Chapter 11 announced

[Mrjeff]

I think that is curious that BSA Scouters often quote Baden-Powell in remarks concerning BSA.  There are many references made about a letter that BP wrote to the Scouts, especially during Woodbadge courses.  I often wonder why the other letters written by BP are excluded.  In the book Two Lives of a Hero there are a couple of other letters. One makes reference about not letting the Scout leaders becoming a corps of professionals because it will diminish the fact that Scout leaders are civic minded individuals who are concerned about the youth in their communities.  Hmmmm.......let's not talk about that.  If we reduce or alleviate those high paying positions councils won't have to pay fees and perhaps the membership fees can be reduced to an affordable level.  The Summit is a beautiful place but going there is very expensive and cost prohibitive.  It sure is an opulent jamboree site but it is not cost effective. Keep it, sell it, loose it to the bankruptcy,  but quit charging the kids money to support a place that they may never get to see.

 

[carebear3895]

4 minutes ago, Mrjeff said:

One makes reference about not letting the Scout leaders becoming a corps of professionals because it will diminish the fact that Scout leaders are civic minded individuals who are concerned about the youth in their communities.  

 

hmmm...

Two questions for you, Sir.

1. What do you believe is the role of Professionals?

2. What do you believe SHOULD be the role of Professionals. 

[Mrjeff]

1.  At this point I think that professionals above the council level have become damage control specialists,  rule enforcement specialists, political correctness barristers, and money collectors.  Anyone, professional or volunteer, outside of the individual councils dont have much to do with the success of the individual unit. If the resources expended to support the BSA had been used by councils and districts to assist the individual unit we wouldn't be in the shape we are in.  Jeeeees, how many times does Woodbadge have to be rewritten? How many different ways can training be revamped and presented?  How many times does a national committee have to revamp the OA policy on Indian affairs?  

2.  In my opinion the Scouting Professionals at the council level should raise the funds needed to sustain their council and support and maintain their local units. There is a need to have a small group of professionals to take care of logistics and nationally owned property.  And, contrary to popular belief, there is nothing found at our high adventure bases that can't be found elsewhere and in many cases, with a lower cost.  For many years Philmont was the place to go, and that was when there were a lot more Scouts.  

[HashTagScouts]

Some scale at the national level I would say is still necessary- IT resources, especially those dedicated to Scoutbook.  Let's be honest, that was taken over with it being only about 50% functional of what it should be, and even now is still less than 75% IMO. 

Some people dedicated to marketing (advertising mostly) would be nice- having documents and flyers and such that are uniform, and not council creations, would be helpful.  This national team might be bigger than it is today, but then again, if they are truly answerable to the councils, some councils could eliminate their positions and have this group take over some of their tasks.  I think a number of councils do marketing fairly well, but is there a true vehicle for them to share their stuff with other councils? I envision up to today, if they ever sent anything to national with that concept in mind of sharing, it entered a black hole netherworld.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by HashTagScouts

[HashTagScouts]

41 minutes ago, carebear3895 said:

hmmm...

Two questions for you, Sir.

1. What do you believe is the role of Professionals?

2. What do you believe SHOULD be the role of Professionals. 

I personally believe DEs are still very much a necessity.  Their role should be allowed to be set, universally nationally, to be more of what the field directors do now.  I've often been aggravated over how many unit leaders, and for me it has been disproportionally Packs, that EXPECT their De to come to all their functions.  I see zero need for that- the DE is there to help solve problems, help with membership issues, gather applications to ensure they are processed smoothly.  They are not there to glad-handle people at Blue and Golds or CoHs as "the face of Scouting"- that is what us volunteers are there for.  Let DEs work more normal hours, not feel they are spending all those extra hours in the car traveling between all these different things, you might not burn them out so much.  now, if a DE wants to make time in their schedule to be at an event, God bless them, but I have had to witness too many nasty exchanges when a De "can't fit my XXX into their schedule".

[desertrat77]

2 hours ago, carebear3895 said:

To be fair, the Professional has always been that way. That was by design by Mr. West himself. 

Very true, Carebear.  I'm referring to the expensive, top-heavy layers of the BSA (National and some councils).   Lots of resources are consumed at those levels, and little of it translates to value for the unit.

Edited April 9, 2020 by desertrat77

[desertrat77]

3 hours ago, RememberSchiff said:

Note pages 144 thru 185 (42 pages!) list all BSA registered internet domains with "undetermined" value. The domains are in alphabetical order in small font, roughly 31 domains per page. 31 x 42 = 1302 domains more or less? The BSA even registered scouter.org (expires 2021-10-16)!  What a waste of money!

@RememberSchiff, thanks for being lead blocker on this research!

Those domains are definitely of "undetermined" value.  Many are near duplicates.  Just as many are obscure.  Most of them probably aren't worth anything close to what the BSA paid/pays for them.  Just a jumble of stuff.  All over the map.

