It appears several members of the Commissioner Technology Group have been active on Scouting Forums at one time or another: @RonFedele @MichaelCreagh @ErnestFroemel @RonaldHathaway @MrAdamJohn @RichardManteuffel @AlmaRedmon
I would very much appreciate clarification on the purpose of this Scouting America Commissioners forum relative to other available communications channels. There has been a lot of change over the past several months on the technology front that has been difficult to piece together.
This forum was relatively active 2020–2022 but has had sporadic use since 2023. It would benefit from a pinned and updated Please Read post if the forum is to have a role going forward.
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@PaulStrasma this is the closest I’ve seen to a timeline. I’m going to post an observation and opinion and probably see fall out but here it goes. I am a volunteer much like yourself. As toward groups and their purposes within this tool and FB pages and Commissioner Scouting Pages what I have seen. Much of the “staff” started embracing capabilities with Microsoft Sharepoint and Teams within the past two years. Much for data file and collaboration on things within those tools for intercommunication. Thus the proliferation of those not in the “Staff” sharepoint community group our awareness is slowly moving to the model of diminishing returns. I was reminded yet again by four District Executives that even with the information I have assembled, we the Commissioners, appear to know more of what is going on than they do. This where are we headed and what is expected of whom is a evolving discussion which really is why people are being asked to join the Meetings and Sessions as documenting a moving ship on the water while building the dock for it to berth against is a struggle. It is hard to know what it is that people don’t know that you know therefore we are being asked join the meeting and ask the questions or post in the tools to share the information to start the conversation is the current mindset.
Commissioner training evolution plan
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Thank you @LarryPotter for sharing what you know in the best tradition of roundtable.
With the push for Commissioners “to be the single, best resource” there is a host of valuable resources being communicated via push channels (e.g. monthly commissioner newsletter) and archived online (e.g. Luis Feliciano’s Fall 2023 article on Expert Status in the former quarterly newsletter) and via live participatory forums diving deep into specific topics (e.g. commissioner colleges, virtual impact sessions like Kevin Philip’s on Unit Connections).
In my personal experience, the communication chain tends to break when messages are sent via a single channel such as the Council Commissioner Confabs or NST forums. Use of the chain of command as the sole communications pathway makes sense for critical or sensitive issues. It also creates the opportunity for the target audience to miss the message or receive a mangled version courtesy of the telephone game. This same issue applies at the council and district level when communicating out to unit leaders and parents.
What I appreciate about these forums is the two way, ad-hoc, unfiltered nature for communicating with well-informed Scouters who represent various councils and national networks. This isn’t the first place I turn, but is often where I find someone with a pointer or insight beyond what is available through my local council channels or nationally-published communications.
Thank you @PaulStrasma I do agree. I too would appreciate not having a weekly research project leveraging this kind of open forums for more communications. I hope the thread Commissioner Confab Jan 2025 would help initiate a more collaborative discussion. but only time will tell.
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@LarryPotter that was a noble attempt. The open Q&A at the February Commissioner Confab was very informative. One notable offer was that a current version of the Commissioner Tools Update presentation from the August '24 Impact Session is available for use in local council trainings by e-mailing commissionerserviceteam@Scouting.org.
Three cheers for the announcements in today’s all commissioner newsletter!
Which brings us back to the original question. What is the purpose of this forum?
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Is that the National monthly newsletter? What was the announcement?
The monthly newsletter is now a bi-weekly email blast with archives available online.
Big improvement of past newsletters that didn’t contain anything of actionable substance.
I sent them a note to be added to the mail list. Yes, I am a correctly registered, and unexpired, commissioner.
In the note I asked why don’t they use the official discussion forums for announcements vs Facebook/Instagram.
Thanks, by the way for the link.
Well we have discovered at least one purpose for this forum!
I didn’t get a copy of the email list version. I used to get the old one. I sent their support email an email and got a very quick response from @LarryChase . I gave him screenshots of my registered positions and email. He will pass it on to support.
