Organizing an IOLS for 50 to 100+

[MoosetheItalianBlacksmith]

As far as far as I remember what I actually said was as follows:

 

I am not opposed to other peoples opinions and advice and greatly appreciate them but in the end I will make the decisions that I feel will suit the program the best

 

We dont have a district training committee except for MT, my fianc, and me. District has not been helpful in getting us a committee and seems fine with what we have....we have been recruiting people for trainers and if we could get more people on the district committee we would.

 

So we came here advice on how to make this run better. As the event organizer I am accepting all ideas that are given to us. But in the end we need to come up with what ideas we will implement and what we will not (i.e. things that will not work or there is a better idea on the table for them.) If you disagree with me give me logical reasons as to why and your idea is better than mine and I will change my mind. That is always the way I have been if there is enough supporting evidence and reasoning for something then by all means run with that.

 

My mother and fianc may agree with some of your ideas that I over looked in which case they will come to me with a logical reasonable argument/debate as to why I should change one thing to another and I will do such. But being the event organizer at least in my area it means that I am running the training...maybe in the spring we will have somebody brand new running the training.

 

I understand and agree with BP's statement that this is a massive machine and it needs to be well oiled and all gears lined up in order for this to work.....if we miss anything the entire thing will come to a screeching halt....but if it is planned and implemented well we can end up with a beautiful elgant machine.

 

There is a little more leeway for mistakes in smaller courses....we dont have that leeway here. So we have to go in with everything planned and knowing what we will be doing.

 

As I keep saying I Fully welcome advice and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism as it will make the course the best it can be. What I dont welcome is an argument that this should never happen. This training needs to be done this year so everybody needs it and were the only ones running a course this falls. We dont have the time or people to do many many courses as we try to cycle our trainers so that were not using the same ones all the time and they dont get burnt out. On this course we will probably need all hands on deck and then some.

 

So with no other routes I appreciate the advice and constructive criticism but I will remain optimistic about this training as I still believe that it can be done and it can be done well.

[MoosetheItalianBlacksmith]

To everyone out there if it looks like Im shooting down an idea Im not....Im looking for more supporting evidence or reasons that that idea might be a good one.

 

By talking to people I can see why satellite training on the specifics they need before they go to the IOLS is the better idea....and if we cant get the satellite trainings then we might have to put together a bare bones video that gets them the info they need to know before coming but doesnt replace the actual training.

 

Im not shooting down ideas......but give me reasons as to why your idea is a good one. I like a healthy debate. Some ideas have merit that I didnt see before I started you will therefore have to explain it to me some more.

 

Such as bringing food and cooking for everybody....I personally would prefer if we did it by patrol method....but once somebody debated it with me I can see merit with that as well. We would need to find a person that is willing to do that cooking and we would need a location where that cooking can be done and we would need that very soon so we can set a price for registration. We can find that location and person then great go for it.....if not then its gonna go back to patrol method.

 

Im not hard to work with but I am not a yes man. Give me information as to why that is better and your fine.

 

[moosetracker]

Great! Although I believe if we provide the food, it would just be the raw food, all patrols must cook it themselves.. So it is more someone with the know how as to purchase enough food for x amount of people, seperate it into patrols, and figure out how to store the food (especially food needing cooling) and transport it..

 

As I said, unless we get someone in the group with experience, I too see it easier to go with patrols organizing their own..

 

I will ask around at my meeting tommorrow.

[qwazse]

This sounds like you're going to have a lot of folks taking this course who've seen/done camping with a troop before, so ...

 

My perspective on food. Until woodbadge ... staff have never been able to put together a meal that compared to what was done in any "ad hoc" student patrol I was on. (And even then, our woodbadge patrol went over the top on their night 3 dinner - with plenty of tiramisu for the other patrols.) Your patrols will learn more about possibilities if you they hear about the menu's of the half dozen other patrols in camp.

