Give a Shout Out to those who work on Special Events!

Shout Out to @pray4theheartless!

The multitalented and skilled Erica joined our team having applied in late-September and beginning working on events in December. They've created some amazing events, with great activities and discussions for us to enjoy. They even worked on a wonderful full week-long event by themselves (and, believe me, that does not come easy whatsoever)! Lightening up the forums with colour, the chat rooms with good vibes (and their never-ending list of teams tags!), it has been a real honour having Erica as a member of our team. Not only did Erica do an amazing job in this role, but also helped the team itself greatly during the time with us - supporting others in their events, contributing in a number of ways and providing helpful input regarding team matters too.

Given that you are leaving, I wanted to make sure that you knew that I was very grateful for your joining our team, very happy to see you thrive in this role and am appreciative of all you have done for special events! That's let alone everything else you have been doing so well in - which has all been amazing. 7 Cups has been very fortunate to have you present here.

Thank you very much, Erica, and I wish you well in all that you'll ever do.

Erica's legacy from their time with us:

December:

Human Rights Day Here

January:

Inspire your Heart with Art Day Here

February:

Self-Love Day Here

Random Acts of Kindness Day Here

Eating Disorders Awareness Week Here

March:

Sleep Awareness Day Here

International Women's Day Here

Stories Day Here

We have many discussion leaders who come to our aid and rescue for special events. These people take an hour out of their day to schedule time to lead discussions for people to enjoy. Sometimes this happens even at the very last minute!

Without this kind of help, we couldn't be able to reach people via the chat rooms so much or often.

Today I'd like to give a special shout out to the following who have reached out to me, letting me know that they're willing to help with discussion leading, whilst doing an amazing job at supporting us quite a lot in this regard already:

@amazingrea
Living up to your username, amazing Rea indeed! Covering the teen side, always offering to help out where you can in a number of ways and it's greatly appreciated. Discussion-wise covering the late-night hours too. You're a pleasure to speak with and very helpful too, thank you for that!

@DancingAlong
Co-leader on stand-by! You've no idea how much it means for you to approach not only to help out with special events, but to also offer to co-lead on discussions in order to support anyone who does come forward. It is so helpful! Thank you for doing so much for special events.

@Eunoia
On top of helping organising events, you also lead quite a number of discussions! You're also the one with great ideas. Since joining the team, you have thrived to really apply yourself and you have put forward some great ideas to help advance the team. I am very grateful for this!

@KRNGRFL
Arguably my number one fan, the multitalented Karen! Frequently offering your support in discussion leading. Not soon after joining really, you've become a huge helper and encourager not only of myself, but of special events. I really appreciate this! It's an truly an honour.

@mscoxie
I feel like I've known you for so long! Consistently throughout that time, you are so reliable, helpful and absolutely rockin' your activities every time. I step away from our conversations feeling either inspired, motivated or both! Always a blessing to have around. Thank you very much!

@YayyySphere
I don't know that anyone can top the amount of discussions you have led for special events! You definitely have a passion, although I've no idea how you find the time amongst your busy schedule!! I am extremely grateful for the time you take out of your schedule to dedicate to special events in various ways!

Something all of you have in common is that you help me to feel reassured in various ways, so thank you for that!

@QuickJazz

"JAZZY YOU ARE LIKE THE MOST COOLIO HUMAN EVER THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EXISTING THIS TEAM WOULDNT EVEN BE A THINGY WITHOUT YOU, AND YOU'VE MADE IT SO FABBY AND LOVELY AND WONDERFUL ♥♥♥♥"

Haha, thank you so much for your kind words! I love being a part of this team, getting to know fabulous characters such as yourself, no doubt!!

& Thank you to you too because special events would not have been the same without you either.

I would like to help with special events! Where can I sign up?

First of all, for those of you who do not know, I have been organising events on 7 Cups for over a year. However! I had been away from 7 Cups for about six months up until very recently. Getting back to 7 Cups has been fine, but doing an event again for the first time in a while had me unexpectedly really nervous!

