Our official response was:

"Our team [The Transition Team] is very careful when crafting word choice on the site. When we say “I have helped The Transition Spread the Word by referring one new website user, using the Memory Jogger.” we mean just that. If we wanted to make sure someone joined because of one of our website users Spreading the Word we would have used the word “Recruit” for that task. We would never delay an active participant knowingly, because we were making their success based off of someone else’s actions. As an organization we do not believe in “Spray and Pray” marketing where a person or group spam info all over the web and pray it brings in the right people. We believe in developing meaningful relationships that build and grow as time progresses. That’s why we have people invite people they know, like, and trust on a 1-on-1 basis and reflect on who they know personally who have values aligned with those who are part of The Transition. We know a lot of people are in the same boat as you, where other people are using you as their guinea pig to test the water and we don’t want anyone to force or feel forced to be part of our organization, that kind of system doesn’t create the better world we strive for. As long as you Spread the Word and let others know what you are up to we are happy with that. Our mission cannot thrive if our organization is stagnant. The site gets better and better as each new person like you, joins and becomes active on the site."

 In regards to what to do next those steps are:

1. Registering with the site https://thetransition.nationbuilder.com/login

2. and then following  Your Action Plan page http://www.thetransition.org/your_action_plan. 

 

Once a person registers the site directs them to Your Action Plan right away. Before we launched the website, during our early beta testing we discovered it is unwise to direct people to individuals, communities and organizations right away. That might sound counter intuitive, but we  discovered through our research that individuals are simply not prepared to take that step when they first join The Transition. After observing our beta testers' outcomes as well as getting sound advice from our mentors* we have found that people don't know what they don't know and tend to make unwise decisions based on very little expertise and knowledge often leading them into disastrous situations. Before our website was launched we found out about some terrible events that happened because people connected too early without fully understanding their vision, being trained, or given the tools they needed to succeed. By taking action before properly being informed or going through much needed training they often find themselves losing substantial amounts of time, money and energy. We want to prevent future occurrences of this nature from happening ever again. As a means to prevent more personal tragedies from happening and to help our supporter base be as successful as humanly possible we set up the website to be intuitive to the flow and path they are on and give them the resources and tools they need, right when they need it. Knowing where people and communities are located is NOT the first step to success for people joining The Transition, following the Your Action Plan page is! 

* The mentors we have sought out counsel from on average have no less than 30 years experience in their field of expertise. Those expertise cover many fields including, but not limited to grassroots organizing, living and working in intentional communities, starting and maintaining co-op business, conflict resolution etc. Many of them can be found in our WHO FAQ section of the site.

Sources: Pixabay

Contributors: edman_eu

Recommended Reading: 

Unity, Strategy, and Nonviolent Power for an Unstoppable Movement

This portion of the website maps out the path you need to take depending on the direction you chose. Like a guidebook, this section describes the milestones and choices necessary to take on each path. You will learn where the traps and snags are, as well as where the well-trodden and proven paths can be found. You will find firsthand stories told by others who have taken the journey before you and be able to learn from their missteps. As well as discover the methods they have found that work for them. Your Action Plan includes a set of tools activists (and those who wish to get active) can use to:

• Build Community
• Train in Nonviolence Principles
• Create and pursue strategic thinking toward the realization of campaign goals.

• the Roadmap MANDALA (see Our Plan)
• web-based ways  to connect with one another and benefit from many resources, such as the COMPASS, and Study Guides, and finally
• ways to build a strategy for long-term change integrated into the model itself.

See Related Page:

Your Action Plan

Sources: Metta Center: What is a Road-map

Contributors: Metta Center

Recommended Reading: Metta Center: What is a Road-map

The Endorsements page is what is also sometimes called a testimonial page. The expectation of this page is for people or organizations to endorse The Transition in the following ways:

• Share how they feel personally about The Transition.
• Share how The Transition has personally impacted their life.
• Explain why they recommend other people should get involved with The Transition.

The Trust page is an actual pledge The Transition Team is making to all of our supporters and Contributors and by adding your "virtual signature" you are acknowledging what we are pledging to you and in a sense holding us accountable to this pledge by also agreeing to the beneficiaries statement as we consider YOU and others like you a beneficiary of our work. See below the statement quoted from that page:

"Beneficiaries: I hereby agree to the following statement:

I will participate in the positive, inclusive decision making structure of The Transition and abide by the decisions made in my Contributorship to The Transition. I bring my integrity and commitment to the ideals of trust, respect, self-empowerment, cooperation, equal access to power, and non-violence. I am committed to the vision of diverse membership of The Transition and the site is considered a “Safe Zone".   I hereby agree to  treat everyone equal of value with differing gifts and Contribute for the good of all. I will attempt to minimize barriers to Contributors of any groups wishing to participate."

