Recruiting Pitch

[AnnLaurelB 10]

So what do y'all suggest I include/do (or not do) at my recruiting night?

 

 

 

[moosetracker 132]

RUN.. Run for your lives!!!

 

No??

 

Where is it being held? who is the audience? Age of kids? Parents normally all American, middle class? That sort of thing.. Need more details...

[AnnLaurelB 10]

Local elementary school cafeteria.

Prospective Cubbies and their parents.

Lower socioeconomic strata.

Mixed ethnicities.

[AnnLaurelB 10]

I have a pretty cool slide show (sans tunes); I thought about having my lappy running that the whole time, with pictures of everything our Pack did this year.

 

Should I ...throw candy... ? Pass out flyers?

[Scoutfish 16]

Be loud, obnoxious and rowdy.

 

Or De does a pretty god job of recruiting, but tends to talk over the kids too much.

 

Yeah, I know you are mostly selling to the parents, but they AND the kids pick up alot.

 

At our last roundup week ( 3 different school all within 12 4 miles of our CO ) there were 4 CM's ( myself included)

 

I made a point of loking at ands talking to the kids when they asked me something, and talking to the parents when they asked me something. I also joked weith the kids.

 

The other CM's just sat at a table waitiong for people to come over and sign up.

 

I collected 22 people the first night while the other CM's had 3 sign up between the four of them. Second night, I had 14 sign up ( 9 joined at our scout orientation meeting at the CO) whie the others had 2 between the 3 of them .

 

The last roundup night, our COr took my place as we were having our pack meeting and my first as CM.

 

He brought 1 application as he also sat down and waited for people to come to him.

 

One other thing: You have all the literature and all the "right stuff" to say.

 

But don't forget to tell the real stuff too.

 

Less parents would drop out of it - and thus taking their kids with them , if you tell the real world version of things.

 

Our DE tels the "in a poerfect world" version of what scouting should be like, I told them what they could really expect, while also telling them what they get out of it depends on what they invest - time and sweat wise - into it.

 

[Basementdweller 608]

Do it outside.....setup a tent, pinewood track, projects from the year.

 

bring all the boys. Have the boys playing a group game.

 

 

FUN FUN FUN is the pitch.

[moosetracker 132]

The video is good. We have done that at different activities with some success. A picture is worth a 1000 words, a slide show is worth a million..

 

Do you have some games that could keep the kids interested while you talk to the parents? Knowing your group you will have no worker bee helper, but if they are kindergarten, going on first grade for a new tiger den, then some easy thing may be just clothespins in a bottle, or blowing bubble, or an old light single colored bedsheet that they can all draw on together (with washable markers)..

 

The words I can't help you with.. I have been out of cub scouts for too long.. And I still think with your Pack, "run for your lives" is appropriate.

 

[AnnLaurelB 10]

Hmmmn...can't do it outside this time (this school doesn't HAVE an outside, really. It was built last year, which is AFTER the school district abolished recess, so they don't NEED outdoor space, since the kids don't ever...oh, never mind. It depresses me to talk about it.

 

And time is an issue; I get off work at 5:00, and can't get into the school until 5:45. But there WILL be uniformed Cubbies there with me, and I can enlist them to do things with their Ranks age groups.

 

I went in COLD last year, and did my best to emulate the pitch I'd heard (which wasn't bad) the year before. But he didn't really do anything fun. It didn't occur to me to PLAY, really.

 

But I guess you CAN treat this kind of like a Pack meeting, right?

 

(*wheels turning*)

 

[AnnLaurelB 10]

Heh. Moosetracker. :0)

 

I promised that I'd work through at least this coming Scouting year, and that means doing my best and not treating it like a lame duck (though it may be so). So I'll do my best to get boys interested, and I'll have to play hard ball with the parents and say they CANNOT form a Den unless they get a Leader and Asst Leader REGISTERED.

 

My DE said he'd either be there or get the UC there for me, so I can answer questions, and he can work on the applications.

 

I'm wondering if I should borrow the church's projector so I can blast the pictures up on a wall, and a boombox to play some fun music. (I don't have powerpoint on my lappy. Don't judge.)

