Disney Recognizes Scoutmaster

Disney is conducting some very special promotions this year. They have chosen people from around the country for some special recognition. I recently discovered it was my turn to receive this honor, and I AM very honored. I guess it pays to be a scoutmaster for nearly 30 years. At least Disney Thinks so.

By the way, this is not going to really happen, but I thought it was a very neat video.

Flags For The Parade

The committee of the Boy Scout troop has recently been discussing ideas about how to get Scouting more visible in our community. The pack has had a few rough years and membership numbers are down. This in turn has hurt the troop since 80 percent or more of our membership traditionally comes from the pack.

One idea that is gaining momentum is to have the Boy Scouts walk along this June's parade route shortly before the parade begins and hand out small USA flags to children and folks sitting along the street. It would be great to see hundreds of flags waving as the veterans ride and march by during the parade. Of course, the Scouts would be in uniform as they pass out the flags.

The Melrose Chamber of Commerce, who is in charge of the weekend festival to be held the last weekend of June, has shown interest in this project. We will be sending letters to the local VFW Post (our charter sponsor) and the American Legion to ask for some financial support to purchase the flags.

The big question is, how many flags do we need? The parade route is a little over a mile long, approximately sixteen blocks. No one really seems to know how many people watch the parade so I started playing around with some numbers. If the Scouts hand out 20 flags per block, ten on each side of the street, we would need about 320 flags. That does not sound like many, does it?

Let's bump that number up to 60 flags per block, or 30 flags per each side of the street. That would be nearly 1000 flags waving along the parade route. That sounds much better.

The cost of 6 inch plastic flags would be $5.99 for 72 flags, through an internet site. The total cost of a thousand flags with shipping would only be about $100.00, a very affordable project that would also give the Boy Scout troop a great way to be seen by thousands of people.

Has you pack or troop ever done anything like this project? Do you have any helpful hints? Please leave a comment if you have any ideas.

Scout Week Promotion

The Sauk Centre Herald is a weekly newspaper published in the city of Sauk Centre, which is the first town to the west of Melrose, the city I call home. The Herald is one of three local newspapers that does a good job of supporting the local Scout troops and packs.

A few years ago I recieved a phone call from one of the Herald staff asking for a picture of the troop. They were planning on doing a full page spread in the issue coming out during Scout week to recognize the area Scout units, and wanted to include pictures of the Scouts and leaders. I was quite impressed when I saw the issue a few weeks later.

Last December I was contacted by Robin who works for the Herald. The paper was planning on doing their yearly Scout tribute again for the first week of February and needed a new group photo. Luckily, she contacted me just before the troop's December court of honor so I was able to get a current group photo.

When the issue arrived on the newsstand I was quick to pick up a copy. Once again, I was very impressed with the job done by the Sauk Centre Herald staff. It was two full pages featuring photographs of troops and packs from four local communities. And it was in full color. And it had other Scouting information included, like the Scout Law and the vision of Scouting.

I told Robin about this blog and asked if it would be alright to share the two page spread with my readers. She was happy to ablige and emailed the full size pdf files to me. After taking the names of the Scouts off the pages (online youth protection, you know) and resizing the pages a bit, I have up loaded them to the troop's website. Click a link and take a look. See if you do not agree that the Sauk Centre Herald did a great job.

Page 1 (Boy Scouts)
Page 2 (Cub Scouts)

Wouldn't it be great if all local communities did something like this for Scout Week?

Saving The Video Memories

Way back in 1988, I began video taping Boy Scout courts of honor and troop activities to create programs to air on our local community access television station, Mel-TV, and thus promote Scouting in the community. These shows were recorded with a large hand-held camcorder that used VHS tapes, which should have a 10-20 lifespan. A few years ago I switched to using a digital camcorder with mini-dv tapes. I now edit on a computer and print the programs to dvd-r's, which should have a 40 year or more lifespan.

Back to those vhs tapes. I have a goal to transfer many of those old tapes sitting at the studio to dvd's. I have already "saved" a couple dozen programs. Alas, I am too late to save some of them. A couple of the early slideshows were so bad in video quality I could only save the sound, and had to re-edit nearly the whole video which gave me the opportunity to add more pictures to the program. A few tapes have deteriorated so badly that the sound and video are beyond using. Unfortunately, this includes an Eagle court of honor and at least one troop Laughs For Lunch Show.

Are dvd-r's the answer to archiving the programs? It depends on who you talk to. I have been using dvd's rated to have a lifespan of at least 40 years. But a lot depends on the manufacturing process. Some of the cheap dvd's may only last for several years before they begin to deteriorate.

Then comes the next problem. I can place the shows on a dvd, but will dvd technology still be reverent in another ten or twenty years? The world of electronics is constantly changing. For example, look at the world of music that has gone from LP albums, to 8-tracks, to cassette tapes, to compact disc, to the current digital formats.

I currently save a video program as a Quicktime file on my computer and back it up to an external hard drive. This is in addition to making several copies of the playable dvd-r to hand out to family or troop members. As the formats change in the future I hope to update these files. Well, at least for the next 30 years or so. After that, it will be someone else's responsibility if they want these programs' lives to be extended.

Anniversary Contest Almost Over

On October 2, 2008, the fiftieth video was posted to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. As a part of the video, Buttons, the radical Scout, gave instructions on how to enter a contest for a dvd to be given away this month. I just wanted you to know that you only have a few days left to enter the contest. Instructions can be found in the video posted HERE.

Buttons For President

It is time to announce the Buttons '08 campaign! After all, isn't it time we put someone in the White House who is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent? Isn't it time for real change? Isn't it time for someone to lead this country that has a sense of morals and can tell really bad jokes?

Join the campaign and order your buttons for Buttons '08! You can order them at http://www.cafepress.com/ptcmedia. Hurry! The chance to order these buttons of support will disappear after the election.

I can't guarantee that you will get the buttons before the election, but I hope we can count on you to help support the campaign. Yeah, I know, we should have started the campaign earlier, but we just did not have the funds to buy the newspaper ads and television spots. All we have is this blog and the buttons.

Show your support and get out and vote on November 4th!

Scouting News

Here are some news releases about Scouting that have been recently found online. It is great to see Scouts making a positive impact on their community, and the financial support from some major corporations.

Eagle Scout Paul Banwart from Shakopee, Minnesota, awarded American Legion Award:

And now, this Shakopee teen is being honored nationally this month as the top Eagle Scout by the American Legion, which also gave him a $10,000 college scholarship. "Paul Banwart represents the best in scouting, and the American Legion is proud to have selected him as its Eagle Scout of the year," said Commander Marty Conatser, the national leader of the organization.

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/26223804.html

AT&T Donates $3 Million To BSA To Kick-Off 100th Anniversary

The Boy Scouts of America announced today that AT&T has donated $3 million to kick off nationwide support for the youth organization’s 100th Anniversary Celebration. The announcement came during the opening of the BSA’s Annual National Leadership Training Conference in Nashville.

AT&T is the first major donor to step forward with a multi-million dollar contribution and will serve as Scouting’s official communications partner during the 100th Anniversary celebration. Feb. 8, 2010 marks 100 years of Scouting in America for one of the country’s largest youth-serving organizations.

http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/08/05/att-donates-3-million-to-bsas-100th-anniversary-celebration/

Top Ten Reasons Why Scouting Beats TV (from Lone Star Scouter)
No batteries required
Commercial-free
Strengthens families
Burns more calories
Grows character, not potatoes
Offers college scholarships
Violence-free
Develops leaders
Prepares kids for real life

#1: It’s the Ultimate Reality Show!
TV shows like Survivor, Fear Factor and the Human Race have nothing on Scouting. Just ask a Scout.

http://buffaloeagle.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/top-10-reasons-why-scouting-beats-tv-hands-down/

Have a great Scouting Day!

MSPP #44: Scout Law Commercials

I have written in earlier blogs about how I feel the Boy Scouts of America's national office should be doing more to promote the Scouting program to the American public. It the past, it seems as if they have relied more on the local units to promote the program then trying to do it nationally, and I can understand that, up to a point. During the last five years it has seemed that the national office has disappeared into a cave, ignoring much of the negative press Scouting has received over recent issues, and allowing many people to bad-mouth a great and established program to help boys and young men without making any statement what-so-ever.

Things seems to be changing now that we have a new national Chief Scout Executive, Robert "Bob" Mazzuca. He does not appear to be afraid of talking to the media, and has already done a few interviews promoting the Scout program and letting the public know what Scouting can offer their boys and families.

The BSA has produced some good video commercials during the past ten years or so. Unfortunately, I have not seen many of them on national or local television. The only place I see them is at council roundtables, award ceremonies, and a couple websites. That is a shame, but I realize it costs money to air them during a television show.

So, with this podcast, I am hoping to get some of these commercials seen by more people through the internet. After all, I can not afford to air them on television either, although I have aired them on our local cable access channel as part of our troop's courts of honor.

This podcast posting includes five commercials produced by the Boy Scouts of America. Each commercial uses a point of the Scout Law as its theme: trustworthy, helpful, obedient, thrifty, and reverent. I hope you enjoy them as must as I did when I first saw them.

Please leave a comment here using the link below, or at the PTC Media forums, or at iTunes. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

YouTube Videos: Most Popular BSA Produced

For over two years I have been placing Scouting related videos on Youtube. It has been interesting to see which videos have become somewhat popular, and which ones have not. Here is a list of the "ten most watched" videos I have placed on Youtube that were produced by the BSA and/or its councils:

1) The Boy Scout Zone Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKFnGDRaMQU

2) Boy Scout Commercial - Helpful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gC0Wu0UK1Y

3) Boy Scout Commercial - Trustworthy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAjBryHkeVg

4) Boy Scout Commercial - Reverent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKqWeze7xB8

5) Boy Scout Commercial - Jim Lovell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNq6WsYIAFI

6) Crazy Boy Scout Commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0HzH3Tn7Ik

7) Boy Scout Commercial - Thrifty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S25U_CqVChM

8) Boy Scout Commercial - Obedient
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXdSWVnz_W0

9) We Do It Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tok9gePil3E

10) Boy Scout Commercial - Baby Talk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d28fwTC83Qw

There are plenty of others. If you would like to view them all then check out
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=stevejb68&p=v
.

MSPP #39: Scouting Commercials (Celebrities)

Every business knows that you need to advertise well to bring people through your front door, or to your website in this digital world. Companies hire ad agencies to produce commercials for television and the internet, and to design graphic ads for newspapers and magazines.

Unfortunately, this is one area I personally feel that is lacking in the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA does a great job of promoting itself to its own leaders and members (like preaching to the choir, huh?), but I do not see much promotion geared toward the general public. Available funds could be part of the problem, after all, it costs money to place ads on television and in magazines and newspapers.

During the last twenty years or so, I have collected a variety of Scouting commercials and promotion videos. With this post I would like to share three commercials with you. These commercials were created years ago by the Boy Scouts of America. I copied them from a video tape that the council had, and then put them on my computer some time ago.

This post includes three thirty second commercials. The first features Steve Young, the NFL quarterback, who was a Cub Scout. The second features Jim Lovell, and Eagle Scout who became an astronaut. The third features Scott Mitchell, another quarterback who also happens to be an Eagle Scout.

I hope the BSA does not mind that I am posting this commercials as part of the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. I am just trying to get these out to as many people as possible. Hopefully, a few new boys and parents will be drawn to the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs by watching these commercials and other Scouting videos online.

Don't forget to leave a comment about this podcast.
You can leave a note here, or at the PTC media forums.
If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Promote Your Fundraiser

Your pack or troop is planning to hold a fundraiser. Is it a one day event, such as a meal or a car wash? If it is, then you need to get the word out about it. You need to promote it.

