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A real Innovation idea... We have found 350,000 Eagle Scouts in 2 years...that’s good. Let’s find 350,000 more in 2 weeks!!!
Contact FaceBook and ask them to create a place in their profile page to select Eagle Scout as an “Alumni Group”. This will start a viral message to “suggest friends” people of similar backgrounds (just like your HS classmates came up on your screen when you first joined).
If they do it, get MySpace, etc. Don’t know if we (BSA) are hooked in with these other social networking groups yet:
Bebo
Delicious
Digg
LinkedIn
Reddit
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Wouldn't it be great (and easy) if the number for the BSA Help Desk would be 1-800-BSA-HELP?
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The Innovation Engine is a great tool to collect and evaluate new ideas. I see it as a crucial element for change and progress in the BSA. I suggest that when an idea makes it from a random posting, through the vetting process, and becomes a real thing that's been adopted by the organization, that the person who posted the initial idea gets some form of public recognition. It could be totally free - a "Hall of Fame," or a BSA trinket, or even cash - the form the recognition takes doesn't really matter, just as long as the recognition happens.
Maybe that's already happening and I've missed it. If so, please disregard
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With the current emphasis in education and business on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields, the BSA should research pilot partnerships with tech-based corporations and or educational institutions in select markets. A STEM day or weekend at a corporation or university for youth to explore opportunities could be open to the public (and would draw a significant audience) and promoted through the local council as an opportunity for a youth member to earn certain merit badges. Aligning Scouts and non-Scouts with similar interests could provide an opportunity for membership growth in traditional Scouting or Exploring.
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With the decline monthly of usage for IE 7 and 8 and more and more website are being built with other web platforms, is National working on making Scoutnet more compatible with Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. Statistics show that IE is declining monthly and Firefox now has about 55% users with Safari and Chrome comprising another share of the web browser business. IE usage is declining monthly.
Many of the district and council websites do not open correctly anymore in IE7 or 8. If we update our systems, Scoutnet, primarily Program will not even open. If we update to IE8, parts of Scoutnet do not work either. In fact the help desk told us to uninstall 8 so Scoutnet would work, even though Scouting.org tells us to upgrade to IE8.
New computers don't even have IE7 and it's getting more difficult to find.
How is this being addressed and when can we anticipate better compatibly with other programs. Many of our volunteers complain they can't even use My Scouting and take the training courses if they are using a MAC.
It’s really becoming more and more of an issue on a weekly basis.
I look forward to your reply. Thank you.
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Shows like Ace of Cakes are becoming quite popular. We should solicit this show to create a masterpiece cake to celebrate the 100th birthday of the BSA.
It might also be great publicity to solicit shows like Oprah to do a show on the Boy Scouts during the week of our anniversary.
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Our SE likes to thank the parents of Scouts which requires entering them into the system this results in duplicate listings per household. It would be great if we could specify head of household on a prospect record and link all records with the same address together. This would also eliminate re-asking of prospect families when they have given already.
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Add a gardening belt loop.
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When viewing the list of Position Descriptions or Giving Categories in Campaign Setup or the PD list, they are quite lengthy, and many are no longer used. They cannot be deleted because they were used in the past. I would like to be able to mark them as "expired" so only the current ones show in my list. A check box to "show all" could be included, much like we have the "show lapsed units" or "include deceased persons" boxes. Another nice otional feature would be to show only the positions for a specific campaign.
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We have Sports and Scouting for Cub Scouts and Varsity/Venturing for older scouts. Can we try a pilot for a Sport-based program for middle schoolers that may not otherwise seek out the values and outdoor based concepts we instill because of their love for sports. This could be modeled after the Varsity program and may be a positive way to sell continued childhood program in communities that may not otherwise seek out Scouting for whatever reason. Have at least one-half hour of Scouting skills and then follow-up with a particular sport or series of sports. If popular enough and supported by or chartered organizations, there is no reason that this couldn't compete with sports programs in our neighborhoods. Since some schools don't have quality sports teams and instead farm sports out to other groups, we could be an affordable alternative.
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I am not sure if this is a possibility already, but I would like to be able to type in a training user code and pull up everyone in my council that has taken that training. That will help me see: who is shooting sports trained for day camp, who I can call on to help for lifeguard at camp, who may not be a current district volunteer but has taken the training, etc.
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Adding the status (R,M,N,T) to the non-unit registrant renewal roster would save hours of time and buckets of frustration when districts are submitting their District Renewal and when registering the Council Board, Members-at-Large, etc.
