F3 Northern Alliance Site Q tool chest
This is intended to help Site Q’s be great Site Q’s, and help your Q’s and FNGs. NA has created a “VQ and Q tool chest” also, to guide their workout, please share THAT page with them: VQ and Q Tool Chest
In short, Site Q has 2 responsibilities:
Preparation
Schedule your Q
Pre-blast coordination
Day of
Post flag
Support your Q
Identify FNG
Watch you 6
Post-blast coordination
Preparation
Finding Q’s and scheduling them. The best way to to ask for Q volunteers during 2nd F during Coffeeteria. Open up the Q Sign-up and pass your phone around
Anyone can see who is scheduled for your Q and all other NA Q’s.
You can NOT schedule a Q here, only see who is scheduled to Q.
This is the only place someone (anyone) can cancel or reschedule
Anyone can see all of the Northern Alliances AO (Area of Operation).
When you select an AO (all of them are listed), it will open to the schedule for that month for that AO only.
If the month is full, you will see “view next month”.
You can not see WHO is Q’ing, just that your AO schedule is full for a given day.
You or your Q volunteer can click on one of the available days and a form will appear for them to sign up.
Required information: Q’s hospital name, Q’s F3 name, phone number. Email address is recommended.
The Q will then receive a text message and an email (if provided) from the Weasel Shaker confirming the signup.
The Q will also receive a reminder of the Q about 24 to 36 hours in advance of the Q.
The instructions above are WAY more complicated than the actual task.
Make Sure they are going to make it. Text them a few days before to make sure they are going to show up. If not, find another one, or lead the AO yourself.
Verify YOU can make it (you = site Q). If you can’t, get another Site Q or ask your Q to post the flag. Plan ahead.
Twitter and Slack Pre-blast
Slack: F3 Northern Alliance Slack Account: https://app.slack.com/client/T03NQSDA9PE/C03PC70LLEL
Join:
All official F3 official coms between PAX should be done on Slack. It is ok to continue posting to X through your AO’s X account, but don’t rely on it. Slack allows more-secure communication that removes political and social “noise” from the post. It also allows PAX who prefer NOT be on X to have a communication opportunity.
https://join.slack.com/t/f3na-workspace/shared_invite/zt-2cya1xg8l-BJLBfP1AvP0~nO1DaFLFEA
Once you are a member, click “add channel” and select “Browse Channels”. You will see all of the NA channels. I recommend joining all of them, but at a minimum, joining “Site-Q’s”. This is where our 1st F coordinator will communicate with Q’s. Other channels:
1st F
2nd F
3rd F
Mumble Chatter
Ride
who-can-help-me
Once you have access to all of the channels, communicate away.
Recommended: HYPE THIS UP at COT to get Pax to join.
Pre-blasts. Try to post at least 24 hours in advance.
Slack: Post your pre-blast to SLACK “1st F” channel. Typical pre-blast should include:
The Name of the Q
Any special instructions (gloves? Weights? B shoes?, off-site run?, flashlights?)
Note: it may be helpful to reach out to your Q a couple days before and ask them if they have anything specific to include in the blast. This will make your job easier.
Be creative, respectful, and empowering. Encourage and lead.
X: If you feel so inclined, link the Slack channel to X if you prefer.
If you are on a phone, press/hold the Slack pre blast, the select “copy link to message”.
Then open your AO’s X account and “paste” that link into a X post. That will give the X users a direct link to your Slack post. If they aren’t members, they will be prompted to join.
Post-blast. Encourage your Q to post. See “day of” responsibilities below for name-o-ramma and COT procedures.
2. Day Of AO
Shovel Flag: Get to your AO early enough to post the shovel flag. (15 min early). This allows new people to see that its where the location is. Also, shows proactive activity.
Put it in the same spot every week
That “same spot” should be easily identifiable, especially for visiting PAX from other regions who are likely working off GPS from the F3 website map. They know to look for the flag.
No other adornments - only the American Flag. Do not need divisions in the AO. Proud to be American!
Greet your Q and make it clear they are in charge. If they are a VQ, ask them if they need any help, and reinforce that you are here to help them.
Identify FNG’s
If you identify someone you don’t know, greet them with your hospital name and let them know YOUR F3 name and a fist pump. If they are a guest or rarely-posting PAX just crawling out from under a rock, they will return the pump with their F3 name. Ask them who invited them out, and be genuinely interesting in them. Use FORM to spark conversation. Family, Occupation, Recreation, Message. Message starts with step b below. If they are an FNG, they will look at you with bewilderment, mutter their name, and wonder WTF. Those are your clues to greet them as an FNG.
Explain what FNG is (Friendly New guy) and that they will be greeted by that name through the Post, and that at the end, they will be asked to introduce themselves, at which point the Q will give them a new F3 name. We recommend leaving the explanation at that. Not sure calling them FNG vs just their name is weird??
