Jinn

Has anyone considered the idea of a "Tilted Mentoring" program? Not an official forum per se, but an unofficial method of disseminating expert information between interested parties.

One of the things missing from my personal, as well as virtual, life is the presense of known experts in given areas of interest. I think it would be extremely valuable for all members of TFP to have direct conversation with people with professional or academic expertise in certain categories.

There have been many occasions that I pondered creating a topic with a very specific question, but hestitated for fear that I'd get opinions from many users with little to no experience in the area. We've got specific threads for doctors and dentists, but what if you had a list of available "experts" who you could PM with a specific question?

I know from post activity that we've got a wide variety of disciplines on TFP; we've got dentists and doctors, pyschologists and school teachers, business owners and professional musicians. I know there are tons more, but I'm interested in perhaps developing a list and establishing relationships between people who are distinctly interested in those career fields or knowledge pools. I'm not as interested in getting everyone's opinion on something like teaching techniques, but I would love to hear the same question answered by someone who was actually a teacher.

So my suggestion is a thread where people declare their "expertise," as well as topics that they could benefit from having a Mentor in. For example:

I have a desire to associate with skilled teachers and writers, clinical pyschologists, sociological researchers, software engineers, web designers, and multimedia consultants.

If you're a member of one of those classes, and you posted identifying yourself as such, you would be offering to recieve and respond to topical PMs based on your expertise or experience.

If I had a question about being a teacher, I could PM someone who identifies themselves below as such, and they would attempt to respond in a timely manner. The other advantage of speaking to an expert is that they can provide you with links and names of individuals who might also help you, names that could or would not otherwise be shared in a public discussion.

I realize the primary concern with a situation like this is that people will pose as "experts" in skills or careers that they truly are not. However, I think this will be strongly counter-acted by two things:

(1) there is much more honesty and personalization to TFP, and people are less likely to lie about their career here than elsewhere, and
(2) revealing a layman posing as an expert is typically quite easy over the course of multiple discussions.

Should you believe their 'expert' status to be fraudulent, you can simply stop asking them questions. Credentials or actual names need not be provided unless the "expert" themselves wishes to provide it.

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If you think this is a good idea, I hope you'll reply with your believed area of expertise as well as areas in which you could use an expert opinion. It may sound very similar to a resume, personal details necessarily omitted.

If you don't think this is a a good idea (for whatever reason, varying from decrying my redundancy to my stupidity) please be kind enough to detail why and omit your name from the list.

I'll start:

I have a desire to associate with skilled teachers and writers, clinical pyschologists, sociological researchers, software engineers, web designers, and multimedia consultants. I have particular interest in the subjects of Mental Disorders, Teaching Strategies, Usability and Interface Dersign, Video Game Design, Digital Sound Design (in Cubase or Max/MSP) and 3D Model creation (in Maya or 3DS Max).

I have professional experience (2+ years) as a Software Analyst, apprentice-level experience as a Web Designer, and am University-level educated in Computer Science and Video Game Design. I am also an advice columnist for a weekly newspaper. I have acted as a undergraduate Peer Tutor for 1.5 years at the University level, including developing cirriculum and grading submitted work. I welcome PMs.

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"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel