Scouting Great For Boys - Treats Employees Badly

[BadenP]

Adam

 

The thing most volunteers do not understand is that the council pros are there for two reasons and only two reasons MONEY and MEMBERSHIP and in that order. Yes some of us pros and former pros really cared about our districts and our volunteers and our units and their well being, but if that ever got in the way of MONEY we would be taken to task. If a pro ever got branded a troublemaker, like Sea Eagle's wife apparently was, they would disappear faster than a donut in a police station. For example when we DE's would go to training the first year at National we all met and became good friends, by the second year half of those people were gone, and by the third year less than 25% were left, after that you were lucky to hear from one or two of them. It is the nature of the beast or profession in Nationals eyes all DE's are expendable.

 

After five years of long long hours, little pay, and no family life I had enough and reluctantly left a position I truly did enjoy. I watched another DE, a good friend, forced to take the blame for a huge screwup her SE was responsible for and she was eventually forced to leave. Apparently once you become a SE it is near impossible to be fired, National just moves them to another council when they get caught. That is why IMO Sea eagles wife is in a no win situation, even if she is let back in they will make her life miserable. So if she really loves scouting she would be much better off serving as a volunteer working directly with the youth, that is what I have done for all these years now and I never have regretted my decision.

[Eagle92]

BP forgot the 3rd "M" Manpower b/c

 

"Ashes to ashes,

Dust to dust,

When volunteers can't,

Professionals must."

[jhankins]

The 3Ms aren't taught at the Center for Professional Development quite the same anymore, but the overtone is still there left for summation back to them!

 

Out of my class of 34+ to become commissioned DEs back in 2008, there are only 3 or 4 left in the profession.

 

It's not a pretty place seeing how the professional end of a volunteer organization works, especially if your emotions are vested in its preservation and quality.

[Eagle92]

J,

 

When I attended PDL-1 back in 98, we had approx 64 DEs, EEs, and a DFiS (the Director of Financial Services was a retread, worked as a pro in another non-profit at their national level, and knew EVERYONE in national's finance division. He was a character, but I digress.) We were divided into 2 troops of 4 patrols each.

 

When I went to the 98 NLTC, aka the "ALL HANDS Conference," approximately 3-4 months later, at the PDL-1 reunions, less than half of my PDL-1 class attended. If memory serves, only one had a legitimate reason for not attending, a new baby, but the rest were no longer in the profession.

 

I would not recommend being a pro unless your family knew what it was getting into. I know of 1 ex-DE whose wife complained that he was gone more working for the BSA than when he was with the Marines.