Improvements you'd like to see your Council make...

[le Voyageur]

 

Boy, if it's one thing that our Council is really lacking in, is programs for older scouts. This is especially true for their summer camp, which is, to be quite honest, just another merit badge camp....it's the reason that I left for greener, and more active pastures....

 

Here is what I would do if I was one of the powers that be to change this around for the better....the first step would be the hiring of a Reservation Program Development Director who's job is just that, the creation of programs...no fund raising, no numbers games to work.

The RPDD would start by doing an inventory of available assests and resources both on, and outside the reservation, and from there develop a 6 month, 1 year, 3 year, and a 5 year mission plan.

The RPDD would also work closely with the O.A. and the Venture program assisting in creating viable programs of interest, and ensuring that the reservation has the resources available for their use...

 

Again, if I was one of the powers that be, here's the programs that I would hand to the RPDD to develop and make happen....

 

The creation of a Fish Camp (Outer Banks, 4 days of fishing creeks, and river. One day of deep sea fishing)

 

Two canoe bases (Nottoway/Chowan, and Alligator rivers). Outpost camping with canoes and dories...whitewater running on the Nottoway)

 

A living history internship program (a summer camp program - a week spent at Jamestown/Willamsburg learning how to be, and serving as historical re enactors)

 

A better C.O.P.E. course, especially high C.O.P.E.

 

Two Sailing Bases (one on the Chesapeake, the other on the Albemarle)

 

A SCUBA certification program

 

A Long Hunter Program (a hunter safety course more focused on black powder)

 

A Dismal Swamp Cycling Trek

 

A Wilderness First Responder Course

 

A week long Power Boat handling course

 

Those are mine...so, what are the improvements you'd like to see within your council???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hops_scout]

Well, since you asked:)....

 

--"Real" climbing areas.

--Wilderness First Responder Course

--Wilderness First Aid Course

--Backpacking trips

 

[packsaddle]

My wish list, remember this is council level:

A real merit badge program.

Accurate records.

[SR540Beaver]

le Voyageur,

 

For something that ambitious, you'd better add a second person dedicated strictly to fund raising! While your recommendations are worthy, they don't come cheap to councils that are already streched thin on funds.

 

Pack,

 

Amen to the accurate records. That seems to be a univeral problem with council offices.

[Twocubdad]

I'll second the accurate records, including adult training records. Actually, I'd settle for having records, period. Let's start there and work our way up to accurate records.

 

But my big improvement would be communications. (Note: I started to post this on the New Leaders' thread, but it seems more appropriate here.)

 

Why does BSA insist on using as it's primary means of communication with volunteers a system of communications that is at least 100 years out of date? Just because it worked for Baden-Powell in the Zulu Wars doesn't mean we still have to use it today. I'm talking about this chain-of-command, national-council-district-unit-volunteer model of doing things. Even Tiger Cubs play "Telephone" and learn how messages get garbled when they pass through too many layers. Councils and districts need to be communicating directly with the volunteers who need the information.

 

Trying to use Roundtable to communicate with volunteers is similarly inefficient. We have approximately 500 volunteers in our district. Average attendance at Roundtable is 50. Anyone need to borrow a calculator? Even if you count on unit leaders to attend Roundtable and pass info along to their volunteers, probably less than half the units are represented at any given meeting. Assuming people will take an entire evening to attend a meeting simply for the purpose of receiving information which could have been mailed (or e-mailed) to them is a very poor and inefficient means of communication. (I know the Roundtable Commissioners in the crowd will point out that announcement and updates are the bain of a good Roundtable program. But let's face it, for many average DLs or ASMs who don't know the "real" purpose of Roundtable, news and info is likely their number one interest.)

 

Newsletters are my other pet peeve. I will note that our local council's newsletter is the only Scout newsletter I've seen. But as a former PR and corporate communications exec, I can tell you 90% of all newsletters are worthless. Our council's newsletter is definitely in that catogory. The front page is always a predictable feature article: August is Roundup, September is Popcorn, December is the new Council officers, January is FOS, March is camp promotion, blah, blah, blah.... Page 2 is always a really lame letter from our SE and a column from our Big Buck Donor professional on estate planning. Page 4 is a list of the month's Eagles and the mailing panel. Out of four pages, that leaves one page for the five districts, the OA, Scout Reach and Venturing to share. One page out of four for the info folks can really use.

 

At the national level, Scouting magazine is another communication tool that misses the mark. It is a wonderful tool to showcase Scouting to outsiders. And occasionally I'll read about something another pack is doing and think, "Hey, that's a great idea we should try here." But where are the nuts and bolts, the how-to articles? Why wasn't half an issue last winter devoted to rolling out the program changes in the new Wolf, Bear and Webelos programs?

 

Given current technology, it's just waaaay too easy to customize messages for relatively small groups and individuals. E-mails, Internet-based mail servers or even databases to sort and identify individuals for hard-copy mailings could all be used to improve and target communications. And don't talk to me about cost. We're already spending the money on printing, postage and web sites. We need to be making better use of the dollars we are currently spending.

 

Sorry, my computer's rant key seems to be stuck again. I know I have a can of WD40 around here somewhere.....

[le Voyageur]

Pack,

 

Actually, this is very do-able, with Camp Chick closing in a few a years, those units in that Council will have no choice but to go to other places.

 

The way to make it work, is for those two Councils to be willing to co-op funds in the greater interest of those units they serve....wouldn't it be better to have one great camp shared by two, or even three or more Councils, instead of a number of competing and mediocre camps within the same backyard...just a though..