Pow Wow?

[fritolazy]

Our councils pow wow has declined severely over the last number of years. It was once a huge event and now it barely breathes. Is anyone else having the same problem? If you are, what ideas might you have to revive your experience.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I came from a Council that always had a large PW and PW book. It was an event that was fun and we had allot of interest from across the districts. The Council that I presently reside in had a miserable PW. The leaders could barley interest enough participants to match the number of staff for the event. Sessions went without while others had one or two show up. I was confused by the lack of participation but by the end of the day I began to understand some of what had occurred.

 

These are a few things I noted:

 

The staff came only from the sponsoring district.

 

A large portion of the staff was recruited during the last month.

 

They did not have staff development. There were only 2 people that wore theme costumes.

 

Promotion was mainly from the Council and District websites.

Roundtable promotion was in the form of a verbal announcement.

 

Some of the sessions were geared to teach people a lesson about how to do Scouting.

 

The PW book was on disc. It was handed out in a plain envelope.

 

The people that were in charge of the event were trying to finish another WB ticket item. They had a WB beading ceremony at lunch to teach everyone about WB.

 

The leader of the event patrolled the halls and occasioned some of the sessions to criticize the presentations.

 

Staff recognition didn't happen.

 

The two leaders felt that they had done a great job.

 

I do not recommend these methods for PW.

 

FB

 

[Sparkie]

Our Council changed the name from Pow-Wow to Scoutfest a couple years ago. I was informed it was due to the fact that "Pow-Wow" referred only to cub scouts (?). So, they changed the name. In addition to the break out sessions, they have all the one-day training classes scouting offers, and there is a midway (of course) for purchasing all sorts of stuff. I also heard they started allowing about 1/2 hour down time around lunch so leaders could socalize.

 

Sparkie

 

 

[ScoutNut]

We went from a "Pow Wow" for Cub Scouts only to a "Super Saturday of Scouting" for Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, & Venturing alike.

 

Lots more choices. Unfortunatly, it never fails that the 2 classes I really want to take are always at the same time!