Scouting America

[SSScout]

*sigh*

Tie knots. Set up tents. cook over open fires.  Knives and axes, chop wood.   Help and serve others.  Hike thru the woods. Observe and protect nature.  Get dirty. Get clean.  Wear a dorky uniform that used to be USEFUL and recognized and (?) respected.  Neckerchiefs that could be signal flags, bandages, sweat rags,  and tourniquets.  Parents that wanted to spend time with their kids, not just watch them do stuff.  

Both Scouts of America.  BOTH Scouts of America.   The interesting thing to me is the idea that us older Scouters end up teaching the PARENTS more than the kids.   Rebranding?   You notice how McDonalds stores no longer LOOK like a fun place to go for a quick snack/meal?  How the Micky D's now look like a ...  prison block?  A  carwash looks more inviting.  Is BSA headed that way?   

Scouts America...  Gender neutral is definitely better.   I heard GSUSA is now accepting BOYS in their ranks, is that true?  Is that up to the local GSUSA  leader?   Campfire is all but non existent, at least in our area.  

Merging Councils...   Can we say Owassippee ?

[scoutldr]

And just like McD, they are pricing themselves out of the market.  Last I heard, the only qualification to join GSUSA was to just say you're a girl.  Have they now dropped all pretense?

[Eagle94-A1]

10 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I think a lot of you guys who are saying that renaming does nothing haven't quite appreciated how important this is for growing membership and strengthening the program again.

25+ years from now, folks will still be saying "Boy Scouts," "BSA," etc. Just look at Venturing and all the older names that had nothing to do with the Venturing program still in use, i.e. 'venture crews," "Venture Scouts," etc.

And I can tell you from the discussions i have had since it was announced, folks with years of irreplaceable knowledge, skills, abilities, time, and treasure are upset.  In my neck of the woods we have lost a lot of folks over recent membership changes, and finding replacements is difficult to impossible. Best money example is the current FOS goal is 5%, yes FIVE PERCENT (emphasis), of what it was 25 years ago.. And if you adjust both today's goal to what the 1999 adjusted dollars are , it is only 1.4%, yes ONE POINT 4 PERCENT (again emphasis), of the 1999 adjusted goal.

And do not forget the volunteers who conducted trainings, program activities , commissioner service, etc who have left.

We have lost a lot.

Edited May 8 by Eagle94-A1

[PACAN]

So...how is this going to be different?   I never thought the name was the reason kids joined.

Don't we accept all youth (except those who don't prescribe to the Religious declaration) now?   Will that change?

Do we anticipate there will be hundreds of thousands of youth who vanished to return? 

Will this bring the lost chartering organizations back?   

Do we continue with the marketing "we are cheaper than sports" ?

Do prospective parents believe the program has actually fixed their YP and their kids will be safe?

 

Just random thoughts.

[DannyG]

"Scouting America" sounds more like the program we are delivering to today's youth, and it is consistent with other WOSM organizations.

Quote

our mission remains unchanged: we are committed to teaching young people to be Prepared. For Life

 

[InquisitiveScouter]

36 minutes ago, PACAN said:

So...how is this going to be different?   I never thought the name was the reason kids joined.

Don't we accept all youth (except those who don't prescribe to the Religious declaration) now?   Will that change?

Do we anticipate there will be hundreds of thousands of youth who vanished to return? 

Will this bring the lost chartering organizations back?   

Do we continue with the marketing "we are cheaper than sports" ?

Do prospective parents believe the program has actually fixed their YP and their kids will be safe?

 

Just random thoughts.

Here're some additional random thoughts...

- The Congressional Charter is for the "Boy Scouts of America."  (Congressional Charters do not mean much, anyway, but BSA likes to ride that hobby horse.)  Will this "charter" now be defunct?  Probably not, due to some legalese...

- What will the new Eagle rank patch look like?

- Will there, for the next few decades, be a bunch of "cool kids" with "BSA" on their uniforms versus "Scouting America"??  Will there be a run on buying up old logo uniforms?

- What will we change the words to one of our favorites camp songs to?? http://usscouts.org/songs/ifiwerent.asp

- Will there be a re-boot of the Fred McMurray classic, Follow Me, Boys! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060420/  Will Kurt Russell reprise his role as Whitey, and now be the Scoutmaster in Follow Me, Kids!

- Does my BSA memorabilia collection now increase in value?  (At least, the items that say "BSA" on them...) Is it time to insure my collection?? 😜 Especially stamps and coins:

 

- Will we have an "Auld Lang Syne" party to say goodbye to 115 years of tradition?

Edited May 8 by InquisitiveScouter

[Armymutt]

2 minutes ago, DannyG said:

"Scouting America" sounds more like the program we are delivering to today's youth, and it is consistent with other WOSM organizations.

 

"Scouting America is a verb, not a noun.  Are we calling the kids "Scoutings" now?  The willingness to just change the name of a very old, very known organization to appeal to outsiders who have no wish to invest in it is a sign of instability to me.  It says "We don't really have a solid foundation in our mission".  The US Army is still the US Army even though it is more of a world SWAT organization these days.  

