Jameson76

Well.. you would need to actually see the first 4 on the list. That is not likely in the real world, you know...on a camping trip, where there are actual youth. The wood badgers are harmless and humorous; just let them wear their kilts, beads, pink hankies, carry walking stick with 30 lbs of trinkets, etc and they are easy to spot and avoid. There are many who like to wear the 7 rows of knots, medals, ribbons, and cords; gives them a South American dictator look. One of my Scouts asked me what all of that stuff was on one Scouters pockets, told him I had no idea. He asked what mine were; told him Arrow of Light, Eagle, Training award, that's all you may need.

I can personally attest that is in fact the case. Lasted a couple of years. Immediately went back to volunteering with units and never looked back. You become a DE and Professional Scouter to (naively thinking) work with units, camp, become the Scouting expert. In reality you are pushing paper, have key 3 meetings with volunteers, doing a lot of planning, raising money, sweating membership numbers, following up on what volunteers haven't done, etc etc. Never really see a Scout, at camporees and summer camp it's all about the problems or a volunteer bending your ear over some issue. Scouting fun is best experienced at the unit level. That's where the best times are.

Lots of posts about the number of hours that DE's work. What are they actually doing? If you say meetings etc, I can get that, but most of the volunteer district meetings are evenings. Is the DE really a second shift (3 - 11) position, or some other time shifted position? If the DE is complaining about hours worked in that "I do 9 - 5 plus evening meetings", that's possibly not a workload issue, that's a scheduling issue. Seriously, how much Scouting happens in the weekday mornings? Would a volunteer that asked a question in the morning be really all that bent if the answer came in the afternoon? A good bit of this seems to get down to management of the DE by the SE (Small council) of DFS in larger councils. Key is setting expectations early on, understanding work / life balance.

Sad part is these and the other lawyers have little or no real desire to compensate and help victims. If they did then this would handled in a different manner, with the focus on getting the proven victims assistance. This is lawyers eyeing the billion + in assets, dreaming of a new vacation home, and suing the BSA. Yeah yeah, the victims will get some crumbs....maybe

I think the valued assets on the IRS form were listed at $1.4 billion. That is listed value. Not sure how much all that might be worth if forced to liquidate. Assume some (large portion) of that is the value of the name and copyrights on writings. If the BSA liquidates, that value is sort of nil

Same for us with a troop and packs, Scouting has been these over 40 years. My church, not where my troop is, is UMC and also CO for a troop (and also pack). After LDS the Methodist church was the 2nd largest CO for Scouting. I assume they have moved into the top spot now My thoughts are that as with many things, Scouting is in fact local. The congregation will, for the most part, not magically become another group of people. If the UMC universal were to split and the local houses of worship would rename, become independent....whatever, the units would likes continue. The only issue would be if the church site actually closes due to some challenge. Then the troop may need to find a new CO If the house of worship continues then just update the charter, social media, and continue on providing a quality program to the youth of the community

To be clear, this was a proposal that was developed by a group of 16. That group has no more or no less standing within the church that any other group. The church did have a variety of plans they voted on last year, the traditional plan was in fact the one that was supported. Note this is not the same traditional plan that is being noted as breaking away in the releases. This group has a proposal, they issued press release, that got picked up by national media as the "gospel" for the UMC. The church is in fact not splitting and if you delve deep into the governance of the UMC and the connectional church that it is, a split would be a complicated endeavor. The First Methodist Church of Capital City is not a franchise or an affiliate, it is a Methodist Church. This is not like councils that can sell and buy property as they fit locally. Nor is it like the Baptist Church that may be affiliated with say the Southern Baptist Conference and then become a local community church with no specific affiliation. Splitting assets, apportionments, retirements salaries, seniority, clergy assignments, determination of seniority in the church and who can marry whom where, perform rites such as communion would all need to be worked out. The churches in the UMC are first of all, “owned in trust,” by the trustees of each local church. They have the ability to keep the church in good repair and build a new church and sell the old building upon moving from one building to another. They cannot sell the building and transfer the value to an independent church nor can they leave the UMC and make the active church an independent church. If the trustees are a part of a church that chooses to close, the property they have kept in trust is then turned over to the Conference trustee board to be kept in trust by that board. It is then used as the Conference trustee board sees fit to do. Technically all UMC property is ultimately the property “in trust” of the Annual Conference and cannot be given or sold to another church body without Conference approval. The local congregation “owns” their church building but it is a trustee type of ownership not an outright ownership. The pastor is a member of Conference not the local church. He is appointed to serve his local church as an appointee of the Bishop of the Conference [at the Bishop’s will and pleasure]. The Bishop is the primary pastor of each local church and keeps each church served by his appointed pastor… in trust… for the Conference. He, or the local pastor, does not and cannot own a church as some independent pastors do. As they say, the devil would be in the details.

