Announcement: Group Mod Challenge
Hello Moderator Team
I’ve got a challenge for you! Are you ready?
- Take a look at the communication styles as shown in the image above. Which four of the styles fit your communication style best? Let us know that in the comments below!
- Find a mod to partner up with to go mod and foster healthy conversation in the chat rooms for half an hour at least 6 times in a two-week span.
- Observe and take notes on the communication approach of your mod partner and the mod partner will be doing the same for you. (Please note that communication styles and approaches can and will vary and that’s alright!)
- Participate in the Group Mod Zone Room and compare your notes and share with fellow mods to learn about each others’ communication styles. Also, share the vibe of the room you both were modding to share in the Mod Room. The vibe of the room here means how was the room environment at the start of joining and when you left. You could share it on a scale of 1-10 where 1 would be “Meh” and 10 as “Awesome”.
Your mod partner can be:
- Any community moderator on shift (just let them know 1-1 before you join as a partner with them on their shift).
- A fellow community-centered chat room moderator of the same community who could be present at the same time as you will be able to participate in the room.
- A global moderator who could be present at the same time as you will be able to participate in the room.
To complete the challenge of visiting and moderating the rooms at least six times in a two-week span, your mod partner can be different if the same mod partner can’t be present. If you have more than one partner, you will simply take notes of different mods' communication styles and approaches and share them with them and fellow moderators in the group mod zone.
Every time you complete one session, drop it in the comments of this thread to log your active participation.
The goal of this challenge:
- Identify your own communication approach in the group dynamics and how it changed/evolved as the situation in the room changed.
- Identify how having a partner with you changed/ helped to foster a supportive and compassionate environment in the chatroom.
- What were the challenges? What surprised you? What type of communication approach works best for you?
At the end of this two-week challenge, you will receive information for the next one! And at the end of the quarter, the top 3 chat room moderators who complete all the challenges successfully will be awarded the most prestigious award: Award-Winning Mod!
Criteria of Award-Winning Mod
- Being passionate about group support chat rooms
- Being compassionate and engaging with the community members
- Being professional and ensure the safety of the room
- Using active listening and de-escalation with all chat participants.
- Being supportive to the fellow chat room moderators and room supports
- Being an open-minded communicator
- Being yourself and having fun while being there in the rooms.
Fun fact! To this day, only 12 chat room moderators have earned this exclusive award! And for extra incentive, every chat room moderator will be awarded 100 cheers per activity they complete.
I am signing up for the challenge and I invite every moderator to accept the challenge too! May we grow together as the best moderators of the community!
Activity #37
Partner: @CommunityModJennie
Session date: April 22nd, 2021
Session time: 12:30pm-1:00pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: The SR check-in session was on the quieter side in comparison to the other sessions I've done in the past. But never the less, still a supportive session for those present. 
Beginning to think my observations about Jennie being a mix of thinker and relator could be accurate.
Activity #38
Partner: @CommunityModJennie
Session date: April 22nd, 2021
Session time: 1:00pm-1:30pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Teen)
Notes: Hosted another SR check-in on teens side. Session was on the quieter side, but still supportive. Starting to get a little more comfortable with the teen side. 
I think Jennie's style is a mix of thinker and relator. Jennie is really kind and friendly. Thank you for giving me this opportunity!
activity #4
partner: the incredible @Azalea98
session date: april 22, 2021
session time: 5:20-5:40pm
room: TCR
notes: again, another amazing session! it was a bit quieter this time as more people left, and we were doing some more supporting and empathizing along with casual conversation! our modding style were more of relators since we shared our own feelings, and it was a bit slower paced! we didn't run into any challenges and thank you to the amazing azalea for being an amazing modding partner 
⋆ ˚｡⋆✿˚ no rain, no flowers. ˚✿⋆｡˚ ⋆
Activity #40
Partner: @CommunityModAnne
Session date: April 22nd, 2021
Session time: 3:30pm-4:00pm
Room: Teen Community Room 24/7
Notes: Tried something completely new for me. Glad Anne was there to support and help out. Things went smoothly during this activity. After discussion, we came to the conclusion that Anne is a relator who can be socializer or thinker at times. While I'm a mix of thinker and relator who can be a socializer at times. Thank you so much for letting me join you on your shift!
Activity #41
Partner: @CommunityModCharlie
Session date: April 22nd, 2021
Session time: 7:00pm-8:00pm
Room: Sharing Circle (Teen)
Notes: First time hosting Healthy Habits on teenie side! The session went smoothly, yayy! Thank you so much for the support during the session Charlie! I think Charlie's style is a mix between thinker and relator much like myself.
Activity #42
Partner: @CommunityModLynn
Session date: April 22nd, 2021
Session time: 8:00pm-8:30pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Responded to a listener's request for mod in SR from LSR. Was initially backing up previous hour's com mod on duty, but they went offline so I ended up in charge in a sense with Lynn backing me up. Thank you so much! 
Activity #43
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 12:00am-12:30am
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Teen)
Notes: I think this might be the first time I've seen SR on teens side this active. I struggled a little in terms of engaging with the session as I felt any of my response would potentially the flow of current on-going support conversation. I'm happy to see members supporting each other though. Thank you for letting me join you for the hour Elliot!
