BeAScout.Org Recruiting Website

[SeattlePioneer 144]

BeAScout.Org is a relatively new interactive website that allows people looking for Cub Scout, Boy bScout or Venturing program to find units in their area.

 

It's worth checking out if you aren't familiar with it.

 

Units can customize their "pin" which symbolizes the location of their unit. When someone clicks on the pin, a photo or logo chosen by the unit appears along with basic information about the unit and an e-mail to the unit leader can be sent easily.

 

My council isn't making much use of that resource ---not yet anyway. I customized mu units pin, but couldn't find any others that had been customized.

 

If it's not customized, the default e-mail goes to the council and only limited information is provided when the unit icon is selected.

 

Just a week or so ago my DE sent me two emails that went to the council for our district (as District Membership Chair I follow up on such inquiries).

 

So---

 

Does your council use and promote beascout.org? Have you checked your unit to see if the pin has been updated?

 

Is this working for you?

 

 

Seems like a slick system if it gets up and going.

 

I've checked various areas around the country and found some where the pins have mostly been updated. So it looks like some councils are probably using it and others, not.

 

[Proud Eagle 13]

Most Scoutmaster I have talked with know of it and many have even looked at it. Few have made use of it. If council cares anything about it that would be news to me. It looks like a great little no-brainer of a tool, but we spend more time worrying about what BSA policy says you can't do with the internet than trying to make good use of the internet.

[Eagle92 110]

East Carolina Council is promoting it.

[SMEagle819 10]

It was presented at our District Roundtable this past Thursday. I was already aware of it from some other things I had read (can't remember where) and when I was messing around in MyScouting.org for training. I have updated our pin on the map, and like some other posters, many others have not been updated. I like the idea...it even has a function that can tell you how many requests for info you have had about your "pin," and if those requests have been followed up on.

[TigerLisa 10]

I stumbled across the BeAScout page a couple of months ago and updated our "pin" information with our pack website and correct contact information. Since then I have received several leads from the site, a couple of which have resulted in Scout registrations. I've had mixed results with the follow-up tool for contacting the interested parents...twice the information actually went through, and once it appears to have been lost. Using the e-mail address the parent provides and contacting them directly (outside of BeAScout) seems a safer alternative. Still, it requires little effort on our part to keep the pin updated, so it is a no-brainer to do it and take advantage of the tool.

[eaglescout1996 10]

Our council is supporting it...I actually went through a PPT during the August RT and then did a reminder at the September one.

 

We recieved a lot of good responses and a majority of our units have customized their pins.

[WestCoastScouter 10]

We customized our pin as soon as it came out.

 

As of today, Dec. 6th - we've had ZERO hits.

 

I think it's a nice idea... but I dont see any results.

[skeptic 993]

So, I hate to be ignorant, but I do not see how you can edit your site info. The council comes up, but there does not appear to be any type of change or correction button.

 

Thanks for any clarification someone might give.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

skeptic,

 

 

You need to sign in on a myscouting.org account.

 

Under unit tools, select beascout.

 

You have to be registered as a unit leader to update the pin for a unit.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

I'm challenging all comers to see who has the niftiest pin!

 

 

To see my Cub Scout Pack, enter an address of 1020 sw 128 st, burien, wa zip 98146.

 

Select "more information" unit 1 St Bernadette Parish

[SeattlePioneer 144]

As district Membership Chair, I talked to the District Executive tonight about using the BeAScout.org website as a recruiting tool this spring.

 

We both think it's a useful tool, but our council hasn't been promoting its use.

 

Despite that, we are considering how we might pioneer use of this tool in the council. Some i8deas include:

 

1. We need to get access to the website in order to use its features. Getting appropriate passwords and such shouldn't be too difficult.

 

2. We need to clean up the website, eliminating units that are listed but don't exist for various reasons. Once we have access and passwords, that should be easy to do.

 

3. We need to motivate units to update their pins, the information provided when someone clicks their unit on the map.

 

Methods to do that are:

 

A) The usual e-mail blasts

 

B) We are planning to award a ribbon to units meeting certain membership standards. Updating pins would be one of the requirements.

 

C) If pins aren't updated, iquiries go to the Council and District. When forwarding on membership inquiries, a reminder to update pins would be included

 

4) The biggest issue is how to promote use of the website. Our answer to that is to slap the BEASCOUT.ORG brand on as many things the district does as possible, including all the recruiting material printed up for spring campaigns.

 

 

We are fancying ourselves as the pioneers and models for the rest of the council on how to use this resource. After using this for the spring and fall recruiting seasons, we might anticipate taking the results back to the council to encourage a council commitment to using this resource a year from now.

 

 

Any additional ideas on how to promote use of the website or encourage units to update pins and such would be welcome.

[eaglescout1996 10]

There also needs to be a link from the scouting.org homepage.

 

If you do a search for "boy scout" on Google, it takes you to scouting.org.

[ScoutNut 147]

>>"There also needs to be a link from the scouting.org homepage."

[SeattlePioneer 144]

I suspect that BeAScout.Org depends primarily upon local councils to promote it's use.

 

When I was talking to my DE about this yesterday, he said that the council might choose to slap the BeAScout.Org logo on printed up recruiting literature, posters, stickers, post cards, yardsigns and other material used in council and district recruiting campaigns.

 

That the kind of thing some councils are already doing. But it's up to each council to decide the themes and methods they will use for their recruiting campaign.