This is just a quick hit (plus further commentary, of course) to let you know there are now two new tutorials on the GirlScoutGovernance.com (GSG) website: the National Delegate and Council Delegate primers.

The National Delegate Primer features articles that cover the basics when it comes to the National Council Session and what you need to know as a National Delegate. Some councils offer very little in the way of National Delegate orientation, so perhaps this will fill in those gaps. And even if your council offers superb training, you’ll still benefit from reading the articles. They were written by volunteers who have served as National Delegates at some point or another, so they’re going to have a unique perspective that you’re not going to get in a council orientation.

The Council Delegate Primer covers more of an overview of general concepts since governance systems vary by council. It includes information about topics such as governance documents, how to read council finances, and council governance players, just to name a few. Unfortunately, some councils’ leadership do not view their delegates as an integral part of the council and orientation is lacking – if there’s any at all. So like with the National Delegate primer, perhaps this will help those out there who really need it and serve as an additional resource for everyone. Originally I started a section on this blog called Delegate Duties that I had planned on building up as the years went on, but it’s found a home on GSG and does a much more thorough job there than I could have done here. I will eventually add a link to the corresponding GSG article at the top of those blog posts indicating where readers can find a better version. Continue reading

May 8 2020

Ten Years Gone

Experiences as a Leader No Comments ann robertson, gsusa, leader issues, outdoors, seniors, trailblazers, troop 2562

Recently I was recognized by my council for my 10th year as a volunteer. It’s been a crazy ride and one that I couldn’t have anticipated in a million years when I began back in the Fall of 2010. To be honest with you, for the past year or so, I have been wondering what the future was going to look like because things started to look pretty hazy for a variety of reasons. I wasn’t sure where my path was going to take me.

Then, as it was, then again it will be
And though the course may change sometimes
Rivers always reach the sea.

April 23 2020

G.I.R.L. 2020 is a N.O.G.O.

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 9 Comments eeyore, make new friends but keep the old, membership dues, national convention, national council

If you haven’t heard the very disappointing news yet, G.I.R.L. 2020 has been cancelled. It will not be rescheduled. The National Council Session is going to be held virtually. You can read more about the decision at the OFFICIAL G.I.R.L. 2020 page.

Not long ago, I wrote a blog post as to why I didn’t think the NCS could be held electronically. So much for that. Maybe there is a time crunch due to the nature of the membership dues proposals, and postponing the meeting would have been an issue. I don’t know. I also have no idea how virtual meetings work, but I hope there is some sort of option to allow non-delegates to watch the proceedings. So much will be lost by not having the NCS in-person, so I hope at the very least we can figure out a way to allow the membership the opportunity to see it. Continue reading

April 9 2020

The Yellowstone Trip: Three Years in the Making (Part Two)

Experiences as a Leader No Comments cheryl, seniors, trips, troop 2562, yellowstone

This is Part Two in a most likely five part series. Be sure to read Part One to catch the beginning!

After a night at the Roosevelt Cabins, we got up and ate the breakfast food we bought at Walmart on our way into Yellowstone the day before. We picked up non-refrigerated items such as muffins, pre-cooked bacon, breakfast bars, and the like for breakfast for the week along with packets of tuna and chicken, bread, and other lunch items that we could pack to take with us while we were out. Our plan was to have a nice dinner and have the freedom to splurge for treats (more about that later!). We ended up saving a lot more money than we thought we would by doing this.

Everyone found out that I was NOT a morning person on this trip. We first started the day driving out to the Lamar Valley to see what we could check out animal-wise. It didn’t disappoint!

April 4 2020

Electronic Musings

National Governance 3 Comments 2020 NCS, blue book, democratic process, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national council, national delegate, roberts rules

Recently, my mind started wandering to what the future will hold for this October’s National Council Session and G.I.R.L. 2020. It’s anyone’s guess at this point, but GSUSA did state that at this time, it does plan on moving forward, but that there would be a reevaluation in the late spring/early summer. Fingers crossed!

