Ideas for helping new cruisers acclimate?
I posted this in the JCCC4 Post-Mortem thread, but I thought it might deserve its own topic. What I'd like to know is this: what can veteran Sea Monkeys do to help new Monkeys out? I know a lot of us have social anxiety issues, insecurity, and fear of rejection (I have all of those myself in some form or another), and it can be really intimidating to approach a group of strangers, especially when they all seem to know each other already. Someone compared it to starting at a new school, and having done that multiple times as a kid, I know exactly how that feels. And I really don't want us to seem like the already-formed clique that or scares off new people.
My thoughts:
* A button or badge that indicates that this is my first JCCC. It would be similar in function to the "Hi" buttons that Sara made, but it would have to be better explained and easier to find -- a lot of people either didn't see the buttons this year or else didn't read the explanations of what they meant.
* A buddy program, where a veteran Sea Monkey volunteers to be matched up with a new Monkey for as long as the new Monkey needs to feel comfortable -- the "big brother/sister" Monkey would show the new one around the ship, introduce him/her to some of the other returning Monkeys, maybe play some games with them, explain the in-jokes from previous cruises...whatever.
I should add that I also think that whatever we do, although The Home Office doesn't necessarily need to be involved in coordinating or implementing it (I'm aware that they have more than enough on their plates), I do think that it would be extremely helpful if they could spread the word. I talked to a lot of people on JCCC4 who didn't know about the Ambassador program, didn't see the buttons, didn't realize what they meant, didn't know about the forums or Facebook groups...any effort we make to help new Monkeys will not reach the ones we most want to reach unless THO helps us there -- they have access to the new folks that we don't.
My thoughts:
* A button or badge that indicates that this is my first JCCC. It would be similar in function to the "Hi" buttons that Sara made, but it would have to be better explained and easier to find -- a lot of people either didn't see the buttons this year or else didn't read the explanations of what they meant.
* A buddy program, where a veteran Sea Monkey volunteers to be matched up with a new Monkey for as long as the new Monkey needs to feel comfortable -- the "big brother/sister" Monkey would show the new one around the ship, introduce him/her to some of the other returning Monkeys, maybe play some games with them, explain the in-jokes from previous cruises...whatever.
I should add that I also think that whatever we do, although The Home Office doesn't necessarily need to be involved in coordinating or implementing it (I'm aware that they have more than enough on their plates), I do think that it would be extremely helpful if they could spread the word. I talked to a lot of people on JCCC4 who didn't know about the Ambassador program, didn't see the buttons, didn't realize what they meant, didn't know about the forums or Facebook groups...any effort we make to help new Monkeys will not reach the ones we most want to reach unless THO helps us there -- they have access to the new folks that we don't.
Comments
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/forums/index.php?p=/discussion/2273/introducing-the-sea-monkey-ambassador-program/p1
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/forums/index.php?p=/discussion/2182/jccc4-welcoming-new-sea-monkeys/p1
My thought in posting here was to ask people who were actually new on JCCC4 for their thoughts, but if we have too many threads, a moderator can feel free to delete mine. I'd do it myself, but there doesn't seem to be an option to.
Mods may care way more about threads!
I do want to repeat my refrain from last year: that whatever steps are made to welcome and acclimate new people should not (either inadvertently or intentionally) draft people into doing work they have not volunteered for or dictate how people spend their vacations.
(For example: Designating a few tables meet-and-mingle tables is awesome! Mandating the first night's dinner as a meet-and-mingle night in which everyone in the main dining room must sit with strangers: not so much.)
I do think that the main reason the efforts this year weren't that successful was because not many of the new people knew about them. Whatever we do next year will probably be equally effective unless we can spread the word, and the only sure way I know to do that is via The Home Office.
I think that any of the solutions should be friendly to the shy non first timers too, which I think Chicazul's buttons did broach since they weren't specific, the real problem is the visibility. I often didn't even notice a button until after I was talking to someone. And I'm normally considered an observant person. I'm really glad people with Hi buttons were comfortable starting conversations with me.
We should also accept, that no matter how much information is given beforehand, it's going to be like the first day at a new school. Or the first day back after summer vacation. Or more accurately, the first day at summer camp with a bunch of kids you only see in camp once a year. Some of us do our homework, we make sure we read each book on the summer reading list, (and a LOT of information is emailed to those who register,) but honestly a lot of people aren't good at homework. Or reading. And we don't want the cruise to feel like work even if it will help us in the long run. Now .. how to fix?
In summary:
- Large Joconomicon at the info desk
- Establish gathering spots for monkeys to congregate from the moment the boat lets us on. We know the boat now, this should be easy. The longer we wait to meet strangers the more time it allows self doubt to whisper into our ears (and we chicken out).
- Host orientation "office hours" open to anyone the first few days. (Some snorks might learn something!)
- Create a pre-cruise buddy system so you know at least one more person before getting on - this will be good for newbies, experts, and the persistently shy
I just realized some of this needs to be applied to the official hotel too. I know based on Facebook that people tried (I wasn't at the hotel) but I also know how lost a lot of people felt and like it was a giant box of missed connections.Also - in other news - I just realized a big perk of the lines - we made lots of friends standing in line! The line to get on the boat, the line to check into the boat, the line to be allowed on the boat, the line to register, the line to get into the events. Don't get rid of the lines, we need them! They force us to talk to the strangers next to us.
A lot of the problem, I'm sure, is information overload -- with so much info to share, people are bound to miss something. But is there any way we can maximize the signal-boost and try to get as much info to as many Sea Monkeys -- with special emphasis on the new ones -- as possible?
