Re: Boys life increase
settummanque, or blackeagle (blkeagle@DYNASTY.NET)
Fri, 19 Sep 1997 13:36:28 -0500
Joe Alessi offered some advice to Laurie Danford reference Boys' Life:
>>> SO what do they do? Skip Boy's Life? <<
>
>That would be my suggestion. Boy's life is not critical to the program
>you should be delivering.
*putting former ParaPro hat on* WHOA!!!! WAIT A MINUTE!!!
Before you cancel those _Boys'_Life_ subscriptions, let me *try* to convince
you why each member of your Pack or Troop SHOULD BE GETTING BL:
(*and in here, the *real reasons* why your District Executive sometimes
*cries* when you say "We don't want it; we don't need it, we don't use it")
REASONS:
*BL gives your Scouts "Scouting" each and every day of the month, from the
time that they get it, to the next issue. The stories, columns and
information presented in BL are things that young kids (boys and girls) are
interested in reading about and are consistant with the aims and methods of
Scouting
*BL gives your Scouts "reading" at a time whereby everything is going
"electronic". It's the perfect "laptop resource" for Patrol Leaders and for
Den members, for it not only explains what the program is going to be but
also offers a lot of suggested things that they can "try out" in advance of
the following month's program. At a time that we're trying to increase the
ability of kids to read independently, BL's stories and articles are the
kind of things that parents and TEACHERS use to encourage reading
*BL is a FAMILY MAGAZINE...unlike a lot of other "kids magazines" which are
aimed squarely at the kid, BL is aimed at the entire family and a lot of
BSA's research has determined that Mom, Dad and sibs do read BL
occassionally...more occassionally than they do _SCOUTING_.
*BL provides additional programming above and beyond what your Pack or Troop
can provide during the month....and encourages the reader to share that
additional programming with his non-Scouting peers. It's a good recruiting
tool, because of the low cost per month and because of the appeal that it's
had over the many years
*BL is ARCHIVABLE....providing those Den Leaders and Cubmasters as well as
parents resources that they can go back to over the years. Want to know
from a child's perpspective about a lot of issues now being faced by your
family? Take those old BLs down from the attic and take a look inside.
*Finally, BL is a promotable OUTREACH for Scouting in your community or
town. Wanna get new Scouts and Scouters?? Leave old copies of BL around
town with your name (scratch out your mailing address, but leave your name)
at places whereby kids "hang out". You'll get a few that'll seek you out
because "I saw your name on a Boys_Life_ and I thought you might be a
Scouting leader". It's a good way that your Chartering partner can "tell
the world" that they charter a Scouting unit without plaques, flags or other
things that scream "We LOVE SCOUTING!!"
Now, the REALITY of Boy's Life:
*BL has been PAID FOR IN FULL and everything that is made out from the
advertising, promotion and distribution of BL goes BACK to National's
coffers. EVERYTHING. This is an additional funding source for the BSA.
Your Council *doesn't get anything* from BL...the money supports the
national program budget.
*BL is one of the things that EVERY FIELD EXECUTIVE gets evaluated on; that
is, the percentage of units that have 100 percent of their youth getting BL
as well as the number of individuals that get BL as a percentage of their
membership figures.
*BL is also one of the things that EVERY FIELD EXECUTIVE is obligated to
activily promote, because a part of the BL's subscription goes into a fund
that provides emergency payments to field executives (it's called the Scout
Executive's Alliance fund) that come up on hard times. It's a good deal
for the profession since it keeps lots of Councils from "passing the hat"
from their career executive members.
*BL is finally one of the many tools that your field executive uses to
promote the connection between the national organization and his or her
operation in the field...it is the oldest and most Americans are familiar or
at least remember BL being around.
Lots of folks have already answered Laurie's question about how to get it
there to you; let me offer one more suggestion:
*GET BL in BULK. There's a way that the BSA's Editorial Division (which
provides BL and other items) can send all of the copies of BL to your unit
each month; you can "divy them up" during the Pack meeting (which insures
that everyone gets there to get *their copy*, especially when you impress
upon them that "you won't get it sent to your APO box or unit address
anymore". This was the "old way" that BL has been distributed in Germany
before the advent of local APO addresses; it is STILL the way that BL is
distributed in other countries served by the Direct Service Council. Just
make sure that the address you state is not going away (a good address would
be the chartered partner organization's headquarters'
address...someone from the Pack can pick them up from them each month.
Bulk mailings go out a couple of days before the individual ones go out,
and I believe that you can get a cut on the postage
PLEASE don't let the USPS keep you from encouraging your Pack or Troop
members from subscribing to BL.....and PLEASE don't let "well, it's just a
magazine put out by the Scouts" dissaude you from promoting it among your
units within your District or Council. While your professional may or may
not be aware of all of the things I've expressed above (they should; it's
drummed into them during their first week of NEI/PEI!!), Boys_Life_ is a
good buy, a good deal for the families and for the BSA, and something which
I recommend to include in the fees and registrations for each and every family.
*former ParaPro hat off*
Settummanque!
(c) 1997 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") (502) 827-9201
(settummanque, the blackeagle) http://dynasty.net/users/blkeagle
241 Fairview Dr., Henderson, KY 42420-4339 blkeagle@dynasty.net
kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@hq.21taacom.army.mil
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