Protoclete

I think that would be ideal - not only for Scouting, but every organization. Churches, sports leagues, etc. I'm also imagining the cost and the difference between what the federal government can throw at this in terms of staff, resources, and authority vs what a much diminished voluntary organization that has spent all its assets on lawyers could do. And the time it would take to get there. But also, honestly, it took until this last week to be able to simply assign people who have been registered as leaders to new positions in the online system. I can't even get a decent report on how many scouters are qualified for which awards or an accurate list of all former Eagle scouts living in my district with the database and tools we have.

We have BSA Scouts and Scouters in Georgia, as part of the Transatlantic Council, and we have talked about how having something in Eastern Europe, Turkey, or Central Asia would be appealing. Is there contact information I could put people in touch with about this?

We are collecting WB ticket ideas (or SB logbook ideas) related to Duty to God / Scout is Reverent / Religious Relationships themes for all levels to develop a Council resource. I imagine many have been around religious emblems promotion or training, but would love to hear if you've run across any.

I'm guessing this was the result of the 'going back to the drawing board' improvements.

Our Council is having an auction, including some unique or rare items that would probably appeal to collectors. Patches, pins, books, et al. Pic below are just some of the items, not nearly all. (I'm not sure if the forum intends this only for free trading or something like this is also permitted, let me know to delete if necessary.) The auction will run online from 13 - 27 March.

My district, along with one other, just ran an authorized pilot of virtual IOLS. It was hugely successful. We are aware of one other pilot program that was not, but we suspect a significant part of that is ours retained the patrol method and the other did not for some reason. And to be clear, when I say ours, I had nothing to do with the planning or the staff, and only a small presentation. The work was all done by others who were outstanding. I merely get the benefit of more trained adults in my district. It is something Scouters in our Council have been agitating for, for years. We are the largest council in BSA, and my district is the second largest in the council, third or fourth largest overall - the distance between my two most distant units is equal to the distance from San Francisco to Washington, DC. Requiring in-person IOLS or BALOO simply. does. not. work. here. Most of our units simply do not have people trained in BALOO or IOLS or anything else that BSA until recently absolutely required to be in person. At best, it would mean taking a weekend, spending over $1000 in travel and lodging, and traveling across three or four countries to get to a training. At worst, it is a continent away. So, while I am among the first to extol the priority of in-person over virtual training and experience for a lot of things, for this, I'm glad to say its about darn time this was offered. It is sad it took a global pandemic to make the powers that be acknowledge the needs of our daily reality, but it is a step in the right direction. When the pandemic is over, it really must be retained as an option for councils or districts where geography is a real factor.

This is the first year I have the opportunity to nominate someone to be considered for Vigil Honor. What are the kinds of things that stand out for you in doing so, what are you looking for beyond someone who exemplifies "cheerful service" and has given their time to the OA? Especially youth v adults? Anything that consistently says to you "that's vigil material"? (Also, if this is more appropriate for the safeguarded area, any chance someone could get me the password to the safeguarded area?)

Er... what? I was just about to say welcome to the Transatlantic Council! Either way, California or England, welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry to read this - I've been there. One of my best volunteers is going through this now, too - he had to step back from a couple of active roles and focus on health and family. Scouting can be wonderful, but it can also start taking over too much of your life. And then throw in the pandemic isolation, I feel the same way - I have my immediate circle of three other humans and feel like I haven't seen a friend or had a good conversation outside that circle in a year. Some ways, Scouts is a saving grace - but that's also all virtual these days. Do what you need to do to focus on your own health. It might mean counseling, or finding a friend you can go out and have a beer or coffee or other appropriate beverage with and just talk, on an adult level, sometimes. It might mean stepping back from some commitments, or trying on some new ones. Maybe the move from Pack to Troop would turn out to be just the thing to make the difference. Or find a district role that is better suited. Or something entirely not Scout related. Something different - a class, a book club, a bowling club, get your pilots license or learn to snorkel or whatever works for you. Doesn't have to be a big thing either. Don't let your struggles with the Scouting cliques get in the way of your kid getting into a troop. Maybe he won't be into it, or maybe he'll like the Scout-led environment better. Try it out. I have no idea what to say about the WB experience, or someone from across the country telling you you're worthless? Clearly a negative experience, and from what I hear of WB in some places I'm sad to say it sounds too common. But what does someone across the country know about you, really? When I moved here, I tried for a couple years, pretty persistently, to get involved in Scouting. Nobody would even return my messages - unit, district, council, nothing. I finally gave up, except to take the occasional online training just to keep in touch, i case I'd ever be engaged again. Eventually, I was. But you might find a total shift of gears something to try. Wither in or out of scouts. Sometimes the best thing to do is let the ground lay fallow for a season or two and come back fresh in a new role. Take some time to focus in what drew you to and kept you in scouts in the first place, and think about where you can find that. But also know you've got fans and fellow Scouters out here who have your back. I know what it feels like, but you really are not alone.

