Starting a new Crew, any advice?

[clc5105]

We have decided to spin off a Venture Crew from our troop, of which I'm to be the advisor. I'll admit it's kinda for a selfish reason in my case. My son has made Eagle Scout and is now 18. I was planning on staying with the Troop as the Committee Chairman, however, my daughter's GSA troop folded and I think she got her feelings hurt as I was spending so much time helping my son with Eagle. So to spend more time with her we came to Venturing. So far we've had a couple of informal meetings so let others know what Venturing is about and to hand out applications. So far the reaction has been fabulous. I have 16 youths ( eight boys, and eight girls) and seven adults that have, or, are going to turn in applications. It appears that we are on our way to a good start. Does anybody have any advice they make think would be useful?

[OldGreyEagle]

What area of the country are you in?

[clc5105]

Central Florida, about halfway between Tampa and Orlando.

[OldGreyEagle]

Have the adults take the adult Venturing Training as soon as possible and have your youth elect their officiers and start doing stuff. Nothing will grow your program like excited youth comming back from an event. At first the adults will have to do a lot of the planning and coordination, but set early the expectation that the adults are to draw back and the youth take over. Follow the ideas and do the program capability inventory and interest survery found in the trainig mateials and then have a blast. At about the six month mark see if you can get the crew to a VLSC, run either by your adults but hopefully by the Disitrct or Council. It works better with many crews participating.

 

Oh yeah be sure you have fun doing it as the youth will pick up on your attitudes, you have fun the youth will have fun and then the adults have more fun, its a beautiful thing

[clc5105]

Your last sentence was one of the most insightful things I've seen in a while. It will probably be the one piece of advice I use the most. Thanks.

[emb021]

Central florida Council has an active Venturing Committee and does a lot of stuff to support Venturing. You should be able to get your youth and adults to training, as well as upcoming Venturing events in your council.

 

Go to http://venturing.cfcbsa.org/ for more info.

[clc5105]

Well, we had our first outing as a crew. We went to Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest, (http://www.tfn.net/Springs/Alexander.htm) and stayed at Camp Lanoche (http://www.camplanoche.com) which is about 15-20 minutes away. Everybody had a great time. All the new venturers got to know each other better and are forming friendships. That was proven last night at our meeting. The first few meetings they were spread out and not very talkative. Last night they were all sitting together and having a great time. So far we are off to a great start. We still have a few rough edges to smooth out but I think we're gonna make it.

[Nike]

Don't forget to think about recruiting in the spring!!

[BSAChaplain]

We started a crew two years ago, it has been great. I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but I've picked up a few things. I constantly remind myself that it is not a Scout Troop. I work even more behind the scenes empowering the crew president and other leaders. Sometimes I will teach them the basics of a life skill they need to plan an activity, like creating a travel budget for a group, then let them apply it. I point out possible resources, but back off and let them do what they want.

 

Make sure that they think about time to just hang out, even right in the middle of a meeting. They are super social animals and this builds community.

 

With 16 youth, I would not over stress recruiting for your own unit. Our crew of 18 youth has decided that future growth should be slow and mostly by invite. That said, later this month they are actually going to be running a snack booth and promoting the other crews in our district to help them grow.

 

I have literally shown up for our SuperActivity knowing basically where we were going, but trusting that they had made all of the necessary arrangements. They had done what was necessary and continued to adjust throughout the week. Everyone had fun, and they loved the trip. It was truly a vacation for me. I didn't really worry about anything the whole trip from reservations to food camping. It wasn't my job.

 

And definitely....have fun.

 

http://www.powayventuring.com

 

[Crew21_Adv]

clc,

 

 

Greetings!

 

You have already received some excellent advice. From attend training, to train the officers, to take them out to council and regional venturing events so they may enjoy Venturing.

 

I would also add... To develope a Vision. (what the Crew will hear and learn as the attend training)

 

Some short lived Crews only want to have fun, Venturing being nothing more than a social hangout. Other Crews may have extremely agressive leaders (rolling out of Boy Scouts or Girl Scout Seniors), and may be advancement oriented.

 

A vision with a good blend of fun and advancement is what I would recommend. Create a calendar with mutual events that would be a hoot, along with events that may satisfy a learning and advancement environment.

 

Try to find that happy blend that will satisfy both youth and adults and declare that to be your vision. I would expect that would help your Crew to grow into a long standing icon in your local community.

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv