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fred johnson

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Everything posted by fred johnson

  1. #1 I agree. I think it's more about previously agreeing to not compete against each other. #2 I'm always amazed someone reads something I wrote.
  2. I see it like a cola war. Imagine if Pepsi and Coke didn't have strongly distinct names. Instead they were named "West Cola" and "East Cola" and divided the market using the Mississippi river. West Cola would only market to people west of Mississippi. East Cola would market to people east of Mississippi. Today, we'd call that agreement anti-competitive and illegal. Then, imagine "East Cola" (Pepsi) gets all these calls from people west of the Mississippi saying sell to us. We like your product better. So, then East Cola decides to market to everyone and decides to call themselv
  3. I'd focus on this more. Let your son know that not everyone will always agree. That not everyone always follows the same rule book. That his project was different, but that does not make it bad. It just makes it hard for some people to understand. I'd do anything I could to change the perception of failure to a perception of something that needs to be overcome.
  4. The issue is less about the trademark and more about marketing to both genders.
  5. 1. Your son's project sounds like one that is different than usual. Leaders often see scouts building picnic tables, benches, building trails, etc. Your son's project sounds different. But, different is not bad. It's just hard for some people to perceive and then to apply the requirements correctly. I've had some scoutmasters say they would rather in the future direct scouts to more traditional projects to avoid future confusion and frustration. 2. If the project does not show enough leadership, the EBOR can look at other parts of the scout's scouting history for leadership. So a
  6. Loved listening to the lawyers discuss this change. Well done and well grounded presentation. I fear that courts are hard to predict. Judges and jury's are individuals subject to their own ideas, values and opinions. So these guys presented expertise and well grounded arguments, but I fear results can vary.
  7. Globe ? Do you mean mantels or the outer glass housings? Mantels break regularly, but the glass outer shell should last years. We break maybe one per year. I'd question what is happening. Why the pattern of breakage ?
  8. I've often wondered if there was some option such as letting districts hold SMCs and BORs for scouts that can show they met rank requirements, but have other obstacles ... such as a troop going above and beyond requirement expectations. But, that would subvert the structure and habits of the troop. (not necessarily a bad thing)
  9. I strongly encourage it. It's the exact reason I got involved. I was very upset how things were happening years ago. BUT ... Don't announce you'd like to volunteer to change things. I'd instead get to know people, build friendships, build knowledge and become known to them. Then when an opening happens, step up. It sounds like you fully understand that our role is less about saying no and more about helping the scout succeed and finding ways to make things work.
  10. I would be a bit forgiving to the adults involved. Expectations vary greatly still district-to-district and troop-to-troop. It's hard to get a consistent view on this.
  11. There is no clear threshold for what is a good project and what is a bad project. It's more working through the reasoning and defending your concept. Donating his toys supports the project, but is not the project itself. The donation is similar to a family donating money to make a project happen. It's fine and a non-issue. In this case, it may be a distraction against the real project project. I'd evaluate the project based on the rank requirements which can be simplified to Plan - What is he going to plan? What does he have to solve? What does have to coordinate and
  12. We've done a mix of our own and official high adventure bases. Each has a different flavor, but I'll never forget all the ones we did on our own. Our selection was mainly triggered by what was within an interesting driving distance. Sometimes that distance was 10+ hours.
  13. I'm sad, but not surprised. That's a common result of adult conflict. It's very hard to get a troop to change it's ways. What you said reflects a troop that wants the scout to support the troop instead of the troop supporting the scout. It's as simple as that. What you describe in your email ... scouts sitting and being talked at by adults ... committee meeting adult conflicts ... extra rules established to manipulate the scout into a specific troop's goals ... IMHO ... this is what is killing scouting. At this point, I'm becoming a scouting deconstructionist. I'm really tired
  14. SSF ... I regret not saying that earlier. @Bside ... I'm also very sorry for what happened to your son and what you and he must now address.
  15. (My apologies. I'm taking your statement out of context.) I always cringe at this statement. Ideally, the behavior of all scouts benefit from scouting. ... BUT ... using a troop to fix the bad behavior of a specific scout will have side effects. Drive away existing scouts. You will lose good kids when choosing to work with the problem scouts. Drive away future scouts. Create a bad reputation for the troop. "Oh, that troop has scouts that ..." Risk infecting other scouts with the same bad behavior. Create safety risks. Create problems for the adults as
  16. Some things you can't hand over. You need to submit the paperwork. It's slightly embarrassing to say you handed it over and then submit paperwork, but it's never too late to do the right thing. Just say you read more on the rules and you needed to report.
  17. #1 Bad behavior is hard to change. You can teach skills. You can help install habits. You can challenge scouts with hard situations that make them grow. But bad behavior is much more difficult. You can make it be less visible when adults are around, but it will come out again when adults are not around. From my experience, swearing, bullying and abuse stop when the scouts leave and a new culture is created. #2 Bad behavior is infectious. It's like a threshold. Once it's crossed, it's not an absolute no. Then, others cross it too. #3 You are the leader and you can't alw
  18. I don't think it matters in this case. The group interacting were scouts and it's always a game whether something is a scout event or not.
  19. You are a mandatory reporter. This crossed the line. If you are unsure whether it crossed the line, you need to report it and let someone else decide. That's the whole idea of mandatory reporter. Also, hesitation to report (for many different reasons) is often the reason previous abuse persisted for so long. You need to submit a report on this.
  20. I really think this is the key protest I have. Yes, it's the longest course. It's the most planned out and structured course. But it's hardly a "pinnacle" of anything. In scouting, IMHO, the pinnacle of training is years of experience and lots and lots and lots of reflection and discussion with other scouters.
  21. Get the leaders on the chartered with their primary role. Ideally, it's their only role. But, it happens that people hold multiple hats. Beyond that, the council does not reach into your scouting unit. If he fulfills multiple roles, that's between him and the other leaders in the pack.
  22. The answer depends on how the linked troops work. Is the intention to share committee and most of the leader? Share resource? Share activities and schedules? How deeply linked ? My gut says "linked" troops use one web site to coordinate. Still your choice how deeply to link. "Independent" troops use separate web sites. But, it's your troops and your vision.
  23. I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I've seen lots of frustration with Wood Badgers lately. The key complains are two. First, brow beating people who have not taken it to take it. Second, over-emphasizing it as way more important than it really is. Over the years, I've taken lots of high performance team building, leadership training and MBA related classes. When I took Woodbadge, it was good but not enlightening. In no way way, would I consider someone who took woodbadge as now trained. IMHO, it has some good training, but it's more about building excitement or rebuilding exc
  24. I'd like to know that answer too. I bet it's the common failure mode with safety procedures where the individuals executing the procedure don't think it applies to them because of their extra skill or capability or position.
  25. Ya know ... troops just don't need to build up that much stuff. Usually troops have way way way more stuff then they need for a camp out. If you are asking "budget" ... part of the budget is who pays for what. Who pays camping fees? Are scouts paying per camp out or does troop cover from general fund part of the camping fee Who pays food? Does a scout collect and then spend from that? Or does a patrol member submit a receipt for food to the troop treasurer? How is the troop funded? I ask as it majorly affects your budget plans? In one troop, the troop char
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