How do you do that? And how can it be done for little or no cost to your unit? After all, if you have to pay for advertising, then you have to sell more product to cover those costs. Here are a few tips our troop has learned over the last twenty years. (Some of these may work better in a small town then they do in a large city.)

Newspapers - Placing an ad in a newspaper can be expensive, but some newspapers will give non-profit groups a little discount on the cost. Our local papers have a "local events" listing which lists group activities and fundraisers for free. Does yours?

Television - Commercials can make a newspaper ad look very inexpensive. However, some stations will air a "Community Happenings" spot during local programming free of charge. You will need to get the information about your event to the station three to four weeks before the event's date. Many community access television stations run a bulletin board of local events between their programming. Your fundraiser could be listed there free of charge.

Radio - Some radio stations will do public service announcements. Your fundraiser may qualify as such an announcement. Or bring some tickets of your event to the station and let them give them away to a lucky caller. Volunteer to be interviewed on the air by the deejay. Look at how much promotion the Girl Scouts receive by bringing cookies to radio stations during the sales period.

Marquees - Almost every bank and credit union has an outdoor electronic marquee these days. Our financial institutions will place information about our fundraiser on their marquees, free of charge, for two or three days before the event.

Posters - This has got to be one of the oldest ways to advertise. Posters can be easily designed on a home computer and then printed in large or small quantities. Many stores, restauraunts, offices, churches, and schools have cork boards for the placement of these posters. Some businesses will even place the posters in their front window. Just be sure to ask permission before placing a poster.

Church Bulletins - Contact your local churches. Most of them would be happy to include your event in their weekly parish bulletins.

Electronic messaging - Send out emails to friends and family. Text your friends on the phone. Just do not do it so much that people start looking at it as spamming. We even post a note about the event on our troop's website.

Speaking - Yeah, that is right. Talk about it. Tell your relatives. Tell your friends. Tell your coworkers. Talking has worked for centuries. Spread the word, man!

Well, there is my list. How does it compare to yours? Did I give you any ideas? Do you have ideas that I did not mention? If you do then leave a comment and share it with us all.

Cub Scout Commercial: Locked Out

I have mentioned in previous posts that I wish the national office would do a more advertising to promote the Scouting program. Or maybe the councils should be doing it. I know I do enough of it on a local level. I have been collecting Scouting commercials for the past twenty years. Lately, I have been inserting them into Scouting films I produce for the local television channels. Hey, anything to promote Scouting, you know.

Here is one commercial that features Cub Scouting. I think it is a cute film, and one that contains a little humor. It is short, to the point, and best of all, shows a father and his Cub Scout son working on an advancement requirement together. Watch it yourself and leave a comment about what you think about it.

In The Newspaper

I have written hundreds of newspaper articles about the troop and its functions during the last three decades. When I write the articles I concentrate on the Boy Scouts and what they are doing. I try to leave myself out of the stories as much as possible. I do not want to promote myself. My job is promote the boys and Scouting.

So when I local newspaper reporter contacted me a year ago for an interview about being a scoutmaster for over twenty-five years, I kind of shrugged her off and said I would do it someday in the future. Well, I guess the future arrived. She remembered that I said I would do it later, so called me about it again earlier this month. She wanted to run an article for the issue that came out during Scout Week, but we could not find a time to meet. She did not give up though. The article finally came out in this week's issue.

I thought I would bite the bullet and let you all (or at least those of you who would be interested) read it on the newspaper's website. It can be found HERE. Don't laugh to hard when you read it, okay?

100th Anniversary Logo Chosen

The logo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America has been chosen, and it was designed by Philip Goolkasian, a seventeen year old Eagle Scout from California. Philip's design was chosen from over 4000 entries.

The logo looks pretty sharp. I like it. The BSA will be using the logo for promotions during the next couple of years. Check it out on the BSA website HERE.

What Have You Done Today To Feel Proud?

