The Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) is a volunteer-driven organization committed to helping interested members achieve a successful, enjoyable, and responsible cruising lifestyle consistent with the values set out in SSCA's Bylaws and its Policies and Procedures Manual.
As a volunteer-driven organization, we believe that many members may benefit from participating in a mentoring program – either as mentors - those willing to share their experience and expertise, or as those seeking information, advice, and guidance.
The goal of the SSCA mentoring program is to establish a framework where potential mentors can be easily identified and contacted to share thoughts, ideas, and advice. We hope to facilitate the exchange of information that will benefit members and allow them to make informed decisions on matters related to the cruising lifestyle. We recognize that we must all make our own decisions based on our personal needs, experience, and limitations and we must be responsible for those decisions, but it is often useful to share or receive information from others.
If you have interest in participating in the program, please read the instructions below. This program is designed to be self-sufficient.
SSCA Mentorship Committee
Rear Commodore Melinda Schell, Chair
Cruiser Debra Morgan
How to Become a Mentor
Thank you for having interest in becoming an SSCA mentor.
1) Please review the categories to determine which category or categories you wish to serve as a mentor.
2) When you find a category of interest, just click the “View Members” link by that particular category description and it will take you to another page.
3) Click “Sign Me Up” and you will automatically be added as a mentor to that group and a pop-up box will confirm you were added. It’s important that you complete the next step of the sign-up process by adding your bio to your member profile and that process is described in Step #4.
Persons looking for a mentor will be able to find you two ways: a) By viewing the same page in which you used to sign up. b) By using the Involvement Type field (last field in the right column on the search screen) to conduct a search in the Membership Directory. Participants can use that dropdown menu for Involvement Type to select a mentor category and find mentors for that particular category. They can decide which mentor interests them by viewing the bios of the mentors so make sure you add your bio to your profile.
4) To add a bio, go to your bio page within your member profile. Type a bio highlighting your experience based on the category or categories you selected. The bio box is at the bottom of the page. On that page, you can also add a photo, banner image and your social networking URLs if you have interest in doing so. Make sure to click "Save" at the bottom of the page when you make any changes to that page.
5) At any time you wish to remove yourself as a mentor, you can do so through your member profile since this is a voluntary program. Go to the Your Website Functions section (4th row, 4th section of your member profile information) and click the Interests tab. Uncheck the categories in which you have been serving as a mentor then click “Save’” at the bottom of the page. You can also sign up to be a mentor in this same section of your member profile in addition to the process described above.
If you have questions about the program, email mentorship@ssca.org and if you have navigational/technical issues with the sign-up process on the website, email office@ssca.org.
How to Find a Mentor
Thank you for having interest in the SSCA mentorship program.
1) There are 22 categories and you can identify mentors in any of the categories in which you wish to have a mentor. You can review the categories here.
2) When you find a category of interest, just click the “View Members” link by that particular category description and it will take you to another page. You will see all the mentors listed for that category.
3) To learn more about an individual, just click on a member’s business card listing to view their contact information and bio.
4) Once you have identified a mentor of interest to you, reach out to them directly by using the contact information listed for that mentor.
5) In addition to finding mentors as described above, you can also locate them by using the Involvement Type field (last field in the right column on the search screen) to conduct a search in the Membership Directory. By using the dropdown menu for Involvement Type, you can select a mentor category and find mentors for a particular category. You can decide which mentor interests you by viewing the bios of the mentors (just click a name from the search results to see someone's profile information including bio) and then reaching out to the mentor of interest directly by using their contact information listed.
If you have questions about the program, email mentorship@ssca.org and if you have navigational/technical issues searching for a mentor on the website, email office@ssca.org.