But I did start to think about what would happen to the National Council Session if G.I.R.L. 2020 was canceled. It’s mandated in our Constitution that we have a triennial meeting (see Article V/Sessions of the National Council Session/§ 1), so it can’t be canceled. What would the alternatives be? I wondered if electronic meetings could be a possibility. Our Constitution doesn’t say anything about them. So I did some research and went to both Robert’s Rules and Washington D.C.’s nonprofit corporation act. From my interpretation, our Constitution is specific about having to vote “in person,” and therefore, votes taken electronically wouldn’t be valid (emphasis added): Continue reading

March 13 2020

An OFFICIAL SCARF SHOWCASE! For Real!

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 4 Comments councils, OFFICIAL scarf

Last week, our council had a Meet the CEO event so that we could (I bet you can guess!) meet our new CEO. The notice said we should bring our ideas! So I thought at first I would be funny and suggest that we dedicate a wall at our new Leadership Center to an OFFICIAL SCARF SHOWCASE! and charge admission. People from ALL around the country would FLOCK to this SHOWCASE!, and we’d make so much money that we’d pay off all of our obligations, renovate all of our camps, and have some left over! But when I was at the meeting, I realized that I didn’t want our new CEO to think I was insane, so I just suggested we incorporate STEM into our Leadership Center for more fund development opportunities. How boring. Continue reading

March 12 2020

At the Beginning

Traditional Stuff 3 Comments history, j-low, savannah

Happy 108th Birthday, Girl Scouts!

If you follow my goofy Girl Scout Facebook profile, you’ll know that I love looking through old Girl Scout Leader Magazines and finding random bits of history and posting things that I find interesting. I always attempt to publish a blog post on March 12th and October 31st, and admittedly, sometimes I am scrambling when I realize that I don’t have much time to think of something. For this year though, I started browsing through issues last week, but nothing was really jumping out at me. But today, something did! Right in the nick of time!

I went back to the March 1962 issue of Leader Magazine celebrating the 50th anniversary of Girl Scouts and found an article by Page Randolph Anderson Platt, a member of the first Girl Scout troop. She wrote an article about what it was like and her experiences. You can find the article on pg. 10 including a picture of the first troop along with other pictures, but here’s the text: Continue reading

February 25 2020

The New “It’s How Much?” OFFICIAL Scarf – Or Is It?

National Operations, Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 5 Comments ann robertson, cheryl, gsusa, OFFICIAL scarf

This afternoon, my phone started blowing up. Forwarded emails began piling up in my inbox. What was going on?

THE RELEASE OF A NEW OFFICIAL SCARF!

I gasped when I saw the headline of the email sent to Lifetime Members: “Exclusive Preview of Limited-Edition Girl Scout Scarf Designed by Diane von Furstenberg.” I had no idea who Diane Von Furstenberg was, but she sounded important!

February 14 2020

The Early Alert for the 2020 National Council Session

National Governance 1 Comment 2020 NCS, gsg, membership dues, national board, national council, national delegate

Well, it’s here. The Early Alert for the 2020 National Council Session has arrived. What’s the Early Alert you ask? Usually in February before the National Council Session, the National Board and GSUSA release what they intend on presenting as proposals and a discussion topic.

There are four – count ’em – four proposals regarding everybody’s favorite topic – membership dues. I believe they are determined for “membership dues” to go to the top of the GSWAC (Not a Council) Tag Count. Right now it’s at #26. Continue reading

January 30 2020

The Yellowstone Trip: Three Years in the Making (Part One)

Experiences as a Leader 1 Comment cadettes, cheryl, seniors, trip out west, trips, troop 20, troop 2562, yellowstone

When I first began to write about our troop’s trip out to Yellowstone this past summer, I planned to include all of it in one post. But as I started going through the pictures, I realized there would be absolutely no way to try to sum it up in one post and do it any justice. I could write an entire book about the trip. So I’m breaking it up into multiple ones, but even still, I know I won’t come close to describing what Yellowstone is all about and our experiences. I don’t know how many blog posts this will take, but I hope you will join me for the ride! I’m going to include only the best pictures and not overload you with too many because I don’t want to turn this into a flashback from the 70s wherein visitors to a home are subjected to the couple pulling out their vacation slides and making them sit through grainy images up on a wall. But one of these days I do plan on creating a photo album on Shutterfly. Picking out which few photos to share here will probably be the hardest part of this blog series. Continue reading