 

 

[5yearscouter 52]

well if you don't have recess then you can pitch that not only do scouts teach the sports and games that the kids are missing out on, but I'll guess the school doesn't do much field trips, so you want to hit that scouting is about OUT--so outdoors, outside, field trips to out of the way fun places all over town. and then make those outings happen.

 

I usually have gathering kind of looking around at stuff and passing out paperwork and an introduction letter. show off some of the things we did the last year(or 6, I'm at 6 now!) lots of pictures, take a science fair board and cover it in cub scout photos. Each den is responsible for bringing stuff they've done to fill tables worth of gear. Decorate the room with camping gear if you can.

 

then after a few people are there, have a little intro with flags, teach a bit about the bobcat, a little bit about how scouts work (by grade, for school year), and a bit about the committment (our dens meet 4 times a month for the most part plus pack meetings).

 

Then we try to get the kids playing a game(sometimes before that if the kids are antsy)

 

you could do matchbox cars down the derby track,

you could do silly olympics type games.

 

our first roundup the boy scouts came and made popsicle stick bombs with the kids and they played on the playground.

 

our first real roundup where we got 30 kids growing from 4 scouts who stayed thru that first year--we had a roundup(might want to save that for the fall) with a fake cow to rope, a saddle to sit on, and a fake cow to milk. we also iced a twinkie with green icing and stuck pretzels in it. it was a combo pack meeting and roundup because we didn't have any reason to do it separately.

 

[AnnLaurelB 10]

POPSCICLE STICK BOMBS?!? Do tell! Please!

 

I just made a shortened version of my slide show--I only included the very best action shots, the best smiley faces, and the sweetest parent/child shots.

 

I've been scrolling through them, practicing what I'll say about each event; most lines geared to the boys and HOW MUCH FUN WE HAVE, but also some geared toward the parents about how all the fun is actually sugarcoating learning the 12 core values.

 

I'ma hit 'em hard on the sentimentality, but also point out that I'm just the dog-and-pony show. THEY as parents are the ones who take the program and make it wonderful moments with their sons.

 

I'm trying to think of some questions I can ask the boys at the beginning, so I can throw candy. I throw candy a lot in Pack meetings. It seems to be enjoyed. :0)

[SeattlePioneer 144]

I had great success Monday with our rocket launch. Boys and parents worked together to make a model rocket from a sheet of paper, which the boys then launched from our six rocket launchers.

 

Boys were all issued Cub Scout Rocket Pilot licenses, and each time their rocket exceeded a certain minimum distance they got a sticker on their rocket pilot license.

 

After the parents had a chance to DO this Cub Scout activity with their boy, and observe some of the rocket launching, we took parents aside and gave them the opportunity to sign up for Cub Scouts. I collected nine new applications, which was excellent for this struggling pack.

 

 

The best feature of this was that it grabbed the attention of boys when I talked to them during school lunches. I took the rocket and launcher with me, and asked boys if they'd like to make and launch rockets. Then I asked boys who thought their rocket would go the highest and the farthest!

 

Just TALKING about Cub Scouts to a Kindergarten or First Grader has it's limitations ---- many don't have much of an idea of what Cub Scouts is. But they DO understand the rocket when it's shown to them!

 

Much the same thing can be done with a paper airplane folding and flying contest, with boys making and decorating a paper airplane and competing to see whose airplane goes the farthest.

 

A fun variation is to see who can land their paper airplane on an aircraft carrier (a table decorated as an aircraft carrier with a cardboard "island" superstructure.)

 

I did this as a recruiting night separate from regular den or pack meetings. But it attracted current Cub Scouts too, and I put the parents to work helping me run the rocket building, rocket launch and recruiting program.

[dg98adams 18]

I have used these bombs in Pack meetings and recruiting events.. cheap and fun to make.

 

[briantshore 14]

I usuall have at least one other adult with me. I bring in my patch collection and spread them on the table. I ask the boys to see if they can find any duplicates, ask what there favorite one is, what one is the oldest. I explain that patches can tell a story of where one has gone, and what they have done. I have also set up a station where they can make a homeade neckerchief slide. Popcycle sticks, stickers, and pipe cleaners with a hot glue gun. It keeps the boys busy while the parents can talk with the other leader. This way the parents are not distracted by the child and they can get all the information they need.