John-in-KC

NO!!

My copy showed up in todays' mail. Yep, badly written. SB Member Mom should call the Superintendent and ask "Why isn't X following procedure and asking for advice from the District General Counsel?"

From the 2010 PTC Schedule, June 20-26: Implementation of Required Training Stand by for RAM, folks!

Hmmmmm: June 20-26: Implementation of Required Training I think the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming express train...

Population density of US was 1/3 of what it is now. Browse beds were environmentally supportable, as was degreasing in the sand. Like it or not, things change.

Pack, That's where a call to the Professional adviser to the Council Advancement Committee is in order. See what the lead time is. National, though, is getting better on lead time for significant changes.

Once again, the SM is the Gatekeeper. He/she has specific charge to approve Den Chiefs before nomination to the Pack. A DC is a fantastic recruiting support person, if he does his job well. OTOH, if he's immature and not helpful to the Den Leader and Assistants, rest assured that den will never visit your Troop! Older Scouts (13-17) can be talked into this position! It takes talking about working with the adult leaders and being an example and guide to the younger.

Avid, If your Council lacks the support structure to maintain training records on volunteers, then you need to have a businesslike meeting with your COR, District Commissioner, and DE. Let your COR be the heavy. It's time for blunt, straightforward language. Service and support to the Chartered Partner is part of the Charter Agreement, the Council needs to do its job.

One of the things I've started to discuss as I train MB Counselors is: "Have the Advancement Coordinator on the Troop Committee charge the Librarian/Scribe to check MB pamphlets every January for currency." Current requirements. They are the bane of my existence. One time a Scout came to me at first meeting (I prefer at least two meetings with them). He was a go-getter, had everything done ... by his MB pam. I can guarantee you he got that second meeting. He was using not a 1 edition old, but a 2 edition old pamphlet. A different mantra: The MB Counselor is responsible for currency in his/her badges.

What AvidSM said As long as the youth member and the Counselor stay the same, once the youth has started, they stay ... unless they mutually agree to change

My thought in the matter is single program per age group, single-gender units at Cub, Boy, and Varsity. Bring together at District and Council levels. OA would have a problem; too bad for them.

Everything, including the Scout Law, in moderation. CHOOSE the places and cases to take one or more points to the extreme. Absolute trustworthiness and loyalty ... gives you Mafia underlings and mid-level managers in the Colombian cartels. Absolute revernce ... gives you Jonesboro. Absolute bravery ... can get you a Medal of Honor ... posthumously. Am I choosing 4th and 5th standard deviation events? Certainly. Am I doing so as an illustration? Yep.

Ken, you're right, but to me "walking the walk" is part of the search committee's due diligence. That's a weak link in too many organizations. Folks are not willing to do the scut work needed to hire a highly compensated professional. Someone becoming a Scout Executive usually has a long audit trail in his personnel folder. There's plenty of room to check him out in as much detail as needed. That's all the more true in the internet era. You can find a persons' life online. You can find how he treats people. I've become a believer in the all-day interview ... it starts at breakfast and it literally goes to and beyond supper. Different people assess the candidate in different environments. For a candidate SE, that can include taking him/her to the Reservation and talking about facilities ... taking him/her to a District RT and introducing them in whatever volunteer capacity they've had ... At the end of the day, though, all the search work is for naught if the Exec Board does not have a vision for the man who would be servant leader. It's also a lot easier for a Board to hold the SE accountable after hiring if they know him like a well-read book before hiring.

There are still places on this earth that do not have pit latrines, flushers, or porta-kybos. Latrine screen (especially if the camp is mixed gender), porta-stools and retention sacks, and bio-degradable decomposition agent (to get the process started). For that grill at the campsite that seems to be gnarly? WIRE BRUSH. (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

I was talking with our Professional who is the staff adviser for all training in our Council. If you do not think the National Council is driving the train on mandating training for Scouters as a condition of adult membership, think again. He thinks we will see an adult leader app change within 24 months, where there will be a page, much like the criminal background check page. It will be our contract with Council to take training for our positions. The Councils which have mandated training, such as CNYScouters, OGE's, and mine, are testbeds. Returning to subject, a culture where people want to learn, where people get something out of a training event, where the trainer was not "hey, you'd" 36 hours before the training (or the day of) ... those are signs that enthusiasm for training, on both the trainer and the learner's part, is starting to take hold. Too many of us have bad news stories on this forum. If we're going to have required training, we cannot have bad training. It's that simple.

