Using Band for leadership communication?

[Liz]

Scoutbook doesn't really have enough features for Cub Scouting in a post-COVID environment where much of the work is being done at home. Facebook is problematic in other areas. Our new Lion Den Leader proposed a platform called Band which I had not heard of, and is setting it up for our Lion den for a trial run. I'm pondering the idea of rolling it out Pack-wide if it works out well.

Has anybody else used it? What works and what doesn't? Is it only a mobile app? I was a little unclear from the website. 

As a Lion Den we are doing our activities as asynchronous activities in the home, and meeting for an outdoor activity once a month. Nobody (myself included) wants to plop their Kindergartener who is already having to cope with distance learning down in front of one more Zoom meeting. So we are organizing activities, dropping off craft supplies, and that sort of thing and plan to share pictures and videos of the Lions doing their projects with their Adult Partners. The initial plan was to do so via Facebook, but we have one family who objects to using Facebook at all, and with some of the new updates I'm not far behind. It keeps crashing my laptop and I'm kinda fed up with Facebook myself. 

[ALongWalk]

Thank you for working to have an effective Lion Den during these crazy times! It is so cool to read how folks are working through the pandemic to help Scouting to be meaningful for our kids.

Regarding Band, I have not used it for Scouting related activities but my son’s school used it last year to communicate with seniors and their parents about graduation related issues...pictures, gowns, key dates, etc. Honestly, I was underwhelmed.  It just seemed a jumbled mess to me. Maybe I didn’t invest the time to learn it like I should.  Also, it also seemed to be a place where people complained more than other communication tools.....and of course, given how the school year ended there was LOTS of complaining.  Personally, I still like emails....especially if they link to a shared calendar of activities. 

[Liz]

Thank you. The goal here is to have a place where we can share photos and videos so the Den Leaders can make videos introducing each activity and parents can choose when (or whether) to view them with their kids, and afterwards the parents can upload photos and all the kids can see what the other kids have been working on. Email doesn't really work for that. Facebook does, but comes with its own set of challenges. 

Meetings are going to be outdoors once a month with masks & social distance, and activities in the home with the adult partner but I want the kids to be able to connect over the activity in an asynchronous way. 

Not that I had ever used the word "asynchronous" in a pre-covid world. Amazing how deeply this thing has affected everyone's life. Even our routine vocabulary is changing.