Welcome to our April 1st, 2013 Monday Memo

Do you want to give us your opinion on possible changes to the BSA Membership Standards?

Did you submit updated email addresses with your recharter? 

If so, you should be receiving a Voice of the Scout Survey sometime between March 8 and March 15. 
As a part of that survey, all adults will be asked some questions about possible changes in the BSA membership standards, as well as their opinions about Scouting programs.

If not, you can still get the survey by clicking here to register your email.  You will need your membership ID number to register (if you don’t know it the council can help). 

If this link does not work paste the following URL into your browser:  http://scouting.us.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0lecWOay3bPbczP

Venturing Crew 604 Hike

On March 25-29, 2013 Venture Crew 604 hiked down (and back up) the Grand Canyon. Exhausting, but an amazing accomplishment. 4,400' of elevation loss between the rim and the river at Hermit Rapids. Hermit Trail turned out to be quite a challenge, since it's not maintained like the Kaibab or Bright Angel trails. A steep, rocky scramble most of the way.

Heidi Salerno, Murrieta Crew 604

Stampede 2013 SAVE THE DATE!

September 27 - 29, 2013 at Glen Helen Regional Park, Devore CA

Look for registration information at your May Roundtable and at www.bsa-ciec.org

Make Mondays Better With ‘Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?’

It’s got adventure, humor, drama, and it makes Mondays better! Tune in to the new reality TV show “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?” each Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on the National Geographic Channel through April 1 (when two episodes will be aired). In episode 4, “Where Eagles Fly,” the Scouts and challengers will put their pioneering and shooting skills to the test. Tune in to see who comes out on top! The “Tougher” Web page (www.toughscout.com) features show information, and you can help build local buzz by posting this week’s trailer on your website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and any other social media. This show is a great opportunity to showcase the great character and leadership skills that are developed in Scouting

Two Times The Impact

Don’t Miss the Final Two Episodes of “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?”

More than 1 million viewers have tuned in to “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?” Now, get ready for back-to-back episodes on Monday, April 1, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on the National Geographic Channel.

Double your fun by watching Scouts vs. adults in episode 5, “Face Plant,” featuring archery and rifle shooting, and episode 6, “Man vs. Scout,” in which challenges in speed and safety take an unexpected turn!

Continue to spread the word about the program via email, social media, and word of mouth. Build local buzz by posting the trailer on your website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and any other social media channels!

Here is a sample post you might use:

“Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?” Monday, April 1, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on the National Geographic Channel. The series from Original Productions (“Deadliest Catch” and “Ice Road Truckers”) features teams of adults facing off against teams of Scouts in a variety of adventurous Scout-based challenges. Tune in to see Scouting in a new light!

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/are-you-tougher-than-a-boy-scout/ and show trailers at: http://toughscout.com/.

The “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?” Web page (www.toughscout.com) features show information. There are also downloadable digital and print assets in the Marketing Toolbox (www.scouting.org/marketing).

This show is a great opportunity to showcase the character and leadership skills that are developed in Scouting.

New Roundtable Practices Adopted for 2013

A BSA volunteer Roundtable Task Force was started in 2011. The mission of the roundtable group was to:

• Undertake a comprehensive study of how effectively we are delivering and supporting roundtables in the various types of councils around the country, with a separate focus on the needs of each of our traditional programs: Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturing;
• Improve the content and quality of Roundtable communications and training support by identifying and deploying best methods and developing technology resources that will result in more effective administration of roundtables, and
• Coordinate with other task forces and the BSA National Council to jointly develop and deliver the “next generation” of roundtables as we enter our second century of unit service.

Shown below are the task force’s recommendations approved as standard practice beginning in 2013:

Assistant Roundtable Commissioners (name change): Program-specific roundtable commissioners for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity, and Venturing are responsible for the development and delivery of their monthly meeting agenda and program items. All others who assist these individuals are deemed assistant roundtable commissioners. That negates the need for a staff position. Most important, it allows the assistants to pursue the normal roundtable training and awards structure. Each program-specific roundtable commissioner would be able to have as many assistants as are needed (e.g., Cub Scouts may need several to facilitate their program breakouts while others may not need as many). So, each could have as many as they deem appropriate based on district size, attendance numbers, and breakout groups formed.

The current patches, which consist of the Cub Scout and Boy Scout Roundtable Staff, Varsity Scout Huddle Staff, and Venturing Roundtable Staff, will be replaced with the patch shown at left. The two positions described below are recommended as standardized operating practice. In large councils, there may be a need for more than one ACC roundtable in order to viably cover a huge number of districts or territory. In small councils one may be fine or perhaps not needed at all. Or in these smaller councils, perhaps an ACC roundtable is needed, but the ADC roundtable isn’t. One or the other seems necessary to give better oversight to the roundtable program since lack of oversight appears to be one of the factors contributing to poor performance! These two positions will also promote the use of technologies to most effectively reach units that do not or cannot attend normal roundtable meetings.

1. Assistant Council Commissioner—Roundtable (new position): this person would report to the council commissioner and conduct an annual council-wide roundtable planning meeting followed up by a midyear review. This process would bring some standardization to district roundtable in terms of content of material by promoting the use of national roundtable guides, and this should help keep meetings interesting and focused on assisting units. It would be recommended that this person visit district roundtables from time to time to review content and attendance. While the position of assistant council commissioner currently exists in some councils, this specific assignment pertaining to roundtable responsibilities is not formalized, and thus a specific job description has been designed.

2. Assistant District Commissioner—Roundtable(new position): This person would report to the district commissioner and work with the district structure, but needs to be responsive to and work in cooperation with the ACC roundtable to see that the annual planning and midyear review programs are well attended by the district program-specific roundtable commissioners. In addition it is a perfect position from which to see that national roundtable guide materials are being used so proper program materials are being given to units. This person could also be the moderator for roundtables held at the same time and place for all program levels within a district. This gives a dynamic to the meeting with broader social opportunities and sheer numbers, both of which can provide energy to an event. This person should be visiting program-specific roundtable groups on at least a quarterly basis to evaluate content and attendance and report such to the district commissioner at commissioner meetings. While the position of assistant district commissioner currently exists in some councils, this specific assignment pertaining to roundtable responsibilities is not formalized, and thus a specific job description has been designed.

Roundtable Best Practices

There are 11 best practice ideas listed below that have been gathered to date. Others will be added as they become available. Specifically, the task force is looking for ways to meet the needs of various geographic groups: urban/suburban, rural, technology-rich, technology-poor, etc.

1. Participation increased when attendees were included in the presentation process each month: e.g., lead opening, deliver announcements, lead a song, do the closing minute, etc.
2. Send monthly email reminders to leaders at least five to seven days before the roundtable with information about what is planned for the meeting and, when appropriate, offer attending leaders a chance to register for upcoming events or activities before the registration is opened to the rest of the district.
3. Divide attendees into patrols so the patrols run much of roundtable, rotating through responsibilities each month. Communities, if appropriate, can set up patrols and then elect a patrol leader. A patrol leaders’ council is conducted at the end of each roundtable to go over assignments for the next month.
4. Seek input from participants by conducting quarterly or semiannual start/stop/continue activities.
5. Keep attendance, as this allows for recognition of those participating and identification of those not participating, and can lead to tracking of training needs. Have name tags for all attendees.
6. Provide social time with snacks. Ask a unit to volunteer in advance to bring the snacks. These can be for pre-meeting or post-meeting as best suits the group’s needs.
7. Provide materials for participants to view as part of the pre-meeting. This can often take the place of major announcements if people with “agendas” to push are there ahead of the meeting to share information and discuss programs with participants.
8. Provide announcement materials to participants during the pre-meeting in the form of a PowerPoint running (looping) show.
9. Rural: Rotate roundtable/forum between the largest communities in the district. Another option is to hold two roundtables/forums per month in different parts of the district if staffing is available. Quarterly meetings are a third option for this group.
10. Rural: The Lone Wolf District (covering the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles) of the Golden Spread Council has quarterly roundtable/forum meetings in three different communities. Each of the four months that the meetings are held, the team travels to three different locations and puts on a roundtable three times that month. While not ideal, considering the lack of high-speed Internet availability, it at least brings the message to unit leaders on a somewhat regular basis.
11. Urban: In some very urban areas of the East Coast, districts have chosen to have roundtable/forum meetings at times of the day that best work for their attendees. Some hold meetings early, 5 p.m.–5:30 p.m., so folks can come from work and then get home in time to have some family time before children go to bed; others have decided to have meetings later, 8 p.m.–8:30 p.m., so folks can go home first for dinner and family time and then come to roundtable.

The Scout Salute and Handshake

Our Scout salute and handshake are ancient signs of bravery and respect. Back in the days when George Washington was general of the Continental Army, men carried weapons for their protection. When they met one another there was an uneasy moment as each watched the other’s right hand. If it went toward his sword or gun, there was a battle, but if it went to his hat it was a salute of friendship or respect. The left-handed shake comes to us from the Ashanti warriors whom Baden-Powell knew over a hundred years ago in South Africa. He saluted them with his right hand, but the Ashanti chieftains offered their left hands and said: “In our land only the bravest of the brave shake hands with the left hand, because to do so we must drop our shields and protection.” The Ashanti knew of General Baden-Powell’s bravery, for they had fought both against him and with him, and they were proud to offer him the left-handed shake of bravery. During February, we will honor the birthday of two brave men: General Washington, founder of our nation, and General Baden-Powell, founder of our Scouting movement. As you use the Scout salute and handshake, remember these two great men.