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With 100 years of history to draw on, can we compile a today in Scouting History on line calendar. Many of us are out talking everyday to groups of Scouts and supporters. I would have liked to include this information in our dailyu newsletter at Summer Camp. This would give us an interesting factoid about Scouting to share.
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Need support from IT for those of us who have 64-bit Windows. Most new laptops come with 64-bit operating systems. However when trying to install Scoutnet 8.0 it will not install with the larger operating system. It would be helpful if Scoutnet were made available for those of us professionals and offices that have 64-bit Windows operating systems.
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I'm pulling every month Training status per unit, membership, advancement, & tour permit and putting it together for the staff. This is all information that is available online and should be on the flash page. I've attached a sample of the membership one. This should be basic information that our District Executives are providing commissioner & memebership committee.
The usefullness of this information is practical
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There are several awards that a youth can earn more than once; i.e the BSA Lifeguard, 50-miler, etc. When doing the data entry these can only be put in once. It would be nice for the youth if the system recognized that they earned awards more than one time. If there is a way to put it in the youth's record without the system indicating that "duplicate reocrds are not allowed" I would like to know. Otherwise, up-date the system so multiples can be put in.
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On myBSA, as a resource, add a listing of licensed local council suppliers by council number so local council employees can easily answer inquiries from volunteers, parents, etc.
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Our current Internet Guidelines for Scouting Unit Web Sites was last updated 1/31/2006, well before the explosion of social medial tools.
Given that the organization is actively involved in social media now, we should consider revising these guidelines to be more reflective of current technologies.
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We should put counters on the bottom of some of our websites, it would be awesome to track how many hits we get on them. To name a few, myscouting, jamboree, 100th anniversary, and scouting.org of course. To see in real numbers the peoples lives we touch every day would be a gratifying experience.
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More and more colleges in the Baltimore Area (I assume nation wide as well) are creating majors for this topic so shouldn’t our Scouts get an early jump on this education?
What do you think?
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Cooking is substantial skill that is needed everyday. Cooking Merit Badge should be required for Eagle.
What do you think?
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I would like to support the idea of a history channel show on Scouting over the last 100 years. It could be titled Made in America, and it could highlight some of the Harris pole outcomes as well as highlight contributions Scouting has made to America over the years.
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Click the Link www.packsignup.digbro.com
This form enables your council to signup and take advantage of an exciting new system to help your troops and packs recruit and communicate all the great things happening with your local units. In conjunction with ISI Technologies, the Mid-America Council in Omaha, NE created an entertaining and informative webBrochure™ that presents scouting in a compelling way with easy-to-use interfaces and powerful tools your units can personalize with their own information.
Your units benefit from a fun way to help them recruit and inform other people about their activities in a very cost-effective way. There are no fees for your council to register or participate in this program. The BSA webBrochure™ is a win-win for your entire organization and helps advance the message and goodwill about scouting to a wider audience.
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Since I have taken over doing the on line tour permits I have come up with a few changes that would benefit all of us using this system - I think all new tour permits should be shown on page one that way none of the employees processing them would have to scrowl through pages looking for the new ones - also the approval date should be shown on the screen so that for us that have special tracking logs to do we would know immediately which month it was in -
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Our new talent management model aimed at placing people in the right position based on their skills and passions is a terrific model. But how does a Scouting professional today find out what positions are out there that match their passion and what skills are necessary to fill those roles? There is a lack of material available to field Executives explaining the various roles available in the Scouting profession.
For example, many Executives come out of the field after 5 years serving as a DE/ Sr. DE, all set to find a District Director or Field Director position because that is “the route to the top” and they don’t know about other positions available within local Councils. We end up placing potentially strong program, finance, and support people in field management positions they may not be cut out for or truly interested in. They end up unfulfilled, disappointed, or facing professional and personal failure because they are misplaced. Consequently, we lose great program, finance, and support people and cannot benefit from their talents in these areas. Great field managers are also misplaced, but I think the point is made.
I suggest that a resource be created outlining the roles within our profession, a profile of strengths needed to succeed in those roles, and the steps, trainings, or development stages necessary to obtain each role. This should be intentionally shared with Executives at their 3 year evaluation and then readily available beyond that point. This piece could be anything from an online pamphlet, PowerPoint, or video to a training module within the PD-L3 Course. Additional training should be offered to managers designed to give them the resources to help their people navigate through the necessary stages and trainings to reach their career goals.
With increased transparency and a better understanding of what is available to them, young motivated and successful professionals can easily identify a role suited to their passion and strengths, go after those positions, and find greater success and fulfillment. Ultimately this practice of proper placement will allow us to make a greater impact on the youth we serve.
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