new system lost my online training records

[Lisabob]

In order to register my son for 2010 jambo I just set up a new account for myself on the new myscouting system. This is apparently going to replace the current bsa elearning system and you can transfer prior elearning info to the new accounts - but only if you can remember your elearning username and password! Of course I can't, and none of the emails I think I probably used come up as correct when I try to use the prompt for those idiots who forgot their passwords...Grrr...

 

I know I should have remembered my login info but honestly I only ever used the site maybe once every 6-8 months at most!

 

So I ended up creating a whole new account and now all the records of online training I did under the old elearning system have gone away. Grr... not user friendly.

[John-in-KC]

I feel your pain Lisa. So much potential with MyScouting, so much vaporware too.

 

[ Rant ]

 

Of course, the idiots at National IT, who could enable the ability to report out ScoutNet for each of us in MyScouting, are blundering fools who cannot see common sense if it was given to them on a 24K gold platter.

 

Can you imagine what a tool MyScouting would be for the individual Scouter if National IT enabled the ability to get all our info, including our various Trainings, WB, function attendance, FOS history, ad infinitum.

 

Of course, that would take the National IT folks in Irving caring about the volunteers in the field.

 

[ / Rant ](This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[skeptic]

Take a deep breathe and try to be positive; it will get fixed, hopefully. Not any worse than me spending literally many hours updating my troop's adult training records, getting info' from leaders who actually had their cards/certificates, or connecting dots when they were in training with one who had their info'. Gave it all to council three separate years, and it never got corrected on the charter pages. Same went with ranks and ages on charters; was like, why bother.

Currently, old Woodbadge records do not show up. While I did not take the new course officially, I was one of the first trainers, so had to basically take it, other than a ticket. Is there a record; and should those of us who instructed be credited with the new course? Also, if you took SM essentials, and so on back in the darker ages, none of those show up anywhere. So, if you do not have personal records, it is a guessing game. Wonder about the Philmont training; they actually issued certificates and even certifications for some college credit with some of those courses. With luck, these things will get better. Most positive progress is slow and erratic. Meanwhile, just do what you can do and take one more deeper breathe.

[eolesen]

Do what we tell the boys: save your white/blue cards in a baseball card holder. Or you could be a technophobe and scan 'em...

 

[Lisabob]

Ed, that's not the point, though it is a good idea. One of the "promises" of the online learning system was that when you completed an online training like youth protection or something, your electronic file would list the courses you had completed, and when. In fact I can document my training because, being a record keeper, I printed out copies of all the certificates at the ends of the courses. But, my annoyance is that my electronic record for those previous trainings seems to have vanished, even when I use my BSA id # to pull up records. That, I find very annoying.

[John-in-KC]

I second Lisa's point, and continue to refer to my rant for the limpwristed application MyScouting is at this point.

 

Makes me wonder where all the foundation and big bucks dollars National BSA gets go to?

[Bob White]

John-in-KC posts "idiots, blundering fools, can't see common sense if given to them on a 24K platter"

 

That is not a rant, that is just bad manners. There is nothing helpful,friendly, courteous, cheerful, and certainly nothing brave about that outburst, since John can be fairly confident that the people he maligned will not answer in their own defense.

 

Had that post been directed at a foum member it would likely have been edited or removed. John might even risk being banned for such an attack. But as long as it is toward a BSA employee I am sure John feels quite safe in his behaviour as insulting BSA employees seems to be considered a right by many volunteers, perhaps even a duty by John and a few others.

 

I wonder who has contacted the national office to seek a solution, or ask if any of John's wish list was in the planning stages, or if they can even be done. I would bet that John certainly did not.

 

That so many on this forum need to revert to name calling in order to present their views on a topic is truly sad, and it is a misrepresentation of the values of the Scouting community as a whole.

 

Because of this I would hope that John would reconsider his outburst and remove his post voluntarily.

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[evmori]

Actually, Bob, John has a valid point. His rant might be a little misguided but it is accurate. This system should have been beta tested to death to get all the bugs out before the final product was released. After all, this is the BSA not Microsoft!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[John-in-KC]

I wrote that on 5/29.

 

It's 6/10 now... that's oh, 12 days.

 

IIRC the limit for voluntary edits is something under 12 hours.

 

BTW, if I were to have a beer with Chieftain Eagle From the Sun, Jim Terry, the current Deputy, Chief Scout Executive, I would tell that to his face. Then I'd drop my next FOS check.

 

I work for an IT firm. I know what can be done with distributed databases and information sharing. That the National Council IT office cannot/will not aggressively implement information sharing, especially to the person who is the information subject, is marginally short of thievery of our annual fees.

 

My thoughts.

[Bob White]

Knowing that the technolgy exists you should also now that does not mean they have a compatable infracstructure ofr software to do it. And it certainly does not rationalize your rudeness or namecalling whether you put in in print or say it to someones face.

 

I am sure if you had posted that Ed was an "idiot" and a "blundering fool" as you did about the employees of the BSA it is unlikely that he would have given you his instant support the way he did. It was a rude and unwarranted attack. Don't you agree?

[John-in-KC]

You may want to see my comment about BSA's open source project in the Open Discussion/Program forum.

 

If the National IT folks can't get something that simple correct, there's a completely different term used locally for their kind of IT. Trust me, it's far below the line for this site. They deserve that localism. Those folks are getting pretty good money (no IT person comes cheap anymore); they need to show that they earn it.

 

National IT deserves what it is getting from me. I'll tell that to Chris Wolfe's face as well.

[Bob White]

"is marginally short of thievery of our annual fees

 

I cannot urge you enough that if you feel that your $10 annual fee is is anywhere near theivery PLEASE DO NOT PAY IT!

 

 

 

 

[evmori]

Are you calling me an idiot & a blundering fool, Bob?

 

If the infrastructure or software isn't in place, then why place something in the live environment that doesn't work? That doesn't even make sense! And any IT guy worth his salt would know that! That's like giving someone keys to a car that doesn't have a drive shaft! You can turn it on but don't try to go anywhere!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Joni4TA]

Regardless, what Lisa's dealing with is the rule rather than the exception.. and it is extremely annoying!