Let me chime in on the commentaries over the last year about "Fast Tracks" and now Cub Scouts 2010, which (based on the Sneak Peak of the “Resource Guide”) will evidently install Fast Tracks meeting plans as the way to do Den Meetings. And forgive the cross posts, as I want to offer a constructive suggestion and a "Fun and Flexible" Fast Track resource that many might be able to use.

Background: I became a Tiger DL in the 03-04 year for a startup Pack, and wrote a 1 or 2 page set of notes about what we were doing each meeting (for myself and to hand to other parents attending), including requirements we were going to work on. I'd put in fun ideas and activities (e.g. a "Treasure Hunt" instead of just "maps"), and I passed those down to my successors the next year. "Program Helps" was a resource, but we did not “follow it”: our Pack never tried to "all follow the same theme", and we always focused on doing some advancement in most Den Meetings. We used "Program Helps" like a Cookbook: flag the ones you could make that sound good, and use them when you can. Like most cookbooks, there's stuff I love, and stuff I can't make. With two sons, I became Cubmaster (and a "pinch hitting" Den Leader and Pack Trainer), and began to create a "Big Cub Activity Playbook" so that our Den Leaders could run those plays or hand off to other Parents. We moved to "2 Den Meetings a month" by 2005, and hit 80+ Cubs in the Pack a year later, with 95% or so advancing.

Further background: I got some peek into the Fast Tracks pilot drafting in early 2008, and thought "gee: looks familiar". When I saw the rough draft of Fast Tracks after the Central Region Pilot, I noted up the chain that it was a bit more observational (like a diary of “what we did”), and less planning oriented ("your Den might visit/build/play") than I expected of a "meeting plan" to guide Den Leaders.

Then when Fast Tracks morphed a year ago from a "closed Pilot" to an open portal, I was optimistic. Seemed simpler to follow (and get the Rank done) than "Program Helps", and thus a better guide if you needed "just one thing" to start your meeting plans, especially for a new Leader (who could supplement with "Program Helps" and other resources). The downside that I noted in my neck of the woods was that the Plans needed supplements in two main areas: how to make it more fun, plus creating "options" that might be as good or better for a Den.

So, I agree with parts of both those yelling "Program Helps Rules" and the folks chanting "Fast Tracks is the Future", but more importantly I am posting to share with you a tool now provided to our Pack and District: a revised version of Fast Tracks, named, for the moment, "Fun ‘n’ Flexible Fast Tracks". Tiger, Wolf and Bear versions are done; Webelos has structural challenges, but we'll tackle that too. These are drafted (as the Resource Guide will be next year) for Den Leaders as the No. 1 thing (not the only thing) to get organized and plan Den Meetings for the year — so if they have this Outline, and nothing more, they could have terrific meetings and be excellent Den Leaders. More about the theory behind the drafting, and how fun and flexibility can work, is found in "Notes about the Order and Content of Meetings" in the first section of each Rank Level Plan.

In service, and with invitation for comment and feedback.

Webelos Meeting Plans are now posted at our Fun and Flexible Fast Tracks site.  Unlike the Tiger, Wolf and Bear versions, where I did not diverge from the "order" that Meeting Topics rolled out in official "Fast Tracks", I can't in good conscience follow the Fast Tracks order of meetings for Webelos here, for a variety of reasons.  Of course, in  Tiger, Wolf and Bear I openly encourage leaders to create their own order to better line up with volunteer help and other resources, just so long as they get the "Core" meetings (those needed to nail down the Badge) done by Blue & Gold Banquet time.

The Webelos changes are because some Webelos Dens will start up in the 5th Grade year, so they need a track to Arrow of Light by crossover.  Other Dens (LDS, I understand) have a 1 year Webelos Program, so the I and II year arc won't apply.  And (hopefully) most Webelos Dens will be more active on Weekends and in summer encampments, and so likely will knock off Activity Badges in those venues, and make a "one size fits all" schedule impractical.

So instead, I have put all of the Webelos Meeting Plans in a combined outline, and ordered them by "Webelos Badge Meetings" (with suggestion for the extra Activity Badge), "Arrow of Light" Meetings (with suggestions for the extras), and "Bonus Meetings" (with strong suggestion that Webelos I Dens on a "two year" — or 1.5 year – plan put some of the more fun and active Activity Badges up among the less physically active ones like Citizen when they plan their years).

A good bit of the "extra" elements are from the Webelos Leaders Guide, but as sort of a greatest hits of that. 

Hope this is useful.