Camporee Help

[Crossramwedge]

We are about to hold our Fall District Camporee. It seems the same 4 or 5 troops have been the backbone of this Camporee since the beginning of it 4 years ago. There are 40 some odd troops in the District. About half of them show up for the Camporee as well as a few from out of our District. Its not a large Camporee and usually tops out at around 300 to 400 Scouts/Adult leaders attending. This will be the last Camporee because we can not get the other troops to help and we have decided to call it quits. People are getting a little discouraged and tired. It is a good camporee. We change up the competitions each year and have plenty for the scouts to do. Do any of you have any advice as to how you would motivate the other troops to help. We have asked for help at the RT and do not get much of a response.

[frank10]

Asking for help at a roundtable is kinda like standing up in a singles bar and shouting who "wants to go out with me". If you get any results there's a good chance you won't be happy with it.

 

If you want something, walk up to a person and ask them yourself face to face.

[Crossramwedge]

We have tried that and have gotten commitments just to have them back out.

[scoutldr]

If you are only getting 50% participation, that should be a red flag. Perhaps it's not as "good" a camporee as you think. Your District Program committee should be on top of this, finding out what people expect and then plan to meet those expectations. Perhaps the dates are bad...perhaps they don't want "competitions". Get on Google and find out what other Councils are doing...there's lots of ideas out there. The most interesting one I saw was one where ALL activities happened at night and everyone slept during the day. Get outside the box...maybe everyone's tired of knot tying relays and first aid races. In many Districts, the SPL's also attend (or are supposed to attend) roundtable. Give this challenge to them and see what they come up with. Or maybe the OA chapter can take it on. Just some ideas...

[mlg0171]

Why is it important to get all the troops? Do your best for those who show up.

 

BTW, 300-400 would be a huge camporee for our district. I hope you are spread out (e.g. at different campsites at a BSA camp). I've seen some camporees away from our BSA camp where everyone camped in one field. Tenting next to 400 of my closest friends is not my idea of camping.

[Eagle Foot]

Over the years as camporee chairman I faced the same problem, one thing that helped was to start promoting early. Form a camporee committee and decide how and who was going to run and promote the camporee. We tried letting the troops do it and at best we had poor attendance when time to promote was short...say four months out. Troops tradionally plan their year in August. If they know before hand about the camporee they can include it in their yearly planning. Doesen't seen to matter if the troop handles the camporee or if an individual handles it, it's early promotion and good communication that leads to high turn outs. A good theme also makes for a good time. Two of the best camporees I ever did were

---Mission Impossible--- and --- Survivor-- both were at night which under the cover of darkness made them more exciting. Be direct and forward for help, ask for commitments and follow up and this will lead to high attendance. I still have the programs for these and am more than willing to share them. The best was Mission Impossible...adapted form Cliff Golden, it was really a hit.

 

Edited by Eagle Foot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bluecasper]

Eagle Foot, I would love see the program outlines on those camporees. We are always looking for new ideas and themes on camporees.

 

By the way, I would love to experience a camporee of that size. I am in a small council and if we get anywhere between 75 and 125 at a camporee for our district, we are extremely happy campers!!

[local1400]

Yah Blue, my district has only about 12 troops in it. And we could drive over an hour from one end of district to end.

[Crossramwedge]

Camporee went well. Had last minute cancellations and only had a couple of hundred Scouts there. Yet everybody who attended said it was an excellant Camporee. The OA has stepped forward and said that they wanted to be in charge next year. This will be the first time in 5 years that somebody else will be in charge besides the core 3 troops that have been doing it the past 4 years. We told them that we would help them in a limited supporting role. There plan is to get indivindual troops to volunteer to be in charge of one competition/task thereby spreading the work around and not putting the burden on 2 or 3 troops. They ought to be able to do this since the OA is made up of all of the various troops. Relief at last.

 

[MarkS]

Our District OA Chapter has organized our camporees for years. It's been very succesful for us. It's a perfect fit for their mission of promoting camping, spreads the work around to numerous different troops, and allows organizer turnover so there's no burnout.

[Bob T]

The OA sounds like a good idea. You get experienced, motivated Scouts and get past the burnout of the leaders of the troops that have been carrying the load.

 

Not all troops are going to participate at the same level. We got the "hard core Scouting backpacking" troops, the "Once a year car camp paper airplane makin' troops" and some in between.

 

A very successful theme we used a few years back was "Old Time Scouting Skills." Using a 1920's Boy Scout handbook, the kids made bedrolls from tarps & blankets, made cook kits out of cans, made tarp tents, and used food that they could have obtained in 1920. (Note: NOBODY LIKES HARDTACK. I have yet to be forgiven for baking up a batch.)

 

Campfire discussion included talking over Scouting, 1920 to now. Though some things have changed, the basics remain the same.

 

[1Vigil]

I saw the same burn out in our district camporees. The secret is BOYS + FUN =ATTENDANCE. It got were all the district wanted to do was the same old scout skills camporee year after year. So I put on a Survivor type camporee like Eagle Foot was talking about. Our district is called Sioux so it was called Siouxvivor. It was a huge success. We had the older boys run the program. All the challenges were just fun games to compete for tribal points. We even had a tribal council and tribal bandanas.

 

I loved the part were the troops signed into the camporee on friday night. Then we gave each patrol there tribal packets. They were to drop there patrol names and make a tribe name plus make a tribal flag from there packets. We also had an adult to watch over the different stations. The boys on the staff made all the calls, kept the scores and ran the tribal council on that Saturday night.

 

I believe if you are having problems then try this. See if it will work in your district. FUN is the reason the boys want to come. Get the boys excited and they will return for more. This will open the doors to more adventures within the district.

 

By the way Eagle Foot................ I would like to have your plans for the "Mission Impossible" program too. Sounds like a lot of fun. Would like to try it some time.