Board Retreat

Sorry it's been a while since I updated the Blog - it's been a very busy couple months. Just to keep us all up to speed: here are a few updates:

Thanks to "OC" John O'Connor our popcorn chairman and congratuations to the all the units who sold popcorn this season. Collectively your sales are up 16% typically a sign that membership may be trending upwards. Trails End has worked with us to provide additional recognition this year (all the cool ipads)!

Membership is a little slow most packs and troops have handed in their new member registrations - however many are still behind, please help by sendin in your applicatons asap So Marian can get the youth in before rechartering process begins. We anticipate some struggles with the new youth protection requirments, so please DON'T DELAY

The Salute to Scouting just exceeded $200,000 and with one month to go we are in good position to achieve our stretch goal of $300,000. Jeff LaBroad (our day camp director) has agreed to serve as "stage manager" for the event. He'll be reaching out to Scouts and leaders for some assistance regarding the visibility of the event.

We've conducted six reviews from the National office as part of our board retreat: Annual Review
Administrative Review
Sustainable Council Review
Scout Leaders Priorities
Properties Review
360 community review
Please feel free free to read these executive summaries and slides. Pease post your comments here - through the blog comments - so your comments and insight can be rolled into the decision process.

Each of these reviews was used during our board retreat to initiate dialouge and establish our dirction.

Scott Sanborn, our council president, opened the meeting by outlining our initial direction

1. We will live within our means

• balance all three funds (operating, capital, endowment)
• review camping properties and in context of service to the mission of Scouting

2. Re-engage volunteers at all levels of the organizations (from Parents to Board members)

• improve internal communications and procedures
• provide clear expecations and accountability for all board and council vlunteers
• specific initiatives to engage new parents and leaders
• continue with complete transparency

3. Re-introdue Scouting to our community

• increase visiability of Scouting through PR and mass media
• assist unit leaders to to increase visability of local programs
• establish authentic Scouting in tough to serve communities

To help us put the accountable-measurable steps in place we will be launching two inititiatives:
1. The Strategic Plan lead by John Millerick and engaging volunteer at all levels over the next 9 months. The Strategic planning process should conclude late in the third quarter of 2011
2. The Properties Plan lead by Jim Kelley this process will also involve volunteers throughout the council. We anticipate the first report / recommendation to be presented to the board by mid June 2011.

The board retreat included 37 board members, two district chairs, two guests from the national office and three active unit leaders. We'll provide additional opportunities for other interested scouters to participate in the initial planning.

I send e-mails like this to our full board about twice a month - this month I thought I'd simply post the update here.

Salute to Scouting Update: Thanks to Bill Bacic and the rest of the salute committee the initial pledges have exceeded $100,000 the kick off will be scheduled for mid October giving us 8 weeks to run the “public” campaign. We are in good shape to reach the 50% of goal prior to the kick off. This level of early support is crucial for the overall success of the event. Thanks to Larry DiCara and David Warren, BluePrint Studios has agreed to provide pro bono support for all Salute to Scouting graphic needs, including invitations, program book, A/V support and collateral documents.

Storer Renovation Campaign Update: The campaign has exceeded all initial expectations in the first week. The Alumni and the Knights of Storer have exceeded $12,000 in the first week of the campaign. Thanks to Bill Sullivan, Greg Boyd, Joe Curran, Shelia Greally, Brian Cronin, Nick Tagne, and Chuck Phelan for their generosity.
Additionally, Tim Roach is on his way up to Storer today with 30 volunteers to complete the chapel! The 2011 summer camp season at Storer will boast a brand new Beautiful Chapel and a brand new, safe, state of the art, fully funded Archery Range!
Lastly, we have hired our 2011 camp Director for Storer, Matt Sheridan. Matt has served on camp staff management for over 20 years at Yagoog, and Onteora Scout Reservation. Matt is a school teacher in RI, a life-long Scouter and Eagle Scout. While I was checking his references I had a chance to catch up with an old Storer Reservation Director, Ed McLaughlin. Through Ed and everyone else I talked to, Matt receives the Storer seal of approval. Please welcome Matt to the team! TLStorerCD@gmail.com

