Announcements

[ManyHats]

How do you get all the info out and avoid announcements at Pack events?

We do send a monthly newsletter, but not everyone reads it or supposedly gets it.

Some times we do hand outs at meetings.

We have a website.

But we still have complaints of people not getting all the info.

[ScoutNut]

Fliers at Pack Meetings

E-mail reminders

Snail mail reminders

Notices in Den newsletters and at Den meetings.

 

[cubbingcarol]

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Some people will moan and groan because they were not told about such and such (boo-hoo, wah-wah) yet the info was right there. It's usually the same ones all the time. My suggestion would be to have the loudest repeat offenders volunteer to be the phone parent. Their 'job' would be to call all with upcoming events, etc. If they did not want to do that then tell them sorry because you send out info in all those other ways and you don't have time to call everyone too.

 

my $0.02,

Carol

[Bob White]

We found that static displays at Den Meeting and Pack Meetings worked well, along with e-mail, newsletters, and when needed phobe calls at the Den level.

 

But we did not make announcements other than very, very, short ones directed at the youth to remind them of the fun that awaited them at an upcoming event. But we did not discuss details, those went into the other communications that were directed at the parents.

[fgoodwin]

Also remind your parents that event scheduling and planning happens at the committee meeting (if the event is for the entire pack) or den meeting (parent break-out session, if planning a den event). All parents are welcome to attend the committee meeting

 

And of course, those who drop-off their sons for the weekly den meeting will miss out on the parent break-out, so they need to stay, as often as they can (understanding that at least one Tiger parent must attend every Tiger den meeting with their son).

[Eagledad]

>>How do you get all the info out and avoid announcements at Pack events?

[meschen]

File this under "whatever you do, you can't win"

 

I sent out two e-mails about a week apart reminding everyone in the pack of an upcomming pack event. After the second e-mail, one parent complained that I was spaming them. After the event, another parent compained they were never informed of the event. And yes, they were on the distribution list.

 

As for the original post: I have a very clear statement in our pack parent's handbook that our primary method of communication is e-mail. I reinforce this when I meet new parents. Maintenance of the pack e-mail list is cruicial. After that, there is nothing else that can be done. Pack meeting announcements are usefull to get the kids interested in upcomming events, but since you'll never have 100% attendance, you can't rely on that being effective.

 

And the next time I get a message from a parent that they were never informed, I'll request that they volunteer to become the Pack's Secretary, a position no one ever seems willing to take on.

 

[infoscouter]

Pack meetings used to be structured so that there was a 15-20 minute portion where the boys left the room, and the parents and the leaders met separately. While going back to this every meeting would be overkill, we still follow this pattern 2-3 times a year. It allows us to talk about "grown-up stuff" without boring the boys to tears.

 

(I only discovered the old method in some historical documents after we had been doing this for a couple years).

 

Otherwise, we rely on newsletters and e-mail.