At 09:53 PM 2/26/2002 -0500, Edward Christiansen wrote: >I've been on this list for a couple of years and said my share, >flamed and been flamed, but I've yet to see this discussion: > >I have recently been appointed to be a Deputy Sectional Commander. >I do not take the opportunity lightly, nor am I impressed with >my new position. There are about a dozen outposts under me and >I would like some suggestions on how to operate well in this role. >What has worked and hasn't? What sectional events worked well >and how did you organize them.
To answer the second part of your message, we tried a lot of different events while I was sectional commander. If someone suggested something, and was willing to be the champion for it (meaning, do the work to make it happen) I was willing to try almost anything. As I mentioned in my last message, I had a large staff and one of those staff members was in charge of each of the events. I tried to make sure they had the authority necessary to make the event happen, and the autonomy to do things their own way, within reason. As sectional commander I remained in contact with them to see that they were making the plans, that they were considering all of the angles (like safety, insurance, or district or national guidelines, etc.), and that they were likely to have everything in place well before the event happened. During the five years I was sectional commander, we tried various activities: *Sectional Roundups (alone and with one and two other sections) -- held annually every March. I made sure that FCF had a strong presence at each Roundup we held *Sectional B/SA Field Days (alone and with one other section) -- held annually every September or October; we alternated themes between cowboys and Indians, with other themes thrown in occasionally *Pinewood Derbies (we did two a year, one in February, the other in October; we invested in a computer system and electronic timers to make the races as fair as possible; style judging was never a problem, but I don't think we did anything unique there -- we would have three judges who had no interest in the outcome judge the style based on the criteria that we published in our newsletter and discussed at our Round Tables). We held this event with the sectional Missionettes, though the races and awards were done separately. I did have the B/SA coordinator plan games and activities for the younger boys and girls once their races were done, so they wouldn't get too bored as we did the races of the older boys and girls. *Commander and their family picnic at a local lake *Lock-ins (worked well in August when it was too hot to camp out in Texas; really worked well when we had a pizza place that, for $10, gave us the run of their place for the night -- two pizza buffets, all the drinks we could drink all night long, and free plays on all of their video games; when that place changed their policies, the lock-ins didn't work as well) *Merit camp-outs -- in a weekend we would focus in on one or two merits that the boys could do most if not all of the award in a hands-on setting. *Pioneers camp-outs -- a camp-out just for the Pioneers in our section, where we focused on basic camp craft skills *Trailblazer/AST Ranger outings, which ranged from extended backpacking trips to float trips. FCF was also supposed to be involved in these camps as much as possible *I wanted to have a banquet for commanders and their spouse, but I could never get someone to champion it (I mean, do the work), but I know that a lot of sections do these very effectively each year Those are the events I can remember. . . I'm sure there were others. Listen to the ideas of the staff, commanders in your section, and the boys, and you will likely have more ideas than you can handle. But if you delegate effectively, it doesn't have to overwhelm you. Jonathan >How did you deal with "my kid >didn't get treated fairly at the Pinewood derby?" > >Thanks > >Ed Christiansen >_______ > Let the Golden Rule be your daily rule. > > Please pray for your list sponsor: http://eBible.org/mpj/ > > To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm > http://rangernet.org ------------------------------------------- Jonathan Trower South Central Regional Training Coordinator E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 254-420-1941 Fax: 254-710-1091 Home Page: http://mis.baylor.edu/trower _______ Let the Golden Rule be your daily rule. Please pray for your list sponsor: http://eBible.org/mpj/ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm http://rangernet.org
