August 12 2020

A Big Welcome – But Wait, There’s More….

Opinions    4 Comments    , , , , , , , , ,

In case you didn’t hear the surprising news, Sylvia Acevedo is stepping down as National CEO for GSUSA as of this Friday, August 15th.  Judith Batty, a current National Board member, will be taking over as interim CEO.  I won’t go into her background and history as you can do that by reading this press release from GSUSA.

Ms. Batty sounds like she’s got great experience to take over during this tumultuous time for our organization between COVID’s devastating effects and the virtual National Council Session this fall featuring a battle over control of membership dues among other things.  Continue reading

August 6 2020

I’ve Had IT and I’m Calling People OUT

National Operations    5 Comments    , , , ,

WARNING:
STRONGLY WORDED BLOG POST AHEAD

Addendum 8/20/20: GSUSA has indirectly reached out to me about these issues, so I am going to document them and get them shipped back.

Addendum 10/4/20:  I actually ended up having a Zoom meeting with 3 GSUSA VTK staffers and we discussed the overall issues I see, so whaddya know!  Let’s see what the future holds!

I normally do not write blog posts while I am “emotional” per se, but I have had it with this issue that has been bothering me for three years now – and that is the laziness when it comes to what is being rolled out for VTK (Volunteer Toolkit).  Yes, LAZINESS.  I don’t know where the breakdown is happening whether it’s on the development or project management level, but it infuriates me every time I see it, and I’ve been seeing it continuously since I created this inane series of videos about VTK back in 2017. Continue reading

August 2 2020

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

Experiences as a Leader    2 Comments    , , , , , , , ,

This is the third installment in a five-part series about our troop’s trip to Yellowstone in 2019.   Here are the first two posts:  Part One and Part Two.

Day Three was THE DAY OF GEYSERS and more!  Since our trip was cut short a day due to a bird accident, we had to cram in as much as possible which meant getting up at 6am to get moving.  This made for some long days, but how many times do you get to go to Yellowstone in your life?  And there’s so much to see!  Another benefit of getting up so early is that you’ll beat the crowds, especially the ones who are staying outside of the park.  It takes a while to drive in to the sights, and you risk getting caught in buffalo traffic.  And it’s not like there’s an OPEN sign that you have to wait on, so we got going as soon as we could.

So up we got, ate breakfast in the rooms, and headed first to Biscuit Basin and quickly caught a few geysers and hot springs, including the famous Sapphire Pool, which had a lot of steam coming off of it due to how crisp it was.

Continue reading

July 23 2020

Presenting… a GSWAC (Not a Council) Webinar!

National Governance, Opinions    No Comments    , , , ,

So everything has been canceled this summer.  Everything.  We were supposed to be in the midst of our service unit’s summer camp right now, but obviously that didn’t happen due to what’s going on.  So, what to do?   Why, make a webinar of course!  Isn’t that what everybody does when they’re bored?

I heard that GSUSA recorded webinars for the 2020 National Council Session proposals, so I figured, well heck, I’ll make one too!  So I asked (pleaded) my friend Amy to join me.

So I present to you… The 2020 NCS: Proposals 2 through 4 – I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) Webinar!  Here’s the original blog post that it’s based on which features a more in-depth rationale.  This may or may not be one of the dorkiest Girl Scout related things I’ve ever done.  I hope you enjoy it because it was a lot of fun to make even though we had two.. three… four takes.   Maybe five.  I owe Amy a dinner.  With dessert. Continue reading

July 6 2020

The Signpost Up Ahead

National Governance    3 Comments    ,

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. There’s the signpost up ahead. It is an area which we call…”  Continue reading

July 2 2020

The NCS Workbook and Pies

National Governance    6 Comments    , , , , , ,

The 2020 National Council Session Workbook has been released!  You can download it here:  55th NCS Delegate Workbook

I started to write about its release earlier and tried to make it humorous, but I didn’t get very far.  At first I wasn’t sure why, but I think it’s because I felt like this browsing through it:

Continue reading

June 16 2020

GSUSA Launches CircleMeow™ – Powered By Girl Scouts!

National Operations, Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me    12 Comments    , , ,

On the heels of its latest endeavor CircleAround™, Girl Scouts of the USA announced today the launch of CircleMeow™, a media brand and online destination targeted to meet the needs of today’s cat owners.  CircleMeow™ is a operated by GS Mew-dia, a wholly owned subsidiary spun off by GSUSA just the other day.  Continue reading

June 13 2020

Nerd Alert!  A Virtual Parliamentary Procedure Reality?

National Governance, Opinions    12 Comments    , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s the summer, and I get bored.  Idle hands are the devil’s workshop and all that.  So I thought, what’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now?  I’ve been considering becoming a certified parliamentarian for the past few years.  Samona says I’d be good at it.  At least I think she said that.   But who knows – it could lead to some sort of side job!  Last year, I did look into how to become certified and even took a practice test, but maybe this is a good time to revisit it.

Yeah, I know it wouldn’t look this way, but that’d be kinda cool.

So while I was gathering up study materials, I thought back to the reasoning given by the National Board denying two potential proposals allowing for electronic NCS meetings submitted by councils for the 2020 NCS.  The rationale was based on the opinions of two parliamentarians that GSUSA hired and can be found in a National Board memo released at the same time as the Early Alert back in February.  You can read the board’s response in this previous blog post where I thought the NCS would be postponed.

I’m not sure what made the National Board do a 180 and decide it’s now possible to have the NCS virtually, but the questions it raised in its denial still have to be answered.  I still wonder about the legality of the decision, but that’s another discussion entirely.  Regardless, I would really like to know how parliamentary procedure will be pulled off in a fair and correct manner.  Continue reading