________________________________________<\/p>\n
(This should have posted automatically last Tuesday… Obviously, something went wrong.\u00a0 Please help out fellow Commissioner Paul Geissler ASAP, with my thanks!)<\/strong><\/p>\n The message and request below is from fellow Commissioner Paul Geissler, of the Laurel Highlands Council in the Pittsburgh, PA area. This is a fabulous opportunity for pack, troop, and crew leaders, and Scout parents too, to help a fellow Scouter. Please take a look, and then click on Paul\u2019s survey link (It\u2019s safe\u2014I did it myself!) to help\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n For my College of Commissioner Science doctoral thesis I\u2019ve developed a survey for adult unit leaders and parents from around the country. It\u2019s divided into four sections and takes about ten minutes to complete. It covers\u2026<\/strong> Here\u2019s the link: https:\/\/goo.gl\/forms\/nZQcsgDDJoYLhFLz2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks for your help in getting the word out!<\/strong><\/p>\n Paul<\/strong> Mitch Erickson, good friend and fellow Unit Commissioner in the Patriots\u2019 Path Council, NJ, has watched a local troop go from a couple dozen loosely organized Scouts to a major force of over 80 Scouts, in just the past half-dozen years. Here\u2019s what he\u2019s observed. It\u2019s worth taking note, no matter what your council or what town your troop\u2019s in\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s a Boy Scout troop nearby, in a town of about 23,000 residents, that\u2019s been around \u201cforever.\u201d In the seven years I\u2019ve been their Unit Commissioner, I\u2019ve watched this troop morph from a loosely strung bunch of about two dozen Scouts into a robust, energetic troop that\u2019s Scout-led and follows the Patrol Method to a T. Today this troop has over 80 Scouts and some 25 adult volunteers. To date in 2016 they\u2019ve celebrated ten\u2014count \u2018em-ten\u2014Eagle Scouts!<\/strong><\/p>\n But they\u2019ll be the first to tell you there\u2019s no \u201cmagic bullet\u201d or \u201csecret sauce\u201d that singlehandedly made the difference. Instead, here are the key things they\u2019re doing that are working:<\/strong> Yes, they\u2019ve enjoyed solid success recruiting new Scouts from local pack cross-overs, but they don\u2019t rely only on these. In a conversation with the church-troop CR, he told me that the troop \u201cdoes everything\u201d! They use print and online media (including social networks) all the time\u2014every troop event gets an article and lots of photos. They get good yields from the First Class \u201cInvite a Friend\u201d requirement. They\u2019ve even reached out to nearby (but outside city limits) packs, just so boys and parents know they have options. They follow up on leads from the BSA\u2019s \u201cBeAScout\u201d Internet link. Their Scouts\u2014in full and correct uniforms\u2014speak at local fundraising dinners and other public events. They use Scout Sunday to increase troop visibility to their sponsor\u2019s congregation\u2014including speaking roles from the pulpit for all eight Sunday masses (one\u2019s in Spanish!), and acting as ushers for the entire morning. Also in collaboration with their sponsoring church, they\u2019ve recruited the pastoral staff to be on the lookout for new families moving into the parish area. Their Scouts are also visible at local area interfaith services throughout the calendar year. When it\u2019s \u201cPopcorn Time,\u201d they\u2019ll pass out special flyers (available and customizable via the BSA\u2019s \u201cScouting.org\u201d marketing sub-site) about Scouting and the troop, and many of the troop\u2019s families display \u201cBeAScout\u201d lawn signs. For the several packs in town, they\u2019ll provide pre-trained Den Chiefs. And they continue to add to this list of pro-active efforts.<\/strong><\/p>\n So cherry-pick these ideas and then be sure to add your own. Recruiting isn\u2019t a \u201cprogram\u201d with start-and-end dates; it\u2019s a year-round process<\/span>. It may begin with September recruiting nights, but it sure doesn\u2019t stop there!<\/em><\/p>\n Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/p>\n Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA rule, policy, or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n [No. 507 \u2013 11\/15\/2016 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2016]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ________________________________________ (This should have posted automatically last Tuesday… Obviously, something went wrong.\u00a0 Please help out fellow Commissioner Paul Geissler ASAP, with my thanks!) The message and request below is from fellow Commissioner Paul Geissler, of the Laurel Highlands Council in the Pittsburgh, PA area. This is a fabulous opportunity for pack, troop, and crew leaders, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2097"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2103,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097\/revisions\/2103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n – The participant\u2019s unit role, training, and years of experience.<\/strong>
\n – General information about the unit.<\/strong>
\n – Camping and High Adventure activities.<\/strong>
\n – Patrol- and den-level award awareness and usage.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n==========
\nI frequently receive letters about how to boost stalled or shrinking membership in packs and troops. These have occurred more often in recent years than when these columns began some 15 years ago, in part because the opportunities for boys to get involved in other year-round youth programs\u2014soccer and other sports, plus martial arts and other specialized activities\u2014are on the rise, to which we must add parents\u2019 increasing desires to become \u201csurrogate Uber drivers\u201d for their children rather than getting personally involved in these activities.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n – Significant collaboration with their chartered organization (a Roman Catholic church) and their Chartered Organization Representative (CR for short), with shared vision!<\/strong>
\n – Energetic troop activities and advancement program, guided by the Scoutmaster, run by the Patrol Leaders Council and the Scouts!<\/strong>
\n – Thorough use of BSA and council resources.<\/strong>
\n – Scout \u201cpresence\u201d in all nearby Cub Scout packs.<\/strong>
\n – Scout \u201cvisibility\u201d\u2014especially to non-Scouting audiences!<\/strong>
\n – Year-round outreach and recruiting process!<\/strong><\/p>\n