 

You may want to offer snacks and lunch just to keep folks around the instruction area. A coffee kiosk is not a bad idea.

 

My perspective on instruction: have as little indoors as possible. Use the chapel or campfire arena if the camp has one. Your round-robin strategy is a good idea if your pavilons are spaced decently apart. You want to teach the way you expect scouts to learn. (Although, access to a building if the weather turns sour is never a bad idea.) Also, adults will listen to youth more readily than other adults. (Of course the youth might not listen to themselves by the fourth time they give the same presentation!)

 

My perspective on preparation: have your "mandatory" meet 'n greet at a district roundtable. The commish will happy to see the attendance. Let the breakout session be IOLS prep (this is where you assign/elect patrols). Those who're already trained can listen to the prep, you can also ask them to offer a few pointers of how to make it work for them. Those who never signed up for IOLS? Invite them if you still have room.

 

You may very well have precious little time besides getting folks into patrols, collecting payment, and saying "See you all Friday the __th", but think about how many hours of troop prep meetings some boys have before their 1st campout? Most of the prep should be done in patrols.

 

A week or two before campout, call the PL's to see if they are on track. This is where you may find out that there's a group that may need to borrow a camp-box or tent or whatever.

 

My thoughts on follow-up: after the course have a plan to send a note to the graduate's unit leader (and SPL/ crew president, maybe?) recognizing their training. Ask that it be read at the unit meeting. Encourage them to ask the graduate what was their best and worst memory about being in a patrol of adults.

[BadenP]

Dang MIB

 

"There is no district training committee except MT, my fiance and me."

 

Talk about all in the family, lol. Listen, truefully is this event even being supported and sanctioned by the district and council training committees? If it is then you two should be getting all kinds of support, money,advertising, organizational help, and a cadre of seasoned veteran scouting trainers to offer their expertise. If this is not the case and the district is letting you run this as a rogue course all on your own without district or council resources they may be setting you up to Crash and Burn. So be very careful, and as OGE stated earlier don't bite off more than you can chew.(This message has been edited by BadenP)

[moosetracker]

MIB - kinda got it wrong, I have 3 others on my committee, it is just we never meet as a committee, the District Committee meeting is just the committee chairs and we report to the DCC & DE, we don't have the suggested layout of everyones committee comes to the meeting, and we break out into committees to discuss things.

 

But, yes Ken's fiance is a person I have given the leeway on many courses, split up the work with, not because she is almost family, but because she is currently studying to be a teacher at college, she has major organizational skills with people all throughout this state, and sometimes with out-of-staters..

 

But I also have another school teacher, a nurse who is big with special needs children, and a person who has been in boy scouts & cub scouts for many years.

 

qwazse - I like some of your ideas, the coffee kiask & snacks are great! We do plan for outside, but after my first IOLS I always plan for a large room in case of bad weather. Still even with bad weather somethings just have to be outside.

 

Unfortunately, we can't hold any training at Roundtables, especially large ones.. The RT commissioner doesn't see it as bring in new people who could come back but stealling people who should be in the BS or CS breakouts..

 

[moosetracker]

Sorry, my last post was in a rush, hubby wanted to get to a meeting..

 

One thing I forgot to add, I just added someone new to the committee a 21 yo, who I gave a position MIB was interested in. Reason I looked for someone else & did not give to MIB is due to "too much family".. That is why he has been looking at the OA rep, and Popcorn Kernel, and but it looks good that after summer break he will be do RT commissioner..

 

MIB is great help in training, and I definately consider him as part of my team, but I have not given him any official position on the committee.

[qwazse]

MT I get your commish's attitude, but try giving him my testimony.

 

I was trained for years before I went to RT. Why? Because none of the training was at RT so I never saw the point of one more meeting a month. It took me a long time before I believed you could actually learn stuff at the breakout sessions.

 

Any way if you have to do it on a different night or on a Saturday morning do what you gotta do.