More than 80 scouts sent to hospital from heat exhaustion at World Jamboree opening ceremony

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

The Korean reporters are digging. 

Records suggest dubious overseas trips prior to Jamboree

Records show that officials from related local governments and agencies traveled abroad 99 times over the past eight years purportedly to prepare for the ongoing 25th World Scout Jamboree.  

(...)

Broadly speaking, the trips found in the records can be divided into two categories. The first includes 54 trips related to securing the bid, mostly in the two years leading up to Saemangeum's final selection in 2017. The other trips were generally listed for the purpose of "exploration of advanced cultures" in preparation for hosting the event.  
 
While seemingly legitimate at first glance, upon closer inspection, some of the details in the reports filed by officials appear questionable, including cruises and tours of overseas hotspots unrelated to the scouts.  

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/08/07/national/socialAffairs/Korea-World-Scout-Jamboree-business-trips/20230807173928902.html

[gpurlee]

A friend of mine has been on-site with the American contingent at the WSJ. Some of his comments include:

(1) The parts of the jamboree that they were able to participate with were very good. The interactions with Scouts from around the world were outstanding. Many made it a special point to visit the American contingent before they were bussed out.

(2) Communication with the BSA contingent participants and the top leadership was poor. They were disappointed that their input felt ignored and the perception was that decisions appeared to being made by officials housed in air-conditioned hotel rooms who seemed very removed from the actual site. 

(3) Conditions varied on site but were not as bad in their location as reported by the media. 

(4) While very appreciative of the military accommodations, they were crowded and uncomfortable. Participants were confined to base and there was essentially no outside communication available. Scouts remarked that the neckerchiefs should feature prison stripes.

(5) His perception was that the BSA contingency planning was really lacking and a there will need to be a lot of evaluation before another major jamboree is held. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of blame to go around. It clearly is an embarrassment to the WOSM, the BSA and the South Korean government leadership and certainly a disappointment to participants. 

(6) A lot of effort goes into trying to make these super events such as the National and World jamborees highlight experiences for the participants. It is clear that issues such as staffing shortages, increasing unpredictable weather patterns and growing expenses on organizations that are already financially strained make it more and more challenging to ensure not only the quality but perhaps even the safety of participants.  Are we on the verge of a major rethink of these super events?

[InquisitiveScouter]

1 hour ago, gpurlee said:

While very appreciative of the military accommodations, they were crowded and uncomfortable. Participants were confined to base and there was essentially no outside communication available. Scouts remarked that the neckerchiefs should feature prison stripes.

If it is good enough for our military...???

This falls on very deaf ears.

The Department of Defense does not exist to provide creature comforts for tourists.  Snarky comments about prison stripes belie any "very appreciative" sentiments.

[RememberSchiff]

14 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

Fully agree. YPT barriers to abuse are not international, if the setup prevents those barriers then BSA should have identified that early. Just one of many examples.  

I suppose if a NCAP advance team had seen this cache of water guns, the US contingent would have stayed state-side.

https://25wsjnewsroom.imweb.me/74/?idx=15972542&bmode=view

Edited August 8, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[InquisitiveScouter]

And the weather is entirely predictable.

It is near the height of cyclone season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Look at recent history:

https://www.worlddata.info/asia/south-korea/typhoons.php

Would you plan a World Jamboree in Florida at this time of year?

[Eagle94-A1]

1 hour ago, gpurlee said:

2) Communication with the BSA contingent participants and the top leadership was poor. They were disappointed that their input felt ignored and the perception was that decisions appeared to being made by officials housed in air-conditioned hotel rooms who seemed very removed from the actual site. 

What else is new.

When I worked for national, I had someone over me who had no experience with the program or summer camp experience. I created a SOP manual that included diagrams, schedules, etc for a trading post. They had no idea what happens at camp, and wanted us to work ridiculous hours that would not have benefitted campers, Scouters, or staff.  We ended up compromising by opening up the hours I knew would work, and staying open during during the hours they wanted. Long story short, sales data showing the most productive hours had to be used to show the times I suggested worked. Further they thought they knew better about how to organize the shop., but didn't communicate this. Long story short, they got mad when we rearranged the shop according to the diagram in the SOP manual they approved. They stopped by to visit what they thought would be a slow time. It was actually the busiest, and the design of the store was shown to be better than what they set up. 

[RememberSchiff]

8/8/2023 3AM EST: Status Report from Lee Sang-min, the Minister of the Interior and Safety.

...evacuated groups have arrived at their new accommodations Konyang University, Kongju National University, Hongik University, Myongji University, and the University of Seoul...