Activity #44
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 12:30am-1:00am
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Yayy! Another session completed. An active supportive SR check-in. Hopefully the members felt the same way about the session. Regardless, another wonderful experience co-modding with you Elliot.
@CommunityModElliot Hehe. Yes, I'm on a roll. ^_^ But I wouldn't be here without your support, so thank you so much! I would not be a host let alone a mod. It's always a pleasure working with you.
Activity #45
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 4:00pm-4:30pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: This session proved to be a bit of a challenge as several members wanted to provide feedback about English only in chatrooms wasn't inclusive for everyone, and not engage in session. I managed to redirect them to appropriate feedback link form. Thank you for backing me up Elliot!
Activity #46
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 5:15pm-5:45pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: In contrast to the previous session, this session was really quiet. It was a nice change to be able to able to engage in deeper conversations with members without feeling the pressure of quick response time in fast paced chatrooms.
Activity #47
Partner: @CommunityModCharlie
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 6:00pm-6:30pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Woohoo! Another active and engaging session! Although I had to spent some time explaining to members what SR check-ins were, it was still a supportive session overall. Thank you Charlie for letting me join you for this shift.
Activity #48
Partner: @CommunityModCharlie
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 6:30pm-7:00pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Teen)
Notes: This session was really quiet in the beginning, but got more interactive towards the end. Manage to get a good discussion going. Overall a good experience. Looking forward to hosting more sessions on the teen side now that I'm getting more use to things there.
Activity #49
Partner: @CommunityModCharlie
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 7:00pm-7:30pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: This session was really active, though I was able to keep up for the most part. I hope I didn't accidentally make any members feel like they were ignored by miss their messages or not being able to respond right away. Overall it was a really supportive session.
Activity #50
Partner: @CommunityModCharlie
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 7:30pm-8:00pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Wrapping up this 2 hour collaboration with SR check-in on teens side. The room was silent upon arrival but quickly got active once the banner went up. It was a good supportive discussion. Once again, thank you so much for letting me join you Charlie!
Activity #51
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 8:00pm-8:30pm
Room: Member Community Room
Notes: This was not a planned activity. More so just got called by members to respond to a situation in the room. Took about half an hour to sort out. So here we are. Thank you for helping out Elliot and backing me up!
Activity #52
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 10:15pm-10:45pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Yayy! Another amazing session completed. An active supportive session. And in contrast to the last log post, this one was planned. Thank you so much for co-hosting / co-modding the session with me.
Activity #53
Partner: @jovialButterfly6752
Session date: April 23rd, 2021
Session time: 11:45pm-12:15am
Room: Member Community Room
Notes: Yet another unplanned activity. XD This time I responded to Jovial's request for back up in sorting out a situation in MCR. Members were talking about potentially triggering topics, but we managed to redirect the conversation to something more light hearted using icebreaker session from fun events. Glad you asked me to help out! Looking forward to working with you again in the future!
Activity# 4
Partner: @sunisshiningandsoareyou
Room: Free hugs
Date and time: 24 Apr 3:00am ET
Notes: The room was pretty silent and nothing much to Mod. Yet, shine helped to keep the room going. Which fits with the previous styles (Relator+Socializer). Thank you
Activity# 5
Partner: @sunisshiningandsoareyou
Room: Free hugs
Date and time: 24 Apr 7.30am ET
Notes: This time the room was pretty busy and people were having a birthday partay. Yet, shine was doing so great. Definitely Relator+Socializer. Thank you
activity #6
Partner: @Verseart
Room: Special Events
Date and Time: 24 Apr 6.30 am ET
Notes: We were co-hosting icebreakers. They had net issues but tried to be present as much as they could. Responding to the answers well and using their listening skills. The style was Relator. Thank You
Activity #54
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 24th, 2021
Session time: 6:00pm-6:30pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Hehe. Back with more log sessions. ^_^ This session was really active with many conversations talking at once. It was difficult to keep up at times but overall a supportive environment. Once again, thank you for letting me join you on your shift.
Activity #55
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 24th, 2021
Session time: 6:45pm-7:15pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Teen)
Notes: Quiet session, but was able to engage and support the few members who did stop by. Also saw some new faces on the teenie side which is always nice. Looking forward to meeting and getting to know everyone!
Activity #56
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 24th, 2021
Session time: 7:30pm-8:00pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: In contrast to the last hour's check-in session, this session was quiet. I was the only one there when upon starting. A few members came after banner went up and we had a supportive discussion session.
Activity #58
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 24th, 2021
Session time: 9:30pm-10:00pm
Room: Sharing Circle (Adult)
Notes: Co-modded sharing circle and helped a newbie host bring some structure back to the room. It was a learning experience trying to find a balance between what members wanted and what the usual structure is. Hoping I'll get the chance to work with you again soon.
Activity #61
Partner: @CommunityModParker
Session date: April 25th, 2021
Session time: 6:15pm-6:45pm
Room: Support Room 24/7 (Adult)
Notes: Joined Parker for his shift when I responded to an emergency mod request so this was not a plan. I think Parker's style might be thinker, not sure, hard to tell. Regardless, thank you for letting me join you! Looking forward to working with you again in the future.
