Basementdweller

Not defending the bad ones..... It is a job, bottom line. they work long hours and are not compensated very well. He needs time off just like you and I. First, I would not invite the DE to a Pack or Troop event. Why? Second, I understand that he is stretched very thin and also needs time with his family. DE's either better be single or he will end up divorced. Far as the snide comments about potlucks, could have been better stated. I won't eat them either got sick at one, along with a number of other folks... One at work. My expectation....Is answer my question whether I call, email or txt. Don't pitch FOS every time I see you.....Look me in the eye when I shake your hand, Just makes me feel better.

Generally we hear how poor roundtables are. Good old boy snubbing the newbies Chance to belittle Scouters for not turning in or participating in FOS, out of council Summer camp or JTE Poor or Redundant program Little or no information given Waste of time Difficulty recruiting Roundtable Commissioners Are we better served by a district based virtual roundtable or information clearing house????(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

So if no one wants the job, the troop, pack, crew, district or council is motoring along fine with out it....is a job that needs done???? Eagle, I was very much like you.....But when I started to miss family functions for scouting I knew it had to stop. Plus if your doing the job then no one will step up to do it.

we had the scouts on the stage with mccain and palin 5 years ago in Dayton. I emailed the SE about it who gave me a so what response.

Don't know but maybe it is the BSA attempt at being a better partner to the American Heritage Girls.

Hmmmmmm, So then what is the troops current liability for ISA's? Google docs for this is king my friend......I used it to track for the Pack and the troop prior to our switch to troopwebhost....it does it all and includes the ISA account balance in the weekly update.

It is a braggard mentality...Ya know the fellow who stands up at roundtable introductions......It goes on for more than a minute.....He also controls a single signature checkbook Seattle....I did the jobs, I also know that it wasn't my best effort and the program was not what it could have been if I had concentrated on one job instead of 6.

Our current/new district chair at last weeks round table announced his jobs during introductions..... He is CM, SM, COR and CC for both and district activities chair...he works full time as well. So explain how he is going to do a decent job at all of them. Brew...you need to go back and read some of deaf earlier posts.....ya might gain some incite.

That is the problem with percentages of fundraisers.......you never know what your going to get. So Travis....My suggestion would be to come up with a troop budget and long term financial plan. How much does your program cost per year per scout? pretty easy to figure out from the financial records.

We use scout accounts...... We also charge the scouts a program/equipment/advancement fee. We don't collect dues too much of a hassle and a waste of meeting time. 100% of the moneys we fund raise goes into the individual scout accounts. November 1 we charge the program fee and recharter fee. The program fee is based on equipment needs and prior year advancement expenditures...So it is a real number and not one the Treasurer or committee pulled out of their hat. We report the Savings, checking and Isa account obligations at every committee meeting. Everyone signs the bank statement every committee meeting. The bank accounts balances should never every be lower than your ISA account obligations. So what happens if everyone signs up for summer camp and wants to use their ISA accounts......The Troop is in trouble. I think an internal audit of the troop finances is needed. You and a couple of interested parents should get the check book ledger and the committee meeting minutes and figure out what is going on. Observations in helping troops with this sort of thing.... All Troops Outings need to Net Zero balance at the end.....If you spend more than budgeted you need to collect the over run from the participants or if an overage return it. Lots of troops just make it up out of the troops checking account. Don't have a scoutmasters fund......Seen this, one fellow had nearly $1,000 in it and it is unaccounted for monies. Some troops have $10,000's of dollars in their bank accounts.......some troops don't have a bank account. A couple of solutions to get ya out of this pickle. After the audit, figures out where the money went, charge the folks who attended events....this could be a simple paper only transaction out of the ISA account to make the numbers work. If it was a big gear expense. Then hold a fundraiser or collect donations/charge a fee to the parents to cover it. Blank the ISA accounts and start over. That will be popular with the parents. But most importantly you need to figure out where it went and why???? (This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Only 50 some reported in the entire state of Michigan over 50 years???? I wonder what % the abusers make up of the total number of volunteers that served during the same period???? I agree one is too many, but really it is probably well less than .0001 of one percent of total number of volunteers. Glass half empty or full?

