Cub Scout Day Camp Promotions

[JudyB]

Hi! I'm trying to come up with a solution or two to a camp promotion problem. Last year our council made up pack packages with registration forms in them that were distributed to the packs. The packs were then responsible to distribute the information to the cubs.

Council wide we had roughly 20% attendance at Day Camp. District wide we had from 2% to 45% attendance, depending on the district.

Somethings not connecting. Im figuring that in the districts with lower attendance either the CM/CC has decided that their pack isn't going to camp and isn't distributing the forms, or, if the forms are turned over to DL's, the DL's decide that they're not going to camp and don't do the den promotion. I've come to that conclusion because I've heard the complaints from parents after camp is over - they say they were never told about camp.

Our council is thinking about mailing the registration form directly to each registered boy for the 2005 camps. Theyre thinking of doing this because we have a different cub camping activity thats overnight and it's 1/1 ratio, and it's highly attended. They think that the high attendance at this activity is due to the fact that the forms are being sent right to the family, with no DL, CM or CC in the middle. The council is thinking that if the cubs can sign up for Day Camp separate from the pack they may have more participation.

However, those of us that run the district camps feel that we need registration to go through the packs because the packs are responsible for providing the staff for camp. (No paid staff) Each pack is supposed to supply 2 leaders for camp staff, and when the packs are helping with and monitoring the registration we have a better chance at getting the pack to take care of their responsibility. Our professional has asked us to think about this and come up with suggestions as to how we can best get camp information to all of the boys and still get staff needed from each pack. Any suggestions?

 

Judy

PS Sorry this post is so long!

 

 

 

[fotoscout]

Hi Judy, and welcome!

You are not alone in your thought process. Our Council believes as you do, if the dissemination of information is left to the CM, or DLs, the information will not be passed along to the membership if the CM or DL does not believe in camp or will not be going to camp.

We have a single CS Camp brochure for all of our CS camp (camping) opportunities, day camp and overnights. It is mailed home, AND made available for distribution by the units. The registration form is included with the brochure. We also provide placemats for Blue and Gold that describe the CS camp programs.

This year we will try to make three separate mailings for CS Camp. In addition, we do promos at RT, at the units, at training events, and shamelessly anywhere else we can. There is no silver bullet here! This is about leg work, and phone calls. Yes, the mailings are expensive, but we know for certain that the familys got the information.

Weve also found that although we register kids as a Pack, this is a misleading thought. They really come to camp as Den, not a Pack.. More often than not we have one den from a pack rather than multiple dens from a single pack. So in a way this confirms our thoughts about dissemination of information by the leaders.

In your case, in an ideal world, I would do this;

 

Mail the flyers, making if PERFECTLY CLEAR in the flyer that everyone can go to camp even if your pack or den doe4s not.

Then make the point to your leaders that they still have the lead when it comes to registering the kids for camp. Im sure that youll have a core group of volunteers to staff the camp.

Maybe the way to grow this group would be to begin your planning and training in September and do it monthly (or so) during the year. This way you could collect new people during the year.

[youngbuck]

In our council, the OA is attempting something new:

 

Cub Scout Promotions Commitee...basically it will invole different people going to pack meetings to promote cub scout camp in our local council...i don't know if this is an option for anyone else reading this but worth a try?

[FScouter]

"... the packs are responsible for providing the staff for camp. (No paid staff) Each pack is supposed to supply 2 leaders for camp staff ...".

 

There is your problem. The pack is not going to promote day camp if you have a requirement that they supply two leaders. Mandating that pack leaders serve on staff is a sure way to turn them off. The implication is that they may not send boys to camp unless they supply two leaders.

 

Cub Scout day camp is the responsibility of the district Camp Promotion and Outdoor committee. It is up to that committee to to select and recruit the staff. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[CubScoutJo]

What you need is someone within the pack who believes in the Day Camp program and would like to see as many boys as possible take part in it.

 

That person will then be the liaison between the pack and the council. But it needs to be a person who truly has an interest and is willing to talk it up at several meetings and individually as well. ("Hey, Johnny, have you thought about attending Day Camp?" Talk about what some of the activities were the year before, show the patch, talk about the fact that they may complete some advancement requirements, etc. Just be excited about the program. Also, this person will be the contact point for parents who may have questions or may want to volunteer. And, like the previous poster mentioned, that person needs to make sure that parents know that their son can attend day camp even if his den does not.

 

I served in this role for Webelos resident camp last year and we had 9 out of 11 Webelos attend camp and 4 parents volunteer which I think is purty good.

 

CubScoutJo

 

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Have to agree with FScouter.

 

Unit serving leaders need to serve their units.

 

There is nothing wrong with asking for HELP and describing where help will be needed. Having been activity head for cooking and wood project I know for a fact they need substantial help). Help is different than primary responsibility to design, resource, and execute the activity.

 

As someone mentioned above, look at OA youth to provide J-staff support. Amazing how many of these things they can do on their own.

 

 

[madkins007]

Ditto F-Scouter. I know that for many camps I have had enough trouble coming up with enough leaders to go, much less provide as staff.

 

Locally- rounding up camp staff was pulling teeth the first couple years, but by taking exceptional care of staff, they built up a crew of volunteers (youth and adult) that clammored to attend each year.

 

I was not privy to all that happened, but some of the things they did for staff volunteers included catered meals (not all of them, of course!), free or reduced pass for their own summer camp experience, some cool patches and hats, a daily staff 'unwind' party and weekly bash (ice cream and ice-cold drinks played a big part in these!), daily raffles and contests of all types, staff-only pool time, etc.

 

 

[Cubmaster Jerry]

We do it more inline with Judy's council - providing our own staff. In fact - I'm not sure I even saw ANY District rep at our Day Camp this past summer. As that was my first Day Camp (I always seemed to be on vacation in previous years), I figured it was "the norm". Now I am sure it isn't (see District Responsibilities).

 

We have three Packs that populate our day camp attendance roster. What we did (have done forever?) is divide up the program areas between each of the three Packs. Each Pack had their responsibility and then there was a Program Dir (one Pack's CC) and the overall Camp Dir (one Pack's CM).

 

It went pretty well. But as CubScoutJo stated, someone had to be in charge that believed in the program and wanted that success. That desire has to be at all levels - District down to the DLs. Camp is what makes CubScouting fun and memorable. All leaders have to believe that and push that to the parents and boys.

 

At the Pack Level, that starts with the CM. As CM, I am in the best position to promote Scouting. Pack meetings are a great forum for that.