[Cburkhardt]

New name is good, but our mission remains most important

As a lifetime BSA Scout and Scouter I have done it all in every program as a youth and adult – and at all levels of the movement.  Today I’m a unit leader of a Sea Scout Ship, having turned-over the Scoutmaster position of an all-girl Troop I formed in 2019.  I’ll be attending our District of Columbia roundtable tonight (yes, the “District” is its own “District”) and will enjoy hearing feedback about the name change from our local folks.

I continue to be consistently optimistic about the future of the BSA.  This, despite the impacts of changing membership standards, formation of all-girl Troops, quitting of national chartered organizations disappointed with membership standards changes, bankruptcy, COVID and now a name change.  Before these I experienced occurrences thought to be existential, such Boypower (60s), admission of females into Exploring (1969), the Improved Scouting Program (70s), the intense council merger period (70s-80s), and “New BSA” (a national organization reorganization effort during the 2000s).  Every one of these developments was then regarded as a threat that might end our organization or negatively alter it in a catastrophic manner.  While these matters deeply challenged unit, council and national program and operations, they did not have the organization-ending impacts feared by many.

The reason we continue and will always exist is that our mission is a sound one.  We serve to assist all families in teaching important skills and modeling American-affirming values and positive character for young people.  This is an enjoyable but deeply serious business.  That so many of you, the media, government leaders, professional Scouters, participating families and outright opponents express strongest opinions on just about everything in Scouting supports this view.

Our organization remains large enough to be an expression of our society and its development.  As society changes, so inevitably does our movement.  Hopefully our movement’s changes are thoughtful and productive versions of these society-wide changes.  In some instances, our changes were essentially mandated by fundamental legal, economic or societal shifts.  The reality is that our organization is a “following” indicator of American social development.  The BSA has always been this way and, if we want to continue to be the leading organization of our type in our nation, Scouting America will continue to evolve in this manner.  Those who wish to form or join restrictive organizations that serve particular segments of our society are not bad people and are free to do so.  However, I will stay until my end with the Scouting organization that attempts to serve all.

The new name reflects where our organization and American society have arrived and will serve us well as we continue to recover organizational health.  Compared to the above-listed organizational changes, a name change will be easily digested.  It respects and preserves our heritage and moves us forward in an important manner.  As a unit leader, I will never again have to delicately maneuver around our organization’s prior name as I recruit a female, urban teenager or member of their families.  It better-expresses the practical and aspirational activities of our future.

There are times when an organizational change might indicate it is time to depart.  After having carefully read all of the postings on this thread, this name change does not present that circumstance.  It is the fundamental soundness and beauty of our mission that is important.  We serve to assist all families in teaching important skills and modeling American-affirming values and positive character for young people – and with the new name we remain the finest organization of our nature in United States history.

[PACAN]

Why do we need to be consistent with other WOSM organizations?   Educate me.  What has WOSM ever done for the BSA?

[InquisitiveScouter]

Yeah, and think of all the churn, time, and money it will take to transition EVERY piece of literature the BSA (sorry... the SA... wait that doesn't sound right... "the Scouting America"  hmmm... ) has currently published to bring in the new name.

And programming/editing time for websites, web pages, posting new logos and name changes...

Printing of business cards... new clothing... design/production/procurement/of new gear... and disposition of old unsold BSA items in the supply warehouses...

Criminy... talk about waste...

We are talking millions of dollars here.

Sometimes, taking no action is the best course of action.

Edited May 8 by InquisitiveScouter

[BinTharDunThat]

I'll go with the guidance and details provided, but will be watching the outcome.

But I wonder what happens if BSA is unable to obtain trademark registrations (which won't be until after February 2025)?  The applications were only filed last month and likely won't be examined until January 2025.

Edited May 8 by BinTharDunThat

[InquisitiveScouter]

2 minutes ago, BinTharDunThat said:

I'll go with the guidance and details provided, but will be watching the outcome.

But I wonder what happens if BSA is unable to obtain trademark registrations (which won't be until after February 2025)?  The applications were only filed last month and likely won't be examined until January 2025.

Yes, won't that be a hoot if the name change efforts crash and burn?

I'll be having a tall glass of Schadenfreude if that happens...

[FireStone]

2 hours ago, Armymutt said:

I think that changing the name to appease simpletons isn't a good solution, but it seems to be the way the BSA wants to go anyway.  Rather than expect people to be critical thinkers and rise up to the organization's level, it will come down to meet them...

Actually I think they were appeasing the simpletons by waiting 5 years to change the name. They could have done this when they opened the program up to girls but they knew that too many peoples' heads would explode if they did the name change at the same time.

[FireStone]

2 hours ago, Armymutt said:

I think that changing the name to appease simpletons isn't a good solution, but it seems to be the way the BSA wants to go anyway.  Rather than expect people to be critical thinkers and rise up to the organization's level, it will come down to meet them...

Actually I think they were appeasing the simpletons by waiting 5 years to change the name. They could have done this when they opened the program up to girls but they knew that too many peoples' heads would explode if they did the name change at the same time.

[InquisitiveScouter]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting/USA

"...quietly abandoned..."

And, I am waiting with bated breath to hear the GSUSA reaction to this.  I would be surprised if they accept it without objection.  

See the Lapp Test  https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lapp_test

 "A likelihood of confusion exists when an allegedly infringing trademark is likely to cause an appreciable number of reasonably prudent purchasers to be confused as to the source or origin of the products or services it is used to identify."

Edited May 8 by InquisitiveScouter