Trail Life confused over who they are?????

[Basementdweller]

I wonder what the membership fee is going to be.....

 

Let me see 18 paid staff members say 10k scouts to start with....main guy knocking down 100k, Thinking pay roll of a million bucks....

 

With out donations. That is 100 bucks a head, just to make payroll.

[King Ding Dong]

I wonder what the membership fee is going to be.....

 

Let me see 18 paid staff members say 10k scouts to start with....main guy knocking down 100k, Thinking pay roll of a million bucks....

 

With out donations. That is 100 bucks a head, just to make payroll.

28% mechandise, 33% registration fees, 24% program support (whatever that means)

 

I guess they plan on selling a whole lot of t-shirts.

 

http://www.traillifeusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TRL_TriFold_DownLoad_PBP.pdf

[WAKWIB]

I think this boils down to adult egos.....

And you can bet your boots we've never seen inflated egos in the BSA, right?

[Basementdweller]

I think this boils down to adult egos.....

Hmmm, thinking guys who are a live and had statues made of themselves to put at the summit.....

 

The donors I get..

 

The scouters not so much.

[Basementdweller]

I wonder what the membership fee is going to be.....

 

Let me see 18 paid staff members say 10k scouts to start with....main guy knocking down 100k, Thinking pay roll of a million bucks....

 

With out donations. That is 100 bucks a head, just to make payroll.

Thinking corporate donations is what program support means or it could mean FOTL Friends of Trail Life campaign.

[Tampa Turtle]

I see some more nifty websites, cool looking logo's, T-shirts, a delay on getting any kind of handbook out (is the old Baden Powel stuff public domain) and a lot of ambiguity. I'd lilove to be a fly on the wall for liablity protection discussions. But other groups have dealt with it. I think if they do it right it will be expensive.

 

If my boys were interested (1 Star, 1 1st Class) would their "credits" transfer over or would they have to start from scratch?

[duckfoot]

I see some more nifty websites, cool looking logo's, T-shirts, a delay on getting any kind of handbook out (is the old Baden Powel stuff public domain) and a lot of ambiguity. I'd lilove to be a fly on the wall for liablity protection discussions. But other groups have dealt with it. I think if they do it right it will be expensive.

 

If my boys were interested (1 Star, 1 1st Class) would their "credits" transfer over or would they have to start from scratch?

They say that the current scouts advancement would carry over to their program. I doubt the youth will get credit for being a trailman when they come back.

[qwazse]

I see some more nifty websites, cool looking logo's, T-shirts, a delay on getting any kind of handbook out (is the old Baden Powel stuff public domain) and a lot of ambiguity. I'd lilove to be a fly on the wall for liablity protection discussions. But other groups have dealt with it. I think if they do it right it will be expensive.

 

If my boys were interested (1 Star, 1 1st Class) would their "credits" transfer over or would they have to start from scratch?

This is kinda like figuring out how to handle exchange students.

If a boy transfers to my troop from whatever, and it matters to him, and our SPL/PLs can see he has the skills, I'd encourage SM and committee to sign him off as far as 1st Class.

We'd have to negotiate specialty awards (like MB's or equivalent) one at a time. If the content matches, count it.

If he completely forgot what EDGE means, but can teach scout skills, I'd definitely assign Life Rank!

 

A lot of this might eventually involve sitting down with the boy and comparing lists. It might involve ignoring any smoke some lackey from national might blow in our face. But from where I sit, a first class scout, deserves the patch. doesn't matter what side of the border he lands on.

 

Bottom line: I'm not gonna let the turbulence of our time keep from shining a light on accomplished boys.

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmm...

 

I don't reckon they're confused. It's da old BSA don't ask, don't tell policy for youth, coupled with a Christian mission for both youth and adults. I think Sentinel947 has da right of it. Trail Life is tappin' into a population that has been disenchanted with da BSA for a variety of reasons, and the membership change was just the last straw. If they build a good program, maybe a bit less G2SS crazed, maybe a bit less paperwork, maybe a bit more outdoor sportsman focused than da BSA, they could become a bigger draw. Just depends.

 

Close as I can tell da initial group was pretty evangelical, but as they've grown it's become more moderate. Might eventually offer da BSA some competition in many areas in da country.

 

I'd lilove to be a fly on the wall for liablity protection discussions.

 

Yah, not sure why yeh think this is goin' to be that hard, Tampa Turtle. Liability insurance is a commodity item, and da general rules for the game are pretty well known. I don't know who's workin' with 'em, but they seem to have da resources and expertise to handle that sort of routine stuff without a problem.

 

Beavah

[Basementdweller]

Picked up this little gem from their website

 

biologically male children under the age of 18.

[NJCubScouter]

Picked up this little gem from their website

 

biologically male children under the age of 18.

That issue was also mentioned above by WAKWIB, with more detail (see points 3 and 4 in his post.) Trail Life thinks the new BSA policy "appears" to say (or mean) something about transgender issues, though as far as I know the BSA has been studiously silent on the subject. I am not sure it has actually come up anywhere (and I certainly hope I never have to deal with it!)

 

It is interesting that this is raised now, because right now there is a HUGE "thing" going on at Wikipedia over how to refer to transgender individuals. It is the biggest controversy over there at the moment. When Bradley Manning (recently sentenced in the Wikileaks case) announced that he had had "gender identity disorder" since childhood and was now a woman named Chelsea (but without any, um, medical intervention so far, and the U.S. military prison system seems unlikely to provide any), the policy on Wikipedia apparently required the article on Manning to be immediately changed to use her female name and change all the pronouns in the article from male to female, including those from before Manning made the announcement. The other part of the controversy is that people kept changing the name of the article from Bradley Manning to Chelsea Manning and back again. (It is "locked" at Bradley right now, but apparently another discussion of the title is going to take place soon. And by the way, on Wikipedia I would be referred to as "transphobic" for what I just wrote, because I used Manning's male first name and said "he", once.)

[walk in the woods]

Picked up this little gem from their website

 

biologically male children under the age of 18.

Well, at the risk of reigniting the entire debate, the BSA policy says:

"no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone"

 

And the Wikipedia page defines sexual orientation to include:

'According to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions'

 

So, if the APA definition of sexual orientation includes a "person's sense of identity" and the BSA says no youth may be denied based on the sexual orientation, the link isn't too awful far of a reach.

[walk in the woods]

I suppose the real question is why does anybody here care? The vote was taken, the folks at OMH followed through on their promise to leave and start a new organization. People look to be going with them. More than a few voices on this board said in effect, "don't let the door hit you on the way out" and "we're better off without them." Done and done. We'll see where the chips fall.

[qwazse]

Picked up this little gem from their website

 

biologically male children under the age of 18.

Sorry, venturers, looks like your stuck with the BSA freak show.

[WAKWIB]

Picked up this little gem from their website

 

biologically male children under the age of 18.

Trail Life is developing a 18-25 coed program, so if any "former venturers" want to let their freak-flag fly in a different camp, it will be available.