Customer Service
After spending much of the summer listening closely to Scout volunteers about the strengths and struggles of the council it became clear to me that internal communication and customer service is an area we need to improve. To help address those concerns we’ve hired Heather Sheehan to serve as our receptionist and customer service coordinator. Heather spent 7 years in Girl Scouting as a youth and served as a volunteer for her own children. Heather started this week and has surprised many Scout volunteers when a pleasant live person answered the telephone. Please take a moment to welcome Heather to the team! hsheehan@bsaboston.org

Strategic Plan Update (list of 360 degree interviewees) Marshall Sloane has invited CEOs from the following companies and organizations to participate in the 360 degree review of our council.
Amica Insurance, Arnold Worldwide, Bank of America, Boston.com / Boston Globe, Boston Properties, Boston University, Cambridge Trust, Catholic Archdiocese, Citizens, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Cummings Property, Deloitte, Dunkin Donuts, Eastern Bank, Genzyme, Global Partners, Gulf / Cumberland Farms, Harvard Pilgrim, Hill Holiday, KPMG, Marina Bay Development, MIT, The Mitre Group, National Grid, Nstar, Pagasystems, Raytheon, State Street, Suffolk Construction, Thermo Fisher, United Way
Obviously, this list is a combination of current supporters and companies that do not (yet) have a relationship with Scouting. We are in the process of securing these meetings. Their responses will provide an interesting tapestry of feedback for us. That feedback will factor into our eventual Strategic Plan.

Long term debt / Sale of long term assets: for years Boston Minuteman Council has found itself in the difficult position of selling long term assets to alleviate the pressure from the significant debt. That process was nearly complete when I was hired, the current debt is $1.2 million. I have had initial meetings with the DCR, Nature Conservancy, Natural Land Trust, several real estate professionals and developers, five possible tenants / program partners for the Egan Center, Milton officials, and others. Through these meetings I’ve accumulated a fairly clear picture of the past situation. I am happy to report that we have several possible options and we have friends that are willing to help us.

How we make decisions about those options
“The council” is responsible to take its direction from our uniformed Scout volunteers / our customers. I’ve started that process through the series of priority meetings held throughout the summer. (results attached) I’ve continued that process through the council coordinated meeting, and a series of older scout meetings. Through these meetings the options are synthesized down to operational recommendations. Stating: “This is what our Scout volunteers want and need to help Scouting thrive in their community.”
Those recommendations are vetted through the board and balanced against all other recommendations and opportunities. Through that ongoing dialogue between both parties the direction becomes the plan. The board approves the plan and has the fiduciary responsibility to achieve that plan. Their role is governance.

This process will recur over and over again for all significant council decisions. I believe consensus is more easily achieved by adding more voices into the conversation. The more voices focused on the common ground we all share in Scouting the more readily we find common sense. I will use my blog, face to face meetings, webinars, face book and every other means of communications at my disposal to keep everyone in the loop.

Other topics in development
Four new inner city Cub Packs – with funding, uniforms and volunteer leadership
Public Relations interns to increase visibility
Program partnerships with Boston area family attractions
Popcorn sale starts today, initial orders up 34%
Massasoit and Cub Day Camp improvements and collaboration
New BSABOSTON.org on-line apps to assist in the functionality (and navigation) of the website

Thanks for your continued support. By working together we will revitalize Scouting throughout our entire council.

Direction

During my first few months I have meet with a Scout Masters, Cub Masters and other Scout Leaders to hear directly from them about their opinion regarding the state of the council. I conducted many meetings at Massasoit, Storer and throughout the districts. I facilitated the discussion through an exercise I’ve come to appreciate in other aspects of my Scouting career. The exercise creates consensus and direction while answering a single question. The question I asked “What can be done to help Scouting thrive in your community?” I encouraged the participants to think granularly and globally when thinking about “their community.”