I mentioned (somewhere? maybe not this thread) that I remember the Facebook group etc. being mentioned in an official Home Office email on an earlier cruise. I don't think it was on this one. But, I think that would be useful. I also remember asking JoCo and Paul and Storm to tweet the links before, although I don't remember if that was this specific year or not. Some of this may be tied to many of the most active forum/Facebook people also being multiple-year cruisers who have checked things in the mental "done" box even though those things were done for an earlier sailing.
The forums are linked up from the FAQ on the JCCC website.
All that said, no matter how much we put it out there, there are going to be people who do not know about the forums/Facebook group/whatever.
There's at least ONE e-mail that we all have to get/read/pay attention to during the course of booking. I was thinking if the Home Office could put a primer (or FB group, or forum) link in the cabin assignment e-mail or similar a similar Very Important piece of communication, it could help alleviate a lot of the "I didn't know!"
That having been said, I was a new monkey on 4. I was also apparently ridiculously well researched comparative to what I'm hearing about here, so I'm not sure how much it would actually help anyone.
The cocktail party did have me on my back foot for a few minutes, but since we had gone and met people at the JoCotel the night before, it helped to give us familiar faces to at least wave at or bump into. FWIW, I wore a "hi" button for most, if not all of the cruise, and if Ambassadors is offered next year, I'll probably join and help out.
It was pretty much born out of the phobia of being the only student in a class that doesn't know what the hell is going on, so, I guess I had that going for me. I was also an avid user of Twit-arr and CruiseMonkey once on board, again, due to that phobia.
Thanks for dispelling another shortsighted social myth, Miss!
Personally, I end up standing around most of the time just observing. It would be nice to have some way of indicating a couple of areas to initiate conversation about, so we can geek out together. By the same token, it might be helpful to know of things to avoid.
I've been thinking of it along the lines of ShadowRun skill trees, so you'd have a general attribute, then a smaller subset, then a specific item. Something like TV -> SciFi -> Firefly. And then use something like the Geek Code modifiers to indicate level of interest.
So TV SciFi + Firefly ++ says I think TV is ok, more so if it is SciFi, and I like Firefly, but there are people who are more into it than I am (hence the ++ and not ++++).
I could also say TV -- SciFi + Firefly +++ which says that I don't much like TV except for SciFi, and especially Firefly.
I don't think all the modifiers really apply, and I think there are
others needed. I like the ! for not participating in the topic, but
there could also be one for watching vs participating.
This could apply to anything/everything people are interested in.
Sports -- Individual - Fencing ++
Sports -- Individual Darts +
Sports -- Individual Juggling ++
!Politics
!Religion
Electronics ++ Home Theater ++ TV ++
Audio/Visual ++ Video ++ Recording +++
Music + Internet ++ JoCo +++
Games ++ RPGs +++ Shadowrun ++++
Games ++ Board Games +++ Hanabi ++++
If each person had at least a couple items like that on their badges, it might be easier to start conversations about other topics than "Oh, is this your first cruise?" Maybe a Tag Cloud?
I did think of a couple things that might be worth considering for next year:
1) Game tables in the conference center were genius and provided a spot where I knew I could always find other Sea Monkeys should I have a question. It was also a great place to meet folks in a quieter and more relaxed environment. I think an idea for next year might be to designate a table with an ambassadorial sort of function. Maybe stick a sign on it, or just announce it or something. Play games that go quickly or if we can find something that players can join mid-game maybe. The idea being that it'd be a good spot for folks to get a game in while waiting for another to open up, ask questions, and meet people.
2) Assigned POC... When I was in the Army, when we were to change to a new duty station, someone at our gaining station would contact us and be our contact for smoothing the transition. Maybe we should do something like that? When people register, if they mark down that they're new to the cruises, kick that over to have them randomly assigned a JCCC veteran, or maybe just give them an option to check a box for it or something. That way, you'd have someone you could exchange emails with and knew as you hit the ground. Worked well for me in the past and seems like something that'd be good here as well.
That is all. Carry on.
I would like to see Helper Monkeys get the ability to be Off Duty. I am not an especially visible Helper, so I largely go unnoticed when I'm in the 20% of the time I don't want to be disturbed. I have seen other Helpers get interrupted when they were clearly not working, and I know how much that would frustrate me. Instead of the wrist bands, I'd love to see large arm bands or even Helper Monkey shirts to signify when any given Helper Monkey is On Duty.
As for making sure new people get all the information they could possibly want: I feel like it's all there. It's in the emails, it's on Facebook, Twitter, and the forums. The boat is uniquely well documented on YouTube and flickr. Even the JCCC website has a ton of slideshows from events, which should be a clear indicator that evidence of prior boats exists. I understand the desire to avoid events like Speed Meeting, but that means newbies are electing to eliminate a prime opportunity to get to know other Monkeys. I don't like the idea of being expected to bring folks up to speed if they actively avoid taking the time to research the topics they want to know about. I really dislike the idea of having a new Monkey randomly assigned to veterans UNLESS that is an opt-in situation for veteran Helpers. The tags-on-badges idea is interesting but the format seems difficult, and would likely be better suited to the Manifest, forums, or speed meeting sessions.
If Helper Monkeys have the ability to opt in to providing mentorship to New Monkeys, I'm all for it. But I don't like the expectation that I have to be on and available for questions every moment without first giving my explicit consent to do so. I get wanting to promote inclusivity, and even though JCCC draws a lot of comparisons to a geek summer camp or a con, for me and many others, it's a vacation. Which means we need some time to relax and turn off.
The clips do seem like a good idea, but they should have some other way of showing the level of comfort (e.g. a power level type thing?) as well as the colour, for people without perfect colour vision.
I was afraid for a moment that it was going to say, '…and there were jugs of ice water in all the hallways in case anyone was challenged to tip them over their heads.'