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InquisitiveScouter

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Everything posted by InquisitiveScouter

  1. And probably thousands upon thousands printed... Having a close friend who works in a Scout Shop, I can tell you the markup on all Scouting merchandise is high. Some things over 100% (double what was paid to National Supply at wholesale.)
  2. Yes, hmmmm... Stamp Collecting, one of my favorites...only 919 Scouts awarded in 2019. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/02/17/2019-merit-badge-rankings-which-were-the-most-and-least-popular/ How many books do you think they printed? There are five sitting in our Scout Shop (although I'm not sure they are current versions.) (I did not mention Bugling, another favorite, at the bottom of the list, because it is incorporated into Music MB pamphlet; 12882 awarded.)
  3. It's less than half of what our current guy gets... Your definition of similar is not similar to mine.
  4. As a baseline....a suggestion...add percentages based on performance. It's as good, or arbitrary, a scheme as saying pay them a percentage of their expenditures...which seems really whack, especially if most of those expenditures are fixed and they don't control that money anyway... Best comment of the day, @mrjohns2 If I could give it ten likes, I would.
  5. You are a bit ignorant here, brother...O-4's with two years of service are pretty scarce...usually only medical career fields, who are people with their professional degrees already. Doctors, lawyers, etc. The average person is promoted to O-4 at around the 11 year point. So the comparison is an O-4 at 10-12 years service, as you point out. And, sorry for the vague pronoun antecedent, but I meant doubling the E pay for the council level. Hire the O's for Regional/National level...99% of the retired officers I know have more integrity in their pinkie than any council execs I h
  6. Don't know. But if you pay me 5 million dollars, I'll be glad to come up with a pay structure that provides adequate compensation for the tasks, while attracting the needed skill sets to meet those tasks. I would trust our local grocery store manager to better manage our council than it currently is. Most separated or retired military officers at or above the rank of O-4, and most separated or retired enlisted at or above E-6 would be great candidates as well. Give them double what they were making on active duty, and you'd have a good start.
  7. Only a Sith deals in absolutes. Do you really think I am advocating that people work for free? At the council level, I could see a structure of using the median income of the population you serve as a baseline. Add a percentage increase year by year based on performance. Many ways to skin that cat. But no council (that I know of) gets to select its own talent. BSA selects the "talent pool" for them. And they must select one of those. So, ultimately its about surviving the long con in the network of who-you-know to land a slot at the feeding trough.
  8. I acknowledge that "This is the Way", but I believe, at it's heart, this model is flawed. And I know I ain't going to be the one to change it. This data, when presented to Mom and Pop on main street, doesn't fly. Especially in the light of the "value-added" discussions we have had. And I do not buy the 'we have to pay these kinds of salaries to attract the talent" argument.
  9. Except that the execs will still be getting their six or seven figure salaries and retirement compensations, no matter which way it goes.
  10. What were your recharter fees this year, compared to last? Wanna place bets now on whether those fees will increase with a future-payments-victim-compensation-fund? You can bet your sweet campfire they will. You and I and our future Scouts will be the ones paying into this. That's the connection...
  11. There is a Chesapeake Bay Sailing Adventure offered thru Rodney Scout Reservation in Del-Mar-Va council. https://www.delmarvacouncil.org/high-adventure-opportunities/high-adventure-sailing-on-the-chesapeake/9297 Cost is less than Sea Base. You can cut costs even more if you plan for and procure your own meals, which, according to my sources, is really all the Rodney provides for you....so, camp food. You can charter with the Captain directly, provide your own meals, at substantially lower cost, and still get a High Adventure program, including merit badges. DM me if yo
  12. How is it a disadvantage to lawyers and claimants, unless the settlement includes mandated future payments into a victim's compensation fund? If that is the case, then who has to bear that financial burden?
  13. Just thinking about this...and please help me flesh out these thoughts... The IRS allows individuals to receive monetary gifts, up to a certain amount, tax free. I have often thought units might give (even anonymously) gifts to value-added council employees to support them directly. 2020 & 2021 exclusion is $15K. Give privately, so council doesn't reduce their salaries. Having done Lone Scouting in various locations around the world (registration and support processes through electronic means), and with Scoutbook and Scoutshop on line, I can see a future for unit-level Sco
  14. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/03/13/interpreting-under-the-auspices-in-national-outdoor-awards-requirements/#:~:text=If it's part of a Scout's work on merit badges,state park wouldn't count.
  15. Lol...at the unit level, concur...and IMHO, this should be the case for district and council level events for units. This is a great role for the OA! And as I shared in a previous post, our PLC had planned and geared up to staff/run several stations at two separate district events, and were waved off at last minute by district committee volunteers who said ,"We have enough adults to run things now." Our PLC corporate memory still bears a bit of scar tissue from that. I don't blame them...
  16. Not at district or council level...right?
  17. A tool, of course, but one of the best in the tool box of things to attract, recruit, engage, and retain youth.
  18. Nor do they have to provide you copies. This was a speed bump, but I understand they don't need to spend time making copies. So, I asked if it would be scanned to a file. No, definitely not, was the answer. Now the speed bump is a road block. So I just wait until items are available on Charity Navigator or GuideStar and then distribute for public information. This is part of why I am blacklisted. I see it as just facilitating transparency
  19. Awww @MattR, the occasional rabbit hole is fine, right?? Council fees should help fund professionals who go out and recruit and train (or see that training is provided to) adult volunteers (Commissioners included) to run the program. Tracing it backwards, bad program is usually a result of poor adult volunteerism, which is usually a result of a lack of recruiting/training by professionals, who get paid by the council fees... I firmly believe, if the program was the focus, the fees and fundraising would fall into place with no issues. That does not seem to be the mindset here (i
  20. Barry, The observation on our program is mine, when looking at other units, and speaking with volunteers and parents at multiple events. And, I totally get that Commissioners' attention should be first and foremost to units that are struggling. My point is just what you sussed out: our council/district/unit Commissioner apparatus is broken, and I believe it directly affects the quality of programs at each level. The secondary point is that, if we did experience an issue we needed help with, I'd have no idea who to call directly. We do not have a Unit Commissioner assigned, nor ha
  21. This is one facet of the problem. Thanks. And I am not the only one...there are quite a few around here who are in that boat. It seems our council board is really out of touch with the volunteer base as well. We are a perfect example of where leadership is cutting off its nose in spite of its face.
  22. And only good for two years? Whereas a NCS certification is good for five?? For me to volunteer to be your Short-Term Camp Administrator? I'll pass. Instead, I think I'll apply for the National Office job of Short-Sighted Camping Program Demolisher
  23. If it is virtual, and required by National, could it be done through https://training.scouting.org/?? Or is it tailored to your specific locale??
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