Welcome to our August 27th, 2012 Monday Memo

General Liability and Chartered Organizations With Scouting Units

During the Thursday, August 23, afternoon session at the 2012 Top Hands Conference, changes were announced in the general liability insurance program for all local Scouting units.

The reasons for the changes are as follows:

• The reserves for open claims have increased significantly over the last several years.
• The average cost per claim has nearly doubled in the last five years.
• Claim payments have doubled in the last two years compared to a five-year average from 2005 to 2009.

It was also announced that what is now known as the unit charter fee will be called the unit liability insurance fee. The general liability insurance program receives 100 percent of this fee.

The fee will be increased to $40 from $20 effective January 1, 2013. This means the new fee will begin with units that have a December 2012 charter renewal date (a charter period beginning January 1, 2013).

Units are required to pay the annual unit liability insurance fee of $40. This fee is submitted with the unit’s charter renewal application. This fee helps defray expenses of the general liability insurance program.

The general liability insurance policy provides primary liability insurance coverage for registered adults and for all chartered organizations on file with the BSA. The coverage is for liability arising out of their operating a traditional Scouting unit. This policy provides coverage for claims alleging negligent actions that result in either personal injury or property damage.

A chartered organization is described as an organization that has applied for and received a current Boy Scouts of America charter to operate a Scouting unit.

A chartered organization as defined within the policy shall include the chartered organization, its board of directors and/or trustees, and its officers and employees in their official and individual capacity. This definition also includes a specific position:

Chartered Organization Representative. Chartered organizations do not need a certificate of insurance. The chartered organization endorsement is a part of the insurance policy contract and is enforceable under the policy contract.

Old Republic Insurance Company provides the first $1 million in coverage. Additional policies, all providing primary coverage to the chartered organization, have been purchased so more than $5 million in primary coverage is provided.

There is no coverage for those who commit intentional or criminal acts. Liability insurance is purchased to provide financial protection in the event of accidents or injuries that occurs during an official Scouting activity.

Stampede 2012

Come out to the 2012 Stampede & Scout Show at Glen Helen Park for a great event for the whole family.

Scouts in uniform can attend the Friday Night Sheriff's Rodeo for Free! Fun for New Scouts - The Stampede is a great first campout for new Scouts. Plus they can get a special Stampede Patch!

Register by August 31st to secure you T-Shirt in time for the even! Click Here to Register

Greetings Fellow Wood Badgers!!!!

Please join me for the annual Wood Badge Reunion to be held in Ontario on October 13th. CLICK HERE to Register Online.

Christa Jenson will be coordinating a silent auction to benefit the Wood Badge Campership fund. Please give the "gift" of Wood Badge by donating an item for the auction or placing a bid. You may contact her at 951-833-2409 or Divine_Durango_Diva@msn.com   .

Please forward this message to EVERY Wood Badger you know.  I look forward to going "Back to Gilwell" with you on October 13th.

Yours in Scouting,
Trooper Campbell, Course Director/Scoutmaster

IE Scouting Golf Classic

The California Inland Empire Council – Boy Scouts of America would like to invite you to the Annual Scouting Golf Classic being held on Monday, September 24th, at Sierra Lakes Golf Club in Fontana. Registration is $600 for a foursome. Registration contact is Jesse Lopez at the Jack Dembo Scout Service Center 909-793-2463 ext. 128. CLICK HERE for Registration Flyer or to Register Online. Come play and help Scouting continue its great tradition of service to the youth of our community. Bring your friends and business associates for a day of fun, friends and prizes! This fundraising event is designed to allow you to join the California Inland Empire Council, to help insure that a quality Scouting program is delivered to all the youth in the Inland Empire by providing assisatance for registration, uniforms, books, training of adult volunteers and camperships.

What Can This Boy Scout Marketing Prodigy Teach You About Popcorn Sales?

Donovan Fisher isn’t your typical door-to-door salesman.

