New Committee Chair Intro

[Beccachap]

I'm a SAHM and I married into Scouting. I used to work in tech as a Computer Engineer so I have history working with and mitigating the occasional male who is stuck in the dark ages where women were supposed to defer to all things. I'm type A, extremely organized, introverted, and run a large metro Cub Scout Pack as Committee Chair (large for our district, but not large compared to rural areas). I run it because my kind, Eagle Scout, extroverted, procrastinating, mild mannered, and wildly optimistic husband is magnificent as a magical Cubmaster but significantly less magnificent with logistics. I don't do Scouting because I love it. I do Scouting because I love my marriage, my family, and feel compelled to support my husbands passion while our children grow up in the Pack. I have a difficult council, but I have significantly reduced problems they create for us by replacing nearly all Council events from our calendar, hosting our own private campouts, and going paperless for applications.

We are tech heavy compared to others, but I genuinely marvel at how much effort they spend getting things done like payments, communications, etc, versus our automagical setup. I rail against the vestiges of the male patriarchal setup in scouting, and do my best to protect my daughter and son from having to hear that it isn't a woman's/girls place to wear the uniform when out in public. 

I have pent up frustration because my husband feels pain when I have to rail at situations, so I look for another outlet. Based on what I've written so far this appears to be a place where I let it out, so I do apologize to anyone that this may have hurt. I am sympathetic. But I also came here for an unfiltered view of Scouting and to improve my Pack. I have dealt with infuriating situations and have a backlog to process.

I'd very much like to hear about others experiences and techniques/tips for dealing with problems like:

- children who are very eager to Scout, but their parents don't speak the language and no one we know does either

- instant catch phrases to make angry men stop talking when out in public with children

- transfer applications without using my council

[malraux]

20 minutes ago, Beccachap said:

transfer applications without using my council

As I recall, you can process transfer applications online, but you have to know the scout’s bsa member id. Most people don’t. 

[Beccachap]

2 hours ago, malraux said:

As I recall, you can process transfer applications online, but you have to know the scout’s bsa member id. Most people don’t. 

We've attempted this process a few times with months in between, but the process fails before it completes. Have you been able to get it to complete? If so, any tips?

[malraux]

12 minutes ago, Beccachap said:

We've attempted this process a few times with months in between, but the process fails before it completes. Have you been able to get it to complete? If so, any tips?

I made friends with my registrar and de so paper works better for us. I’ve also learned that my council is less disfunctional than most. 

[David CO]

4 hours ago, Beccachap said:

I have a difficult council, but I have significantly reduced problems they create for us by replacing nearly all Council events from our calendar

There ya go.  That's exactly what we decided to do.  We have far fewer problems now.  

[ParkMan]

Hi @Beccachap,

Welcome!  I know I've already replied to a topic of yours, but was going back through posts from the weekend and saw your intro.  I love the honesty in your intro!!!!  Welcome

I welcome your perspective on Scouting.  I've always believe that we need to set high expectations in Scouting and it sounds like you're doing exactly that.

Thank you for what you're doing and thank you for challenging those you Scout with.

 

 

[malraux]

On 2/15/2020 at 12:27 PM, Beccachap said:

I'm type A, extremely organized, introverted, and run a large metro Cub Scout Pack as Committee Chair (large for our district, but not large compared to rural areas). I run it because my kind, Eagle Scout, extroverted, procrastinating, mild mannered, and wildly optimistic husband is magnificent as a magical Cubmaster but significantly less magnificent with logistics.

Just one comment on this, because I've seen it go wrong a lot. You need to be really careful when immediate family members are two of the three in the key 3. (especially if you are also functioning as treasurer as well). A big part of have 3 different people in the key 3 is so that there is different perspectives and accountability.

Thats not to say you are doing a bad job, but it can be hard to take criticism of your choices as CM/CC (and there will be criticisms of you choices, and some will even be valid) as separate from criticisms of your family. Its something to be aware of and another reason to get another family involved in running the unit, though I do know how hard it is to get volunteers.

[Beccachap]

1 hour ago, malraux said:

Just one comment on this, because I've seen it go wrong a lot. You need to be really careful when immediate family members are two of the three in the key 3. (especially if you are also functioning as treasurer as well). A big part of have 3 different people in the key 3 is so that there is different perspectives and accountability.

Thanks Malraux. We worry about this constantly and mitigate where we can.

Our community is very strong and cohesive, so inside the Pack we're good. We make all meetings and financials transparent, auto-transfer style, and online-accessible. I record and document everything. Neither my husband nor I touch cash. I'm always trying to unload some or all of my roles (event planner, meal plan, PR mgmt/recruitment online, plus traditional CC roles. Roles offloaded: Health form mgmt, new member coordinator, quartermaster, all den leaders, fundraising). In addition to open monthly committee meetings, once a year I make us all vote on positions again, but it doesn't yield much if any change. 

That said, we don't take input from members. All volunteers have complete domain over their roles. If a member has input, we encourage them to take over the role and improve it for all, or offer to support the person filling the role so they can be invited to share their opinion on that role. Nearly everyone contributes in some way. 

[prof]

Welcome to the virtual campfire!

[Beccachap]

On 2/16/2020 at 10:05 PM, ParkMan said:

Hi @Beccachap,

Welcome!  I know I've already replied to a topic of yours, but was going back through posts from the weekend and saw your intro.  I love the honesty in your intro!!!!  Welcome

I welcome your perspective on Scouting.  I've always believe that we need to set high expectations in Scouting and it sounds like you're doing exactly that.

Thank you for what you're doing and thank you for challenging those you Scout with.

 

 

Thanks for your kindness, Parkman. This made me smile.