No Response?

[weblinger08]

My position is Cubmaster, and as such I send out emails to the entire Pack about upcoming events. I make it very clear that I need a response as to attendence by a specific date, but there's always a few who can't be bothered to click on respond. How do you handle these parents?

 

The current event is Graduation and a dinner (pig roast) at a park in our town, where you can camp for the weekend as well. It's been on the calendar all year, I've been talking about it for months, yet two families plan a vacation the same weekend, 4 more families "can't make it", and several others haven't responded yet. All I'm asking is that you show up for 3 hours for graduation and a dinner, and Pack only asks you to bring a dish to share!

 

Thanks for letting me vent too :')

[moosetracker]

The no response I get alot.. Either it is their way of saying "NO".. Which is rude in my opinion.. Or it could be undecided because they just can't plan anything further out then a day in advance..

 

So of those with responses they are a "No" also?.. No one is coming to the party? That would be sad.. Bring a picnic lunch for your family.. Anyone else showing up, it would be sorry didn't hear from you, didn't plan for you..

 

If you do get a few, again plan a picnic for a small group.. If others show, either they better have a dish to stretch the food, or they go hungry.. Have Parent run out to the nearest fast food, or cumberland farm if his family wants to eat.

 

Seriously, you don't want to reward this type of behavior or they will never learn.

[Tampa Turtle]

Sigh...pretty common in Cub Scouts and Elementary-age Birthday Parties. Hardly anyone RSVP's and I had things where we invited 14, got 1 yes/1 no and only 1 show up un-noticed. I have had things where we invited 40, 8 responded and got 50+. It is really hard to deal with it.

 

That said some of the BEST events I ever had in Cub Scouting where the ones where we camped with just a few folks:

 

(cue music)

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Graduation Day shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that roasts his pig with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And families on vacation now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

They camped with us on Graduation day!

[GKlose]

I've been the primary communications channel of our troop (not pack) for a couple of years now. I've gotten a few complaints (one didn't like the volume of email, and asked for "summary email" to be sent out, but had missed the fact that we have a summary email that goes out every Wednesday morning, automated, which pretty much lists everything on the troop website; another mom, who's son missed yet another meeting, asked me why we didn't send out reminders for every meeting. I responded that I do, except they are in that Wednesday morning email summary. She didn't like that. She wanted separate email. You just can't win sometimes...).

 

But here's my guiding principle: email is a one-way communications tool. Very few people seem to read it, especially for detailed content, and I'm even talking about coworkers here too. You can put two questions in an email, for example, and you're lucky if you get a response to one of them. If you send a followup, asking about the second question? No response. Almost as if they are saying "hey, I already dealt with that email."

 

Our Scouts don't want email. They want texts. But I guess I'm kind of slow at this. I'm not sure how to send out one message, by text, to 40 or so recipients.

 

With parents -- who want to be informed -- you can't send too few email messages, and you can't send too many. It has to be the right amount :-). But that's different for everyone. You can't send messages that are too long, those will get ignored. Too short? If you don't get all the pertinent content in one note, then you might get questions (but not necessarily email responses). I sent out reminders the other day about summer camp balances. One person brought in a check for $5 too much :-).

 

The chair of our Cub Scout pack says that she typically finds that she has to send out messages at least 3 times, in 3 different ways, in order to reach everyone. And she doesn't get email responses either.

 

Guy

[Tampa Turtle]

Oh yes that was from the play "weblinger the 08"

[blw2]

I guess I'm dense, because I continue to be amazed at this issue. I just don't get it. Email seems like such a perfect tool for something like scouts.

 

It is very easy to read and give short respoinses, especially with smart phones now....

 

and it's a great way to sumarize things.... lists of questions, etc... if written well, outline form, etc...

 

I think I can excuse those folks that get hundreds of emails a day for their job. Sometimes less critical scout stuff might get missed or pushed aside....

 

I can also understand folks that don't have smart phones. If I didn't, I would likely check emails only 2-3 times a week, so I would be a slow responder....

[weblinger08]

Thanks TT, that poem was the best :') This event is All Scouts weekend, and this is the 60th anniversary. All of the Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and families take over the park for the weekend, there are events all day Saturday, starting with a parade, and ending with a dance.

 

We try to make this a special event every year, going even bigger this year with a whole pig being roasted, but still can only get about 1/2 of the the Pack to attend. Come on people, it's within 5 miles of everyone's house!

[ZScout5]

Attendance at pack activities usually goes way down in summer, figure only 25-50% will attend. I would suggest having the Graduation in May before school lets out. Than have a family sport day, fishing Derby, campout, or other activities during the summer. Whether or not you get RSVP for these is not as much of a headache.

Save Big Events for the rest of the year.

 

We have automated emails go out from scouttrack about events and deadlines, announce at pack meetings and have sign up sheets, and hand out quarterly calendars. There are still families who will call to sign up last minute.

