“PAPPA members will have priority in signing up for a class. You received the dates and times to look at earlier this week, so you know they’ll begin in two weeks and be offered for a month. If interested, please register by Wednesday as any remaining spots will then open to the wider Psycept community. The sign-up link will be sent to you as soon as this meeting ends.
“Second topic is a database wish list. We’ve compiled a suggested list of adjustments and additions to the Psycept database to make it more user-friendly and functional. We have a meeting scheduled with Imital and other Psycept database programmers to go over the feasibility of the requests. Based on that, we’ll come up with a proposed schedule of updates to roll-out, see if any beta testing is needed, and we’ll provide more information at the general PAPPA meeting next month.
“Finally, our Code of Ethics. We’ve reviewed other codes in fields such as counseling and medicine and have come up with broad bullet points that we believe can also apply to us. Last week, we sent out a survey to rank the categories and see if there are any additional points that we should address. The survey will be open for ten more days to allow the new residents to weigh in. We’ll analyze the results and have an update at our next general meeting. What questions do you have?”
I receive the most questions about training. From things like ‘I didn’t know we even had training videos for you to update’ to questions about report writing workshops. After answering a few more questions about the database my part is over, and I perform the general wrap up.
“On behalf of Professor Biobaku and Imital, I want to thank you for joining us today. The next general PAPPA meeting will be in four weeks at our usual one o’clock. However, the venue will be changing. With us almost exceeding capacity here at the PsyTown Library and with the new Psycept residents that may want to join, we’ll now meet at the PsyTown Civic Center. Calendar invites have gone out with a reminder of the new location and our social media and websites have been updated as well.
“Finally, if you haven’t yet joined a group and are interested in doing so, please listen up for the area to go. For my group of training, database, or ethics, please see the area in the back of the room. Sisters Wyrd and Brother Bone, please wave your hands. That is our rallying point for both new members interested in joining as well as existing group members as we’re having a group meeting afterwards.”
“For my group of community and advocacy, please see my wife, Sharon, and son, Ben, in the corner over there. Yes, dear, thank you for waving. And this time, we too will all meet afterwards to discuss our role in tomorrow’s Welcome Committee.”
“I am in the opposite corner from Professor Biobaku. Shaman Wakun and PsyPath Emily are our meeting point. All interested and current members as well. We will go over our outreach plans for next weekend.”
Our general meetings are less than an hour, but I have my three groups stay for an additional thirty minutes afterwards. A few interested parties join us and are quickly absorbed into one of the subgroups that best matches their interest.
“How do people not know about the old training videos? I mean, they’re a bit outdated, but they provided essential navigation and information. We just updated the content a bit and of course, the looks. Didn’t everyone receive an Introduction Packet and the link when they arrived in PsyTown?”
Vic and Jay MacGillivray, two of the Sisters Wyrd, lead the training subgroup, now over twenty-five people. They had a lot of fun making the videos and we had a good-natured watch party a couple of weeks ago with popcorn and candy. We even bestowed trophies like Best Dramatic Acting, Best Contemplative Looks, Best Comedic Performance, and Best Narration to some of the group members.
“I don’t know, Vic, but they should have. It might be a question of being given a slew of new information right when you arrive and that can be overwhelming, and they didn’t remember that the training video links were a part of it. That’s why I’m glad we’re doing an actual training class for the new residents next weekend. For existing Psycepts, I suggest that an awareness campaign be something your group next focuses on. You can incorporate it with the announcement of the report writing workshops plus whatever else you can think of. What’s the status of the sign-up sheets?”
“Sheets, man Gray, you’re old. We worked with Imital’s support group to create a master calendar that has all our classes and workshops, activities, group and meeting times, etc. The master calendar has links for signing up, including the writing workshops. The calendar also displays how many seats are left in a class and it changes color when full. We’ll also just sent out a mass text to PAPPA members through our messaging app with a link to the calendar and writing workshop sign up. Jay, can you work on an awareness campaign? You’re handling the launch to the non-PAPPA Psycepts anyway.”
“Sure, Vic, we’ll work on it next week.”
“Great, anything else from training?” I ask.
“If anyone wants to help with the Psycept database training of new residents next weekend, please see me or Jay. It’ll be a two-day training, Saturday and Sunday. We’ve met our minimum quota of trainers but can always use more help. Thanks.”
“Sounds great, Vic. Libby, you’ve got database, go ahead.” Database is the subgroup I’m in, but as I’m overseeing all three endeavors, I asked Libby to take point. Database is the smallest group because, honestly, it’s the most