I see the Alumni/NESA Directory is live again, which is great news! Version 2.0.21 is available at https://directory.scouting.org/ I noted some functional issues, which is normal for so early in a rollout, so not a criticism as much as listing what I saw to help whomever is tracking bugs to note them. No problems: edit contact info, load a picture, identify affiliated councils, add social media info, Search function Not working: Scouting affiliations, either edit or sync Awards, either edit or sync with Scoutnet/My.Scouting Add NESA member number/info Sync duplicate accounts Cannot list only one phone number, must input two A great resource to have once again available, and thanks to whoever put it together! Did anyone else have similar issues or know of something i missed? Or found themselves yet ?

To be fair, WB is the internationally recognized culmination of adult leader training - even though in most other countries I gather it is more like getting your Scouter's Key than the way we do it. I think it is worthy of recognition with some explanation - it's not comparable to just getting position trained or the Den Leader award or something. But less is more. These days, most adult recognition is a short blurb on the council or district Facebook group: "Congrats to Protoclete, LoneScout, and DuctTape for earning their Super Scouter Award this year." (insert pic of square knot). It is nice to be able to do a little better than that as a thank you!

I agree. Being one of those beaded, that part was left up to one of the WB staff who was on the call. For us, this is once a year, not a monthly event either. I might go a little longer to explain what WB is, as we do with other awards, but that would only add about a paragraph.

Has anyone dealt with a Scout who was not advanced at a Board of Review (prior to Eagle), and appealed the decision? I've encountered this for the first time (appealing a Life Rank BOR that twice decided he should not be advanced) and looking for ideas on what worked best for others to move forward. It's rare enough here we don't have a district or council process other than checking the Advancement Guide. What was the process, how long did it take, and how did it turn out? Any lessons learned to pass along?

Our Council recently moved to combine several related events into one in person weekend: Scouter's Annual Conference / U of Scouting Council Annual Meeting Quarterly Council Executive Board Meeting Council Awards/Recognition: Silver Beaver, NESA OES, Alumni of the Year, and any national court of honor stuff like a Medal of Honor or Heroism Award. If we had an Eagle recognition dinner, we'd do it here too - just too challenging to get eagles all together in person across a huge geography that we have Our District following suit decided to take one of our monthly roundtable and district meeting times, at the end of the academic year, and make it a kind of District annual meeting, that would include district-level recognitions, like DAM and our own unique council and district awards, and any Woodbadge beading that might be needed. The two hour meeting includes a report from the District chair looking back on the past year, a kind of state of the district address, an address/presentation from the Scout Executive, presentations of awards, and some practical planning ahead work (not in this order, necessarily). The District event will be virtual, even aside from the pandemic. We keep awards short. A few minutes for each award, with a little bio presentation for only the DAM. Everything else also gets published in newsletter and online. We had a WB beading for three people last year, i think it took 10 minutes max. One thing we always have to be careful about is making too much an insider's event, or making people wonder why they came in the first place. I have been active in Scouting in three different periods, as a Scout ('89-'96), in Stateside councils ('03-'09) and overseas ('18-present). When I first got overseas in '09, I contacted anyone I could find online to get involved in a troop, district, or council level and never got a single response, this went on for a couple years before I took it as a sign to volunteer my time elsewhere. I filled out an alumni survey in '10 stating my interest, joined a fb group in '14 when i found one for my district, but not until '18 did anyone ask or respond to my interest to get involved. The people I've met are great, since, but something wasn't working back then. I showed up at the U of Scouting / annual conference not having met anyone in person yet, and it was fine, but I do remember so many acronyms I did not know, and some cultural assumptions I had forgotten about, and then at one point someone gets up to start singing. Then others run up at different verses forming a circle and singing about various animals. Then by the last verse, there is me and like four other people sitting alone at our various tables while everyone else is up there singing some song about some happy land they want to go back to, which meant nothing to me. Finally, after it was all over, someone explains this has something to do with Woodbadge and we should go. Honestly, if I hadn't already signed up, I probably would not have after that. Too cliquish. And from what I've learned since, in many places it is a lot worse. I was at an event for a non-Scouting service organization once, at the Council/State level, where it seemed like everyone "in power" was related. I do not exaggerate, the event MC was brother of the State Chair, who was cousin of the State Chaplain, the Family of the Year was cousins on another side, and everybody on the executive body seemed to have gone to high school together. In another, the same person had been the chair for 20 years, and the secretary had been in office for 30. Nepotism and cronyism are not good looks in any non-profit/service organization. So, who's the audience? Are we trying to have a big district wide event that will appeal to everyone in the district? That should involve CORs and parents who know none of the acronyms and lingo and are not "insiders" of BSA culture? Or is it just the people getting awards and their families? How would someone feel who just transferred to the District, or is a first year volunteer if they came to the event? How do we celebrate the whole district and keep focus on scouts, while taking time just this once to recognize the volunteers who give so much? Make it fun but not childish, keep it from dragging on but don't let the honorees be rushed, and be willing not to do it "like we've always done it". Maybe combine a couple of things to maximize people's time.

