It was rainy from the start. I could not decide on whether to wear a suit and tie all day long or to wear a uniform and then change to the suit and tie later in the day. I chose to do that instead, and use some of the time to fill the gas tank so as to return the car on a full tank — as I always do whenever I “borrow” someone else’ car.
The Americanism Breakfast this morning featured the announcement of the Eagle Scouts winning the BSA’s national scholarships and would be wrapped up by the presentation of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award to Mike Rowe. For those not familiar with the name, Mike Rowe for the last seven years have been working a week at a time doing jobs that the majority of us would NEVER work. Chicken gutter. Sewer main engineer. Landfill santation engineer. You know — the yucckiest jobs which, by amazement, also pays the most. His “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe” cable television show won five Emmy® nominations. Rowe, an Eagle Scout, took on each job with cheerfulness and if not reservation, bravery — two of the twelve “qualities” of an Eagle Scout. He’s also the guy featured on commericals for Ford and Brawny.
Mike entertained the audience, introduced his family (you see them on commerical for Brawny paper towels), again thanked the BSA for asking him to address thousands of Scouts and Scouters during the Centennial National Jamboree, and reflected on his road toward becoming an Eagle Scout. In the process, he kept referring to “this evening” instead of “this morning”. That’s okay, for I’m sure that he does a lot of talks like this mostly in the evenings.
Rowe credits his father for getting him in Scouts. He shared that his father drove him to the church and upon arriving told his son to “get out” and go into the church. He tells his story better than I could retell it.
Terry Grove, a longtime Scouter and fellow collector of the cloth, was also recognized during the breakfast. Grove owns the nation’s largest collection of everything pertaining to the Eagle Scout award – medals, square knot insignia, cloth patches, pins, you name it. Terry was outside the ballroom, signing copies of his signature Eagle Scout book. We finally met, having electronically sent notes to each other for several years. I envisioned a much younger guy; he probably envisioned a thinner guy in me.
“The Main Thing is the Main Thing” explained outgoing National President Rex Tillerson on Thursday and this morning during the Program session. He emphaized that despite everything, the most important part of being a part of Scouting is the ideals — the Scout Oath and Laws, the Motto and Slogan. The discussions this morning He explained that this is what led the BSA to its large restructuring, which brought forward the Journey to Excellence program, and the Voice of the Scout. Everything we do as a program element must tie back to gaining more members, more units and more partners.
Other national officers confirmed Tillerson’s mantra that we must get to know our “customer base”.
Tico Perez, the BSA’s National Commissioner, introduced a fellow lawyer, Dr. William Bennett, to the assembled Scouting audience. He first let people know that he’s NOT Mike Rowe. “I don’t think most people would make that mistake, but I’m Bill Bennett, just to make sure.” He gave a great speech and afterwards sold special copies of his best-seller book, “The Book of Man”. I appreciated the fact that he acknoweldged that he didn’t know a lot about Scouting but respected those people involved in the Scouting movement.
I attended the Northeast Region’s Silver Antelope luncheon, mainly so that I can run into Charles Spitz. Charlie and I have been talking electronically for about seven years, and finally over lunch and our Region’s business meeting, I got to meet and talk with him. There were two other Scouters who have been reading my postings on Scouts-L and LinkedIn and wantd to stop by our table, introduced themselves to me and made me blush as they explained that my postings have really helped them out.
(I am registered primariliy with the Transatlantic Council, which is part of the Northeast Region. I am also registered as a part of the Northern Star Council, which is located in the Central Region. This is why I was able to attend both Region’s luncheons.)
After lunch and a walk through Terry’s Eagle displays, I found my way to the Social Media presentation. Dr. Steve Myers recommended that I attend (and to please report to everyone) that session. Great recommendation, Dr. Steve, because I wanted to meet the BSA’s Social Media guy, Nathan. He had a set of slides to talk about ways that Scouting units can use social media tools — especially Facebook — safely and effectively. Unfortuately, the internet connections in the hotel were not strong enough for Nathan to show his examples. One of the pieces he wanted to share was the Google Goggles which was something that Liz Reid was talking with me about a couple of years ago…except she wanted to replace an eyeball with a HD camcorder and camera so that all you had to do is say “take picture” or “start” or “stop” video. Looks like someone had your idea and more, Liz. Something great for telling a unit’s Scouting story.
Here’s a link to what the “BSA Facebook guy” (Nathan Johnson, who could use a Scouting field uniform instead of a suit and tie) wanted to show us:
(I could see why Nathan wanted to share this with us…it looks perfect for having Scouts to share their Jamboree experiences with us.)
Not much else was discussed duering the session. Two significant items that was discussed: the BSA recommends that a Facebook FAN PAGE as opposed to a Group page be constructed by units; and for the best impact, constantly ask yourself “who are the best story tellers in your unit? Those are the ones who should be sharing items online.”
I went back to change for the National Court of Honor dinner and returned in a suit and tie. At our table were two professionals from the St. Louis area; a Council President and his wife; a Council Commissioner and his wife; and the Scouting Coordinator from the AME Church and his wife along with myself. The dinner was great, the Doo Wop group from Sea World I believe — no, from Busch Gardens — was okay, and the Court of Honor in which my longtime friend Neil Lupton was one of nine Scouting volunteers honored with the BSA’s highest volunteer service award, the Silver Buffalo Award. Russell Smart was another Silver Buffalo honoree. Afterward, I got to spend a short few minutes with Neil and his wife.
All in all, I had a wonderful time. It was well worth some of my time, talents and treasures to be there. I met some wonderful, outstanding people. I learned some things. I found ways to be of future service within Scouting. It was great!
One Response to More on the 2012 BSA National Meeting (1 Jun 12)