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EmberMike

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Everything posted by EmberMike

  1. Sure they do. If 40% of your current customers/members want something, 60% don't want it but many will remain customers anyway, at least for a while, and you've done ther research to know that you could increase new customer growth by going with what the 40% wants, it's not such a crazy idea. Especially when overall customer/member numbers are already headed downhill year after year. There are lots of successful companies that do this. Companies always want to go where the market will be, not where it was. Apple is one of those companies. They've pretty much abandoned their pro computer
  2. Every successful business in the world does that. That's advertising and marketing, and it is most often aimed at new business.
  3. That seems to be the way the BSA is trying to go, betting on the future new members. Will it work? I have no idea. But when we're at a point where membership is falling fast enough to see a very real possible end to BSA scouting within this current generation of scouts, I guess anything is worth a try.
  4. But current membership is not what the BSA is fully focused on, not should they be. I know it hurts a lot of feeling around here that we're not the sole priority of the organization. But if this organization is to survive (and hopefully grow some day), the BSA needs to be looking outside of the organization and figuring out how to appeal to more prospective memebrs. Just like in any company, a big part of your growth strategy involves looking outward. The BSA can't make decisions for the future growth of the organization on the opinions of existing members alone. That's not to say e
  5. That's a huge stretch. Since clearly I'm not the only one confused by your notion of equality in the oath and law, maybe you can elaborate on that.
  6. Where has the BSA ever said this was about equality? That's been the motivation for many advocates of co-ed scouting, but never what the BSA has stated this is all about. The documentation we've gotten on this has stated that this was done in response to declining membership, to offer a "Family Scouting" program to busy families, and to share scouting's benefits and leadership training with as many youth possible. Of course you can read between the lines there and say it's about equal opportunities for girls in the BSA, or likewise read between those same lines and say it's all about mem
  7. Only if you think our program is exactly like theirs in every other respect.
  8. Just to be clear, Sydney did not say any of these things. That was said by the show's host. It certainly is so much more, and much of what it is, Sydney has done. By age 16, any boy in the program has learned a lot of those things, and a lot of 16-year-olds are rank-motivated. I don't hold it against her that she is motivated by the rank, too. I think everything she has done is evidence of what Scouting has made her into. Overcoming obstacles, outings, leadership, all of the things you mentioned, she has done and/or exemplifies. So now, after 12 years, she wants the rank.
  9. Is this all still the result of the college application effect? That need to have a laundry list of activities on your resume so you can get in to the school you want? And does it even work? I would like to think college admissions officers are skilled enough at their jobs to recognize when a candidate just signed up for any and every activity possible, but wasn't really very accomplished in most of them. Personally I think it's more telling if a kid does one or two things and has a resume of accomplishments within those activities. I hope that maybe colleges recognize that. But un
  10. Lots of wild things have been said by and about BSA members and programs in recent years during cable news interviews. If we took each of them at their word, we all should have hung up our uniforms by now because the imminent destruction of the organization upon passage of any of the recent membership policy changes should have already happened by now, as predicted by many an interviewee. Average opinions about anything don't make for good cable news interviews. Extreme viewpoints do.
  11. I don't think "A Scout is Loyal" was ever meant to mean that someone had to be exclusively loyal to only one scouting organization. I know there are kids who are BSA members and also BPSA-US members. What I would find shocking is that after so many years of not having an exclusive membership policy, that the BSA added one on to the books just for Girl Scouts.
  12. I'm not saying that at all. Not even sure what I've said that could be interpreted that way. Nevertheless, let's move on.
  13. So you're arguing against a current policy change using an old issue that already existed to further your point. Understood. I have yet to see the data saying that the majority of people scouting wanted one thing or another in any of these issues. You know as well as I do that those surveys are very questionable when it comes to being impartial and accurate. I'm not claiming any moral high ground, I said in the post you quoted that we're all in this because we love it. The difference between you and me is that I'll debate these issues with you and treat you as an equal while doi
  14. In politics, he's a kid. In pro football, he'd be middle-aged. A female gymnast at age 26 is old and retired. It's all a matter of context.
