My wife & I returned from another great in January at Florida Sea Base for BSA National's Annual Volunteer Development Training Conference held there each year. I strongly recommend that every Volunteer consider attending this Conference at least once if they can. The Training is on par with the Volunteer Training available at the Philmont Training Center (PTC) and it is one of the best deals in the entire BSA Training offing. This year was just $375 per person for training, your stay in the dorm, and all meals for the whole week!

The Conference runs one week long and there are usually about a half dozen types of classes offered. Participation across the nation has been light in the previous three years. Because of this, the folks attending get a lot of individual attention from Instructors, more time to address specific concerns or issues that you might see in your Scout Units, and a chance for you individually to meet and get to know all the top Volunteer leaders. The instructors, like at Philmont's PTC, are carefully selected by National and are without a doubt the very best at what they do – you will learn a great deal in these classes. And I have to mention this: Sea Base serves outstanding food – discard all your experiences and pre-conceived notions about Camp Food as their meals are just amazing. There is no Family program for this annual Conference yet, but Spouses can join you for a fee (about half of what a Student attending classes pays). Housing is mostly dormitory-style and all the bedding is provided, so no need to lug camping gear when going there. In short, you will learn a lot and have a great time!

This year I took the class: "The Unit Commissioner—Supporting Units' Needs." Our one class was taught by three of the very best instructors in the BSA, and had a class size of only 16 Students. What an amazing experience! Last year I attended the "Strictly for Scoutmasters" class and it was equally impressive. There is no way to get this kind of training outside of a BSA National Training Class because of the class duration. They run just over 4-days long in the classroom through the course of the week, with almost one full day "off" at midweek on Wednesday for a break. There is an evening program every night with more opportunity to learn, and plenty of friendship and interaction with folks from all over the country who attend. On your day off (Wednesday) the Staff at Sea Base arrange for all kinds of excursions from driving down through the keys to Key West for the day & evening, snorkeling & scuba trips, sea kayaking, some amazing fishing trips, and plenty of information if you want to arrange your own trip to explore the keys. The folks that go on the fishing trip are catching dinner for the following evening's meal, so there's some healthy competition from the National Staff who attend and Volunteers alike! I can't tell you in this small article just how much fun and learning was crammed into that one week.

What does this have to do with Membership? Every time BSA National offers a Training & Development Conference they include some classes that are of great value to Membership-minded Volunteers like you & I. These again are taught by the very best Instructors from around the Nation, and the class material is only offered through these National Classes at Sea Base and Philmont's PTC. This time my Unit Commissioners class taught some very important information concerning a major shift in BSA's Membership Strategy: a complete overhaul of the New Unit Organization process. As you may know from our Membership Kickoff for the current Scouting year back in August, the organization of New Scout Units has been a key component of a District's Membership health and performance. All that is about to change in a big way. 

The New "New Unit Organization Process" (updated Sun 3/6 - to be made into a separate article soon)

The old process of organizing New Scout Units is being completely overhauled by BSA National. Basically, the current process is on the way out, but the supporting materials for the new process have not been finished yet for a seamless replacement.  The reason for the overhaul is that with our old BSA 12-step New Unit organization process, most of the New Units do not survive past the 36-month mark -- so this is clearly not just change for the sake of change. 

As a Membership Chair in your Unit you are probably aware that New Unit Organization is one of the most important aspects of BSA Membership. It increases our "points of presence" in the community and allows us to reach more youth and families in order to serve them better where they regularly meet. There is no change in that importance of expanding our "points of presence" throughout our communities.

National has said the materials should be available later this year for Pilot (Trial) use.  If and when we can participate in such a trial, it would be in our best interest to do so.  That will allow us to not only get a jump on understanding it's optimal use in our Communities, but will also allow us to help adjust & shape the final process.  That makes this a Win-Win for all involved. 

The new process will typically span a total period of 36-months of calendar time before a New Unit is deemed successfully created. Clearly this has significant implications on how we approach & staff a Team for the organization of a New Scout Unit. Instead of a one-time New Unit Organizer, we will form a Team of New Unit Commissioners responsible to the District Commissioner. They will specialize in New Unit Organization. It also allows for people that are really good at starting New Units to keep that valuable role.  A new checklist and New Unit Organization form will be in place shortly with the previously-mentioned 36-month timespan being typical for successful launch & completing the form. Under the new process:

• The District Executive (DE) and District Committee Staff will continue to build solid relationships with Chartered Organizations.  There is no change in our need to promote the "Family of Scouting" and Chartered Organization sponsorship of all our Scout Unit types: Packs, Troops, Teams, Crews & Ships.
• District Membership Committee continues to research & identify opportunities to start New Scout Units, and define the District's Membership Strategy & Plans.
• District Training Committees will continue to support the Training & Development of New Unit leaders.
• The District Commissioner will establish one or more New Unit Commissioners with the responsibility of creating New Scout Units with the support mentioned above.

It makes good sense for us to use the new process for creating one of our next New Scout Units for Alpine as it is based on a much more successful model according to National's research. Please circulate this new information among your Scout Unit's Leadership and Parents, and please reach out to me or our District Commissioner (Jeff Nye) with contact information of anyone interested in becoming a New Unit Commissioner for the Alpine District. This is, in my opinion, all a very good change for Scouting.  As new information is made available we will provide it via the Alpine web site and Roundtables. 

Please help us, and help our Movement, to achieve our Vision - especially that which pertains to Membership Growth,

Yours in Scouting,

John Dietz, Alpine District Membership Chair