BSA Shooting Sports programs

Want to know what is new in the BSA Shooting Sports programs? Don’t know where to find the latest guidelines? Where can you find training? Would you like a proven plan to conduct your next shooting sports merit badge class?

Discover how you can provide our scouting family an opportunity to enjoy the fun and challenges of shooting sports. For more information contact our CIEC Shooting Sports committee: Chair - Kurt Wampole - kcw911@roadrunner.com

Scouting leaders who are active in the Shooting Sports program now have a new vehicle that will provide the latest information updated quarterly from BSA and our partnering Shooting Sports organizations. The first edition is now available, but you’ll miss it all unless you subscribe today at http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jspllr=xawtcnmab&p=oi&m=1112835479575
 

Annual Program Planning for Cub Scout Packs

Your Pack's Annual Program Plan = Satisfied Cub Scouts and Families = A Lifelong Love of Scouting! Dear Committee Chair and Cubmaster: Let's talk about one of the key elements of all successful packs and an indicator of a potentially successful year. Of course that would be the pack's annual program plan and planning conference. A research project done by Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, showed that a common element of strong packs is they all have a good annual pack program planned a year in advance that is then shared with all families in the form of a calendar. The important result of a shared annual program calendar is that your pack will attract more families, and Cub Scouts will stay for a long time. Learn More

Two New Fall Roundup Tools Headed Your Way!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that if we start our new Cub Scout families off with a quality experience, it will affect retention. Once again, we are offering to councils an updated version of the Cub Scout parent onboarding envelops at no cost. Also, we are adding a new tool, a new Den Leader onboarding guide called So You’re a New Den Leader. The Voice of the Scout surveys tell us that the number-one reason new Cub Scout families leave is that their leader was either bad or that they ran bad den meetings. We can start to change this to positive feedback by giving each newly recruited Den Leader this colorful, four-page “how to get ready for your first den meeting” plan to take home with them the night they are recruited. Like the parent onboarding envelope, it will be supplied to councils at no charge and should be in council offices no later than mid-summer to support your fall roundup. This guide will be in English and Spanish. For more information, contact Bill Evans at 972-580-2427

Early Rank Requirement Videos Are you a new Scoutmaster looking for some help yourself with the first few ranks? Check out these videos to help you become a master of all things Scouting.  Click Here

1 Thing Eagle Scouts and Competitive Athletes Have in Common

They make really good salespeople.

“There are entire industries and companies whose business model is based on helping a company try and find really good salespeople. Research questionnaires, behavioral analytics, surveys, training, consultants, books, etc.  I can show you a tried and true method I’ve used for the last 20 years since I discovered it while working at the 2nd fastest growing company in America. I’ve shared it with many for two decades and they have always reported great success. Here it is. – Ken Read More.....

News & Tidbits

• BACK IN THE DAY: Miller Peak and the Mission Inn: If one looks at the towering escarpment of Mt. San Jacinto from the area between Banning and Desert Hot Springs, one may notice another peak almost as high as San Jacinto Peak just about ¼ mile east. That smaller peak is named Miller Peak, and pays tribute to Frank Augustus Miller, the Master of the Mission Inn. Read More....

• HEMET: Cub Scouts celebrate graduation to Boy Scouts: In front of friends, family and fellow Scouts, four Pack 310 Cub Scouts from the Soaring Eagles patrol became Boy Scouts during a ceremony at Calvary Chapel in Hemet that celebrated “Our Future Patriotic Heroes” on Saturday, March 23. Read More....

    

Camp Wiley Registration

Camp Emerson Registration

Friends Of Scouting Report

Positive Quote & Prayer
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"The Scouting program fosters developement in youth and helps them become good citizens of their communities and loyal adherents to their religious heritage." 

    ~ Rabbi Binyamin Walfish, Executive Vice President, Rabbinical Council of America

"At the center of the universe is a
loving heart that continues to beat
and that wants the best for every person.

Anything we can do to help foster
the intellect and spirit and emotional growth
of our fellow human beings, that is our job.

Those of us who have this particular vision
must continue against all odds.

Life is for service."

    ~  Mister Rogers neighborhood - Fred Rogers - 1928-2003

Joe Daniszewski Scout Executive/CEO California Inland Empire Council, BSA PO Box 8910 1230 Indiana Court Redlands, CA 92374 909.793.2463, Ext. 120 877.732.1450 909.793.0306 Fax

Monday Memo is from Scout Executive Joe Daniszewski and contains his reflection on what is happening within the Council. The purpose of Monday Memo is to communicate information about the week ahead, to acknowledge the good things happening around the Council and to address specific issues that the Scout Executive wants to bring to your attention. Joe welcomes any comments, suggestions or recommendations on how to make this memo as helpful as possible. If you have something you want publicized in the Monday Memo, please send it to his attention c/o Monday Memo: Joseph.Daniszewski@scouting.org for Monday Memo Archives Click Here