I am committed to a high quality of program and service delivery; however, I cannot set the course. I am, after all, a servant leader. As much as it is “my council,” I am just your custodian. The council and all its assets belong to the Scouting Community. Scouting will NOT die even if councils do. That is clear. However, Scouting may become something of an Edsel. A popular car in its day, you can still find a few on the road, they are owned by eccentric, unique car collectors. Those individuals have a passion for a brand that has all but faded into memory.

The results of these meetings will help the council choose the direction that is consistent with the needs of Scouting’s most critical volunteers. (volunteers "on the ground") The decision making process is complicated by the limited resources available. I am dedicated to the public transparency of our resource allocation. If we are all going to share in the ownership of this council and its resources, then it is critical to get all our Scout volunteers “on the same page.”

Your answers have been very insightful. Often common sense is just that COMMON. Creating a direction for the council is the easy part because we all generally agree, and the further back we stand the clearer the picture becomes. Your top priorities for Scouting are:
Internal Communication: 91% this is often categorized with comments around the web site, consistency, (events being cancelled / or late announcements) difficulty acquiring answers.

Visibility / Marketing: 87% this topic is reflects comments about our image, and our presence in the community, both from a public relations standpoint, and a mass media presence.

Recruitment: 80% this topic is reflective in both Youth and adults. It often shows up as a need to make Scouting more accessible to parents: (Drop off parent syndrome) and for boys (Scouting should be cool).

Resource Allocation or “Council” Service: 79% this very broad topic is difficult to articulate, it is however, so consistently mentioned and impassioned that it requires sincere evaluation and adjustments. As I continued to respond to what everyone was trying to say I came up with two responses that seem to resonate with the feelings in the crowd.
1. Value Statement: I started asking the question, when you make a $1 contribution to Scouting (Boston Minuteman Council) How much of that $1 goes to ‘pay the debt?’ the answers have ranged from $.70 to $.40 – WOW! I then inform folks that roughly $.05 goes to pay the mortgage. In addition to shock, the deeper effect of the realization is an understanding for every $1 contributed our volunteer only receives $.30 - $.60 in value.
2. Council decision making process: I’ve drawn a simple illustration to show the council situation. With our extremely limited resources the multitude of options creates confusion. Governance (your board) has the 30,000 foot view, and is charged with seeing the options and, through me, setting the course. Trust and communication between all the folks “on the ground” and the Board (airplane) is crucial for setting the right course.



Camp and Outdoor Program: 69% this topic ranged from some granular observations about summer camp – to the global need to help Scout families appreciate the value of the outdoor program, in turn increase participation.

I’ve posted a simple chart to see the results of each conversation. To calculate the % I simply assigned a point to each answer 10 points for the highest priority 1 point for the lowest and calculated the average.

Where do we go from here?
Choosing the road(s) to travel is crucial to our ongoing success. Each “road” (council initiative) should help us gather additional resources, provide consistent and effective communication, increase trust, provide value to the “folks on the ground” and set Scouting up to be even stronger for our continuing journey. Because of our limited resources we must choose projects that wrap several priorities together.

Example, The Council Camporee: This event has such an ability to enhance a Scouts experience. Yet, the committee running the event reluctantly agreed that it was not coming together to fulfill its mission. We can (and will) however, re-schedule that event and focus our combined energy into increased communication, providing visibility, develop a recruitment / retention aspect to the event, and enhance packs and troops outdoor experience. That would serve four of the top five priorities set by our unit level volunteers.

We will host several meetings to “bundle” and “match” your priorities with council resources. The first three meetings focus on older Scouts: outdoor program, communication, marketing and retention. (September 22, 28 and 30) I’ll continue to use this online space to keep everyone informed. More opportunities to interact with the decision making process will follow.

Thanks for your patience, as always feel free to comment.