“The Popcorn Scout,” as he’s now known, is a 12-year-old marketing prodigy who in 2011 sold $9,208 in Trail’s End popcorn and chocolate pretzels, ranking 14th among all Boy Scouts in the U.S.

I first read about Donovan last year on the marketing Web site “Web.Search.Social.” Here’s what marketing pro Scott McKelvey wrote about Donovan:

Last year, a Boy Scout named Donovan, who couldn’t have been more than 11 or 12, knocked on our door and said he was selling popcorn and other treats to raise money for the Boy Scouts and our troops. I expected to see a tattered catalogue, but my jaw dropped when he pulled out his iPad and started to go through his presentation.

Donovan completely blew me away, and I got to enjoy the sequel when he knocked on my door again a few weeks ago. It wasn’t any slick sales gimmick, because I could tell that he’s a good kid with the best intentions. He just happened to have a completely authentic, rejection-proof marketing strategy that any business owner or marketing professional would be smart to copy. He also gives new meaning to the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”

Read the full article for tips relevant to anyone who markets anything — popcorn, multimillion-dollar business deals, and everything in between. Some of the tips include:

• Tell a compelling story. Donovan has a family member serving overseas in the military, and he explains that some of the money will go to help troops.
• Create a brand. Donovan purchased the ThePopcornScout.com domain name.
• Make an irresistible offer. Donovan creates a sales pitch that makes it tough to say no.
• Follow up and say thanks. Donovan sends a personal thank-you e-mail to customers that includes a summary of the order.

One year later

But wait, there’s more. Today, McKelvey posted an update to The Popcorn Scout story and included an interview with Donovan.

Here are a few best practices that stood out from the updated post:

• “To get ready for selling season, I need to look back at last year,” Donovan tells McKelvey. “I need to keep track of every sale so when I go to someone’s house next time, I know that they got a certain kind of popcorn. Maybe they like it or maybe they want something bigger, or even double it. Maybe they want to try something new. That’s one of the biggest things – getting all of the information down.”
• “I also have to work on my presentation and get comfortable with it,” Donovan explains. “Part of that is knowing the facts. With the Kettle Corn and the Unbelievable Butter Microwaveable Popcorn, I can tell you for a fact that each bag has almost 320 calories in it. I want to know for customers just in case they want low-calorie things. If you have a peanut allergy, I’ll make sure you don’t buy something that has any risks.”
• “You can obviously see that the older you get, you lose your cuteness. It’s not like you’re a Tiger Scout and everybody says, ‘Aww, you’re so cute.’ So you have to find something that amazes them and gets their attention,” Donovan says.

Read the complete post, and share your own popcorn-selling secrets below.

What do you think?
What do your Scouts do to make popcorn sales soar? Leave your thoughts HERE.

My Moon Shot

from www.americanheritage.com

It was the summer of 1973, and I was a seventeen-year-old Boy Scout who seemed destined to “age out” at First Class rank unless I could earn one final merit badge, which would advance me to Star. I decided to pursue one of the newest badges, Space Exploration.

Unfortunately I discovered that in my rural southeastern Ohio Scout district, there were no qualified counselors for this badge. When I went to my Scoutmaster for advice, he offered the response he always gave to a problem he didn’t have an answer for: sarcasm. “You claim you’ve written to all these astronauts and gotten their autographs,” he said. “Get one of them as a counselor.”

America was just completing the Apollo moon-landing program. We had met the challenge that John F. Kennedy had set for us in the early 1960s. The summer I was seventeen, one astronaut towered above the others: the first man to set foot on the lunar surface, Neil Armstrong.

Armstrong, an Ohio native, had left the space program and purchased a farm in southwestern Ohio. He consistently refused lucrative endorsement offers and commercial ventures in order to avoid the appearance of taking advantage of his place in history. Instead he accepted a teaching position with the University of Cincinnati and did his best to blend back into everyday life, enjoying his family and farm.

