Introducing the Community Leader Program, and a Community Leader

[Med Help]

Hi,

We're very pleased to announce the launch of our new Community Leader program. As MedHelp has grown in both number of members and the number of communities we have, the needs of these communities has also grown. Our Pregnancy communities would like to see different features than our Ovarian Cancer community. Out of this need, we came up with the Community Leader program.

A Community Leader will be a MedHelp member who will act like an ambassador to MedHelp, helping to communicate the feedback from the community as well as help us communicate back to the community from MedHelp. When we launch new features, like the Notes feature today, they will be able to help out with any questions. In addition to helping MedHelp, they will also be working with their community to help it grow, by welcoming new members, bringing up suggestions, etc. As always, anyone is still welcome to contact MedHelp directly. We love hearing from our members and it's a big part of what has made the site what it is today.

One thing to note, Community Leaders, will not be replacing the MedHelp moderators currently monitoring the site, however, the Leaders will be able to help if there is an issue and work with our moderators to address it. The Leaders are not working for MedHelp, they are still members, but ones that have taken on some added responsibility.

We're extremely excited about this program, and we're pleased to announce that we already have a Community Leader for the Heart Disease & Heart Rhythm communities.  Please join us in welcoming Momto3 as the first Community Leader for these communities. She has been a terrific help over the past couple of weeks while we worked this program out. We're excited she has agreed to be a Community Leader and we're looking forward to working with her and you, to continue improving the experience in these communities.

MedHelp

[Momto3]

I hear ya...."never a dull moment" with kids : )

Hope your stepdaughter gets a clean bill and can hit the track running!  

Hi to Amber : )

[ddavey]

amber is doing quite well now..  she has issues sometimes with feeling faint but it seems to be when she is going up the basement stairs while carrying something or standing for long periods.   they told us it is probably her bp getting low due to all of the meds, particularly coreg, but i don't want to change them now that she is doing well.  i know that there will come a point where she won't be doing this well but i am hoping that in the meantime the drs at u of m will figure out what to do..   and then yesterday my 17 yr old stepdaughter was taken to the er for rapid heart rate.. she has wolfe parkinson white, had an ablation at age 6  hasn't had any major episodes until yesterday at track practice..she is okay now,  pediatric cardio wants her to have a stress test and her mom is setting it up, i think caffiene and track may have played a part,  she is working two part time jobs, and trying out for the track team.   never a dull moment       take care  dawn

[Momto3]

Thanks Dawn.  How's Amber doing?  Things still going well with the extra beats?

connie

[ddavey]

can't think of anyone better to do the job..  take care...  dawn

[Momto3]

I tend to agree on the notes, but I'll probably use them occasionally to say "HI" or "good luck" when someone is having a test, etc.  Other than that, I'll stick to private messages or postings (if I prefer the public format).  

While it sounds like some of these ideas were mine, I can't take any credit (or any "boos"....lol) for the updates.  I did make one suggestion to MedHelp, but haven't seen it incorporated and not sure if it will be.  I suggested that there be a place we could "take notes" so to speak. Since some of the profiles are blank, I would use the mini area to remind myself of the poster's situation.  Like mine might say, "Connie, MVR, PVC ablations."  Sometimes I receive a private message from someone and a month or so later I'll get an update, but I don't always remember (that's another problem, for another day) the person's situation.  I haven't seen or heard if it will be done, but that's the only suggestion I really made. Fortunately, I usually remember : )

I agree on the pages becoming too cluttered.  I have added a few things to the Health Pages and hope others will do the same, but I also don't want readers to become overwhelmed.  MedHelp thought it would be a good place to post information on topics of interest to many users.  Though I agree, sometimes, it's just nice to come here for just a little information or conversation.

Kenkeith,

I agree, it's nice to take the time for a personal message.  But, sometimes I think it's OK just to wave "hello" or to give a thumbs up.  

I figure the feature is there to use if we like, and to ignore if we prefer the other methods of communicating.

[kenkeith]

I agree,  it seems it is more meaningful when someone takes THEIR time and THEIR  personal words to convey a message, and it should be personal not a community thing.

[ireneo]

So I was close. You just  explained it more clearly and probably with more tact. I can see where a community leader could come in handy: more available, more personal since she can interact with people directly.

To Momto3: my opinion is that "notes" are redundant. Not only are they quite public but don't add anything overall. Personal messages can be just as brief. I appreciate the work MedHelp has gone through to listen to suggestions and make changes. Just be careful that the board doesn't become too cluttered with unnecessary "stuff." Yes, this is my suggestion and only that. You can always say thanks but no, thanks.