Stosh, The issue is quality of the embouchure. EagleSons tuba professor has forbade him stepping down to anything smaller than a trombone mouthpiece. It's all about the physiology and the muscular formation. DWS, EagleSon is a sophomore tuba performance major now. He checked out a 'phone from his university marching band and played it at Scout Camp all last summer. He's transposed several bugle calls to Bb flat bass clef. There is nothing wrong using any musical instrument to support a Troop. The object of the exercise is to support the Scout, not to fit the square peg in the round hole. Adjust the POR to Musician if needed. There even was a patch for Musician, from 1938 to 1951: http://mitchreis.com/images/music1.jpg(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

kittle, Good on you, good on your SM Merry Christmas, John

Brent, I want the Exec Board and the Council Commish to have some vision as well: This should not be an easy decision; it should be determined by where the Council thinks it is and where it wants to go. The broader the buy-in, the better the search and the tenure will go.

Requirements #33215 is integrated into scouting.org. http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards.aspx Not one bloody word about what this Advancement Coordinator is describing. Den Chief is perhaps the most valuable POR to the Troop if done right. The Scout out there, trained, deployed, and supported has huge Adult Association working directly with a DL, can be the Pied Piper of Hameln leading Cubs to the the Troop, is instructor and guide... A good den chief, working well with his DL, is a Godsend to a Troop. God bless your young Scout, kittle, get out the silver flaying knife attachment for your tongue and give this off-the-reservation advancement coordinator a good talking-to.

No brainer. Proof for me, proof for EagleSon. Just got him a MS-60 1889 Morgan Dollar ... a century before his birth year.

IIRC there are West Coast UWs which have removed the area Boy Scout Councils from their membership...

My Dad was in Fukuoka prefecture at the time of Fat Man, slave labor in Baron Mitsui's coal mines. A very comprehensive site of the POW camp he was imprisoned in is http://www.lindavdahl.com/index.html

I'm in WAKWIB's council (heck, we're in the same District). While we're a UW agency, we're no longer drawing funds from the general donation. Our council is pretty much self-sufficient with its ability to fundraise. Our current SE is a membership guy. He was brought on to deal with the need to replenish the seed corn. It's working. Our year over year numbers have been steadily going up in Cubbing, and should reflect into Troops in this and following transition classes. Of course, ourselves and Pony Express to our north have an advantage most Councils do not: We have the legacy of the Great! H Roe Bartle, SE par excellence, who gave St Joe and Kansas City 25 years leadership before moving to volunteer status as he became the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. His words, and his belief in quality program for the youth, are still mantras for professional and volunteer alike.

E92 added a key element to my thoughts, thanks! There are two other things, and E92 brought them to my mind: - No matter what, I want to know that this man/woman does not claim his victory with a pile of former employees under his feet. A good manager will develop his talent and make the workplace and the co-workers people of value. - No matter what, I want to know that this man/woman is committed to his volunteers. Mutual loyalty engenders success, on both sides.

Rank order your strengths and weaknesses as a Council. Look for someone who can attack the weaknesses while maintaining the strengths. That's far easier said than done. If the facilities are in good shape, and the fundraising is in good shape, but recruiting and retention suck, then you need someone who knows how to sell the program to kids, and then knows how to keep the program going to kids. If the facilities are in poor shape, but fundraising is OK and plenty of youth are joining and staying, then you need someone who specializes in program, and can deal with the specialized fundraising of facilities. If the facilities are ok, and the youth membership is ok, but the budget is in the tank, you need someone who can fundraise. Or you can simply steal Jim Terry (VP-CFO) or Brian Gray (HA Programs) from the National Offices with a tremendous amount of luchre.