jjlash

Good advise @LeCastor.

Free is my thought too - because they are already giving their time, plus certainly spending their own money supporting their unit. It is not the BSA doing this. National has created the online modules. And we promote them but we still offer in-person training several times a year. Hm - maybe I need to approach it as the small cost of in-person training being a better use of time. Take the online training to "check the box". Take an in-person session to meet some new people, ask questions, get answers, get info beyond the bare essentials and have a snack.

Great info, thanks. So far it matches with our discussions. Yes, most of the classroom, position specific stuff is online and is pretty good. I expect folks to complain about "paying a few dollars to take it in person when they can do it for free online?" Of course, my response will be "then why havn't you already done it online?" I agree that in person is better so you have the interactions and organic discussions. But my biggest complaint with the online stuff is that it is buried - I would love to have a simple, direct link that I can put on a flier or mention in roundtable.

Im the council training chair. Up to now we have never charged people to attend basic (position-specific) training. I have recently been told that the training team needs to "break even" financially. We will be able to cut costs but we we will still need to add some income. As we discuss adding a fee to sessions, we would love to hear how other councils do things and what lessons-learned you have. If your council charges for basic training: * How much? * Do people get something (i.e. a book) which adds perceived value? * How do people feel about being charged? * If c

Chess and Monopoly are favorites with this particular group. A few years ago the big favorite was Apples to Apples.

I went through a phase of building pop-can stoves. Went back to the whisperlite. Here is what the G2SS says about stoves and fuels - emphasis is added:

I would commit doing that but would definitely not actually give the money to the Troop. I agree with RememberSchiff that I would choose who receives the assistance - I want someone who will gain the most and who will give back the most, not whoever got there first. I take a slightly different approach. If someone is on the fence - probably they have been encouraged by several people but but are unsure of the value or hesitant because of the cost and time commitment. I tell them to take the course, to go with an open mind, to do the work. And if it is not the one of the best things the

My question was really about using difficulty of the trek as a measure of which trek they would prefer. Difficulty is so subjective that I dont think it really gives your Scouts any useful information. You can certainly choose routes that are longer/shorter and more/less rugged at each place. For me, "difficulty" determined almost entirely by how much physical training I did before the trip. Regardless, I can say for sure that any Scout that enjoys a good adventure will enjoy both places. But maybe for different reasons.

Im curious about why you phrased the question as "which is more difficult"? Do you intend to use our opinion of relative difficulty as part of the research that you present to your youth? Will the more difficult choice make them want to do that option more or less? I suggest that the better way to present the differences is by describing the experience. In fact, if you can find some youth who have been to each, invite them to talk about their experience. I love Philmont and believe every Scout/Scouter should go at least once. But, I tell my Scouts that Philmont is kind of like hikin

We meet once a month - the Sunday before the campout. We run our skills so that a new skill starts the meeting after a campout and runs through the next campout (in theory the campout is the culmination). The PLC being a week before the campout gives Scouts a chance to plan out the next month with a week to make phone calls etc as necessary. BTW - a shout out to ItsBrian. I enjoy the right now, first hand experience you contribute to the discussions. Thank you for all that you do to improve your Troop.

Some people (our district advancement folks in particular) believe advancement is the most important part of Scouting. But - advancement is just one of the seven _methods_ of Scouting. The real measure of success is: are we instilling the values of citizenship, fitness, service and (the recently added) leadership. In my Troop, we encourage them to advance and we give them incentive by putting a minimum rank on high adventure, but otherwise we leave it up to them. As long as they are having fun they will stay involved. As long as they are involved they are seeing/learning/living the val

Im in Central Region and attended one of the meetings by invitation.

