Basementdweller Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 At a cub event over the weekend, not my council or district..... Saturday night Halloween themed campfire started with a 40 minute beading ceremony. Picture 800 Cubs, Sibs and Familys sitting in 40 degree weather watching a bunch of folks sing Gilwell. Ya know they could care less.... It ruined the campfire, Several Packs left at about 30 minutes into the beading ceremony. I went up to the Camp Director and mentioned that it should have been at the end of the campfire instead of the beginning....She responded with sorry it was supposed to be 10 minutes and it would never happen again. This was the first time our Pack attended this paticular event....I was surprised to see all the fully bobbled up peacocks running around camp all day......They weren't helping but at the various activity stations chatting to the staff.... Interestingly enough they were zipping around on a couple of yellow UTV's.... Another case of Scouters being more important than the scouts..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGreyEagle Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I beleive the word you mean is "bauble" And I am not sure I would have lasted 30 minutes myself. The Campfire was themed for Cubs and should have served them first, the adult schtick should have been last(This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Second Class Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 That's too bad. Not knowing your audience. Cubs don't give a rip about Gilwell or all the stuff in it. Unfortunate that this may have given a new group of leaders a bad taste for Wood Badge. Know your audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 I especially enjoyed when they talked about how difficult the ticket was...... How it was the equivalent of 7 eagle projects.....Ego stroking...... Any Adult worth his salt should be able to complete an eagle project.....And only 7 in 18 months a piece of cake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewmeister Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Agreed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Tree Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I have never been a real fan of the beading ceremony, almost regardless of where it was held. No group really wants to watch this involuntarily - not Cub Scouts, not Boy Scouts, not roundtable participants. My ceremony was done at lunch at the University of Scouting, with a number of others from our class. The only people who came to watch were those who were specifically interested. There were still quite a few people in the audience, because we had so many people getting beaded. I've seen lots of other examples of too much talking at camporees - letters from politicians, thanks to endless lists of people who helped put on the camporee, etc. Gotta agree with the advice of know your audience. And even more basic than that is that you plan the show for the benefit of the audience, not for the benefit of those putting on the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 OGE, Basement had a typo, it wasn't bauble, I'm thinking with the length of the "ceremony" it was really bAbble. Seriously people! I got my beads in the mail and it was the most appropriate ceremony I could ever imagine! If it's not FOR the boys, the boys should not be subjected to it. If the boys want something nice for the SM or ASM who gets beads, they should put together a brief ceremony and reception with cookies. No 40 minute dirge at a campfire. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoPenn Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I've been to one "beading" ceremony - my father's. It was at a Troop Court of Honor and took all of 1 minute - he was called up, congratulated, had the beads slipped over his head, shook a couple hands, and sat back down. OGE - in this case, I suspect "bobbled" might just be the right word. I'm surprised it took 30 minutes for the Packs to start leaving. I'm surprised it took so long for someone to talk to the camp director. I'm surprised the camp director let it go on beyond the 10 minute time limit. I know some Cubmasters that would have started up a round of John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt with their Pack about 12 minutes in that would soon overtake the entire audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScouterAdam Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 40 minutes? I hope they passed out Training Cards afterwards! Least there wasn't a PPT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrat77 Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I saw a similar ceremony in my last council, at a district awards event. Scouters that normally wouldn't say a word were joyously transformed in critters again ("will all WBers present please come forward!"), singing and happy and jolly as can be. Multiple speeches on the wonderment of WB, etc. The guy getting his beads had a special WB song book tied to his belt, and there were a few other props that had Special Meaning. Audience reaction was subdued but there was a definite vibe of "what the.....?" Oh yes, two young folks were presented their Silver Awards that night as well. I've seen bus tickets given out with more flair. "Yeah, here you go guys, good luck." I felt bad for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattlePioneer Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 > I consider beading ceremonies to be Wood Badge advertisements. There's nothing wrong with promoting Scouting programs, even those for adults, but it needs to be done in a way that's respectful to the audience. Five minutes, tops, for most situations. And I get especially tired at repeated promotions of Woodbadge that are straight promotions. I hear those all too often at council events in particular where 90% of the people have already done Woodbadge and the 10% who haven't have heard the tale all too often. Woodbadge --- the most shamelessly over promoted Scouting program, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocubdad Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 After 15 minutes the camp director should have grown a pair and pulled the plug, don't care how high up the food chain the peacocks were. But you guys are letting your anti-Wood Badge bias overwhelm you sense of decency and courtesy. Wood Badge IS for the boys. We can, will and have argued over the content of the course, but someone has to be a real tight-ass to sit through a week-long course then put the time into a ticket just to stroke his ego. (Frankly, the peacocks on staff are another story.) The vast majority of participants are there because they sincerely want to advance their level of training as leaders and make a significant commitment to do so. Say what you will about the class, unless the ticket goals are way off base, they represent a tremendous individual contribution to Scouting. We all, including the Scouts, need to respect and honor that. I'm the guy who stands up at our Courts of Honor and individually thanks the adults who have contributed so much to the troop. Yeah, I can ramble on and I see the eye rolls, but get over it. The folks who serve the troop deserve our public thanks. A lot of what folks do is never seen by the Scouts or even the other adults. Unless you've done it, you don't know what a PIA recharter is, or managing a $25,000 budget which comes in $50 at a time. Or the ASMs who go camping with the troop even when their own son's don't. If we -- Scouts and adults -- don't have the courtesy to show their respect and appreciation for the folks who make the program possible, then we have failed in our mission to teach character and citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Well blake you got further than I did.....finished my ticket no beads......coming up on almost a year since it was signed as complete..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavah Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Yah, I'm on da opposite side of this from TwoCubDad, eh? I've sat through way too many of these dang blasted beading ceremonies and cub scout Blue and Gold banquets where the time spent thanking every adult for this or that was double the time spent on recognizing and having fun with da boys. The only adult awards that should ever be presented at a scout event are ones that are freely given by the boys themselves, or at least with their strong blessing and permission, because it's somethin' they want to recognize the adult for. Best beading ceremonies I've seen were when WB course-mates got together late at night after the lads had gone to bed, shared a bit of camaraderie around a campfire, and enjoyed each other's company for a bit. Beavah and a good ol' Beaver too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari_cardi Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Geez, Basement, when I brought up a similar example of an ill-timed beading ceremony you said that you felt sorry for me that I didn't understand the significance of the thing. http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=360530 Still think it was inappropriate. And it is still the first thing I think of when I see the scouters who were beaded and the scouters who did the beading, and not in a positive way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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