Alumni News

Opportunities Abound for Learning How to Reconnect Alumni

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:33:00 GMT

This June, the Philmont Training Center will host the fourth annual Reconnecting Scouting’s Alumni conference, a weeklong program designed to help members of council alumni relations and National Eagle Scout Association committees energize their efforts to reengage Scouting’s 50 million living alumni. Set for June 17–23, the conference will not only introduce tools provided by the BSA’s Office of Alumni Relations but will also help participants develop a council-specific, year-round alumni plan. (Click to view the 2012 conference schedule.)

Alumni Relations Committee Seminars

April

14—Atlanta, Ga.
21—Bethesda, Md.
28—St. Charles, Ill.

May

5—Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
12—Hurst, Texas

“Councils represented during the first three years have realized prompt success in going home and recruiting their reconnected alumni into volunteer positions and as donors,” said Bill Steele, national director of Alumni Relations. “Plus, the participants enjoyed a true mountaintop experience at Philmont that featured fabulous content, ‘famous’ faculty from across the country, friends old and new, great family programs, fantastic lifetime memories, and lots of fun.”

Recognizing that getting away for a week can be challenging, no matter how appealing, the national Alumni Relations Committee is taking its show on the road this spring by offering one-day seminars in cities across the country. The committee has already hosted events in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, and will travel to Atlanta, Ga.; Bethesda, Md.; St. Charles, Ill.; Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.; and Hurst, Texas, this spring (see box).

How do you cram five days of training into one? “I talk as fast as I can,” said Roy Keithley, chair of the Alumni Relations Committee. “There’s not the in-depth interaction and discussion that’s accomplished at Philmont.”

That’s not to say the sessions aren’t valuable. Keithley participated in the Utah seminar, which brought together representatives of five councils, and said the 30 participants were able to share best practices and common concerns. “The resources they were able to devote to alumni were drastically different, but the needs and the desires were very similar,” Keithley said.

The cost for the one-day seminars is $15 per attendee and includes lunch. For additional information, contact Jeff Laughlin at jeff.laughlin@scouting.org or 972-580-2032. Click to register for one of the upcoming seminars.

Eight Steps to a Strong Alumni
Relations Plan

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:32:00 GMT

You’re already on board as an active BSA alumnus or alumna. But what about your friends, your coworkers, and others in your community? It’s easy to help your local council develop an alumni relations plan. Begin by reading the Building a Council Alumni Relations Plan: Eight Steps to Get Started guide or visiting www.scouting.org/Alumni/Resources.aspx for a host of other helpful materials.

“We know that the best programs in Scouting are staff supported but volunteer driven,” said Bill Steele, national director of Alumni Relations. “I’d love for our alumni in every local council to reach out to their council leadership and get involved in creating alumni relations plans.”

Here’s a summary of the quick start guide:

Recruit strong committee members to work with the appointed BSA staff adviser.
Ask everyone on the committee to read the Scouting Alumni Association program overview and Recommended Council Alumni Relations Committee Structure and Responsibilities.
Ask all of the committee members to review the Scouting Alumni Association resources on http://BSAalumni.org.
Brainstorm about the goals you would like to reach through an alumni relations program and how the program will help you achieve them.
Reach out to councils that have an alumni plan already in place and learn from their best practices.
Set benchmarks and develop a timeline.
Make a list of possible third-party partner organizations that are likely to count Scouting alumni among their membership or volunteer bases.
Develop a comprehensive communications plan.

It’s that easy!

Scouting Alumni Association Has Launched

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:06:00 GMT

In the fall 2011 issue of Alumni Alive!, we announced the planned creation of a formal alumni association for the BSA. We’re pleased to report that the group, the Scouting Alumni Association, is now up and running.

For annual dues of $35, SAA members will receive the quarterly Alumni Alive! newsletter, a name-embossed affiliation card, a lapel pin, a luggage tag, and a window cling. Members will also receive a free one-year membership to the National Scouting Museum, a one-time discount on a purchase from the BSA Supply Group, and discounts on products and services from trusted BSA partners. What’s more, they can download 10 free bugle-call ringtones and create a free online alumni scrapbook.