That's an interesting dilemma - hopefully a lesson learned. I dont think the Troop has any claim to the tents based on having stored them for 2 years. My initial thought would be that they bought the tents "for the patrol" and therefore they belong to the patrol. Of course the patrol is part of the Troop which is wholly owned "department" of the Charter Org. The funds contributed to help buy the tent would be considered a donation. I can also see the argument that the tents are owned by the Scouts who originally purchased them. In that case, the remaining Scouts would need to

Yes, they could and they should. As you read above, since they own the trailer/equipment they are the "proper" ones to hold the policy. HOWEVER - in my case, like many others, the CO does not understand the relationship. Not only will they not pay for the insurance, they wont even add our trailer/gear to the policy they already have for their own trailer. They insist they dont want any part of our "stuff" and I cannot get them to understand that they own it whether they want to or not.

Packs in my area do boy talks (usually the DE and/or Cubmaster) and fliers a couple of days before the recruiting event. One pack does the event as a pack meeting so that the current families are there. They provide hot dogs/chips/drinks. Leaders mostly circulate and talk to the families during the meal. After the meal the Den Chiefs and Den Leaders take the boys off to play games while the CM/CC talk to the parents. Other thing that I think is important, especially for Cub ages - visibility in the community. Have an activity at the town festival, get a banner and walk in the parades,

Isle Royale is a great trip too. We did a week there in 2015 - happy to share info if they make that choice.

If you use BSA trademarked images or phrases the vendor of the tshirts must be licensed. (http://licensingbsa.org/) Lots of vendors to choose from (I use Advantage Emblem) but if you want to have a local shop do it they'll need to do some paperwork. Licensed vendors have people to help with design issues. I have only encountered two things with my designs 1) they sometimes want (but sometimes dont) the copyright and trademark symbols. 2) one of my logos uses the "BSA version" of a fluer dis le that is partially covered by another image. On this they require that I put an addit

I agree - everyone has different interests, motivations, strengths and weaknesses and those things change over time. I spent 10+ years working directly with the youth as DL and ASM, now my roles are more behind the scenes. I find it very rewarding to teach adult leaders (WB, and other sessions). I see the same "ah ha" moments with adults as with youth. And I know that I can impact more youth by helping adults to be better Scouters than by working with the youth directly.

Our council has not (as long as Ive been involved) run a UofS but I assume it is somewhat like the Merit Badge University days that we have. That is - some group other than "the council" organizes it and recruits the instructors. If that is the case, you may not get any satisfaction complaining to the UofS folks. But - please do reach out to the council training chair, express your frustration with the poor quality, the editorializing and (most important) the not following the syllabus. Im sure if you offer to lend your experience, that you will find yourself with a shiny new Scouting h

The announcement made me wonder if OWL and BALOO are coming closer together but I have not seen / heard anything explicitly saying that.

Was catching up on some training info and learned that BALOO has just changed to a "blended" course. What caught my eye from the announcement is "...required to have at least one BALOO trained adult on every Cub Scout den or pack overnight outdoor event - including Pack Camping and Webelos Den overnighters" My understanding has always been BALOO for a pack overnight and OWL for a Webelos overnight. This does make sense now I think about it - the content of BALOO is about planning the outing and the content of OWL is about individual outdoor skills. I took the first module - it s

Thanks @@Stosh. You explained that much better than I did, and you made a point that I entirely neglected to make - the "others first" or "servant" aspect. Yes, often influence is an overt or intentional thing and often it is not for the good. But by taking care of others you are building trust and showing that you care for them. This influences them - not only to do something for me as I said, but also to not wander off or to "remain close for when the need arises again" as you said. I like the simplicity of your "take care of the boys" phrase. It focuses attention on serving ra

The definition I like to use is from John Maxwell (I strongly recommend reading his "21 irrefutable laws of leadership") To paraphrase @@Stosh - if people are not following, then you are not leading. People are willing to follow when you have earned their trust, demonstrated that you care about them and when they agree with what you are trying to accomplish. They may also "follow" when you do not have genuine influence, but that is not leadership (i.e. you are the boss and they have to do what you say else risk losing their job). Scouting is a such great environment for develo

Is that taking care of the technology for the course? Regardless, be a part of the fellowship and camaraderie is very energizing.

Of course, my apologies...