A newer video (2006?) by the Boy Scouts of American can be found on Youtube. It is a two song music video that features Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts participating in Good Turns across America. The First video asks, "What have you done today to made you feel proud?" It is a catchy song. The second song I think you will recognize from several years ago. Watch the video, then post a comment about your thoughts.

Youtube Experiment Results

Well, the Youtube Scouting Video Day experiment did not accomplish the goal of getting a Scouting video or two to the top five "views" pages on Friday, February 8th. I do appreciate everyone who participated in the project. We gave it a good run, but we just did not have the numbers needed to do it. Here is a brief summary of the results.

The views received by each of the four suggested videos varied by the hundreds. The Cub Scout commercial featuring Steve Young only received 201 hits on Friday, as near as I can tell. The Boy Scout commercial about Jim Lovel did better, receiving 367 views.

The "What Parents Say About Scouting" did better then I expected when compared to the other videos. I thought it would come in with the lowest number of views since it was the longest of the videos. It received 271 hits, seventy more then the Cub Scout video.

The "Scout Zone" received the most hits, which was something I expected. It was watched 533 times, far more then the other videos. I would guess that was because it was the first video listed, and that it was a music video which was fun to watch.

The experiment failed to get any of these videos to the front pages, but I would not call it a complete failure. Dozens, or even hundreds, of people watched these videos for the first time and may have been introduced to other Scouting videos found on Youtube. I would call that successful, wouldn't you?

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the project and spread the word to others. Maybe we can try it again next year, or maybe make this a yearly occurrence.

PS - After writing this article this morning, I took another look at the numbers around 10:00 am. Either Youtube is playing with me, or a lot of people watched the videos since 7:00 am. The numbers of views for each of the videos has gone up by the hundreds! Take a look at these numbers:
The Cub Scout Commercial (Young) - 223 more views.
The Boy Scout Commercial (Lovel) - 346 more views
What Parents Say About Scouting - 221 more views
The Scout Zone Video - 470 more views.
I think these videos have received more views in 36 hours then they normally receive in two months!

Happy Birthday & Youtube Scouting Video Day

Happy Birthday Scouting (BSA)!

Wow, has it been 98 years already? It seems like just a few years ago when that unknown Boy Scout in England helped William Boyce find his way in the fog of London. And look what the BSA has accomplished since then. Ten of millions of boys have been involved with Scouting. Hundreds of millions of hours of community service has been done around the country. And look at all the boys who earned Scoutings highest award, the rank of Eagle Scout. I ask, has there been any other youth group in the history of this great country that has accomplished as much as the Boy Scouts of America?

And to think, it all begin in the USA because of the good turn of one Boy Scout in England! It just goes to show that you never know what that daily good turn could lead to, do you?

And do not forget to watch the videos on Youtube that were listed in a previous blog entry. Let's see if we can get something shown on the front page today.

Youtube Scouting Video Day

In one of the Scouting forums, someone accused me of just trying to get a video on the front page of Youtube when I suggested that we try this "Youtube Scouting Video Day" experiment on February 8th. Before I saw the comment someone had already replied to him that that was the point. I had to chuckle to myself. That was the purpose of the experiment, but I do not think he understood the reasoning behind my idea.

The way I see it, if we can get a video or two to the Youtube front page then the chances are pretty good that more boys and parents will see it then these commercials were ever seen when they aired on local television stations at 2:00 in the morning. Besides, many of the Youtube users are teenagers. Aren't they the ones we want to know about Scouting?

So yes, I am trying to get these videos on the front page. I am trying to promote Scouting, and I need everyone's help to accomplish this. And this way of doing it does not cost any council or district a dime to have people watch it.

By the way, if I was going to try just to get a video to the front page to boost my ego, don't you think I would have suggested one of my own original videos? I am trying to promote Scouting, not myself, with this experiment.

Boy Scout Anniversary Experiment

I would like to conduct an experiment, and I am going to need your help to do it. As most of you know, February 8th is the 98th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. I would like your help to celebrate it in a unique way.

