Tips for Hosting Sessions

 Written by Genesis...

• We arrive promptly and introduce ourselves to newcomers and give newcomers a PaB newcomers notecard if you have one handy (If you don't have one ask another guardian).
• We invite newcomers to introduce themselves.
• We direct new people to PaB resources, meeting times, and when it appears appropriate, to spend some time explaining PaB practices and the community.
• While we do not encourage the Guardian “on duty” to control meeting style or content, we do recommend that if the Guardian feels that the topics of discussion have diverged significantly from those embraced by our community that they feel free to shift the topic or to address this directly when necessary.
• When new people enter a conversation, if it seems appropriate, it can be nice to cut and paste the part of the conversation they just missed and IM it to them or paste it into the local chat box to get everyone up to speed.
• We respect spiritual beliefs and definitions of reality that fall outside the mainstream material view.
• We respect a wide diversity of choices and perspectives, even when we disagree, we don’t judge or invalidate other people’s experiences.
• We try not to interrupt.
• People who are quiet are encouraged to speak if they wish, and those who talk a lot are encouraged to give others a chance. We keep in mind that others might be waiting to speak.
• Silence is also always ok.
• As a community, we try to listen closely to the speaker while also having a feeling for the needs of the whole group.
• We recognize that overcoming oppression helps everyone’s liberation; we challenge racism, classism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice.
• We are motivated to educate each other in the spirit of solidarity, and hold others accountable for their behavior without criticizing who they are as people.
• We try to notice common themes and roles that we play out together as a group.
• To create trust we respect confidentiality.
• If someone engages in repeated distractions from the chosen topics of discussion, meanness, vulgarity, or violent language then the guardian on duty is recommended to take the following action: 1) IM the person to make him/her aware that their behavior is not appropriate 2) IM others in group to make sure they are aware that you see this as a problem 3) Ask the person to desist on the locial chat  4) give a warning that they will be banned from the area if they don't desist 5) click on the person's avatar, a pie menu comes up, click on more another pie menu will come up, and then click eject.