Re: Catching up
Settummanque, the blackeagle (WALTOML@WKUVX1.BITNET)
Wed, 8 Sep 1993 00:50:24 CDT
"Sheldon L. Holtz" <shel@WELL.SF.CA.US> writes:
>Hi, all!
(there was some deleting done only in the interest of space;, Shel,
you please tell Michele to get better from ALL of us here...and don't
worry...the Roundtable meeting goes on and on and on...so, if you
don't have time to keep up, take care of your "honies" and then
join us back whenever you can...we'll keep a seat for ya, and even
keep the coffeepot on (but I can't guarantee that it'll still be full..)
*broad smile* )!!!!!!
>Well, Michele s feeling a lot better today, and I had the time to sit
>and read through (ready for this?) 165 pages of 10 pt. Courier, single-
>spaced! Wow! Talk about a lot of discussion, information, and
>entertainment!
That sounds like you've been reading much of Don Izard's and Pab
Benford's postings....*just kidding folks!!*
Seriously, I am glad that you appreciated ALL of the postings, because
we all tend to be silly and informative all at the same time. Don't
know how, but we manage to do it well...hope that the information was
of usage to you (and from the deleted parts, I saw that much of it
was).
>I have a few comments after reading through it all:
>2. A comment to Mike Walton. In your thoughtful and detailed reply to
>Yale (you *see* how long it s been since I ve read these posts?), you
>indicated that national s PR has suffered dramatically at the hands of a
>professional Dallas-based public relations agency, suggesting that the
>effort was better when the effort was internal. I know your comments
>were not meant to disparage public relations practitioners, but as one
>of them, I thought I ought to say something. As in any other profession,
>public relations is populated by professionals who practice the heights
>excellence and ethics, losers who bring shame to the profession, and a
>lot of competent, hard-working people in between. The fact that the
>Dallas-based PR agency that won the BSA account has allegedly done a
>rotten job does not mean that external agency representation is a bad
>thing.
I am not a practitioner, just a member of PRSA (haven't found the
entry-level job, to tell the truth..the Army kinda took that from me!)
However, in the BSA's case, external agency rep was TERRIBLE all the
way around IMO.
What the BSA did, to cut their costs, was threefold. They first
"fired" their entire Public Relations Division, sending them back to
local Councils (the Bluegrass Council was fortunate enough to get one
of that staff, but he was not being paid nearly as much as he would if
he was still at National, so he left the profession for Host
Communications in Lexington) or in the case of the Director, Raul
Chavez, retirement from the profession. Then, the BSA shopped
around Dallas-Fort Worth for a firm that would conduct all external
media relations for the organization...at a cut rate scale. They got
what they paid for....a PR firm that, as I wrote, does NOT know about
the Scouting program and whose employees for the most part have NEVER
been Scouts. How can a firm tell the Scouting story to the world if
they haven't experienced Scouting?? (Now, in defense of the agency,
they have had their staff to "intern" with the Internal Communications
folks and have sent them, at BSA expense, to various local Council and
National events to "get the flavor" of Scouting. Good move on the part
of the BSA). But it was not good enough....because the BSA turned
around, and announced in 1989, that there would be "Internal and
External Communications Divisions" comprised of professional Scouters
at the Internal side and two Marketing Executives and the PR firm for
the external. Since then, the External Division has been the ones
"cching the heat" as the BSA started defending their stance in "three
Gs" areas (Girls, God, and Gays) and in *all cases*, the message was
defiant but NOT with flesh-and-blood. Paper did the majority of our
talking for us!
>In general, in fact, it s a good idea to have *both* internal and
>external communications capabilities. The internal department can
>interpret management s messages, establish the agenda, set the
>objectives, and determine how the effectiveness of the effort can be
>measured. However, it s not efficient for every organization to maintain
>its own media distribution capabilities, its own staff of writers,
>designers, artists, etc. Outside agencies tend to have a lot of
>experience getting the right publicity at the right time in the right
>media. They know how to respond to various external pressures.
That's how we got those ineffective "Join Scouts" posters and flyers.
Their lack of knowledge about the reasons why Scouting exists, and
more importantly, what the program SHOULD SAY to youth today (join us
because of the challenges, but stay with us because of the fun), is
why many local Councils rejected the entire "We Do it!" campaign two
years ago. This is the same firm that gave us the "back to the
future" logos and program stuff that Councils couldn't swallow! And
the same firm that gave us the silly commercials about reading and
Scouting ("What you read is what we do") that were okay in principle
(and kinda cute...combining literacy with the fun and adventure of
Scouting), but in reality costed us PLENTY!!
We had professionals coming to our Troop meetings, telling us "now, you
need to tone down how you promote the Troop to the kids in town" and
our professional cadre has taken over the "School Roundup program"
....because in 1990, the BSA was successfully sued and settled out-of-court
with a family of a kid that joined, thinking from the literature that he
read (and that his family KEPT and used against the BSA)...including the
BSA's own literature...that he would be going to Philmont and to large
camporees with the Troop in the first year of his membership...that he
would be able to "earn ten merit badges a year" among other things....
