Re: BSA National and E-Mail
Todd Tingblad (tingbltn@HUDSON.K12.WI.US)
Tue, 4 May 1999 07:20:41 -0500
> So, with this in mind, lets try again as to why BSA national
> cannot provide a link for feedback and questions.
The underline reason goes even deeper than technology. It goes to how the BSA organization as a whole wants to serve the leaders and scouts in the organization. BSA follows the organization stucture "chain of command" for a very simple, but powerful reason. It is the same reason we have Commissioner... The National Office of the BSA wants a personal contact with leaders and units. This more personal touch is part of the total operations plan. Unit Commissioners should be from within the same community as the unit so they have a better understanding were the units needs come from. This helps bring help to troubled units quicker (if the UC is doing the job). Asst. District Commissioners cover a like area that they have a understand about. This continues all the way up the line.
This is not to say that e-mail will never become part of the BSA's lines of communication. If you remember, the National Office put out a memo to all councils telling them that the BSA will never be part of the Internet and the Web. They even went so far as to tell council's not to create web sites. Look at them now...A good number of sites and a web based business system, ScoutNet2000 (even with the problems it has).
Will the BSA ever use e-mail for external communications? Someday. They are heavy e-mailers internally and part of ScoutNet200 includes e-mail to the councils. It is just going to take time. As one professional put it on "Change in the BSA"..."Change is as slow as change is in the church"...change does happen, it's just slow.
For me personally, I was amazed that the ScoutNet2000 project was web based since early talks were on the lines of continuing the same local council systems, only updating the software (1994). The folks at the national office are working on the e-mail communications puzzle. Technology will help them get to that point. For right now and for the next two years, BSA is putting all resources it can to get the ScoutNet2000 up, running, debugged, and performing before they get into the external e-mail piece. They too must become Y2K functional and with National to Council e-mail part of ScoutNet2000, that shows a future link for doing part of the external e-mail system. It may be 5 or more years before we see external e-mail happen.
YiS,
<fontfamily><param>Arial Black</param>Todd N.
Tingblad</fontfamily><fontfamily><param>Arial</param> --
mailto:tingbltn@hudson.k12.wi.us
</fontfamily><bold><fontfamily><param>Arial Rounded MT
Bold</param><smaller>District Technology Coordinator -- Information &
Technology Management
School District of Hudson Voice: 715 381-5199 Fax: 715
386-4928</smaller></fontfamily></bold>
