Eamonn Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Things seem to be all set and we as a district are about ready to go with our School Sign Up For Scouting Night. As in the past we will have an ice cream social to go over all everything that needs to be gone over. Then in September we will go out to the Elementary Schools, and sign up a few hundred Cub Scouts. This works well. The Cub Scouters are behind this 100%. This year we are going to try and do the same thing with the Troops and recruiting Boy Scouts. This has been agreed and past by the District Committee. The hope is that we will be able to use the media coverage and dumb as it may sound we are doing it anyway, so why not do both, at the same time. National has some new neat stuff, which our Field Director was unable to get. But who needs him. While, I admit this was my idea. I do think that it has some draw backs. Mainly the time frame. It does seem that boys of Scout age are very busy at this time. What with sports and band and just a lot of stuff, going on. We do have a lot of material, in the way of handouts. The Schools are open to help us as much as they can. The Council has planned a media blitz, with billboards, newspaper ads. and TV ad. When do you thihk is the best month to do a full scale Boy Scouting recruiting campaign? Or is the such a time?(This message has been edited by Eamonn) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsteele Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Eamonn: I'm not sure there is a good time to recruit Boy Scout age youth. However, I'm sure that national has sent one cd per troop to your council in the shape of a Boy Scout packpack. They are excellent and made to be copied by each troop. They contain scenes that allow 11-12 year old Scouts to give to their friends that show the BSA in action and allow the kids to make their own movies from their favorite scenes to email to their friends. They're a great tool that can be used for recrutiing. If your Field Director can't provide them for you, have him check around the office. I've found that not everything sent to me makes it to me in a timely manner. If he still can't find them, give me a call and I'll send you one or give you the number. DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 The best tools for getting boys who weren't Cub Scouts are the Scouts. When they are telling a friend about their weekend of caving, camping or rafting and the friend says, "Dude! That sounds sweet." (or whatever teens are saying this week) the Scout needs to say, "You wanna come with us next time?" I'm not sure how the legal issues need to be addressed with insurance, etc. BSA should have a policy that covers "prospective members" but I'm sure that they don't. So, you tell the parents that Bobby needs to "register with BSA to be covered by insurance" and they only pay the $10 registration fee. If the kids decides to jump in with both feet then you can deal with whatever the troop wants to charge. Another option is the troop pays the registration fee for the prospective memeber and if he "joins," he pays the usual troop fee with the troop recouping their investment. Another thing is that the Scouts shouldn't dwell on "how far behind" their friend will be if he joins at 13 or 14 or even 15. The important thing is that he has fun Scouting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Hi Eamonn, DS gives very good advice. The two best sources of new scouts are of course Webelos and friends. You know when Webelos cross, but I don't know that there is a season on friends. What I have found works well is, do not have the scouts invite friends to a troop meeting or for that fact a "scout" anything. Invite them to go camping with some friends, or canoeing with some friends, or rock climbing with some friends. Let them discover for themselves that the friends are scouts. (We jokingly call this our AmWay recruitment.) the idea is to stress the fun and the doing, and avoid the initial knee jerk reaction to the words "Boy Scouts". We have found this to be very effective. "BSA should have a policy that covers "prospective members" but I'm sure that they don't." Spoken with great conviction but sadly few facts. Actually the BSA does, and your council 's insurance coverage always has. So don't worry about the accident coverage on youth guests it's already taken care of. Bob White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoutmaster Ron Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Bob, How is prospective members covered? Do we need to sign them up on the registration form? I would like to introduce to the PLC "Invite a Friend on a Campout" and am interested how the insurance would be covered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 No need to Ron, All of the BSA accident insurance policies cover eligible guests. Your local scout office can verify. There is no need for any documentation beyond a parental permission slip. Bob White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 " All of the BSA accident insurance policies cover eligible guests" What is the definition of an eligible guest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Prospective members who meet BSA eligibility requirements. Verify with your local council service center. Bob White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Mr. White, you remind me of a fictional governor of Texas ( "I love to dance a little sidestep"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 What part do you not understand Fat Old Guy? A troop may invite potential members to meeting and activities, and the accident umbrella will cover medical expenses if injured. In some councils this is primary insurance in most however it is secondary coverage. Either way the the non-scout who is eligible for membership but has not joined yet is protected. There is no paperwork needed beyond the normal parental permission slip if it is an outing. Since insurance is purchased by the individual councils you should verify the local policy coverage with your local service center. Please let me know on what specific part of this you are still foggy. I'm curious if any other reader felt I sidestepped anything? Why are you making such personal issues out of any post I make? If you have something on your mind feel free to Private Message me as I have suggested to you off board. Otherwise I think many folks would appreciate seeiing the sparing moved to it's own thread or ended completely, rather than waste so much time on every thread. Bob White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 See Mr. White, that wasn't so tough. You finally gave me a direct answer to my question. Why do I take issue with you? You're a pompous, arrogant, pedantic, closeminded bookthumper and I mean that in the kindest way possible. You're disingenuous, evasive adn a few other words that don't come to mind right now. And do you want to know something else, other people here agree with me. Referring to your email, I know much more about Scouting than you think. I just don't think that everything that comes from Texas has the weight of holy scripture. So I don't know what our insurance covers. Big deal, I've never needed to deal with it. That's why we have people like you. Most of us have lives outside of Scouting. When I see flaws in your reasoning, I will hammer it just as you lecture others. When I find the dictates of BSA to be silly, obstructionist, or counter-prodctive I will criticize those as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 If you didn't know the answer fat old guy you should have just said so. And when have I ever been disingenuous? Bob White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 "And when have I ever been disingenuous?" Thanks, I haven't had such a good laugh in days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nldscout Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Fat Old Guy, Why don't you take your unscout like comments else where. They are not welcome here. Sounds like another Troll to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM406 Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Hey, FOG Tone it down a bit; I and others have noticed you have a chip on your shoulder in dealing with BW. From my perspective it has been totally unwarranted. There is room for all experienced scouters in this forum. I have never experienced the arrogance you speak of and have found the advice of BW, OGE, DS and others as very helpful. On the other hand your posts have not impressed me much. Using the Scout Law as a guide for posting on this forum would go a long way. SM406 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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