Undercover "Boss"

Adventure Base 100
First – Wow and thanks to all the volunteers who gave up time on the Holiday weekend to attend and volunteer to work the various booths and activities. Bruce Showstack did a terrific job coordinating volunteers from several councils. We had volunteers helping out with the Museum, the Boys Life photo booth, the penny pincher, the Scout Dome, the NESA booth, the popcorn booth and the mapping activity. We had other volunteers attend the wood badge beading ceremony, Eagle alumni event, and key 3 event. The weekend was packed! As I walked from the parking lot to Government Center on Sunday Morning I had people ask me if this was a “Scouting only” event because there were SO Many Scouts there. Our national folks had a much different take on the weekend; they expressed gratitude that we got to talk to so many “non-scouts” to participate. Clearly the location and dates provided a terrific opportunity for us to showcase Scouting. Personally I enjoyed meeting so many people through the knot tying boards. I met dozens and dozens of Scout friendly people and got to teach the square knot, bowline, sheet bend and clove hitch probably 150 times last weekend.

Undercover “Boss”
Have you ever watched the show Undercover Boss? http://www.cbs.com/primetime/undercover_boss/
I’ve only seen it a few times but I just love the concept. The idea of a CEO doing the work with the folks he/she employees can really be eye opening for everyone. Before I make this parallel I want to be clear that I view myself as a servant leader – NOT a CEO in the classic sense. However the dynamic is similar, workers in places like Waste Management, White Castle, and Roto Roter do not get to see or interact with their CEO and therefore the CEO doesn’t get a chance to see how the decisions from the board room affect the folks trying to make the company effective. I grew up in Scouting. I’m very sensitive to the feeling that the decisions from “the puzzle palace” often do not seem to make any sense.

I need to hear about Scouting policies and practices from our Scout Masters and Cub Masters. I really enjoy hearing the honest feedback. I have taken the opportunity to capitalize on the “Undercover Boss” idea a few times in the past month. I was somewhat undercover at Adventure Base 100, Massasoit, and staff week at Storer. It’s fun and enlightening.

Some things I’ve hear in my “undercover capacity”
I’m surprised at how many people talk about possible mergers
I’m surprised at how many people don’t know about the pool issue
Some folks have long memories
I’m surprised at how many people use the word “politics” to describe the way the council functions
Most folks agree we need more visibility
Many folks feel successful in spite of the council
There are a lot of divergent ideas about how things could be better
Everyone wants the Scouting to succeed and grow

As I mentioned in my last update – I’m visiting camps every week partially undercover and then again formally to conduct a conversation about Scouting priorities. The first meeting was held at Massasoit Family camp weekend on Saturday night. The room was full about 20 people – lots of great ideas! That room came up with a clear list of the top 6 things the council should do to help support Scouting.

I’ll post their results after I’ve conducted the meeting a few more times so we have a broader and more balanced view to post.

See you around the campfire!
Chuck

What I've heard from you

Week Two
Wow. It’s been a great AND BUSY first two weeks serving as your Scout Executive for Boston Minuteman Council. I’d like this blog to provide a reflection of my first two weeks. Please respond and let me know if I’ve captured an accurate interpretation of YOUR PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS of the council.

What I’ve done:
I’ve met with just about every staff member for a one on one conversation, attended three district committee meetings, two roundtables, worked at Storer with the alumni, met individually with a dozen board members, and a specific key three meeting. Additionally, I’ve reviewed our financial position several times, held several discussions with the lodge leadership, Storer leadership, regional Scout leadership, marketing and communications volunteers, and many individual Scouters.

What I’ve learned:
Boston Minuteman is blessed with lots of strong, dedicated volunteers. It doesn’t take much to get the marketing folks excited about our marketing opportunities, the Storer folks excited about camp, the finance folks charged up about our financial performance, the district folks talking about their efforts for the upcoming Scouting year, and on and on. Obviously, we wouldn’t want it any other way. I can get pretty invigorated by my work in Scouting too, so I think we’ll be in for a electrifying journey together.