Same here on the DE churn, we really do not get attached to them. Going back about 12 years DE left, position open for 6 months, new DE was in position about a year, got promoted, new DE was there for about a year, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a year, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a 6 months, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a year, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a 6 months, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a year, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a 6 months, left, position open for 6 months, new DE was there for about a 6 months, left, position open for 6 months, now the new DE has been moved from another district, so we'll see how long they last. The one a few back (sort of lost count) some of our Scouts on camp staff met when they came up to summer camp, we never actually met them. They were gone by November of that year.

Not sure of where you are geographically or your local school schedules, our experience has shown that due to our public school schedules (ends before Memorial Day), we have been able to get crew slots late May early June when needed. You camp so no seasickness at night. The war canoe out is not bad, same with trip back. The deep sea fishing day can be rocky and rolly, but it is only for 1 day and can be calm, depending on the wind. Shark fishing at night is cool, until you realize you are walking back in water you just fished in...gives pause. Seabase open registration is starting 1/15/2020

Lord - no wonder turnover is so high Hey...join our organization and go to training in WEST VIRGINIA!! Current slogan: Wild, Wonderful West Virginia According to its tourism website, West Virginia is a place to make childhood memories. Slightly blurry, distant memories that likely end in a trip to the ER, which turn out to be pretty great memories after all, when you're taking off your shirt and answering onlookers' questions about those wild, wonderful surgical scars criss-crossing your torso. Better slogan: Only Makes You Stronger

We do those adventures. I do not think they start every day, but I may be incorrect. I thought they started on only a couple of days during the week. There is limited space on Munson. Our guys have always enjoyed Seasbase. They can do a lot of different activities. We are in the Southeast. Our crews fly down on SAT, use a tour group for SAT night then to Seabase and start the trek on Sunday, this means the crew stays at base SUN, then on the island MON - THU, back to base on FRI night and fly back SAT

All you youngsters...really back in the day is was NEI 1 and 2. Even then you took NEI 1 after 90 - 120 days. NEI 2 was taken at least a year or so later. Mine was in Irving, big thing was to go to National Office and see the CSE office

What adventure are you looking to do at Seabase?

While I agree in part, the effectiveness of marketing is multi-layered 1) Brand Awareness in general 2) Regional general brand awareness 3) Locally focused brand awareness and acceptance. It would take a concerted effort to layer this and being about a good brand awareness for the BSA Take for example our good friends at say Mercedes Benz. For the Brand awareness in general there are the commercials for the cars, what you can get, nice looking people enjoying the car, etc For the regional for example they sponsor sports stadiums, golf tournaments, get their name mentioned not specifically in a car commercial For local the area dealership will have an ad that tells you where you can get the MB and how that will change your life, and maybe Karen who lives in local community will do a testimonial Now could BSA do something similar National develops ads that develop the brand; Fun, Outdoors, Leadership, Adventure etc etc (Scout out doing things) At the regional level you talk about specific camps and adventure opportunities in the area Locally you highlight councils and even specific units in areas and what they are doing Honestly see all the marketing folks at councils and national, I assume they are marketing to get donations so they can keep their jobs, not sure what else they may doing. Question for the professionals and volunteers is - Do we raise money to have Scouting - OR - Do we have Scouting so we can raise money?? It's all about perspective

Aside from the actual injuries that need to be attended to.... Water is the best medicine for youth, so many times they are just dehydrated Applesauce is a great treat to get things moving.....which can reduce the stomach aches Make sure the leader in camp for the unit is aware the youth has come to the health lodge, many times there may be a backstory to an "illness" No phone calls home by the Scout without consulting the leader Talk to the Scout who needs assistance as a equal, do not talk down to them and if a leader accompanies them, do not let them speak for them Many issues that popup after dark fade away with sunlight

Wow - $58MM loss for 2018 Also note the $1.4 Billion in assets, no doubt that has the variety of legal teams salivating

I think sadly that will be the story for many troops / districts / councils as the year end numbers are posted. There has been a lot happening these past several years, not all of the messaging has been handled effectively. Yes many units continue to do well, but many long term volunteers have quietly folded their tents and moved on. Honest question: there is an event for to celebrate the girls joining Scouts BSA. We are one big happy family. But if the Boy units want to attend, that's great. but just can't spend the night? Why the exclusion?

