Upon listening to the show, I am onboard with the online specific classes, as everyone will be officially "trained" and up to par on the charter.

Here is the rub for most folks…in person training is soooooooo much better…a screen can't answer your specific questions or give you anecdotes. You can't get ideas, tips or tricks or get out of the house for 5 hours to go hang out with scouters. You are stuck on a computer, clicking "yes", "no" or "next"…not my idea of training, but these are the times that we live in.

What I am doing, as Pack Trainer, is having a training session at our Charter Org. We charter through the Moose Lodge [by the way, great CO for those that may have a local lodge...they are willing to help you earn money if you are looking for other means of income].

I am also a member of the lodge, and with that, I can use the facilities on a first-come, first-served basis. I am going to take an evening, and use the lodge. We have a projector and wireless internet. I plan on bringing our laptops from home, and doing a training night. I will have a couple of "stations" so that any members of our pack committee who haven't finished their training, can do it right there.

Having been a district trainer, I would just use that experience to help with that training session and answer those "in-person only" questions. Hopefully, I can get everyone there to participate, and for those that can't, they better have a damn good reason for not being there…heheh.

A Unit Commissioner facilitates assistance, should a unit need it.  He or she should be doing regular "wellness checks" to make sure all is well, units are running as they should, leaders are trained, youth are enrolled (and attending), and can also step in if there's a problem to offer a friendly ear or – if asked – advice or guidance.

Basically, your Unit Commissioner is like a mentor and guide to help you through tough spots or to help you celebrate achievements.  He's the 'go to' person for most problems and questions, because if he doesn't know the answer, he'll know how to find it.

There are certain guidelines specifically regarding the safety of Scouts which would require you to contact your District Executive first and foremost, but for less urgent matters, you'd want to contact your UC first and then work your way up the chain if necessary.

Let's say you're having a rough time recruiting leaders.  You've talked to your Chartered Organization Rep and s/he has sort of blown you off and said, "Eh, you're doing fine," or "You'll figure it out."  You're in a panic because you don't have enough registered and trained leaders to recharter.  What can you do?

The best option is to contact your Unit Commissioner.  Depending on what the specific problem is, he may offer encouraging words of assurance, call in training staff, he may suggest certain tools or classes/training you might not know about, or he may even have a trick or two up his sleeve for getting the job done that he has used in his own time in Scouting.  Most likely, he'll sit down with your existing leadership and help you to outline a plan to recruit and/or train new parents and then follow up to ensure things are going smoothly.

Just like every Scoutmaster/Cubmaster is different, so are the Unit Commissioners.  I often hear that units have never even met their UC.  I've heard other units talk about how their UC is always "breathing down their neck."  I'm spoiled.  Our UC has visited us (upon invitation and request) at pack meetings and leadership meetings so he could give us feedback and offer up some helpful suggestions on how we can do better.   He has helped us with fundraisers, service projects, and he's given us some good advice.  Any time I've had a question I needed answered, or just needed a friendly shoulder to cry on when I felt overwhelmed or stressed out, our UC has been willing and ready to help in any way he could.

I know not everyone has it as lucky as I do, but you won't know until you ask.  Most Unit Commissioners in our area won't step in unless the situation is dire or unless they are invited – so invite your UC! Even if things are going great, have your UC over for a visit to get to know the leadership and the youth. 

Ream….huh, not a good word, and definetly something that shouldn't be used in the scouting program…

We are volunteers, not those who need to take abuse…no volunteer, no matter what their position, should ever "ream" another volunteer.

With having a whole slew of issues with different volunteers that "outranked" me, I realized a couple of things…

They have no right to do that

They are uneducated

They have only personal agendas

Now, with that said…the UC can be the lynchpin to a bad or good program, and that is all dependent on who the UC is. In Liberty's case, she has a great one, although I remember some conversations a loooooong time ago where she didn't. It sounds like Doug doesn't have one.

So, down to brass tacks…I don't have a UC for my troop, and Sonia doesn't have one for the pack. Our commish staff  imploded over the course of the last 18 months. For those that know the story, it started with an ill-advised meeting with the District Commissioner, 2 DEs and the ADC….for those who don't, read my blog, or listen to the old shows.

Our district commish staff went from 30 to 12 in that time, and only one ADC didn't resign. The District Commish resigned, and a new DC has been found. We will see what the future holds in regards to that…rumor has it, some of the old UC's maybe coming back.

OK, so after my mini-rant, find out who your UC is…call the council office to see who the District Commish is, or attend the District Committee meeting…call your DE and find out where the UCs meet monthly, or at least, get a name and make the calls. What's the worst that can happen? You get hung up on? At best, you get one name, to make one call, that can forever change the way the scouting program works for you…it did for me…thanks for taking my call, Keith…