Adult to adult, first name. Scout to adult, I've seen different practices. Some units are consistent using Mr./Ms. for everyone - even then trying to remember titles would be too much. But others are first name for everyone. As a scout, I do not recall using anything but first names for our Scoutmaster and ASMs. I don't really recall for committee members.

I don't have any info but would like to see your website as I'm going to be doing something similar with mine soon. Mind sharing the link?

We are looking at a 20% loss of units in the district. Mostly Cub Packs, not rechartering. Zero membership growth across the board. We usually turn over about 30% of members every year anyway, mostly due to moving, but between last year and this we had the outgoing numbers without the influx to balance. 2020 has had a much more significant impact than the loss of LDS units or controversy over adding girls.

Well, I've since answered my own question - I was expecting it to be as detailed and demanding as Woodbadge, but it is much better crafted and simpler to navigate, provided within the program itself. So, that's done.

I am curious if anyone has done Seabadge as a other than a Sea Scouter. I am a district chair in a council we are starting Sea Scouting, with a large sea and the Council Commodore both in my district, so am going through in a support role, and for my own edification and training. I did woodbadge last year and finished my tickets recently. So I'm curious about the kinds of things that others have done for Seabadge from a similar role, or from 'outside' the Sea Scout program. Thanks in advance.

Maybe. More likely a Lodge/Council requirement, as I mostly remember that from my time as a chapter officer. But then, it was more than 20 years ago so I wouldn't put it past a mixed memory either!

I was active in OA as a youth in the 90s and we had the age requirement of 14 then. To be honest, I had just assumed it was still a requirement.

As regards Chartered Organizations, I have had mixed experienced. My units have almost always been chartered by churches (Catholic, Methodist) and there it usually works really well. The Church sees Scouting as part of its youth program, and though some are better than others, clearly understand their role as COs. Usually the youth minister or religious education director or family programs minister is the COR. The pastors are supportive, whether active and directly involved or not. On the other hand, in my district now, we have international schools that either struggle with the statement of religious principle, or can't be bothered to put any effort in at all. Just getting CORs from schools to have a phone call or do 45-min of training/orientation videos is a bit like pulling teeth. Another set are military base units that struggle to find COs, and half the time make up some "Friends of..." org just to fill out the paperwork. Perhaps having a couple of options would be best. Keep the CO model for where it works (like churches) and allow for direct 'ownership' where it doesn't.

First off, I love the way you ordered and categorized your list. Agree with lots of it. Curious about this comment though. Woodbadge, I understand, having just gone through it last year, I see how it could get kind of cult-y in some councils. Its weird enough to show up at a Council event and see a bunch of people singing 'Back to Gilwell' with no context or explanation, especially when you're on the outside. Real off-putting. Though I think I'm lucky in my council that its not much cliquish, and also i think there is an overall recognition of this and efforts to overcome in already being implemented. But commissioner corps? Is that really a problem in some places? They are like the quintessential BSA volunteers' volunteers here. There are never enough of them, but I can't imagine a group more representative of what Scouting is about than our commissioners - not at all cliquish, totally open and available, always ready to respond to questions, server cheerfully, etc. So genuinely curious how it works that they'd be grouped together with WB here.

Spinning off from the Major Changes Announced thread, was hoping we could focus on just one idea to come up. That of the 'sacred cows' , in other words, those things which have been unreasonably held to be off-limits for review or reform. Or as @sentinel947 offered, "an idea, custom, or institution held, especially unreasonably, to be above criticism". Healthy reform requires us to be able to say everything is on the table, so we can really identify what is core and what is not. Which services are really necessary, and which are there simply 'because we have always done them that way'. What long-held practice or idea needs to go? What needs to stay? Not just because of nostalgia, but as essential to what Scouting is? I think one obvious sacred cow is recharter. It makes no sense with the technology we have, to revise our lists of volunteers and scouts once a year, rather than on a real-time rolling basis. Attached to that is the way we register adults - no reason to fill out the application more than once, even when you add positions, and no reason to require it to be on paper/pdf rather than directly online. But I wonder about program - what about something like the Order of the Arrow? Is it a sacred cow or something important and essential? I've seen several posts about the drop in membership alongside the loosening of requirements. Perhaps the question is, does it still make sense in the way it is organized, perceived, and conducted? Could it evolve into this proposed volunteer corps for 18+ young adults, should it be more like the national honor society where it is just a kind of recognition instead of an active group, or should it combine with venturing to become the program for high school youth, or something else entirely? Everything can be discussed. That's the whole point of saying 'no sacred cows'. But just allowing discussion does not mean we are taking them to the chopping block. We have to be able to discuss even Eagle Scout Award, even if we know there's no BSA without it. It can still be discussed. So, what are the sacred cows?

Just saw the general session from wednesday is now posted: https://nam.scouting.org/