 

As Cubmaster you really shouldn't have to deal with the RSVP part. That's supposed to be handled by someone on the committee, usually the activities/outings coordinator. I know volunteers often end up doing more than their registered position entails, but don't beat yourself up over things you can't control (other people's priorities and response) and just plan a great program for your son and the other scouts who show up.

[Tampa Turtle]

Summer is tough; even our COH during the last week of school is poorly attended --exams and parties.

 

As for communications we have the same problem--we oldsters using email, younger folks texts, and yet other paper handouts.

[Twocubdad]

So, weblinger, sounds like next year you get another free weekend to spend with your family!

 

Our gold standard for communication is what's posted on the troop calendar/bulletin board at teh Scout House or what is announced at circle up at the end of the meeting. Weren't there? Sorry. Think we need to send text messages? Smoke signals? Jungle drums? Fine. Be there at circle-up, take notes and send messages on any medium you like. We always appreciate diversity.

 

We do use ScoutTrack as an online calendar and for automated email reminders. Too much? Too little? We're always looking for someone to take over managing it.

 

It doesn't happen too much with Scouts, but is a constant at school -- the assumption that everyone has a smart phone. I mean, what's the point of sending an email at 3:45 cancelling a 4:00 practice? I'm on the way already, not sitting at my computer.

 

Wasn't there an article in Scouting within the past year (and I think reposted here) which listed the percentages of homes with various forms of communications? Seem to recall smart phone use at 25-30 percent and a lot of stuff we all consider a given -- cell phones, email, internet use -- in the 75% ballpark.

 

[artjrk]

In the two packs that I have been part of each den leader would handle the RSVPs for Pack events within their den. The Pack sent out announcements en mass but communication was more on the den level.

[SSScout]

Favorite "Cathy" comic strip:

 

Cathy is on the office phone to a friend. She is heard saying: "Hi. I want to know if you received the e mail I sent yesterday about the memo I sent you last friday concerning the boss's directive about the meeting we're gonna have tomorrow. (second frame) "Uhuh." (third frame) "Well, can you make it next tuesday?" .

 

 

[Scoutfish]

Yeah, I hate not getting responces as well.

 

As a CM, I do have to remind myself though...not every pare4nt views scouting or puts it on the same level as I do.

 

So heres one thing I learned over the last 4 years: Do not expect "NO / Not going " responces. You hardly ever get that answer. If they are not going, they won't tell you they are.

 

Now as for families planning something that same weekend..well, sorry, just because you had it on the calendar for 2 monthd doesn't mean anything.

 

 

We have families that get two - one week vacations a year. They usually have an annual trip to "X" every year at the same time. Might be one of our campouts is that weekend and we posted it 4 months ago.

 

Guess what, in level of priority, the pack will lose out.

 

Honestly, If I only had a certain time of year I could take a vacation, or had been planning a long time to go to a particular place for a particular event/ time frame...and then a scouting event was planned at the time - even as CM, I would miss it.

 

Don't get me wrong, scouting IS my hobby. It's what I do and what I enjoy. But some parents have other hobbies that take presidence over scouting: Hunting, fishing, NASCAR races family trips , etc...

 

And all of those are time specific for certain seasons, destinations, temperature, dates available, ect.....

 

Just saying, you may have planned out 12 months, but those families may have planned it out 15 months ago.

 

So i have to ask though: How long have those families been in your pack? What rank are the scouts?

 

 

Could be theyb just don't want to camp in a park in town..Could be that the scouts really do want to do it, but the parents are thinking something else.

 

My wife's idea of roughing it is a hotel room without the efficiency kitchen in it and no pool.

 

Might be mom has other plans.

 

You know the old saying: "If momma ain't happy, then nobody's happy!"

 

It's true!

 

SO, just go with who you got, enjoy it and don't take it personal that others do not go to what you consider a Premeir event.

 

 

[jc2008]

Its very common for people to just not respond. I do our Den's email, which is only 8 families. But even with the 8 families I often have to do several emails to get them to reply if they will/will not attend. I usually send the first email, get a few responses, then i send out another email saying I still have not heard from X, Y or Z yet if they will be attending, and this usually gets the parents to respond at this point.

 

I did make a point at one of the den meetings, that if they will not be attending a den meeting or event to email me and let me know so I know how many kids to prepare for.

 

Doing it pack wide must be a nightmare. The only suggestion I would have is to put the invitation out to your Den Leaders, then contact them individually and ask how many from their Den will be attending. This will break down the work and make personal communication a bit easier to all the families.

[Fehler]

Actually, you can e-mail to text messages, usually something like "phonenumber@provider.com", and they'll receive it like a text. But gotta keep it short in those cases.

 

But yeah, I put up an online survey for our camp to see what people liked, and e-mailed a link to it, and only one person filled it out. Glad I didn't waste paper on it.