This section of the site is named ImagiNation CO-Operation for many reasons. A song that is very dear to many of our hearts is John Lennon's song Imagine and it is that vision we wish to bring into a reality. We believe we can do that by creating a  virtual "Nation" on this website of Co-ops and Intentional Communities all over the world and bringing them together through cooperation to better society and the health of the planet. ImagiNation CO-Operation is the portion of the site that is only available to our Contributors.

The BB stands for "Buzz Bucks" these are points you are awarded for doing various things on the site like using your referral link and introducing a friend to the site. We called them Buzz Bucks because you are creating a buzz about The Transition and also because it ties in with the natural theme of Our Plan. By telling people about the Mission of The Transition you are essentially pollinating the idea of The Transition in other places online and off. You can also earn them when you report back to us what you have been doing online and off to help our organization grow and thrive via the Report Portal. The more active and involved you are with The Transition the more Buzz Bucks you are awarded.

We have not yet launched the Buzz Bucks Exchange where you can exchange your Buzz Bucks for rewards and prizes. We will not be able to do so until our active registered users is substantial. Watch this video starting at 26:43 time stamp for more details on that.

When we are ready to launch the Buzz Bucks Exchange we will let you know so we can hear what types of things you are interested in getting. If you would like to tell us something now you would like to see in the Buzz Bucks Exchange let us know at our Suggestion Box page.

The Transition Team felt having our own "in house" crowd-funding platform was key for the work we are doing and our Contributors . Having our own crowd-funding platform allows us to serve our Contributors in the following ways:

• If they need tangible items we can tap into our network first for those items before raising funding.
• If they need actual labor assistance we can tap into our network first for those skill sets before raising funding.
• If either of these two things are needed above (tangible item or labor) instead of money we save the Contributor or BUD a lot of time to actually put into their project!
• Contributors will not have to pay any additional fees or percent of their funds (only their $5 monthly Contributorship).
• They only have to raise half of the amount they need and we will match them with the funds we receive via Contributors $5 a month Contributorship funds as well as any additional donation funding we receive.

Having our own "in house" peer-funding platform helps The Transition in the following ways:

• We can act more fiscally conservative with the funding we receive from our Contributors and donations we receive by using our network to meet the needs of the submitting person or group if their only true need is a tangible object or skill set and not actual money.
• We can provide a savings to our Contributors that typically they would have to pay elsewhere (via fees and percentage of funds) on some other site leaving them the ability to invest more in their project.
• Should a project not get fully funded meeting their half-way point goal The Transition can still have the money to invest in other projects that DO hit their target goal. Thus, we would still be investing in worthwhile projects that help advance the Mission of The Transition for all of us.
• This process helps eliminate giving funding to charlatans who might only join for a month trying to get hundreds or thousands of dollars in funding for merely having a Contributorship for one month. 
• By having the individual or BUD promote their fundraiser and use our site as their platform The Transition is able to get new Contributors at no cost reducing if not eliminating the need for us to invest in advertising and instead putting it back into our organization and advancing the work we do!

Contact your Point Person live (via Phone or schedule a Skype call) and request to have your profile (individual or organization) deleted. Our website is built on Nationbuilder and currently the ability for a website user to delete their own profile is not a feature. As an organization we like this because in the past our website user base has had issues with:

• People assuming their identities
• Hackers
• People with malicious intent accessing their electronics (laptops, smartphones, tablets etc.)
• Significant other's or children accessing their account

For our Point People it has been made clear there is no disputing a live conversation with people you have spoken to before. In order to serve those who use our website the best way we know how and to fulfill their actual wishes this is our current protocol for deleting a profile or account. If these steps are not taken the profile and account will remain intact. We thank you for your understanding. 

Our response is: Our team is very careful when crafting word choice on the site. When the tasks says“I have helped The Transition Spread the Word by referring one new website user, using the Memory Jogger.” we mean just that. If we wanted to make sure someone joined because of one of our website users Spreading the Word we would have used the word “Recruit” for that task. We would never delay an active participant knowingly, because we were making their success based off of someone else’s actions. As an organization we do not believe in “Spray and Pray” marketing where a person or group spam info all over the web and pray it brings in the right people. We believe in developing meaningful relationships that build and grow as time progresses. That's why we offer Examples of Spreading the Word so our website users can see positive examples of how to bring The Transition into a conversation with their peers. That’s also why we have people invite people they know, like, and trust on a 1-on-1 basis using their referral link and give them the opportunity to reflect on who they know personally who have values aligned with those who are part of The Transition. We know a lot of individuals friends or colleagues are using them as a guinea pig to test the water and we don’t want anyone to force or feel forced to be part of our organization, that kind of system doesn’t create the better world we strive for. As long as you Spread the Word and let others know what you are up to we are happy with that. If you are talking about The Transition to other people feel free to check the box and move on to your next task on your given Phase. Our Mission cannot thrive if our organization is stagnant. The site gets better and better as each new person LIKE YOU joins and becomes active on the site.

Inspired by: The Suggestion Box

Contributors: Laura Bochinski 

Recommended Reading: Memory Jogger, Our Mission, Spread the Word