  15. How does co-ed = "Family Scouting"? The two aren't mutually inclusive. Girls in a troop does not necessitate the whole family being involved. I love when people remind me that issues I fought for, issues I believed in and petitioned the BSA to address, along with thousands of other Scouters, that the result of all of that was really just that the BSA "caved in" to my agenda. This nefarious "THEY" is right here. People wearing the same uniform that you do. I'm not some outsider working to poison this program. We're all here because we love this thing.
  16. I've been circling back through this thread and I think I've picked up on what I've been missing here. So the main issue is family camping. Not a new thing, but something that there is now concern will become more of a challenge to units that traditionally didn't do much (or any) family camping if the latest push for family-friendly activities at the cub level trickles up to the troop level. And even though the new push for being more family-friendly at the cub level doesn't officially extendup to the troop level, family camping (not Family Scouting) can be used to circumvent this and ma
  17. I've mentioned a guy exactly like that in another thread a while back. Seeing as we're both NJ residents, I'm betting we're talking about the same guy. Edited to add: The guy I've seen wears the oval patch AND the square knot.
  18. That knot was worn more during the debate over gay scouts and scouters, and the membership policies in place previously that kept them out of scouting. It was a show of support for them and for the goal of changing those policies. Since those policies changed, half of the knot really isn't applicable as an issue now. The other half (religion) isn't going to change any time soon, if ever. Plus I was always confused about the symbolism of the silver and purple in this knot. The BSA uses those colors to symbolize religious insignia or awards. In the context of inclusiveness, we're already i
  19. So $50 gets you an application to most colleges in the US, where your application usually goes through a more thorough review process and (for possible "accepted" applications) gets reviewed by more than one person. But this council needs $90 for review of an application that one person can handle in about 15-minutes. Thrifty indeed. Even if it took an hour to review 1 Eagle application. Council gets $90 per hour for this??
  20. My hope in starting this thread was more discussion of #1 and #2, less of #3. I think he does deserve an attaboy. Now more than ever we're telling people that if they don't like what's going on in the government, to step up and do something about it. Not many people will step up to that challenge, but Zach Wahls did. Good for him. However I also think he lacks the necessary experience. Life experience he has plenty of. He's been in the public eye plenty, and can navigate a live tv interview better than many current senators. But I think it might have served him better to aim for a
  21. In the viral video he's most known for, he actually does mention all families, saying that the struggles of families in Iowa are the same no matter if the couple is same-sex of not. I don't think he needs to "put his politics aside for traditional American families", in fact that would be an odd thing to do when running for political office. However his political platform is one that addresses the issues and concerns of all families.
  22. I think their prices are rather fair, actually. For good-quality screen-printed shirts, especially, and free shipping. I've done custom-designed shirts for my wife's school and was able to get them for around $8 each with 3 different ink colors, but there was also a setup charge for each ink screen, and shipping charges. That was for 75 shirts. ClassB does the same quantity for around $10 per shirt. No setup or shipping. Really it ends up costing about the same. If you can find shirts for much less than that with more than at least 2 ink colors screen-printed, I suspect the quality
  23. I'm all for wearing whatever you like in the temporary patch spot, but when you start to get into insignia, I'd probably avoid that. Normally I'd say "no", we don't. But in this case, it is actually helpful in showing that a leader has gone through a specific training course, something I think parents would appreciate knowing. We wear a lot of stuff that makes no sense to many parents. Heck, some Scouters can't identify insignia other Scouters wear, especially the more rare square knots. But having a patch that clearly identifies specific training is useful to parents and makes the Pa
  24. Zach Wahls is running for an Iowa Senate seat: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a14511864/zach-wahls-iowa-state-senate-election/ Obviously his politics and his stance on BSA policies makes him a polarizing figure on this forum. If we can put the politics aside for a minute, though, the qualities of this young man (he's only 26) to seek public office and to be able to debate political issues and address crowds is truly impressive. Our BSA program is doing a lot of things right if we're helping kids develop the skills and confidence necessary to take a shot at a major public offic
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