentor? Also, are you taking anyone interested (rank 1+), or are there "prerequisites"?

Bigworm23 wrote:Mentoring isn't going to do much to retain any editors. I see many AMs and even my own RC that are not active at all. The rigidity of the rules regarding reviews, edits and incredible amount of time it takes just to move up in editor levels is the problem. I spent untold hours editing to get to 150k edits, had 2 different AM request reviews. The first review took 4 weeks and the second almost 5 weeks just to get a little square to edit. Then you have to wait 3 months, go thru another review that's going to take another 4-5 weeks just to get another small square. For editors that are not in NY or LA or a major city, this is a frustrating, long process. Not everyone has 7-8 hours a day to sit at the computer to edit like some of these guys racking up 100k points a week.

First off, thank you for devoting the time to editing. EDIT: And mentoring! I just noticed that on the OP.

If you look around the forums, there are many projects occurring right now to help enhance the editor learning experience and help pass along knowledge. There is renewed dedication to improving the wiki and refreshing a number of the pages, people are trying to arrange webinars, the mentoring trial was started, etc. Adding Chat in WME has also had a huge impact. All of these efforts combined will help pass along knowledge to more of the community, and that sense of community is what I believe will help retain editors. With the mentorship program though, I don't believe that individual editor retention is a direct goal. A handful of mentors doing individual sessions can only go so far. But put in the context of the broader support and training opportunities, it does lead to better quality editors and a more knowledgeable community as a whole--thereby retaining more editors. Especially in the age of so many useful scripts, it is easy for newer editors to rack up edits without necessarily knowing why something should be done a certain way. This helps put the focus not on quantity of edits to rise up the ranks, but on quality and integrity.

While your own AM review experience sounds unfortunate, keep in mind that everyone is still a volunteer, and people's states in life change as well. A great editor who can only log in for a few minutes each week who is not burned out is much better for Waze in the long run than someone who can spend a full day every day hitting the same keys repetitively and who gets bored after a few weeks. Whether it be individual AMs or even RCs, sometimes administrative functions as well as editing need to take a back seat to real life though. Some people are kind enough to post in their state forums or elsewhere that they're on hiatus for awhile, which is fine if you feel that you cannot devote the time to it anymore. Part of the mentorship program though is "removing roadblocks to participation and discouraging talent loss (burnout, disinterest, frustration)", so the effort is underway via mentoring to improve the very problem that you reference--even if you won't see the immediate fruits of it. All of these efforts combined will help improve the editor experience over the coming weeks, months, and years.

I'm not sure if this is boilerplate language for my RC alone or if other RCs use it too, but in my notification email that my AM request is under review, it states the following:

Barring any unforeseen delays, you should receive an approval or denial message within a week. If you have any questions, please send me an email.
If you do not feel you are getting adequate response or service, you may contact a different Regional Coordinator.

The RCs can help each other out to fill any void. By the way, I believe that the "rigidity of the rules" in the AM review process is great. My first AM application was denied (and rightly so looking back), and that was the best thing that happened to me as an editor. It offered my RC an opportunity to point me in the direction of things that I was overlooking and frankly some issues that I was not even aware were issues! The review process significantly sped up the overall quality of my edits (with a few mistakes still thrown in for good measure ). Everyone learns, and just because you're a 3+ AM doesn't make you a good editor. The mentoring program along with all of the other resources available or becoming available will help retain more people in the long run--even those not individually mentored.

may this help? memberlist.php?mode=group&g=73

Image uploaded.

Will there be a Mentee badge or Signature Icon ?

redviper26 wrote:Hey guys,

We started uploading the new mentor badge.. Enjoy

Noam

Do we get to fight over which editor we get as a mentor? Count me in!

Teach me oh great ones. Count me in. A more formal approach to mentorship is very much appreciated. And like others have already said, I'm willing to in turn mentor others when I too reach "enlightenment".

txemt wrote:How's El Paso going?

Going good. Slow but steady progress. Not too many issues outside of construction areas and now slowly moving out into the suburbs and open desert around town. Lots of work to be done there as well as TX/NM border areas near Sunland Park and Canutillo. ...and then there's Juarez but that's an entire other story.

Yep. I've put the Juarez NA side on pause aside major issues and need to work heavily on the ROTW side. I saw what you did in Matamoros. Impressive.

Would love to learn more (in addition to the wisdom imparted by the good folks on chat to myself and all the other "cohorts").