MattR

Take care. Enjoy the memories. Make more.

Make it less complicated. No adult, much less a scout, will remember all that. Have fun, look out for everyone, the scout law is your filter for success, let's talk often, listen to the scouts. Have fun. Did I mention having fun?

Welcome to the forum, @Yesi This is a rather old thread, but hopefully someone more recent can answer for you.

Welcome to the forum, @Matt940 .

I dreamt I had a solution for you but then I thought about it some more and it fell apart. This is going to be an auto pay nightmare. Who knows when a scout quits? What happens if a scout misses a payment? I can't imagine what the service will be like. It was hard enough dealing with Comcast.

We just ran our own summer camp and the scouts really enjoyed it. The reason we did it was the local camp was $450 for the week and we could do that for a quarter of the cost. We also focused on the doing part of MBs, there were no discussion reqs covered. We got on the bikes or canoes and rode or paddled. The scouts enjoyed cooking the food and the schedule was made up on the spot, depending on the weather. The scouts said they'd like to alternate this with another camp we go to that's a bit of a drive but well run and still reasonably priced. We're lucky in that we have adults with skills.

There were 2 threads with the same title that i merged together.

Let me know if I hid the wrong post. I'm going camping soon .....

"I did close to 20 years ago and last year my son finished his own basement. He learned a lot in scouts and we went on some great trips together."

Ask it how to increase membership. Ask it how to sign up more volunteers in an environment where fewer people are volunteering (a topic for tonight's committee meeting). Ask it how to simplify the program and still keep the fundamentals of an outdoor program and the Scout Law. Just a hunch but we probably need to ask it a 100 questions to get a few good ideas. I'm ready for someone to find that aha moment and I know it won't be me.

I wonder if the AI would suggest changing the NAM to include a panel on the BSA using AI to increase membership

Okay, so it sounds like they changed the award. It went from all or nothing with a medal to optional parts with patches and segments. If you get all the segments now how far off is that from the medal of old times? My guess is very few people were doing the entire set, kind of like that super duper environmental award you could get (with something like 3 or 5 projects). Nobody was completing it so it was dropped. I tried getting some scouts interested and that was a big fail. Scouts get eagle because their parents harp on it. More of that is not interesting to the scouts. They do the outdoor activities because it's there and they're doing it with their friends. It's not to get a medal. I've seen scouts not even bother with filling out the paperwork for the 50 miler award. I'm okay with that. They already got the memories from the trip. That's all that's really important.

Just my view but the middle picture looks like an older version of the other 2 pictures. Less cheeks! More chin. Just a hunch but the first and last photos are when you started, or maybe the first 2 years and the middle photo is when you were in a couple of years older. Looks to me like a webelos aged scout, neckerchief or not.

Just because they aren't selling a medal and you can only buy a patch, why is everyone saying there's no longer an award? Maybe the bsa is trying to cut costs and simplify things. I can't fault them for that.

Welcome to the forum, @Chgodon . Go ahead and post a picture, if you don't mind. There are plenty of people here that were in scouts when you were.

Good for you. I did get today's. It's sort of the opposite of yesterday's.

I clicked on this link and you can still buy the patches online. @UKScouterInCA , maybe someone got a bad bit of information?

SCORE!

Welcome to the forum, @tree123 . In my opinion, if the scout is carrying his or her share of the gear, and the scout is sleeping outside then I'd be okay with them not carrying a tent. There is really no point in having a tent in the Grand Canyon in the summer, other than keeping the scorpions off, and jusr the bug net will do that. As for snow camping, it doesn't need to snow but I'd say there needs to be snow. Snow creates challenges not seen in cold weather. And again, the scout should be sleeping outdoors. But that's all just my view.

This video was 2 people talking about the exciting things they saw or heard at NAM: #1, someone said the scout oath #2, key 3 speech #3, she got tickets to Atlanta, and something about not knowing how to take a cab. #4, a discussion on safety #5, talk by Atlanta pro sports team strength and conditioning coach (the Americanism speech) about how scouting helped him. and he used the Edge method #6, a presentation on what social media is. #7, the audience asked great questions. #8, a scout sung the national anthem. #9, Angelique? #10, James? #11, Lisa Riley won the silver buffalo #12, NAM happened #13, ?? #14, they did things on the fly during the meeting. In summary, as RS said, they have a plan, (Mosby has a plan to increase membership) don't worry ... but nobody could honestly distill this plan down to a 20 minute presentation much less that it would fit into one of the top 10 things they saw at NAM. And yet, a presentation on what social media is did make the list? Really? The first step in fixing a really big problem is to admit there's a problem one doesn't understand.

@skeptic , you're right that a one word title can't possibly convey what the session is about, but that's the fault of the one that chose it. Vague titles indicate vague talks. I can honestly say that the only thing I'd be interested in would be topics that will help units improve their programs. Everything else, given what the BSA has been through recently, is pointless. If there's one thing that the leadership could do it's focusing on what's important.

I think this is a bigger issue. Fewer adults volunteering, irrespective of cost. Adding cost will make it worse. There are ways around the fees. Do your own summer camp and save a bundle. Unfortunately, that takes volunteers. Our troop is slowly morphing into a core of volunteers without kids in the program and parents that help but won't do any heavy lifting. I'm curious if this is close to the UK model (sounds like none of their leaders have kids in their units). I don't see a solution to these problems yet but have a feeling we have to adapt to a new reality.

Sounds like a fun BNB

Bechtel donated money. They did not ask that every uniform have a Bechtel patch on it. If their purpose was advertising then they lost a lot of money. My guess is very few scouts or parents know about the Bechtel reserve, or whatever it's called. This thread was about a CO, a church, asking about changing the troop emblem to include the CO's emblem. This is not Nike and Jokic. Show them the cost and ask them to pay for it. I suspect they'd drop that idea immediately.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to advance. There is a problem with not wanting to help his patrol. There is nothing wrong with being interested in politics or, likely, world history. Ask him if he wants to be in scouts. Ask him what he enjoys. He convinced another scout that advancement is a waste of time. Is that because he just hates scouts or because he'd rather learn skills a different way. Maybe he really wants to lead. Or maybe he's there for no other reason than a parent is making him go. Help him identify and solve his problem with scouts. You'll both be happier.