Dear community members,

For quite a while we have heard concerns about chat rooms and the site in general. While a variety of helpful comments have been received, one of the take home messages is to make sure the chat remains a safe supportive environment for everyone. Additionally, people new to epilepsy and new to my.epilepsy.com need some help getting used to the site, learning how to use chat or other parts of the site, or generally just feeling comfortable joining in. 

In response to these issues, we are piloting the use of volunteer mentors. These mentors will have assigned times to check in on chat and help as needed, or just lend an extra helping hand to those getting used to the site or to epilepsy. Their role is not to be a 'policeman, but they can take limited action to keep the chat safe if need be.

The mentors are not administrators of the site and are not intended to be so. Right now they do have a different colored icon in chat so people can identify them, but if this bothers people, we can remove the colored icon. They are not in chat to 'spy' on people, but to help as help is needed. If it's not needed, great! The users who are piloting this with us will not be mentors all the time! They'll be in chat on their own, just as they have been before, but they'll also have 'mentor time' a few times a week.

Another important point - the use of mentors does not turn the my.epilepsy.com chat room into a 24/7 moderated chat. It's still an open chat with intermittent mentors. Of course, admin, mick02 and myself (epi_help) will be popping in as 'administrators'.

We are starting this volunteer role with a few people to see how it works. However, anyone on the site can apply to join in! If this works, we will rotate mentors and develop the mentor role in other ways. To do this, we need your help on how you feel mentors can be most helpful. If you want to learn more about the mentor role, please join the Community Mentor Group! Or email me at patty@epilepsytdp.org.

Please know that this mentor position is NOT in response to the site changes. People have asked us to consider an online mentor program for quite a while, but it was put on hold while we have been undergoing the site redesign. We think that now is a good time to try it out and see what works, what doesn't, and how we can develop this program over time.

Lastly, in response to ongoing bugs on the site changes, those of you who have been with us throughout the past 6 weeks know that we have been working hard on bugs, especially to fix the speed of the site. We have a Group for Bug Reporting where you can report any problems you are having and read up on technical fixes that have been done or are being worked on. I'll also set up a time for focused chat where people can join me to ask questions, vent or share your ideas!

Hope this explanation helps. Each and every one of you is an important part of this community and we look forward to working with you to make my.epilepsy.com your place to connect, learn, and share.

Best wishes,

Epi_help, aka Patty

Resource Specialist