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TOPICS
1. Win an Opportunity to Become a Certified Dream Coach
2. Five Ways to Prevent Fraudulent Transactions on the Internet
3. Mentoring Conferences, Events, and Announcements
4. What's New from the Mentoring Literature
WIN AN OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME A CERTIFIED DREAM COACH
Mentors are often in the position of helping their partners find a way to turn their dreams into reality. Whether the partner is a young person or an adult, dreams, hopes, and goals become the substance for most effective mentoring relationships.
In order to assist mentors to increase their skills in dream conversations, Peer Resources has made an exceptional arrangement with America's Dream Coach Marcia Wieder. This world-renowned coach and speaker has agreed to provide a Peer Resources Network member with a complete scholarship for tuition in her upcoming Certified Dream Coach Training. This training will take place in Tiburon, California (near San Francisco) May 16-22, 2004. Normally the cost is $2950.00 (US) for seven full days of training, all training materials, and six months of post-training consultation with Marcia.
To qualify for this full scholarship draw (transportation, meals, and accommodation not included), just sign-up to become a member of the Peer Resources Network for a minimum of two years (total cost: $107.00 for an individual member or $214.00 for an organizational member).
The selection (a random draw from all eligible names) will take place on January 28, 2004 and all persons who have registered as members between December 9, 2003 and January 27, 2004 will be eligible for the scholarship draw. The member selected may transfer the free registration to another person. (This offer cannot be exchanged for cash value.)
For more information about the Certified Dream Coach Training, go to www.dreamcoachu.com/.
To become eligible for the Dream Coach training, go to our secure server.
If you have any questions about this offer, please contact us directly at 1.800.567.3700.
"Some people come into our lives and quickly go, others leave footprints in our hearts and we are changed forever."
FIVE WAYS TO PREVENT FRAUDULENT TRANSACTIONS ON THE INTERNET
During this time of the year more people consider using the Internet to make purchases online. As a service to readers of The Mentor News, Des Fitzgerald, the Managing Director of Oak Training, a company that produces learning modules on mentoring and other business topics, shares the top five factors when considering an online purchase.
1. Security. In the great Dustin Hoffman film Marathon Man, Laurence Olivier keeps on asking Is it Safe, Is it Safe? This is exactly what everybody even thinking of purchasing online should say to themselves. The first aspect to consider is whether your personal information will be protected. All reputable sites will have an on-site information privacy statement. An appropriate statement will have information about how collected information is protected, kept secure, and used.
Check also for the tell-tale signs of protection such as https:// in the url window or a closed lock symbol on bottom left corner of most browsers. Many sites, like my own, make use of external payment providers to ensure that security is maximized for the consumer but again always stop and think before you enter those valuable credit card details.
2. Transparency. It might sound obvious but know who you are purchasing from. It is amazing how many e-commerce sites, even the major legitimate players, do not provide you with any contact details. Perhaps I am a skeptic but I always think what happens if something goes wrong? I believe a bit of caution never hurt anyone.
3. Buyer Beware. In addition to finding out who owns and operates the site also try to discover who else has bought there and what their experiences were. Most sites now carry a testimonial page so read them carefully. If no page exists or you feel you want more reassurance ask the site owner is there a way that you can contact their existing customers - usually they will work something out for you. From my own experience customers really only give a testimonial or permit follow-up contact when they are really satisfied with the products and service received.
4. Look and Feel. A great rule of thumb on the Internet is if it looks right it usually is. I still find it surprising that with all the professional web developers out there many sites actually make it difficult to purchase from them and are even harder to navigate. To me this reflects a lack of thought in the design of the site and can even lead me to question the overall strategy of the company. The value of purchasing over the Internet is being able to satisfy a need quickly and cost effectively. It is no wonder why sites likes Amazon can convert visitors to sales. On entering you know what you are getting and the purchasing decision and process is made easy for you.
5. Know What You Are Receiving. There should be no surprises. If there are, ask for your money back but remember a lot of aggravation can be spared if you approach purchasing on the Internet with your eyes wide open.
For more information about the mentoring modules available from Oak Training, visit: www.oaktraining.com.
"You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."
MENTORING CONFERENCES, EVENTS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
The International Mentoring Association has completely redesigned its website. The new and improved version has greatly increased the resources, documents, and information sources for both members and non-members. The new website address is: www.mentoring-association.org.
Scheduled for January 28-29, 2004 is the Governor's Conference on Service, Volunteerism and Mentoring to be held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, Los Angeles, California. With the recent change in governors in the state of California, the status of this conference is unknown. Check the conference website for information (www.goserv.ca.gov/events/gcpublic.asp) as to whether Arnold will be a mentor to all the people or call 800 858-7743.
Youth in Motion is presenting its second national mentoring conference in Canada. This three-day, bilingual event will take place March 4-6, 2004 at the Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre. For additional information including costs, speakers, sessions, and accommodation, visit: www.mentorcanada.ca or call (416) 962-4946 ext. 2 or toll free: (866) 962-4946.
Diversity in Mentoring: The Annual Conference of the International Mentoring Association will take place April 15-17, 2004 at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Hotel in Tampa, Florida. For additional information visit their website at www.mentoring-association.org or call (269) 387-4174; or fax: (269) 387-4189.
"We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers."
WHAT'S NEW FROM MENTORING LITERATURE
Peer Resources continually scans the professional and popular published literature to find articles of interest to people involved in mentoring. Two of several hundred recent additions to the searchable, annotated bibliography at are:
Mertinko, E., Novotney, L.C., Kelley Baker, T., and Lange, J. (2000). Evaluating your program: A beginner's self-evaluation workbook for mentoring programs. Potomac, Maryland: Information Technology International.
This comprehensive guide was prepared by the staff of Information Technology International and Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation as a way to evaluate the Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP). The workbook is a step-by-step guide for planning and customizing an evaluation using easy to understand, yet scientifically-valid methods for gathering and assessing data as well as disseminating evaluation results. An excellent resource for any youth-based mentoring service. Available as a free download from www.itiincorporated.com/sew_dl.htm.
"Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you."
~ Andre Gide ~
The Mentor News is provided free to subscribers every 45-60 days by Peer Resources. To become a member of the Peer Resources Network and receive a more comprehensive monthly publication as well as the only print magazine on coaching, visit www.mentors.ca/PRN.html or call 1.800.567.3700 in North America or 1.250.595.3503 outside of North America. To be removed from this mailing list send an email to <info@mentor.ca>.
All articles and information included in this newsletter have been prepared by Rey Carr and all copyrights are held by Peer Resources. To submit information or articles for possible inclusion in future issues, please send an email to mentornews@peer.ca.
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