The Scouting Alumni Association builds on the success of the BSA Alumni Connection program, which it replaces. Alumni Connection, a concerted effort to reconnect with some of Scouting’s 50 million living alumni, reached more than 200,000 people and prompted more than 100 local councils to create alumni-relations committees to reengage those men and women.

Please take the time to sign up for the Scouting Alumni Association at www.bsaalumni.org.

Telling Scouting’s Story Through Photographs

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:05:00 GMT

What do you get when you take 33 professional and amateur photographers, a cadre of world-class instructors, and a quarter-million dollars worth of camera gear to the Philmont Scout Ranch? You get a stunning array of pictures capturing Scouting’s most iconic locale (many of which you can enjoy here).

But this fall’s inaugural Philmont Photo Workshop was about more than taking great pictures. It was about laying the groundwork for teaching youth and adult photographers how to tell Scouting’s story with cameras, according to BSA photographer Roger Morgan, who organized the workshop. “We’re going to train the trainers so they can teach Scouts how to tell a real Scouting story and then give that to the local council, put it on social media, and feed it back to Scouting and Boys’ Life magazines, both print and online,” he said.

Supporting the effort is Canon USA, whose professional division supplied gear for the Philmont workshop. “We had everything imaginable, an embarrassment of riches,” Morgan said. “There wasn’t one person out there, professional photographers included, that wasn’t just totally blown away by the equipment that was available.”

Building on this year’s workshop, Morgan plans to offer smaller-scale programs in each of the BSA’s four regions during 2012—and even more in future years. He envisions someday having 10,000 Scout storytellers roaming the country with cameras. “There’s a lot of great stories out there that aren’t being told,” he said. “We just need to tell America what Scouting’s really like.”

Morgan pointed out that recent nationwide Eagle Scout searches have turned up hundreds of Scouting alumni who work as professional photographers. He sees the photo workshops as a great way for alumni to leverage their skills to serve the program they love. “We want to take that group and share their knowledge and skill sets and love of Scouting with other volunteers,” he said.

For more information on future photo workshops, visit www.bsaalumni.org in the coming months.

Scouting Alumni Association Prepares to Launch

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:28:00 GMT

Last year, as part of our 100th Anniversary Celebration, the Boy Scouts of America launched the BSA Alumni Connection program, a concerted effort to reconnect with some of Scouting’s 50 million living alumni. More than 200,000 people signed up and are now receiving such benefits as the Alumni Alive! newsletter, free bugle-call ringtones, and free one-year memberships to the National Scouting Museum. Meanwhile, more than 100 local councils created alumni-relations committees to reengage those men and women.

Now, the BSA is taking alumni relations to a new level by creating the Scouting Alumni Association. The SAA won’t replace the Alumni Connection; instead, it will offer additional benefits to alumni who want to do even more to support Scouting. For annual dues of $35, SAA members will enjoy all the benefits of Alumni Connection membership, plus special recognition items and discounts on products and services from trusted BSA partners.

“There’s no doubt that alumni make up Scouting’s strongest support group,” said Bill Steele, the BSA’s director of Alumni Relations and the National Eagle Scout Association. “Our new alumni association will give them a tangible way to support both their local council and the National Council while they help us spread the word about Scouting in their communities.”

The Scouting Alumni Association will be launched this fall. Visit www.bsaalumni.org/ or see future issues of Alumni Alive!

Reigniting the Flame of Scouting

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Faculty members at this summer’s Reconnecting Scouting’s Alumni conference—held at the Philmont Training Center in New Mexico—fielded a lot of questions. Perhaps the most important was one the average alumnus might ask: “Why should I sign up on this website?” In other words, former Scouts and leaders want to know why they should reconnect with the program.

The answer, according to conference faculty member Roy Keithley, is that reconnecting does far more than benefit Scouting. “It benefits the council, but it also benefits the alumni and their communities,” he said.