With a little amateur detective work, I was able to find out where he lived. One Saturday I drove my car 150 miles to the town of Lebanon. Mustering every ounce of bravado I had, I pulled into his dusty driveway and parked behind an Opel Kadett station wagon. Another vehicle, a four-door Chevrolet, stood in front of the equipment shed that doubled as a garage. Not the automobiles you would expect an astronaut to drive. The century-old farmhouse was in obvious need of repairs, and there were signs of remodeling and construction all around it, but no crew. Could it be that the first man on the moon was actually fixing up his own place? Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the back door. In a moment my hero appeared, wearing jeans and a torn shirt, with sawdust in his hair.

I introduced myself as a Boy Scout who had driven across Ohio to ask his help. I said a silent prayer that Neil Armstrong, the Eagle Scout from Wapakoneta, would look on this intrusion from a First Class Scout from Marietta in a favorable light. Mr. Armstrong paused for a moment and then said that since the house was being renovated, he would prefer to talk outside.

We settled against the fender of his Chevrolet, and he listened as I explained my need for a merit-badge counselor. With a skeptical grin he agreed to take a look at whatever work I had brought with me. Elated, I ran to my car and opened the trunk, where I had my paperwork and even a model of the Saturn V launch rocket ready for demonstration. For more than half an hour, this great space pioneer listened while I did my best to fulfill the list of badge requirements. He stopped me a few times and asked a question. When I was done with my presentation, he gave me a list of things he wanted me to complete and send to his office at the university. (To this day I still have the pen and paper he used to write his name and address.)

Thanking him for his time, I then headed my car onto the country road that would take me to 1-71. Once back in my hometown, I worked on my assignment for Mr. Armstrong as diligently as if it had been a doctoral thesis and put it in the mail.

A few weeks later, when I still had not heard from my hero, my elation began to bottom out. I began to wonder if he had just been being polite. But at the next Tuesday-night Scout meeting my Scoutmaster greeted me by waving a letter in my face. “You went and did it! You really went and did it, didn’t you?” he said. Unfolding the letter, I saw the University of Cincinnati’s logo and quickly scanned to the signature at the bottom of the page: “Neil A. Armstrong, Professor of Aerospace Engineering.” Hastily reading the text, I discovered Mr. Armstrong was confirming that I had completed the necessary work for the badge. He went on to say that while he was not an officially recognized counselor, “in my opinion, [Scout Ken Drayton] has completed all requirements satisfactorily.” In Neil Armstrong’s opinion! Who could possibly question that opinion? I spent the rest of the evening floating as high as a lunar module.

As much as I cherished being the first Scout in my district to qualify for the new badge, nothing compared to the feeling I had for the man who made it possible. Thirty years ago this summer Neil Armstrong made that “giant leap for mankind” as he placed his foot onto the lunar surface and stepped into the history books. But my best memory of him comes from four years later, when the former Eagle Scout took the time to help another Scout achieve a goal. 

Midway's Discount Group Days

USS Midway Museum - Groups of 10 or More, September 4, 2012 through October 31, 2012 Create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your group by visiting a historic aircraft carrier museum. Hassle free - No deposit required to make the reservation! Call 619-398-8207 to make your reservation today!

Summer Camp Letter

Dear Program Director Jenney,

I want to thank you and your staff for a great camp. All our 6 boys had a great time. They were always busy doing something and actually learned some new skills. We had 2 non swimmers that left the security off the wall and swam across the pool. 2 boys pushed themselves to pass the swim test, so they could sail the canoe alone. Our shy boys were the loudest in the skit. All 6 earned their Whitlin Chip. They all loved the nature center.

I had the pleasure of camping with 3 Marines. They did not complaint one bit and just enjoyed their kids, and the other parents in our den started enjoying their kids too with no complaints. Den 5 just had a great time! 

Thank you,
Ana Pringle, Pack 903
 

The Buzz

Friends Of Scouting Report

Positive Quote
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"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

   ~ Aesop
 

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