District Roundtable Attendance as a Yardstick?

[MaScout]

Tut, tut. Must we try to place a value on all of Scouting across the nation (world) based on our limited experiences?

 

In the thread from which this was spun, JKC said, There's a simple way to get to know these fine people (MBCs): They're the ones who attend District Roundtable.

 

My question is, so...if they don't attend District Roundtable, they are not fine people/not the ones you want to send your Scouts to?

 

You must live in a waaaaaay different situation than at least I do. We have VERY GOOD Merit Badge counselors. And very few of them attend Roundtable. Why not? Is it because they aren't interested in the boys? NO!

 

We live in a very rural community. To attend District Roundtable is a 150-200 mile roundtrip on a week night. (Incidentally, we hold THREE roundtables, at various places in our District. The mileage still holds.) We are fortunate when the Scoutmasters attend. We certainly dont expect to see our MBCs there.

 

I seldom make it. Does that mean I am not a quality leader? (I am currently a Webelos Den Leader, SM, Venture CC, and on District Training Committee.) NO. Could I benefit from attending RT? Yes. But when I am as involved as I am on a local level and have three active children of my own, whose activities fall on every day of the week, and when we are actively involved in our church, do I put RT high on my priority list? NO. Especially not when I need to drive that far and take an entire evening away for my family.

 

Sodo we expect our MBCs to attend? Certainly not! Are they still fine people? Can they still do a good job? YES! Do we need to monitor closely from home? Yes. Many of our MBCs come from parents within our troop. However, we have several others who have no affiliation with Scouts aside from being a MBC. For example, our Pottery MBC is the High School Art teacher, the Golf MBC is the Golf Coach at our HS, Theater & Public Speaking are handled by our Drama Coaches. They have no other association with Scouts. They are MBCs as a courtesy to us and to help us. To expect them to attend monthly Roundtable so far away is to eliminate quality counselors from the pool. We explain two-deep youth AND leaders to them and train them locally. Beyond this, yes, we monitor things. But with distances like they are, if we dont have MBCs in our own small town, our boys generally dont have the MB available.

 

While I realize and understand your paranoia is way high right now, that is no excuse to lump all counselors into the same pile.

 

MaScout

[ScoutNut]

Most District Roundtables are geared toward training & information for the units. The Scouters who are in charge are members of the District's Training Committee. The Scouter's who attend are usually registered members of units in the District.

 

While many MBC's are indeed registered unit leaders, many are not. They would simply have no need to attend a District Roundtable. Also, your District's Roundtables might be different from ours & draw 100% attendance of your District Scouters. At ours, I don't think we have ever had a time when even just 1 person from each unit was in attendance, much less registered MBC's!

 

 

[LongHaul]

Roundtable is suppposed to be a training aid/tool. I have seen it become a social event, a place to talk about whats happpening Scouting wise a calandar meeting once a month, a planning meeting for up comming events. Our roundtable is held on the same night as my unit meetings so I have to chose. Do I change my unit meeting night when roundtable night changes? No matter which night the district choses it is someones unit meeting night. Attendance at roundtable is a yardstick for measuring attendance at roundtable WHEN spoken of in terms of the individual. Attendance at roundtable can very well be a yardstick of unit involvement and quality when spoken of in terms of unit representation at roundtable. We have a "MAIL BOX" at opur roundtable with a spot for each unit to recieve info from anyone whattime to put something in their box. Having used the box to announce training opportunities I know that there are units that have not been represented at roundtable in many years. These units don't attend district events either. Should this be used to determine or is it even indicitive of the quality of MBCs registered with that unit?

[scoutldr]

Just a correction...the Roundtable is not a Training Committee function. It's a Commissioner staff function. The person in charge of the RT is called the Roundtable Commissioner.

[Lisabob]

I've been to some RTs as a unit leader that made me want to scream because they were simply social hours for the (pardon me, but it is true in this case) "Old Boy Network."

 

If we insisted that our MBCs attend too? Are you kidding? Half of them would probably quit being MBCs, either before hand (not having time to attend) or after (what a dismal waste of time it was)!

 

Of course RTs should be worthwhile and well-run and I'm happy to say our district has improved in this regard. But I still wouldn't want to use RT attendance as a yardstick for much of anything except perhaps the amount of free time a person has.

 

Lisa'bob

[John-in-KC]

Thank you all for the feedback Allow me to clarify.

 

Yes, I live in a suburban, bordering rural, district. There are different challenges for urban as well as rural districts.

 

In our neck of the woods, Boy Scout troops typically meet on Monday or Tuesday nights, Venturing Crews on Sunday or Tuesday nights, and Cub Scout Packs on 2d-4th Thursdays of the month. Our District RT is first Thursday.

 

Yes, the Commissioner's Service sponsors RT. Our District has a Cub RT COmmish, a Boy RT COmmish, and a Venturing RT Commish. Each has a staff, Cub and Boy being larger than Venturing. I do physical arrangements in support of all 3 programs.

 

We also have made RT night "District Unit Service Night." The District Committee Operating Committees below have activities:

- Advancement: Eagle Project Review, MB Counselor Training.

- Training: NLE Common Core; position specific sign-ups.

- Activities: Sponsorship of various events, from Day Camp to Camporee. GTFA advocacy.

- Camping: OA Chapter meeting.

- Membership and Relationships: Membership service table (we'll drive to Council for you); RED Team display and sign-ups.

- Commissioners and Professional Service: Need to bend the DE's ear? He's there!

- RT staff: Unit mailboxes for STUFF from Council and various activity sponsors.

 

Typically, I set seats for 80 in the Cub plenary session, Boy Scout headcount runs 125, and there are 15-20 Venturers and Venturing Scouters on hand.

 

Roundtable is not "just for the Scoutmaster and the Chairman." It is a place to learn and grow, to touch base (yes, Lisa, I've leveraged the network!), to prep the program for the coming months, and in our District, "one stop unit service."

 

My Districts' RT website, run privately, is:

http://www.kaiserklan.com/roundtable/

The webmaster does it as a huge labor of love.

 

So, if I'm looking for an external person to counsel a young man in a merit badge, I AM going to network among Scouters I know, and one of the places I know Scouters from is Roundtable.

 

YIS John

A Good Old Owl Too

[kittle]

MaScout,

 

It sounds like you must live in my Council. When I have attended Roundtable, I have to drive about 50 miles one way and it takes an hour to get there. I don't like to drive after dark. So, unless I get someone to go with me I don't usually attend.