More at source:

https://25wsjnewsroom.imweb.me/67/?q=YToxOntzOjEyOiJrZXl3b3JkX3R5cGUiO3M6MzoiYWxsIjt9&bmode=view&idx=15986341&t=board

[InquisitiveScouter]

1 minute ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

What else is new.

When I worked for national, I had someone over me who had no experience with the program or summer camp experience. I created a SOP manual that included diagrams, schedules, etc for a trading post. They had no idea what happens at camp, and wanted us to work ridiculous hours that would not have benefitted campers, Scouters, or staff.  We ended up compromising by opening up the hours I knew would work, and staying open during during the hours they wanted. Long story short, sales data showing the most productive hours had to be used to show the times I suggested worked. Further they thought they knew better about how to organize the shop., but didn't communicate this. Long story short, they got mad when we rearranged the shop according to the diagram in the SOP manual they approved. They stopped by to visit what they thought would be a slow time. It was actually the busiest, and the design of the store was shown to be better than what they set up. 

The Peter Principle hard at work 😜

[RememberSchiff]

7 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

And the weather is entirely predictable.

It is near the height of cyclone season in the Northern Hemisphere.

...Forecasters have warned that all of South Korea is expected to feel the effects of the storm, with as much as 600 millimeters (23 inches) of rain expected to fall in some areas.

Khanun is the sixth tropical storm of the 2023 typhoon season in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Colorado State University meteorologists tracking Khanun’s accumulated cyclone energy (ACE)—a metric that incorporates both intensity and duration—report that the total ACE for Northwest Pacific storms was 122 as of August 7, 2023; the average at this point in the season over the past three decades is 88. With an ACE of 25, Khanun accounts for one-fifth of the total for Northwest Pacific storms in 2023.

Source with satellite photo:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151679/a-zigzagging-path-for-khanun

[Eagle1993]

They saw this coming and were not prepared...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/09/south-korea-scout-jamboree-heatwave-preparations/

 

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

11 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

They saw this coming and were not prepared...

Just wow. 

I was wondering why a site with absolutely no trees was selected. Guess they did consider that 🤷🏼‍♀️

[RememberSchiff]

Korean Meteorological Administration

No.6 KHANUN   Issued at(KST) : 2023.08.09. 22:00

Note: Eastern Standard Time (North America) is 5 hours behind from the UTC universal time. So 12 UTC 10 Aug (Seoul impact) would be 7AM EST, Thursday Aug 10.

https://web.kma.go.kr/eng/weather/typoon/typhoon_5days.jsp?tIdx=1&x=48&y=13

https://www.utctime.net/utc-to-est-converter

Edited August 9, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

WOSM Guidelines

"This document provides the key requirements for the Host Organisation to effectively plan and carry out the World Scout Jamboree.

 

Relying on the constitution of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), resolutions and policies adopted by the World Scout Conference, decisions made by the World Scout Committee, as well as invaluable insights and experiences gained from past World Scout Jamborees, these guidelines serve as a roadmap for a seamless Jamboree experience.

As the Host Organisation, it is our responsibility to adhere to WOSM’s guidelines for organizing the World Scout Jamboree, while also considering the wealth of knowledge shared by previous Host Organisations and the World Scout Bureau."

So for reference, the rather vague and lightweight 44 page ...

WOSM Guidelines for Hosting the World Scout Jamboree

(adopted by the World Scout Committee in March, 2016)

 

Facilities p26-27

[InquisitiveScouter]

9 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

WOSM Guidelines

"This document provides the key requirements for the Host Organisation to effectively plan and carry out the World Scout Jamboree.

 

Relying on the constitution of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), resolutions and policies adopted by the World Scout Conference, decisions made by the World Scout Committee, as well as invaluable insights and experiences gained from past World Scout Jamborees, these guidelines serve as a roadmap for a seamless Jamboree experience.

As the Host Organisation, it is our responsibility to adhere to WOSM’s guidelines for organizing the World Scout Jamboree, while also considering the wealth of knowledge shared by previous Host Organisations and the World Scout Bureau."

So for reference, the rather vague and lightweight 44 page ...

WOSM Guidelines for Hosting the World Scout Jamboree

(adopted by the World Scout Committee in March, 2016)

 

Facilities p26-27

TLDR??

[RememberSchiff]

6 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

TLDR??

Too Long, Didn't Read.

I guess it is all relative. At 44 pages in that format, the WSJ Guidelines are half the length of my son's Eagle Project Workbook.

Here is the same text, without pictures and copious white-space - 15 pages.

https://members.scout.org/sites/default/files/media-files/WOSM_WSJGuidelines_EN 2016.pdf