[Med Help]

Hi,

Just to clarify on Moderator vs. Community Leader. Moderators are MedHelp employees and they have the ability to delete posts, edit posts, move posts and warn & ban users for various actions. We've made the decision that we want those kind of actions coming from MedHelp, not from a member. Moderators really aren't involved in the community. They cover all 250 communities, and are really just trying to control spam, solicitations, fights, etc.

The goal for a Community Leader is to get to know that specific community and help us develop new features, or even new communities for them, as well as communicate new features and issues back and forth with us. For Heart specifically, a good example is the Heart Rhythm community. We probably should have noticed that subset of users trying to use the much larger Heart Disease community sooner. We needed a member to finally suggest it to us before we realized. That's now a community all its own that is doing very well. With a leader in place, we would have broken that out sooner.

Hope this helps clarify.

MedHelp

[Momto3]

Irene, Vienna

From what I know so far, the "role" of a community leader is more like Irene said, "a cheerleader (sortof...haha), encourager....and someone who can help filter some member questions to MedHelp.  I'll try and let newbies about the advantage of joining b/c of the sites' member privileges.  I figure we all kinda do that too, but I'll try and look out for people who are having trouble navigating, etc. The site has grown so large that MedHelp asked for a little help to guide newbies and also to pass along information so that they can address member concerns more timely, etc.  Unlike a true "moderator," I cannot change content of the posts, but just like everyone else here, I can let members know if things are getting a little crazy ; )  Rather than MedHelp getting bombarded with problems about the same posts, I can TRY and combine the issues into fewer comments to MH.  Of course, anyone can use the "report this" link.  I was told the "title" (bear with me here...lol) is to avoid the connotation of being known as a "moderator."  It's more of a liasion because of the growth in the site.  MedHelp is always looking for ways to improve the site and satisfy members' needs.

I had the same thought about the "notes."  I'm going to check with MedHelp on making the "notes" more in line with private messaging.  Personally, I don't feel insulted or looked down upon, but I'll pass along the comments since others may share your feelings.  The notes are definitely meant as a "quick note" when you want to wish someone luck or whatever and you don't really have time for a long message (kind of like text messaging).

  

  

[ireneo]

That's a good question. What is the difference between a "moderator" and a "community leader?"  My impression (though it may be wrong) is the moderator will scold and delete messages while the community leader is more of a cheerleader, encourager and more available than the invisible moderator.

[vienna13]

The PM system is great, but these new notes are unintelligent.
  
For me the problem is with this little notes and  top of that  telling on the right side of the screen as an ‘exiting news’(not): who sent a note to whom , that  might make some people feel like they been looked down as an adult, valued down, categorized by this method: primitive, no thinker, people on la la land whom be glad, happy by these little kindergarten, or OK let say elementary school style. I am not senile just yet, to be impressed by those primitive note graphics, so the whole idea is sad for me, anyway we are sure different and some people might just love it.

The leader thing, hm… I do not have any problem with  Momto3 she really deserve a congratulation for being kind and human for ALL under all circumstances , so not her personally I have the problem with ,BUT…please, I already left a communist system.
What is wrong to have a board without a leader? I do not like it at all. I personally do not take her or anybody as my leader.
Why don’t Med-Help let her to be a Moderator, it would be perfectly all right and would sound normal. ….but Community Leader?  bla…  

  

  

[ireneo]

A small note: (ha-ha) If you post a note to someone, everyone else will be able to read it by clicking on a person's profile. All the little notes come up with it. If you want to keep it private, continue to use private messages. I think the intent of notes is just for quick hellos and encouragement, all those little off-topic things we like to share with each other.

[Momto3]

Thanks Sirenet!  I'll be counting on my friends to help me out.  This job will "take a village" for sure!  

Thanks again
connie

[Sirenet]

I am relatively new to this site, but I feel it is such a fantastic service. I believe this is yet another great idea and a very good choice. The giving of your time/energy and care is/will be greatly appreciated by many.... myself for one. Thank you

[Momto3]

Hi Irene!

I'm gonna be depending on all my friends here to help me through this stuff.  Beside the medical information offered here, I'll do my best to keep things fun and interesting : )

BTW, are you still enjoying life post-surgery?  Gotta be great!!

Connie

[ireneo]

Thank you Momto3 for taking this on. It sounds like you're a busy little bee and perfect for the job. Keep up all your good work.   Ireneo