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November 2012www.marinelink.com 71can greatly improve mentoring efficiency, allowing one mentor to accommodate more proteges. Peer-mentoring enables the exchange of knowledge and experi- ence allowing proteges to learn from one another. In the past, these forms of men- toring have been especially difficult to en- gage in because the constraints of time and distance are even more difficult to overcome when there are more than two people involved. E-mentoring, because it removes the constraints of time and loca- tion, makes group-based and peer men- toring no more complex than one-on-one mentoringAside from the difference in how they are conducted, the nature, outcomes andeffectiveness of the mentoring interac- tions are the same for e-mentoring andtraditional (face-to-face) mentoring. The only real difference is that e-mentoring interactions are far more flexible in na- ture, and the field of potential mentors is infinitely larger. Both are good things. Can E-Mentoring be Personal? Mentoring relationships - especially thegood ones, are very personal, trust-based relationships. The mentor and protege come to know each other very well, come to appreciate one another?s concerns and aspirations, and sometimes reveal infor- mation they would tell few other people. As such, it is reasonable to ask whethere-mentoring interactions which take place on-line could ever facilitate the same level of ?intimacy? as face-to-face interactions. In other words, can e-mentoring be per- sonal?The answer is a resounding ?yes?. If thesocial technology revolution has taught us anything over the last 5 or 10 years, it is that people most certainly can form andsustain personal and professional rela-tionships on-line. Not everyone has expe- rienced this yet (including possibly many readers), but it is very true. After all, the necessary ingredient enabling the forma- tion of a mentoring relationship is a pairof compatible people who intend to formsuch a relationship. Whether they see one another in person, speak using the tele-phone or skype, or write their comments in e-mail has little effect on their ability to convey their message. As such, why would it have an effect on their ability to effectively engage in a mentoring rela- tionship? It doesn?t. Much like compar- ing on-line and face-to-face learning, we find that each form of mentoring rela- tionship has its benefits and limitations, but both can be very effective. A Community is LaunchedWhen the idea of a web-based mentor- ing community was proposed, I felt as though I would be fortunate if 10 or 15 experienced mentors supported the idea and agreed to volunteer as mentors. I was flabbergasted to ultimately receive re- sponses from nearly 200 amazingly ex- perienced maritime industry workers from every sector of the industry and every corner of the world eager to help. Many of the offers of help were accom- panied by articulate arguments support- ing the initiative. If I was not previously 100% convinced of the value of e-men- toring, I am certainly convinced now after receiving these and other responses. I?ll not include their names (because I have not asked for permission to quote them), but here are some of the comments I have received in response to the e-mentoring MR#11 (66-73):MR Template 11/4/2012 11:43 AM Page 71