Rob Beam wrote and asked:
“I have been a subscriber to SCOUTS-L for almost two years. I find the topics
some what interesting. Enough to remain a subscriber. However, I find this
medium to be very cumbersome, user unfriendly. Can’t we use some other
method to communicate? I believe that is why only a few ‘regular’ participants
comment. Isn’t the idea to share information?
Secondly, I find reading the commentary very challenging. I lose interest
quickly trying to follow the format of some messages (all the crazy characters
dotted throughout the comment) and finding the topics scattered throughout
the email. Seems there’s an opportunity for better structure.
I guess if you are more technically savvy then all this works for you. But not
for me.
some what interesting. Enough to remain a subscriber. However, I find this
medium to be very cumbersome, user unfriendly. Can’t we use some other
method to communicate? I believe that is why only a few ‘regular’ participants
comment. Isn’t the idea to share information?
Secondly, I find reading the commentary very challenging. I lose interest
quickly trying to follow the format of some messages (all the crazy characters
dotted throughout the comment) and finding the topics scattered throughout
the email. Seems there’s an opportunity for better structure.
I guess if you are more technically savvy then all this works for you. But not
for me.
Hi Rob!!
We go through asking ourselves “is this the right medium” question about once every four or five years, as technology and the entire Internet increases our personal abilities to “do things faster…”
The short answer is “sure, there’s a LOT of other ways that Scouting information, resources, opinions and ideas can be shared and distributed…it’s already being done; but this is the MOST COMMON METHOD of distributing that information to a large number of people without forcing people to “get/use X program” or “Y software” or “Z add-ins”. “
Keep in mind that Scouts-L, despite it’s name, is a *worldwide youth programs discussion group*. The name “Scouts-L” was chosen a long time ago because “Youth-L” was already taken. Eventually, Scouts-L has been the “home” to parents, volunteers and professionals working with or supporting the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Boy Scouts of America — without their assistance, support or endorsment. Just happened that way. The easiest, fastest and most reliable way that those “1s and 0s” can travel to thousands of subscribers is via a plain texted email. This is why we don’t allow “attachments” on Scouts-L — some email programs don’t know what to do with it, even today. This is also why we take such a strong stance on “spammed mail”. It may look tame here in the USA, but in Belgium or Germany, it could wreck havoc on someone’s email (and other) program, essentially “kicking them off the list.”
We at the USSSP (the U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc., the current “caretakers” of Scouts-L (it will become official later this year finally)) have been talking about a “better look” for Scouts-L, perhaps taking it to a blog-like interface. I’ve been able to keep us from doing so simply because whatever blog-like interface we decide upon, we’ll get a large segment out there who “can’t use it”, “can’t access it from work”, “can’t access it on X platform or Y phone or Z protocol” — and believe it or not, we STILL have people using good old fashioned 56K modems and paying by the kilobyte for messages. Email still works for them.
No matter what email program one uses, we are going to get some of those “stray characters” which come from using a slower means to send items via email. The last time someone suggested that we move to something “better” like a BBS (bulletin board system, the forerunners to today “web blog” or “blog”), I suggested that he simply check out what Scouts-L looks like for him with a different email program. However, thanks to a pair of Scout-L veterans (Thanks Lloyd and Kyna!), you can actually access Scouts-L via your favorite web browswer by going to http://www.scouts-l.org.
The reason why we get only a “few regulars” is one of the “cute features” of Scouts-L. Most people over the years have joined us simply in the “receive mode”. They don’t feel that need to “talk” about anything and everything — most are new to Scouting and simply want to ‘enjoy the freedom’ of having someone else ask the questions or state information or provide reflection. After our first five or seven years of being a “group of close to 4000”, some people wanted to talk and share information specific to why they are “doing Scouts” and we literally exploded with new discussion groups: ARROW-L, after a similiar type discussion to the one we’ve had here about the importance or not of the BSA’s Order of the Arrow program and ways it can be better utilized in our local Councils; Patch-L, after several of us started swapping patches back and forth between ourselves and we needed a forum to do this without interference to the ‘regular discussions’; LDS_SCOUTS-L, E-Scouts, Cub_Trainer_L, Woodbadge-L — there were a lot of us subscribed to some 10 or 12 emailed discussion groups at one time or another!!
Scouts-L remained as the leader because of three elements, Rob. The importance that it remained “outside the perview” of the national youth programs we are discussing. This gives each participant — no matter what role they play in whatever program they belong to — the freedom to openly ask, critisize, examine, and most importantly provide solutions to our youth programs’ many issues and problems. There’s a LOT of passionate supporters and defenders of Scouting on here. Being around here a couple of years, you’ve probably read some of their comments and either agreeed or disagreed with what they had to say. And like me, you probably disagree with them on some things — but right there beside them in other ways. While we do get — and this is a RECENT THING, part of the “New BSA” that our professional counterparts have been saying that they are moving the program toward — some professional advice… most of the most useful kibbles and bits come from those of us who truly have “been there, done that, got the teeshirt and had it cleaned, pressed and wanting to hand it to you.”
The idea that I can hop onto Scouts-L from just about anywhere, using anyone’s email program, anyone’s browser if my email supports using it through such an item — and be able to post my message and get LOTS of suggestions and ideas in return — is another powerful element. I always refer to Scouts-L as that “international daily Roundtable meeting which NEVER ends!”(sm) and we at the USSSP has later servicemarked that line because we felt that above everything else, THAT is the value of Scouts-L to its subscribers. For many people, this is the closest they are going to come to walking into a church or school or the “Council office” building to face other volunteers just as scared as they are. They are fearful that they’re “gonna do something wrong” and come face to face with “all of those other people who’ve been doing it for years and will chide or tease me for something I’m doing to help my son or his friends”. This is why a lot of people, Rob, don’t post here — they are scared that their comment or idea or suggestion will be “pounced upon” by those who have been around here longer. At the same time they stick around because THIS IS THE PLACE if we want to know the answer to something and their local folks raise their hands up and say “We don’t know… but I bet if you posted it on Scouts-L, someone there *would*.”
And the idea that despite fears that people are going to “pounce on you” if you say something contrary or out-of-synch with others here, that Scouts-L IS a nurturing place. We have developed Council Presidents, Council Scout Executives, Scoutmasters, Council and above committee and Team members, Regional and Area Commissioners, Cubmasters and other “senior level volunteers” from those parents, volunteers or entry-level professionals who have come here years back and told us the truth: “I’m new at this and came here to learn from all of you…” That’s the other element here. Even those who have left us, saying basically “I don’t need the hand-hold any more; I’ve kicked the training wheels off and I am doing this solo” view Scouts-L as a valuable tool and recommend us to other “newbies”.
Hope all of this helps you (and those others of you out here — we see you sitting on your hands. Come on…the water’s fine and the sharks are friendly — we just fed them! *hehehehehee*)
Settummanque!
—
Settummanque is writer, retired military officer, dad, friend,
traveler, public speaker, webmaster, Eagle Scout, and/or “sweetie”
(LTC) Mike Walton. South Lake Minnetonka area, Minnesota.
http://www.settummanque.com
Settummanque is writer, retired military officer, dad, friend,
traveler, public speaker, webmaster, Eagle Scout, and/or “sweetie”
(LTC) Mike Walton. South Lake Minnetonka area, Minnesota.
http://www.settummanque.com
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