Suggestion: We can see all the MBCs nearby - it would be so awesome if we could print a report of the same information.
Thanks!
Many councils have asked the BSA to not make the MBC list downloadable or printable to allow for better control of who has access to this data.
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Then a switch could be used for those Councils who oppose it (although I can’t imagine why). If you can get the exact same information 10 MBCs at a time, why then would that prevent us from getting a report?
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The Guide to Advancement, and Advancement principals require the Scout to have a conversation with the unit leader (or the unit leader’s designee). Providing free and clear access to the Council MBC list, will circumvent this requirement. It’s a very good thing, that a young Scout, have many conversations with Adults. Adults Association is one of the 8 Methods! Listings of MBC contacts is something delegated to the Councils. It’s my observation that there is a unique method for access to the MBC data, for every Council. My recommendation is that you contact your Council Executive and found out who your Scoutbook Council Admin role is assigned to. There can be up to 3. (I happen to be one of those 3 in my Council). The Council Scoutbook Admin, is responsible for producing and uploading the MBC lists. The Council Exec has to approve the person and then someone at the national council, adds them as the admin role.
I try to do my council MBC updates, once a quarter. I also export this list to a password protected Excel file. We link this off our Council website, which is the ONLY location allowed by the Guide to Advancement. If you don’t like how your Council provides (or does not provide) access to this information, go talk with your council exec or council advancement committee chair.
That’s what I did, and now I am the guy having to keep it updated.
The idea I had was not for parents or scouts… It was for Unit-level Key 3 and Key 3 Delegates. I missed asserting that point when I was making my suggestion, I guess. I assumed it would be the same people who are now forced to go to their council administrators. I am very familiar with the Scouts BSA Methods, thank you.
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At first I agreed with the request to print reports. Then I thought, why not just look up counselors in Scoutbook?
Because there are some 96 screens of MBCs in SB, in order of proximity to our zip code.
Councils can and still do distribute paper copies of the MBC list. This is under Council control. Scoutbook having an MBC list does not prevent Councils from distributing their MBC list in other formats.
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96 screens for a particular merit badge? I assume not. One is only looking up one merit badge at a time.
Looking at MBCs in my zip code. I am a District Commissioner in addition to ASM so I get requests like that all the time.
So what are you looking for that you need to page through that many MBCs? Even as a district commissioner, I would expect you’re getting questions like “I need help finding a counselor for pottery”, not “let me see every MBC within 50 miles”…
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Nope, I am getting the latter question, not the former. It seems CC’s out in my district like to have the list handy so it is easier for them, and the SM, when someone does need pottery. I get 7 or 8 of these about twice a year and each one requires me calling the council for the list and then doing the handoff. I’d just as soon let them have direct access to the list without having to burden the council admin with yet another trivial task.
Speak with your council advancement committee member from your district. The council should be able to provide you with a list outside of Scoutbook.
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Committee Chairs and Scoutmasters have the same access to the MBC list as you have via Scoutbook. You could always tell them to look there, unless they have a specific issue… Your good turn doesn’t have to be “drop what you’re doing, call the council, pick up the list, and deliver it to someone”. It could be “Hey, let me teach you how to find what you’re looking for in Scoutbook.”
ALL Key 3 members have Scoutbook accounts, whether their unit uses it or not. All Key 3 members have the ability to pull the MBC list from Scoutbook.
So OK, just to clarify, I am not a noob to this. I get this call multiple times a year. I have tried the approach to provide them with the knowledge about what Scoutbook can do for them. I get the immediate call back that they don’t want to slog through all the pages (well, once the person gets over the learning curve of even using SB since they still use other products for their advancement activities).
The LEAST SB COULD DO would be to allow the user to change the output display to more than the few names per screen (a common feature in most web-based applications). That might mitigate, to some extent, the hole in the SB solution. I’d LOVE to not burden our Council admins with just another trivial task and I would like to see some automation in its stead. That automation would be Scoutbook generating a simple report.
I’m not interested in arguing as to where the best place is to get the information might be or in the processes I follow to fulfill the requests of my constituents. My only objective here is to ask the SB developers to add an MBC report, for Unit Key 3 and Key 3 delegates, to their long list of application changes. I don’t think it is too much to request and it might take some of the burden off our already overloaded Council admins. More than likely, they are already taking a list and formatting it for the web presentation. The data is there and most of the reporting capabilities are already there in the application.
As I stated at the beginning of this thread, there are no plans to add printable or exportable MBC lists to Scoutbook as multiple Councils have asked that this functionality not be provided. Knowing the backlog, I doubt the developers will entertain creating this functionality for a subset of councils that do not object.
I will add a request to make more MBCs available per screen.
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No, the LEAST SB COULD DO is absolutely nothing 
The need to look up MBCs is solely for SM when a scout comes to them asking for a blue card. It is up to the district advancement chair to keep the list updated and accurate. When the Scout tries the first MBC and gets declined, they go back to the SM for a new name. Commissioners, ASMs, CC, or council admins (whom ever they may be) aren’t part of that loop.
This is the process as laid out by the guide to advancement and MBC and SM training. If other processes are being followed, I am not too surprised they may be hard or murky.
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