During these conversations, I do get a bunch of questions that start off “What are you going to do about …….” or “you should know ……” Of course after just two weeks, I don’t have much of a response. I’m just soaking it all in and writing notes to myself in my blackberry. (Seriously, I’m NOT texting someone when I write down your comments) The comments I capture tend to fall into two categories.

Things we do well
Things we need to improve

There are lots of things the council does well. Your comments tend to revolve around the people, the units and their individual strengths. Or simply the inherent strength of the Scouting. It’s already clear to me that certain people and their skills are assets to council operations. Some are staff, and some are volunteers. Those positive comments are generally delivered with a certain wistful expression that causes me to probe a little deeper.

The struggles are wide spread and delivered carefully. Some are facility oriented, (BEYOND the pool) some are big picture, marketing / communities’ perception etc. some are operational. Often the comments revolve around a fractured sense of “the council.” I feel as you are telling me, those involved in council activities / operations are working together and moving Scouting forward yet many volunteers and possible supporters are standing on the sidelines not participating.

Again, during my first few days and months I’m trying to serve as a mirror, does that reflection accurately portray your perception? ceaton@bsaboston.org

To further this discussion and provide opportunities to bring clarity to the collective observations I’ll be facilitating several group discussions / exercises over the summer. Each discussion will last roughly two hours. I’ll provide a format that will allow every single idea and observation a voice - and through the exercise you will collectively tell me - and through me the board - the priorities of the council. The results of these exercises will be boiled down to a document to be shared with all Scouters during September. Then in coordination with independent assessments your priorities will be brought forward to the board as the basis for our strategic plan. The planning process itself will contain additional opportunities for all Scouters to provide input.

Based on your initial comments it seems to me the general topics for our summer “priority conversations” should be:

Council support to volunteers and units
Council facilities (camps, buildings etc)
Council position in the media / community

I am planning to hold each conversation three times at various locations throughout the summer (including at Massasoit, Storer and Sayre). That’ll be nine meetings in total. I’ll publish a full calendar in my blog and on the council site next week.

Thanks again for everything you do in Scouting. See you this summer around the campfire.
Chuck

Vigil Honor

I became an Ordeal and Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow as a teen. My ordeal was at Storer Scout Reservation and my Brotherhood at Camp Sayre. As you can well imagine, I was already very active in Scouting and appreciated the opportunity to increase my contribution to the program I love so deeply. I served as Vice Chief of Program for a couple years and enjoyed the occasion to provide OA programs at Summer camp, run fellowship weekends, and organize the annual lodge recognition dinner.

However, as I went to college my time for Scouting was reduced to planning and working at summer camp. My lodge activities were confined to work weekends, which always provided a great chance to catch up with friends and get ready for camp.

Suffice to say after college I made my career in Scouting and people began to assume I had already kept my vigil. (I was never one to wear too many badges or sashes) So, fast forward to last year when the Unami lodge advisor made a comment about vigil ceremony to which I replied, “I have no idea - I’m brotherhood.” He wasted no time, and at the next opportunity sponsored me as a vigil candidate.

I just returned from my Vigil weekend. I will not go into the details of the experience except to say that I have an even deeper respect for my brothers at Unami Lodge #1. It’s one thing to be the “number 2 guy” in the council and attend work weekends, sit in the background during lodge meetings, discuss camp properties and program plans with key lodge leaders, but it is entirely another thing to be a participant in such a wonderfully, moving powerful and inspirational ceremony and service weekend. The young men who run Unami have always impressed me - yet over the weekend these impressive young men provided this life long Scouter with an extraordinary experience.

I have keep my vigil at Resica Falls, and I will bring my renewed enthusiasm and dedication back to Moswetuset Lodge. See you at the Conclave.

Tutaam Nihillalatschik
One who inspires all
Supreme Chief of the Fire

I hope this makes sense I’m pretty tired ;)