Keithley, who is also chairman of the BSA’s Alumni Relations Committee, said alumni are the secret to reaching Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca’s goal of doubling the number of adult volunteers in Scouting. And many alumni, he believes, are itching for the chance to get involved again. “How many moms 50 years old are wishing they had little kids now? They’re tired of fighting the teenage wars or they’re empty-nesters,” Keithley said. By returning to the den leader ranks, they could serve Scouting and their communities while reliving the fun they had the first time around, he added.

According to faculty member Rick Bragga, every facet of the five-day conference built toward the goal of developing a comprehensive alumni-relations plan for each participant’s local council. “You can see a tremendous amount of activity in local councils where someone has come to this training,” he said.

Meanwhile, conference participants have generated ideas with national impact. For example, the BSA’s new Alumni Award came out of the 2009 conference.

The fourth Reconnecting Scouting’s Alumni conference will be June 17-23, 2012, at Philmont. For more information or to sign up to attend, visit www.philmonttrainingcenter.org/.

Sign Up for Alumni Conference and Photo Expedition

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:52:47 GMT

Space is still available for two alumni-related events scheduled for later this year, but you’ll need to act quickly if you want to participate.

One event is the third annual Reconnecting Scouting’s Alumni conference at the Philmont Training Center. Scheduled for August 7–13, this interactive conference explores best practices in identifying and engaging alumni to grow Scouting locally. Participants will leave with a specific, year-round alumni plan, an understanding of the Distinguished Eagle Scout and Outstanding Eagle Scout awards, familiarity with national BSA resources, and proven ideas for integrating alumni events into ongoing council activities. Faculty members will be Roy Keithley, chairman of the national Alumni Relations Committee; Rick Bragga, a member of the Alumni Relations and National Eagle Scout Association committees; and Bill Steele, director of Alumni Relations and NESA.

The conference fee is $470, which includes all conference materials, meals, and lodging. Philmont also offers an extensive family program for spouses and children of all ages, and program schedules are carefully coordinated to allow for family hikes and other activities.

“Besides being a great conference, the Philmont location promises that participants will have a true mountaintop experience,” Steele said. “Philmont offers fabulous content, ‘famous’ faculty, friends new and old from across the country, family activities, fantastic lifetime memories, and fun, fun, fun.”

To learn more about the Reconnecting Scouting’s Alumni conference (and dozens of other Philmont conferences), visit the Philmont Training Center Web page.

The other event is this fall’s High-Adventure Photo 2011 Expedition, which will match BSA alumni shutterbugs with a professional photographer for four days of exploration in and around the BSA’s Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base.

Based at the Grand Ely Lodge, the expedition will run from Sept. 26 to 29. The all-inclusive cost is $800 (plus travel to Ely, Minnesota), and participation is limited to 48 alumni. All experience levels are welcome. The better the camera you have, however, the more you’ll learn.

“Few locales in our country offer the solitude and rare beauty that the Boundary Waters area does,” said Bragga, who is helping to plan the event. “I’m thrilled to be able to share this place with fellow alumni.”

Registration began April 15 and will continue until all spaces have been filled. For more information, email alumni@scouting.org.

Take on the Alumni Scavenger Hunt

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:51:39 GMT

As the BSA Alumni website grows, it becomes increasingly likely that some alumni will miss out on the resources the site provides. To make sure you’re not missing out, take the alumni scavenger hunt quiz today. This 14-question quiz will introduce you to the various sections of the website and challenge you to learn more. Once you’ve logged into the site, just click the link on the right side of the page.

When you get to the quiz, you may notice a link at the bottom to the correct answers. Just remember that you’re on your Scout’s honor not to peek!

Alumni Award: Get to Work

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:44:35 GMT

As previously announced in Alumni Alive!, the BSA now has an award just for alumni. Appropriately called the Alumni Award, it recognizes alumni in four areas: alumni identification and promotion, alumni engagement, personal participation, and personal education.

The first Alumni Awards have now been earned, so you may soon be seeing the distinctive red, blue, and gold knot—or the civilian-wear lapel pin—on Scouters in your council. To earn your own award, log in to the BSA Alumni website, download the requirements, and get to work.