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Krampus

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Everything posted by Krampus

  1. Krampus
    The bread knife for cutting bagels was the number one cause of ER visits on Sunday mornings when I lived in the northeast. We still allow Scouts to use those....and adults.
  2. Krampus
    Then why does BSA count me as a member? They should more correctly count my CO as a member, and me as a member of the chartered unit. Words should have the same meaning, not just be convenient when someone wants to count "members" to artificially bump up their numbers.
  3. Krampus
    Don't laugh, but we typically get troops from OK and AR to take our NYLT during winter break and spring break. They don't like what their council does so they register for ours.
  4. Krampus
    Good point! It is a bit like being a corpsman...you know you are going to be in the hot zone, being fired at and with little suppressing cover. Takes a special kind of person to do that day in and day out and love it. From your explanation, it sounds like there is a huge disconnect as to what units expect from a DE, what we need from a DE and what a DE is truly asked to do from council....which is sad. I think the role (DE) could be very valuable to units if were revised to actually be a servant to units and not a slave to council.
  5. Krampus
    Thanks for the reply. I suspected as much. I can be honest in that, from a unit perspective, I don't see how the DE impacts me: FOS: Units see this as a burden and not really something that impacts us. I understand what the money is used for but it really does not impact us. It is seen as BSA asking for "yet another check". If the rate of return is so low then perpetuating this fund raising model is silly. Time and money could be better spent on a better way to raise money. Spring Recruitment: Affects Cubs but not Boy Scouts...at least in my area. In all my years of Cubs I never had the DE
  6. Krampus
    At the risk of quoting myself I think it goes back to the discussion we are having in the outdoor adventure thread. BSA training needs to be more standardized and available. What really bugs me about some BSA training is that their manuals are not very substantive. For example, when discussing leadership the leadership section may say something like "Discuss key leadership principles here" and not actually give you leadership principles to discuss; so the instructor lacking leadership background will have no clue (for lack of stated examples) on what to discuss. I don't think you will ever
  7. Krampus
    My guys like NYLT. It is usually well taught in my area. It *is* pricey for a week of camping and bad cafeteria food. Same cost as summer camp without any MBs or activities. I'd like to see a cost statement to see where the money is being spent.
  8. Krampus
    BSA is their own worst enemy in that the process is cumbersome, redundant and time-consuming.
  9. Krampus
    @@Eagle94-A1, I am curious, what is burning out the DEs? What's the role description and job requirements that's taking its toll on these guys?
  10. Krampus
    DE is never around. Never answers email, never attends RT, never seen him at a district or council event. Could not pick him out of a line up. Might as well not have a DE. The chairman is one of those WBers that gives the group a bad name. Egotistical, self-centered and self-serving. Attends RTs but treats them as if he were king and we were in his court. Is more interested in hitting FOS and JTE metrics than putting on a good program. Commissioner is never present. Like the DE I could not pick him out of a line up. The district is run by "underlings" willing to do the Dark Lord's
  11. Krampus
    Just from a time perspective, if we (as experienced scouters) were going to reorganize training, I'd hope we would do a few things: Increase the value, decrease the time commitment. Make the training complete and relevant. Standardize how it is taught. Increase availability. Make re-certification easy and fast. Eliminate redundancy. If they cost money, make them cost-effective. That's my input. I think much of the current training can be re-used, but let's eliminate things that may not be needed OR that could be combined if only to reduce the time we spend training.
  12. Krampus
    Help me understand, what was bad about this? Since the corporations who withdrew funds -- for reasons which I won't name because someone will think it is political and move this to I&P -- have not come back yet, how is BSA supposed to get the word out about fund raising for units and councils if they don't take some valuable print space to do it? How do you think BSA should get the word out to their members about fund raising? What would be "better" way to do it?