Assign one of your PAX to shadow them through the Post.
explain the obvious obnoxiousness we all take for granted,
catch them as a 6 if necessary, Never leave them alone.
make them feel at home.
Explain the COT and video - remind them to say “FNG” rather than their F3 name (which they won’t have yet).
More importantly, keep the pace a “convo level” so your FNG guide can get personal information out of them necessary to help shout out names in the COT in the naming ritual.
Manage your Q. Make sure your Q covers the basics of the post:
Mission of F3
CYA “don’t hurt yourself” line
If time allows, always good to remind everyone of the F3 Five Core Principles (this is especially helpful if there are FNG’s in the crowed).
Free of charge
Open to all men
Held outdoors
Peer led
Ends with COT
If FNG’s are present, also handy to explain the 3 F’s: Fitness, Fellowship and Faith, good opportunity to put the FNG at ease so that we aren’t going to break into Gregorian chants and do a rosary in the parking lot.
OMAHA: Make sure the Q calls OMAHA with enough time for COT - remember, not all Q’s will have Mary.
your 6, keep an eye on your 6 or designate someone too - especially if you have FNG’s or PAX who haven't been in a while.
COT procedure: Allow 10 minutes for a good COT, longer if you have FNG or multiple FNG, less if you have small group of PAX who know each other and don’t need the pomp-and-circumstance.
Countdown. It is awesome if the PAX start this themselves, but if they are unsure the post is over, or you beat them up too much, its is recommended the Site Q start this and gesture to the #2.
Name-a-ramma video.
Q should grab their phone and video each pax to record their hospital name, age, and F3 name… linger long enough to capture any gestures (flight attendant’s exit gestures, centerfolds poster un-ravel, hall pass’s hand off, Bobby Knights chair throw … you get the picture), and long enough to “give respect” to the 50+ crowds.
Start with the Site Q and end with the Q.
Announcements.
Self explanatory.
Site Q Remind everyone to join North Alliance Slack account.https://app.slack.com/client/T03NQSDA9PE/C03PC70LLEL
Site Q will announce next week’s Q.
Site Q will remind PAX we are peer lead and new Q’s to sign up. Have your phone ready for this on site if possible too.
3rd F. Q should ask if anyone wants to offer up a “prayer”, or they may do it themselves. If blank stares and crickets are the result, Site Q steps in and makes something up. Ideally, bring the group in to “take a knee” or ball of man.
Depending on AO and Pax attending, encourage 2nd F
FNG - after COT, name your FNG.
Refer to “freed to Lead” and “Q Source” for guidance on this. There is an art to this. This is the Q’s job, but sure Q needs to manage.
Rely on your Pax for help, especially relly on your FNG Shadow Pax for ideas.
Remember, the name should be a bit edgy… it is meant to be a little humiliating, even insulting - it's an inside joke for F3 Pax and should not be offensive to the general public. It may be helpful to explain this to the new PAX after the name is given.
It is meant to remind the PAX of humility moving forward. Jayhawk HATES his F3 name, because he hates the Jayhawks… he’s a KSU Wildcat. But he is humbled by it because the name reminds him daily that he isn’t any better than his terrible F3 name, and to make each day better than the best. Humility.
Get your former FNG’s deets.
AFTER the COT - site Q signs them up if they haven't left already.
Assuming you are already at www.F3na.com, click on “FNG”
Recommendation is to do this process with them, in real time, after the post, in the parking lot, BEFORE they leave.
Do it on your phone.
At a minimum, get the necessary deets from them so you can input the information FOR them off site. The failure rate for returning FNG’s is assumed to be VERY HIGH if they do not start receiving Shenanigans and disappear into the ether.
As much of the information as they are willing to give up is great, but at a minimum, we need the first/last name, F3 Name (at this point, you get to determine how it is spelled! Lucky you), email. The only piece of information we really use is the email address for the NA shenanigans. The names just help us remember who they are. Obviously, a cell # would be great to hit them up with a quick text for follow up - more on that later
Note: this will not automatically sign them up for F3 National nor F3 Greensboro. If they want those fishwraps, they can google and figure it out.
The more info we get, the more detailed the roster is.
Recommend they join Slack for coms. But, assure them they will get Shennanagans once a week in email with most of the pertinent information.
Show them the NA schedule and encourage them to at least show back up to this AO in one week.
Remind them that the name is meant to be humble… if they are upset by it that means we did a good job. Remind them that the name is for F3 reference only, and meant to remind them that they are not first.
FNG follow up. Text or call the FNG sometime in the week and make sure they’re doing OK. Answer any questions, encourage them to post again at the same AO.
Leave no trace: Make sure AO is cleaner than you found it.
Make sure no laundry left
Post-blast follow up.
Depending on the social media sophistication of your Q, they may need assistance posting the name-o-ramma video to Slack and linking Slack to the AO’s X account.
Don’t forget your flag