Currently, there are a few thousand videos on Youtube that feature Scouts or are about Scouting. Most of these videos never receive more then a couple hundred views, if they even get that many. Only a few have ever hit the 10.000 views mark. I do not think a Scouting video has ever made it to the daily top five pages.

There are millions of Boy Scouts in the USA, and tens of thousands of adult leaders and professionals. Add the Scouts and leaders from around the world and we have a staggering membership. Even if we get a small percentage of the Scouts and leaders with internet access to participate in this I think we could make this work.

So here is my idea. Let's make a "Youtube Scouting Video Day" on February 8th. Let's try to get as many Scouts, adult leaders, friends, and family members to watch Boy Scout videos as we are able. Let's see if we can get a video or two to appear on the Youtube front pages and really help to promote Scouting to the internet masses, or at least the Youtube viewers.

To make this the most effective I think we need to concentrate our efforts on just a few videos, but I encourage you to watch as many as your time table allows. Here are the videos I would suggest we watch:

In The Scout Zone Video (2:24)
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKFnGDRaMQU
The BSA Commercial featuring Jim Lovell (0:30)
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNq6WsYIAFI
A Cub Scout Commercial featuring Steve Young (0:30)
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqnkjBArjUo
and finally, the "What Parents Say About Scouting" (5:52)
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1axj3lNc0Q

This would amount to approximately ten minutes of your time if you watched all four videos, ten minutes to help promote Boy Scouting and Cub Scouting on a popular internet site. Would you be willing to spend ten minutes trying to bring Scouting videos to the light of day for one day?

So, I ask that you spread the word about "Youtube Scouting Video Day". Copy this message and send it to other Scouts and leaders. Let's see if we can't get these videos highlighted to the internet masses and promote Scouting on February 8th.

Scouting Journalism

I was a pretty good student in high school. Mathematics was my best class. I did well in English classes, but not so well in phy ed class. (I was the 98 pound weakling of my class, literally.) I did like to read, but I never considered myself a writer. If someone had told me back then that I would someday be writing articles for the local newspaper, or penning scripts for the local cable access television station, or posting entries to internet blogs, why, I probably would have laughed in their face. And then go back to reading whatever book I was into at the moment.

I may have had no desire to be a writer when I was in high school, but when I was nineteen years old my first article about the local Scouting troop and pack was published in the local weekly paper. I was the new assistant scoutmaster of Troop 68 in June, 1980, totally unaware of what I was about to get myself into.

Those first few articles were only a few paragraphs long, co-written by one of the committee members. They covered what happened during troop and den meetings. Short articles, and straight to the point. As the years passed, my writing style began to change and develop. I focused more on the monthly activities, and less on the humdrum meetings. The articles became less frequent, but they became longer. Pictures accompanied the articles so the reader could see what the Scouts were doing in addition to reading about them.

In 1986, five Troop 68 Boy Scouts and myself spend two weeks at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. I kept a journal while hiking through the mountains. Using those notes from my journal, and the pictures taken during the trip, I wrote a long article for the local newspaper. I think I got a little long winded. The article ended up being a two parter, with each part taking up nearly half a page of the paper with the photos.

I have written many articles about Scouting during my twenty seven years with Boy Scout Troop 68. I have saved these articles and keep them in four scrapbooks. I now have three local newspapers that agree to print my articles when I write them. You might think I am making a little money with all that writing. Not a cent. I write the articles to promote Scouting, not to make money.

I still get a warm feeling when someone mentions that they enjoyed reading one of my articles. I will not lie, I am rather proud of myself for being able to write something that some people enjoy reading. But I am also humbled that people enjoy reading things that I write. After all, I am not a professional writer. Stephen King has nothing to worry from me.

Hmmm... That gets me thinking. Maybe I should write a book about my Scouting experiences. Maybe title it, "The Scoutmaster Thinks, and Unfortunately Wrote It Down."

Scouting Commercials

Here are a couple Scouting commercials you may, or may not, have seen.