The first vote

[COBOLdinosaur]

The Internet is full of forums.  They cover every posible topic.  some are well run some deserve to die.

Trying to stand out in crowd like that is not going to be easy.  I think we have something that no one else does.  It is called democracy.  This site is not going to be run by me.  it is going to be a collaborative effort based on what the community of mentors and members need.  

We are goin to srat from day one.  That is today.  Nothing that you see on this site is any more permanent than the desire of the community.  the first thing we need to do IMO is decide on what to call our experts. So this is going to be a poll I have been referring to the experts coming here as Mentors.  I think it captures and describes what they will be doing here.

However, expert is a long used term that some are attached to.  So Mentor, Expert, or something else.  If it is something else we will open a thread to discuss other naming options.

[DRRYAN3]

Mentor is fine with me.  If a choice is made to implement a tiered system of categorization of contributors, I'd suggest including the terms "coach" and "adviser" to describe lesser skill or participation levels.

[phileoca]

i voted mentor's but it really does depend.

someone coming in and getting help, will get help from a mentor.  but does that make them a mentor too?

I know you can say the same thing for expert, but I think expert is more a vague term and mentor is more boxed.

TOS would say catchy stuff like "where experts meet", "get certified", "are you an expert"
ERT may need a catchy slogan so people would understand the terminolgy.
i.e. "So skilled, you'll soon be a mentor"
i.e. "where mentors meet"
i.e. "from experts to mentors"

TOS, just called everybody experts... even though $10 timmy was a n00b.
blah blah blah... this is almost P/R

[Esopo]

I like Mentor for the big guns, but I wouldn't want to be called Mentor myself, because it's going to fall flat on its face as soon as someone asks about regex, or any of the other stuff I should know but never took the time to learn about. I would like to be a regular expert.

How about a progressive ranking?
You get to be a Mentor after a certain amount of collaboration or by being given the honorary title by your peers.

[Jasper]

I do like the Mentor title, it says something about the people who will be helping.  But in the respect, I'm no Mentor, even if I answer one persons question, so maybe the progressive ranking is the way to go.  Kind of like the cert levels at TOS.

my 2 cents

[COBOLdinosaur]

Just t clear something up.   Someone coming in will be a "member", the title of Mentor will be for those delivering.  Not just some automatic thing The first few Mentors will end up with the title based on past glories on other sites.  Then the mentors themselves will rate others to bestow the title on them.

We will have other less prestigious titles for those who are still working their way up (I like the suggestion already posted).  I didn't post a whole set of titles because I did not want to end up with confusion, but maybe I have created some.

Whatever title we choose will be exclusive and earned... No instant experts.

[shekerra]

I like the term *mentor* in the *advisor* sense. I think it would make clients feel more comfortable on the site.  I really don't want to see the mistakes make @EE begin here with power tripping and food chain pecking, etc and so on.  I think even the janitor <wink> should feel esteemed here :)

[Jasper]

Good points Cd&.....I agree completely.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR]

"Experts Round Table"
give its a medievil theme, so I would go with...knights

But mentor is fine too, if all hope is lost in finding a name we can always use 'jedi master' =o)

[Esopo]

That would be awesome!

Here are the Jedi ranks:

    * Youngling – A child with promising talent waiting to be selected by a Knight to become a Padawan.

   * Padawan – an apprentice who undergoes intensive training under a Knight.

    * Knight – a disciplined Padawan may become a Knight once they have completed "the trials." This is the most common rank.

    * Master – a Knight may become a Master after showing great understanding of the Force and usually subsequent to training a Padawan to Knighthood.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR]

*hides from the EE Sith admins* =o(

[sajuks]

mentor sounds good to me....but what would be the other rank names ?

student ???
teacher???
----
mentor

[COBOLdinosaur]

Mentor is fine with me.  If a choice is made to implement a tiered system of categorization of contributors, I'd suggest including the terms "coach" and "adviser" to describe lesser skill or participation levels.

we could have a set of titles like:

member  -- guy walking in off the street.
adviser   --  someone mostly listening to discussions and learning but occassionally adding some help.
coach  -- a skill pro who kows their stuff but still learning communication skills
mentor -- a master teacher

Instead of moderators I would like to see a different title used that more closely reflects the role they play such as editor or documentalist.  The site is a professional environment where we should not need to have heavy handed mods interfering.  There is on built in title site admin.  But We can find another title to display and keep the site admin title just fo r the default admin account.

The important thing is that none of it ties into management of the site.  When it comes to issues it does not matter what your title or position is every one has one vote, and in a democracy, majority rules, with respect for the rights of the minority.

[Daydreams]

I like the idea of "mentor" for those with experience. I also like the "levels" idea, that could be earned. Coach is good as well as advisor (let's remember the noun is "advisor", not adviser"). Guide is a good word too.

Also, the historical background of the original Arthurian round table has the members called "knights". I think that would be wonderful:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=roundtable

Knights of the round table!!

[keneso]

Mentor is catchy, and sounds good, and though not what Cd& wants, could be any person helping, while guiding another one, can be called a mentor, regardless of the expertise.

Mentor and scholar
Mentor and pupil

We also could have the term guide, makes it bit more mystique, or touristic, depending on the meaning you want to give to it  :)

Another term could be pro