Venturing Forums vs Roundtables

[OldGreyEagle]

I took this topic out of Lisabob's thread.

 

In a brilliant mass marketing move, the BSA changed the name of Venturing Rountables to Venturing Forums. Check VK34342, Venturing Monthly Program Forum. this is its description:

 

Venturing Monthly Program Forum

Replaces the Venturing Roundtable Guide.

The Venturing Monthly Program Forum provides

the information for the Venturing

breakout session of a district roundtable. It is the manual for a Venturing roundtable commissioner and staff to help with

planning and administering a full year of exciting forum meetings for Venturing crew adult and youth leaders. It contains sections on How-To, Activities/Games, and Program Features.

 

If you Google Venturing Forum, you find some hits and I admit I was being a butthead when I made my comment about Venturing no longer having Roundtable meetings. Sometimes it gets frustrating keeping up with the BSA,

currently the Venturing Leader Manual is VK34655E, please note that in 10 years we are on Version E, 5 rewrites of a 10 year old program, hard to keep up huh?(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[emb021]

Well, they did better then that.

 

Both the Venturing RT Guide and the Venturing Monthly Program Forum books have the same number. They didn't even bother to add a letter at the end like they usually do when they give the number to a new title.

 

I have the VMPF book and compared it with the V RT Guide. Its about 99% the same. I figured since it was 'new' it would have new material. I have no idea the logic behind the rename.

 

[moxieman]

There is $$$ logic behind the rename. They're hoping people will buy it thinking it's new material.

[John-in-KC]

Jeez...

 

Let's see... The BOY SCOUT DIVISION makes its RT guide a bin item.

 

The CUB SCOUT and VENTURING DIVISIONS make their RT/Forum guides $$ items.

 

BTW, has anyone noticed that BSA rolls the themes over on a 3 year cycle? Once you have 3 years of material, you don't need to get it again!

 

A little original thought in Irving might be nice... OTOH, repackaging is cheap, and someone will buy it...

 

Hey OGE, how much structural re-write has there been in those 5 editions, and how much is "happy to glad" or "'Times New Roman' to 'Arial'" font???(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[emb021]

We should be so lucky as to get 3 years worth of Venturing RT (SORRY, Venturing Monthly Program Forum) material.

 

AFAIR, the VMPF has about a year's worth of material.

 

But I guess if your council does quarterly Venturing RT (SORRY, SORRY, Venturing Monthly Program Forum), then 12 months can be stretched over 3 years.

 

 

[John-in-KC]

emb,

 

Are you saying there is one and only one edition of the Forum Guide?

 

BS Division rolls out a different RT Guide annually. I think ditto for CS division.

[emb021]

"Are you saying there is one and only one edition of the Forum Guide? "

 

Yup.

 

To be more specific.

 

The Venturing Roundtable Guide (#34342) came out in 2000. There have been no updates to it since.

 

The "new" Venturing Monthly Program Forum (#34342) came out in 2007, and like I said, is about 99% (as I recall) what was in the VRTG.

 

 

 

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

SO we agree that there is no such thing as Venturing ROundtables? They are called Forums?

[emb021]

Keep in mind that few people are aware of any name change.

 

The office patches STILL say "Venturing Roundtable Commissioner" and "Venturing Roundtable Staff".

 

To me, its like the fact that the Venturing Handbook talks about "Teen Leader Councils", but most people call them Venturing Officer Associations or the like.

[John-in-KC]

Gotta love the Marketers! Thanks emb...

 

 

[emb021]

Well, it gets worse then that.

 

When Venturing was rolled out, one of the early things rolled out was the requirements card for the Scouters Training Award and Scouter's Key for Venturing leaders.

 

On it, it listed that Venturing leaders had to attend Venturing Roundtable &/or Venturing Officer Association meetings to met one of the goals.

 

But it would be several years before a Venturing RT Guide came out. And when the Venturer Handbook came out, no mentioned was made of "Venturing Officer Associations", and instead it spoke of "Teen Leader Councils" (with the additional 'option' that COUNCILS could have these TLCs include older Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Explorers, kind of diluting them as 'venturing youth councils').

 

But by then, most people have been using the term VOA (or in some cases 'Venturing Cabinet' or the like). Heck, the National group is called a National Venturing Cabinet.

 

I've never understood the logic of TLC instead of VOA, nor the idea of having BS, VS, and E being allowed in TLC (where I've always feared they would dominate the Venturers). Who knows why these things were done?