 

[carebear3895]

1 hour ago, desertrat77 said:

Very true, Carebear.  I'm referring to the expensive, top-heavy layers of the BSA (National and some councils).   Lots of resources are consumed at those levels, and little of it translates to value for the unit.

ah. We agree on this. The more time I've spent around national Professionals, the more and more I don't like them. 

[walk in the woods]

1 hour ago, desertrat77 said:

@RememberSchiff, thanks for being lead blocker on this research!

Those domains are definitely of "undetermined" value.  Many are near duplicates.  Just as many are obscure.  Most of them probably aren't worth anything close to what the BSA paid/pays for them.  Just a jumble of stuff.  All over the map.

 

Domains are cheap generally, and they assert some level of defense over a trademark.  Maybe more importantly registration of a domain prevents someone else from registering it and doing something unscoutlike with it. Better to own the registration on scouting.xxx, .sex, .adult,  and .porn than to leave it to chance.  There were something like 600 TLDs the last I cared to look, so it takes a few registrations.  

[TAHAWK]

For decades, BSA has allowed sellers to advertise non-BSA outdoor gear as "boy scout" or "scout" items, diminishing the value of the brand by waiving the trademark as an adjective applied to outdoor equipment.

[BAJ]

8 hours ago, TAHAWK said:

For decades, BSA has allowed sellers to advertise non-BSA outdoor gear as "boy scout" or "scout" items, diminishing the value of the brand by waiving the trademark as an adjective applied to outdoor equipment.

Not an intellectual property lawyer, but if GSUSA also didn’t defend the “scout” trademark in those contexts, that could actually be a pretty potent argument in fighting that particular stressor that BSA is currently dealing with.

[RememberSchiff]

Reply brief (32 pages) by GSUSA attorney in support of GSUSA motion for relief of automatic stay to resume Trademark action.  Hearing is April 15, 2020.

https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/812300_391.pdf

Maybe a compromise at this hearing can lead to a resolution.

[RememberSchiff]

2013-2015?, the BSA partnered with Pearson Education to produce "interactive digital merit badge pamphlets to transform the teaching and learning experience for youth and merit badge counselors. Distributed through the Inkling distribution and e-reader system, the highly engaging books include animations, simulations, how-to videos, slide shows, self-check questions and other enhancements."

The interactive merit badge pamphlets are one part of a larger effort to further engage members using educational technology in new and innovative ways. These new products can be used on Android, iPhones, tablets and browsers.

“BSA innovation efforts focus on our customers’ needs,” said Pat Wellen, director of BSA Design & Development Center. “Through talking with Scouts, we learned that they are looking for a convenient way to digitally interact with our content. So, the idea for interactive digital merit badges was conceived. The Pearson partnership helped us make this concept a reality, so that we can provide the interactive digital experience we wanted for our Scouts.”

https://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/06/prweb12776555.htm

https://trainingindustry.com/press-release/content-development/pearson-collaborates-with-boy-scouts-of-america-to-transform-digital-education-through-interactive-merit-badge-pamphlets/

----------------------

From link:  https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/811451_350.pdf

2016: BSA and Pearson enter into an Agreement pursuant to which Pearson undertakes, at BSA’s direction, most of BSA’s editorial and creative services, maintains certain of its technology platforms, and performs additional projects requested by BSA (collectively, the “Services”). Tweeddale Decl., ¶ 4.

8. Pearson provides the Services by maintaining a staff of fifteen Pearson employees on site at BSA headquarters, who are now working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tweeddale Decl., ¶ 5

9. Among the Services Pearson is providing to BSA since the Petition Date are the following projects undertaken at the direction of BSA: updating and maintaining BSA documentation, creating and maintaining health and safety posters for camp, updating the content of program handbooks, volunteer handbooks, and scout leader materials. A detailed list of post-petition projects and Services performed is attached to the Tweeddale Decl. as Exhibit B. Tweeddale Decl., ¶ 6.

Agreement Ends:

During Chapter 11, the BSA sought to end this agreement, Pearson sought relief. Yesterday, the court agreed and so ordered: the agreement ends April 17, 2020 and Pearson is paid $244,966.60.

https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/812976_440.pdf

All links on pearsoned.com regarding the BSA have been removed. Pearson Education was a member of the Unsecured Creditors Committee along with the Girl Scouts of America, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.former BSA executive Roger Ohmstede, and Lion Brothers, an apparel brand manufacturer that provides merit badges and patches.

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-03-04/panel-chosen-to-represent-victims-in-boy-scouts-bankruptcy

[desertrat77]

Thanks @RememberSchiff!

A silly question that I should know the answer to but don't:  were any of these digital interactive merit badge pamphlets ever launched to the field?

[cgail]

close to this subject, and I hope that it's not threadjacking..

 

has anyone heard about pigeonpost.scouting.org?

 

That's the site that's linked out for the Den leader guides, but if you go the root site, it says "private, but coming soon"  ?