Bobwhite89

I have heard that the newly formed South GA Council is looking for a DE for a newly created District. They are looking to have someone on board in January.

Wow, what a list. Some personal thoughts on each:I actually see several of those could really work. 1. I really like your idea of providing Richard another opportunity. 2. Is kind of what the National Council did a few years back. A lot of folks were let go, but there should be room for more trimmings. 3. Sounds like an excellent "strategic vision" for the OA in the future. Would serve a much better purpose to some of the things they are asked to do at all levels. 4. Interesting thought. I was surprised a few years back when that nation wide survey went out and the results were lowering the cost on the uniform was more important that where it was made. I have been pleasantly surprised on the reduction in price on some uniform items in recent years. Thankfully the day of $70 Venturing pants in gone. I do like your theory of uniforms costs. I do wonder if it would really make a different in getting everyone uniformed. For my vantage point, it is usually the leader setting the example and communicating its importance. 5. Interesting, but I think Mike Rowe would not want to take the pay cut 6. Amen...there are rumors of major changes already coming down the pike, but this cannot happen quick enough. 7. This one sort of happens now, but a lot of room to expand its reach. 8. Major changes in advancement were announced to take effect I think in the 2014-2015 program year. 9. This motion was brought up at the National Business Meeting and referred to a committee to study, but I don't think it will do too far based on our National Charter Partners. They have been pretty clear on this regardless of what their local congregations may say. 10. Interesting thought. 11. Would be nice, but the fact of the matter is that nearly 80% of all charitable giving, (Not just the BSA) is provided by people, not business or foundations. You hear about the big foundation gifts and the like, but most funds are made possible by people. 12. I like the idea, but the ones that the BSA has put out have not been too used to widely. Things like Be a Scout, and some of the best methods portals actually have seen very little use. The best recruitment method is happy customers telling their friends, which I believe is the push behing the Voice of the Scout program. I hope this program gains momentum. You have really given this some thought! It would be a heck of a roadmap! Some of mine that I would add would be: 1. Get rid of Tiger Cubs or allow them to do something. Too many kids get way too bored. We lose too many kids before they actually have a chance to "get it". 2. Drop Learning for Life and all staff associated with it. We should focus efforts on Scouting, not classroom lesson plans. 3. Make all applications have an online option to reduce chasing folks around.

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. I have heard folks mentioning items seen on here for a long time, and after spending some time reading them, I just could not sit quiet when I would see things either mispoken or just wrong in my opinion. Since someone earlier asked, and if it helps with any credibility, some of the official roles I have had the pleasure of serving both currently and formerly include: Troop Committee Member, Webelos Leader, District & Council Training Team, FOS Chairman, Council Webmaster, Council, Area, Regional, & National Committee(s) and or Boards. Outside of registered positions, some roles I have been lucky enough to fill include: Philmont & Sea Base Advisor, NSJ & WSJ Leader, PTC Faculty multiple times, NSJ Dept. Chair, Wood Badge Staffs, Numerous task forces, OA Section Advisor, and over 15 years of management roles in Summer Camps. I personally elected to finally join the forums after seeing the bashing of BSA staff members. I have had the privilidge of working with many awesome people that give all they have to Scouting, and to lump all pro's as worthless and overpaid is just incorrect. Are there some that embarrass the movement, you betcha, but I have been blesssed to work with highly dedicated people at all levels of the BSA, include knowing our new Chief for almost 20 years. When you have thousands of employees across the country, you are going to have some bums (at all levels), but for the most part, I have been lucky compared to some on this forum. I more than anything want the next generation of youth to have the experience that I was able to have and realize it takes a lot of people doing different roles to their best ability. This includes a host of volunteers and professionals that a scout may never see. There are some amazing things going on within the BSA right now that I think will take years to make it all the way through. Some have been announced and some that will be announced in the coming months. I look forward to discussing them in the future and debating what is working and what is not. (Of course not forgetting the 4th, 5th, and 6th points of the Scout Law) I hope none of this came across as bragging, I never would have mentioned if not asked, but I do see the point that it helps with discussions when you have an idea of who you are talking to. See you around the campfire!

As hard as it is to believe, not one dime that is raised in FOS or even a percentage is sent off to the National Office. Local Councils simply have a charter fee, which is actually pretty small. National makes thier money off the Uniform cash cow, registration fees, and unit charter fees. Not to mention the cash cows of the Jamboree and the High adventure bases. In most councils, 99% of FOS money is raised by volunteers. DE's serve as campaign managers to support the effort, just as they serve as staff advisors to a host of other activities. The BSA has made a huge effort over the past 5 years to move the ownership of the BSA into the hands of the volunteers.

I was at the National Meeting, none of this is true. The push is to get more DE's in the field, not less. Despite some opinion's on this board, DE's are a large part of what keeps this movement moving forward.

I am sorry you did not get selected for the staff, now quit trolling.

BS-87 is dead on. The SE would personally handle the situation in this case in all but the largest of councils. In those large ones, the DFS would handle it. Depending on the council, they may elect to involve a Council or District Commissioner, depending on the people and their strengths.

The policy is just dead wrong. The local council does not have any costs associated with you attending a jamboree or NOAC on staff unless they do a bunch of local items (bags, hats, etc) for their participants and they include the staff in those tokens. To extort an FOS gift to serve on National Events staff is just plain wrong and something that needs to be brought to the attention to the various National staff members that can address it, and those are easy to identify.

All interesting comments, but the short answer to the question is, yes, you are going to continue to see council's being merged. It is simply a matter of being thrifty and responsible stewards of funds, funds that have to be spent wisely to get the most benefit to the youth of our communities.

Yes, a change of council can and does happen from time to time. If all the Charter Parnters in a particular area (county) believe that their interest would be better served in a different council, they can petition to be reassigned. The National Council is aware that current council boundries were drawn based on patters at that time, and due to a number of factors, those change. Most often, the construction of an interstate, major employer, or something similar makes life different in a community than it was when a council and its boundries were set up, sometimes over 100 years ago.