I would be intrigued to know what these folks actually do on a daily basis to support the units and grow Scouting? Also, for every one of these there are the minions that do the actual stuff. Sure the average is $322 K annually for this staff, but how many other staff does this in fact spawn? What does the Director of National Jamboree do the other 3 years? What exactly doe the CSE and Director of Outdoor Adventures do? Maybe High Adventure bases, but those all also have GM's, wonder what value they bring and how many new members (you know the actual youth) this brings or members their efforts retain. I worked for a company, about 1 billion of so in sales, we had 12 locations (a distributor business) and handled about 40K orders daily. Our overall executive load was easily 1/2 of this, and no high end retirement plans. Point is I am sure these folks are busy, but what are they actually busy doing to drive sales (more youth)? Do they even have an idea what that work entails? When I ran one of our sites I would be out on the floor picking orders daily, seeing what our customers were ordering, working with the staff who actually did the front line work each and every day. On what do they do, this is the same question we ask about our DE when, on the rare occasion, actually have a question and may need some support...crickets...unless it's about Benjamins. Then he's all in.

For 2017 it is actually 19 staff that were listed. The average W2 reportable compensation for the 19 was $332,000. Interestingly there is a John Mosby who is now an Assistant CSE of Development as of March 2019 ($310K in salary for 2017 as a Regional Director). Wonder if he is any relation to the new CEO Roger Mosby?

That is 20 just at the National BSA office. This is shown in their form 990. Each council is required to file a 990 form. You can do a Google search and likely find the PDF of the document. The requirement is to show salaries over $100K

What I find interesting is that his title is CEO and President, and not Chief Scout Executive. Not sure if that is purposeful or just the new direction. I know those of us in corporate America notice when there are changes in titles at the top levels or a large organization. His real challenge will be the bloat at the top and the overall lack of business acumen. Looking at form 990 for 2017 - https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/221576300/12_2018_prefixes_20-22%2F221576300_201712_990_2018120315968954 reveals a good bit $266 million in revenue $307 million in expenses A loss of $41 million $78 million in salaries Also insurance $66 million in insurance $25 million in claims Looking at part VII you will see the salaries of those over $100k 20 or more over $100K in salary

And therein lies the issue. Many people see Scouting in many different ways. Scouting, as @ParkMan noted is a "a youth development activity, Scouting is designed to put youth into new and challenging situations in a safe environment. Because these situations are challenging, Scouts often try them, struggle, fail, and then try them again. Along the way, youth often have to assume more responsibility then they are accustomed to" We cannot and should not try to be so many things to so many different constituencies. Concentrate on what we as an organization do well, focus on that. How many companies have all of us seen that start out doing one thing, then see the next new shiny thing and head in that direction, only to have the whole enterprise collapse. Rather than focusing on winning youth with the core program, BSA seems to be constantly trying to vary the program, to chase the next shiny thing. Whether that be STEM (STEAM??), now Family Scouting, and who knows what's next.

Oh yeah - National sees this as the great untapped masses, sadly that is NOT what draws youth to Scouting I would agree. Most Scouts and teenagers will tell you that one of the great things about Scouts BSA is they get away from Mom and Dad That which can be monetized will be prioritized That is so true, a family can definitely go camping without the BSA, that will be a lesson learned no doubt Sadly we are seeing that in many Webelos and their families crossing over. We talk patrols, boy led, individual pace; and they want advancement outing, focus on keeping all at the same pace, and making sure all Scouts are monitored at all times. Basically how can they win / finish at Scouts and then go to the next thing.

Wow - I guess the new focus is officially FAMILY CAMPING if you look at Scouting Magazine The cover is all about Family Camping Note from the CSE is Family Camping at Philmont (gotta pay the new mortgage I guess) Commissioners Corner is Family Camping Some article about Madcap Family (not sure if it's Scouting related) MB article on (you guessed it) Family Life (Hey...we should all go camping!!) Main FAMILY TIME article (6 pages) So I guess that's where we're heading....

Honestly do any actual Scouts (or Cubs / Venturers / Explorers ) really care if they are Bronze - Silver - Gold - Chartreuse?? Do they even know if they are Bronze - Silver - Gold - Chartreuse?? Do they even know what JTE is?? My point is that JTE seems to be (is??) adult leaders reporting things to other adults leaders who then report to other adult leaders who then report to more adult leaders. The intent is good and at it's heart there can be benefit. In practice it's a form that unit leaders fill out as another leader finalizes the recharter form(s). One more piece of paperwork.