  13. Krampus
    Do you disagree with Bryan allowing his space to be used for a paid spot to provide room for a BSA-sponsored fund raiser? How it that any different than BSA pushing Trail's End or any other fund raising program they hock in BL or Scouting? For me there was not line crossed. They clearly marked the post as a sponsored item. They did not mask it in any way. The piece was written just like any other piece suggesting ways units can make money. Read the popcorn or greenery bits he's written in the past; same thing. When did making money and being honest about the source of a sponsorship bec
  14. Krampus
    @@cyclops bought up a poorly run website as an example. I commented on how that website was "fixed". No one mentioned anything about politics, just how poorly the thing was implemented, nor did anyone denigrate any political affiliation. I think we can have a brief conversation about bad websites, using the example that was used (because it is the truth and apolitical), without moving the whole thread to I&P. Or have we just become *that* over sensitive?
  15. Krampus
    As a non-profit corporation aren't they chartered with one of three specific purposes: 1) to serve a public interest, 2) to serve a specific group of individuals or 3) the non-profit's membership? So wouldn't we (members) be in category 2 or 3?
  16. Krampus
    Why not just have one level for Cubs. Get the training done once and over. Same for basic Boy Scouts. Then have advanced training for high adventure.
  17. Krampus
    I would encourage us to stop this tread because there is tons of wrong information being spewed about here and the average parent or scouter is going to read this stuff like it is the Gospel. The law is vague at best. At worst it is down right contradictory. Let's just drop this issue and leave a big sticky note that tells people to get with their COR and CO to determine how to handle any unit finances. There's clearly no one here who should be giving tax advice because everyone commenting thinks they know the "right" answer. No offense folks, but we've been around the horn on this a few t
  18. Krampus
    Depends on the unit. No need for WRFA if the troop is going to do plop camping only. No need for canoe instruction if they will never use them. No need for bear safety if they are never going to such areas. No need for RSO training if they never do those sports. Units that *do* want to do those things can take various training courses. Most are outside of scouting. Some are part of scouting. The units just need to know 1) know what is required, 2) where to get the training, and 3) how often they need to recert. In my mind this is where the council and district could be of the most hel
  19. Krampus
    Ah, the Obamacare website wasn't working for a long time because the contractor involved, and the government entity that oversaw it's implementation, had their heads up their bums. It got "fixed" when a new contractor (an very prestigious high tech firm) came in and said, "We will fix this. Kick out these other companies, get the government oversight out of our face, oh, and write another BIG check because this is going to cost you." In short, government and incompetency was kicked to the curb and private business came in to fix things. The cost of the original system and the fix were near
  20. Krampus
    Exactly. Or how about any of the gear peddling they've done recently? After years of being forced to swallow all the Trail's End stuff we have indignation for this? Really?
  21. Krampus
    How is this any different than using Trail's End? Or any of the other fund raisers listed here.
  22. Krampus
    Not really. I'd rather we have a link we can give our members that allows them to register and pay online, upload their YPT cert (or better yet, have that mapped to their log in from their my.scouting log in) and submit any other info. Most units I know cannot stand to make 1, 2, 10 trips to council to get their paperwork messed up again. They'd rather deal with a good online system that works, with less paperwork, less red tape and less time. I know no one who *wants* to work face to face with anyone at council. That's where the problem happen.
  23. Krampus
    @@Jackdaws, we had a similar issue. Here's how we solved it: Create a spreadsheet where the horizontal rows are your members, the vertical columns are what you need to collect. We collect applications (for new members), recharter form (for existing members), YPT for all adults, insurance and BSA medical forms for adults and scouts, payment and a comprehensive waiver for events. Those are our columns. Everyone must submit a complete registration package or we don't accept it. We then check everything off, check for signatures, proper boxes check (i.e., ASM or Committee Member or MBC), etc. We
  24. Krampus
    Very odd and very weird program. Part of the allure to scouting in my area is going OUTSIDE our council for summer camp. If you've ever spent more than one summer in Texas you'd know why. While I think we have some great camps (Sid Richardson), my guys won't spend a week in Texas during the summer. With so many options out there they want to experience what others have to offer.
  25. Krampus
    Of course I generalize, but for the most part I believe my observation is spot on. I live in north Texas. We interact with national all the time. The disdain for volunteers is clear but disguised with a faux sense of interest. The MB courses they offer out of national are very draconian and would make a true Scouter weep.
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