Well second class you need to compare apples to apples. Troopmaster has been the defacto standard for years, Not anymore. Troop website, Calendar, email, sms/txt, Troop inventory, Troop Finances, Event Planning and finance, Online event sign up, Event advancement Planning, Cloud storage, Mobile Access, Multiple users, Online Photo Albums, Auto Email Newsletter, accept paypal for event payment, Advancement and award tracking youth and adult. Troopmaster does not offer the functionality for the same $$$$. it is the pricing I posted..... In one package it does not share data with multiple users......It does not allow multiple users to access the data at the same time. Still requires one PC to act as the master database. you need the Traveler TM package which is priced per user for mobile access. You need to first purchase troop master, then dot.net then web, then ledger to get near the functionality of what we use. And it still won't generate an automated news letter and email it the membership. Looked at troopmaster......Functionality/connectivity is just too limited for our needs. I need to be able to access it from work, home, troop meeting and outings with out being forced to lug a laptop around. I can do that with troopwebhost and not with troopmaster. (This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Frank wasn't directed at you......But deaf.who is an SM and holds some role at district, now she is involved in a cub pack too???? No possible way to do a quality job roles. ....Your roles are typical for multirole folks. did it myself, I was and ASM, CM, Webelos Den leader and a den leader in a second pack for a while, Plus the popcorn kernel and functional CC for the Pack as well. But I successfully recruited replacements and worked myself out of one job after another. Currently just a SM, which is plenty.

We finished our sale.....our troop has a sale average of $1700 per scout.......The boys entire program for the coming year, including summer camp, is paid for. I worked my tail off but it happened. The second our council tries shenanigans like only returning sealed cases or no return of show and sell orders....We will stop selling.....The Units do 90% of the work and get less than 50% of the profit. We are responsible for lost, stole or damaged product, and bad checks or counterfeit bills. Council and district need us more than we need them. I could buy all my patches and books via an online store...

Reasons we left troop master were many.....The biggest is the lack of any real innovation. The main database must reside on one PC or laptop, unless you want to spend more money. No web access with out more money. Troopmaster one year license is $44 dotnet option $25 Web $60 Troop ledger $69 Even with all that you must still sync it to a database on someones PC....... So it was roughly $100 per year......and still isn't a true cloud application. ours is $99 per year for all that plus it hosts an unlimited data photo album, Troop ledger, Troop inventory, Advancement, Calendar and it has an Auto newsletter and email feature. Plus it feels like it was written in this century...

While not doing any of the jobs particularly well or to your full ability.

our Pack uses scouttracks The Troop uses troopwebhost.....I love it, the only thing it doesn't do that I would like for it to do is Permission slips. Some other folks complain that it doesn't print merit badge cards........But I contend that the boys are supposed to fill them out for themselves and I just need to sign it. We switched from Troopmaster to this......

that is great she let you know up front......How many times have parents dumped boys with issues on us only to be discovered, on camp outs or odd moments. Obligations NONE..... With no frame of reference on the mom and boys personality or mental health.....Is there a dad in the picture??? is he in therapy??? My advice is Protect yourself first and foremost. The lad knows the system and could cause you some problems if he gets mad at you or another leader and wants to retaliate.. Been there done that, mercifully not me.....The other leader was suspended and then reinstated, but it changed him for ever...... Again, this is advise based on not knowing the folks involved and erring on the side of personal safety. Always two adults, always always always even transporting with the troop to events. Beyond that, Treat him like any other scout. I have a boy who father committed suicide, as noted, anything can and will cause him to break down. Have a couple adults aware and tasked with keeping an eye on him and watch for it to start, get him aside to talk about it and help him thru it.....Make sure you report what is said to whom ever picks him up, not in front of him.... Again, This kid could be the best kid in the world or a rotten vengeful one......You just never know.

I was thinking merit badge councilor.... Committee members can be members of a couple of troops....I know that several on my committee are also active on other committees as well.

MC is typically or supposed to be a district level position anyhow,.

I am sure we would react in the same way if it were forced down our throats.

Baden.....could you cite your source for the catholic comment????? I would like to see it and be able to torpedo the move for a AHG group at our Catholic church.

beavah you just can't say no..... You of all folks no council policies differ in no small manner. My council requires it for a tour permit......Now you don't need a tour permit unless your leaving the council, or doing high adventure.

So annie Sounds very adult led to me. So are you cooking by troop or patrol?????

hmmmm, don't think your going to find anything official... But in our council to recharter as an ASM or SM you are required to be completely trained for your position which includes IOLS. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/training/pdf/What_makes_a_trained_leader.pdf It is also required to not have your tour permit rejected locally. You might look at your local councils tour permit system and see if it is listed as a requirement.