It was clear to me that I am not as efficient as before, and I decided to take on Time to Talk Day at what I call "the very last minute" (which I completely do not advise unless you are an experienced organiser, but even then I may suggest against it), which was also during the busiest period my workplace has. So.. deep breaths were needed, needless to say. Haha!

I wasn't sure how many people would be interested, as special events are pretty new again due to their recent dormancy. In addition, this time of year tends to be hard for drumming up support. But I was surprised to see the response rate, and everyone was fantastic, helpful, patient and understanding. Without any of you and more, the event would have not gone so well and I'm extremely grateful for your input, contribution and support. So thank you very much, it was and is highly appreciated!

@PurpleSunshine and @BlissfulSummer

Clearly you two are a good example of listener twin power! You worked very well together, bouncing off each other well and were able to lead a great discussion together as a result! We had many wonderful participants, and you were both able to engage and respond to them very well. I think this is a really key element to discussion leading, being able to interact with participants and what they are saying.

@Lucy

You led a discussion and shared your story for our event. I only managed to lurk during the first part of your discussion, but it was going well from what I could see! So I hope you enjoyed it. You were more ready than me for this event it felt like! You also shared part of your experiences that helped to really shape you and even led you to 7 Cups itself. I know that it'll touch and reach many people, so thank you for being so open and helping out on this day.

@eviesweet and @littlepony

Woop woop! You two rocked it in your quiz, which I was thankfully able to join for the most part! Very natural, good pace. Very grateful that you both volunteered to lead this too! I know that it was a long time since Evie had done one, for example, but you were both on top of your game and made for a great duo. I believe your teamwork led to some great input and conversations!

@SunFern

Well, Sun! As I have said to you before, you just dove on in there. Straight into the deep end. Haha! But you did amazingly well for your first discussion (solo! Although @RaCat came to support you too, which was also really great to see and I am grateful for). I'm super-glad you offered your help, and I can imagine you becoming a discussion pro, for sure!

You were also left feedback via the form! "My favourite discussion since i've joined 7cups", "First time discusdion leader and they really excelled. Thoroughly enjoyed the discussion."

@Amberly15 and @Sarra

First of all, sorry I couldn't make it to your discussion! Thank you very much to Sarra for carrying on without your co-leader present, but I know that you joined in when you were able to Amberly, so thank you for still making it too!! There may not have been as much participation as one would have liked, but I really hope it went well and I'm sure the participants that were there enjoyed it too. Thank you so much for keeping on keeping on!

@Becca9345

I did manage to peak in a little~ bit to see how your discussion was going, and you were rocking it. There was quite a mix of experiences being told to the group as you all discussed, and you showed interest and support to all! You expressed interest in helping with a lot with special events, and I really appreciate that.

@Ady23 and @DancingAlong

Did someone say... dream team? I was spying on the discussion when I could, and it was very energetic. You were both interacting very well with the participants. I hope you enjoyed it, because I did! You had some real interesting discussion going on. A very well done for your first time leading a discussion, Ady!! & Dancing, you are always so supportive of special events and I always appreciate that so much!


@SilentSerenityy

Thank you so much Silent for bearing with me after I intially contacted you, and for creating a forum discussion for this event! You didn't even have to offer it, but you did and I am extremely grateful for that! Thank you very much!

@Jenna

Jenna, always my saviour. Haha! You always go out of your way to help me, and you've no idea how much it really did help. Even one of the discussion documents got deleted, and so your compiling discussions in a document for me literally saved me from a breakdown. Haha!

@tazcares

Phewwwww, you saved my skin! It may not have been needed in the end, but I really appreciate you putting yourself forward to help!

& To all support team leaders who are ready and willing to help out too!
@Alex @Isaac @Roisin2016 @Diandra @YayyySphere @PoliteOcean @beYOUtywithin

It means a lot that you would switch things up to support us. Same goes for even if it turned out it wasn't possible, I still really appreciate the instant support I received from all of you.

And let's not forget the wonderful support team members who led these!!
@PuppyLove13 @HarveyM @Emily619

Looking forward to your continued support, everyone - including those I haven't mentioned here!! Thank you so much!

@QuickJazz Thank you so much for trusting our capabilities for conducting this discussion and all your appreciation ❤

Congratulations.