(soapbox on)
I think that the BSA needs to go back to getting their own staff that
KNOWS the program and if they need to, have a PR firm on permanent
retainer to handle the national media and those demands....but I don't
see how "cost-cutting" it has been to do what the BSA did. I would
LOVE to turn on CNN some morning and see a professional National
Executive, toe-to-toe with some snot-nosed, uninformed,
good-intentioned person that disagreed with the BSA on some point, and
having Larry King or Mary Tilleson (can't you tell I watch a LOT of
CNN?? hehehehe) to "get permission to expand the program another
thirty minutes..." I would love to see that happen on those
"talk/entertainment shows" in the afternoon, whereby that professional
or professionals take on the "people that want to see the BSA die".
And I WANT THEM IN UNIFORM, not in the "corporate coat and tie".
(soapbox off)
>Now, on to recent local events. First, I m interested in feedback on the
>following incident. Our troop is sponsored by St. Euphrasia Catholic
>Church. I have no problem with religious institutions sponsoring
>scouting units; the pack I helped start was chartered by Temple Ahavat
>Shalom! In my five years with the pack, though, we took pains to make
>certain the pack and all its activities were non-denominational. At a
>recent Eagle Court of Honor, the priest delivering the invocation ended
>his prayer with, "In Jesus Christ s name we pray..."
Ooops....sounds like someone didn't coach the Priest in the Scouting
way....I have dealt with lots of clergy and once you tell them that
"we need something that will appeal to everyone present", they get
the picture and come up with something more vanilla, to include the
ending.
>We have several Jewish boys in the pack, including my own son. I
>remember being disturbed by these denominational prayers when *I* was a
>scout. At a parent s meeting, some of us brought the issue up. The
>scoutmaster flatly said, "I m not going to tell Father how he can pray
>in his own church." He also suggested that "A scout is reverent"
>justifies such prayers, and that he would welcome Jewish, Baptist and
>other prayers at scout meetings in order to expose the boys in the troop
>to other religions.
It SHOULD have been the place of the Troop Commitee Chair to talk with
the Priest, Rabbi or Minister in advance of the activity. Believe me,
*ALL* denominations have a problem with addressing prayers in ways
that would be acceptable to all present. I feel that the Troop
Commitee Chair, assisted by the Scoutmaster if he or she needs that
support, should talk with the Priest and tell him about the BSA's
statement of religion (this is found in the chartering documents, and
the perfect time to have this discussion is during charter renewal
time).
The same problem comes up with Rotary or Jaycees' invocations at
events. Education of the religious clergy is the answer.
The Scoutmaster is partly right. I did welcome Jewish, Pentecostal,
Mormon, Hindu and Catholic prayers as taught by parents and religious
leaders as part of our meals at camp, as part of our retreat
ceremonies and as part of the meal preparation. This gives the Scouts
the added sense that "this stuff is important, because I am allowed to
use it here", it exposes others to principles of Kosher foods, of
"prayer" before meals (you'd be surprised at the number of Scouts I had
that didn't say ANYTHING before they dug into chow!), and the idea
that there's other religions beside Catholicism, Protestantism and
"general belief".
(and for those "general believers", I offered the "Thank You for the
food we eat and thank You for the friends we meet. Amen" "talking over
the food with your eyes closed" prayer. )
Those things bring Scouts and their leaders closer together than most
other aspects of the Scouting program, and is one of the reasons why I
support the idea that a Scout has to believe in SOMETHING or SOMEONE
higher than themselves in order to be a Scout.
However, your Scoutmaster is dead wrong when he states that "he's not
going to tell the Priest how to pray in his Church..." because at that
momment, even though he is praying technically in his church, he is
conducting a part of the BSA's program, and definate attention needs
to be made to how he does that.
Well...it's off to the bed. I HATE early meetings!
Glad to see you back here, Shel!!!
Settummanque!@HEY! I'm coming to a town near you....."on the road
ag'in.....just can't wait to git on the road ag'in...."
Mike L. Walton
Greenwood, Kentucky
(-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-)
( Settummanque, the blackeagle... ) )
( (MAJ) Mike L. Walton (among other "endearing" names) ( )
( AIS/MR Recreation/Leisure Specialist, Lifeskills Inc. ___)_ )
( Phone 502-782-7992 (home) 502-842-2274 (office) |-=-|] )
( 3201-D Cave Springs Avenue -- Greenwood, KY 42104-4439 -------- )
( WALTOML@WKUVX1 / "No such thing as strong coffee, only weak people" )
( KYBLKEAGLE@AOL.COM (America Online) / (available Scouting speaker) )
( "I don't speak for Lifeskills, Inc. or WKU...but man, do I speak!!!!" )
(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=)
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
