The Yates Lodge after a fresh load of mulch and newly planted irises

In one of my previous blog posts, I talked about visiting the Greenville (SC) Library in the hopes of finding out information about Charles H. Yates. One of the lodges at Camp WaBak is named after him, and there’s a very interesting item in the lodge itself that has always piqued my curiosity. When I arrived at the library, I found out that The Greenville News archives are not indexed, so my researching hopes went out the window. The library staff did find Mr. Yates’ death certificate. I didn’t ask for it nor did I really want it, but the woman who gave it to me seemed very excited to have found it, so I just smiled and said thank you even though it was a little morbid. I ended up discovering articles about the purchase of WaBak instead, which was just as exciting to me if not moreso than what I had originally intended for my visit. Continue reading

A Timely Facebook Memory

Opinions 3 Comments delegate, facebook, governance, leadership, national delegate

You know how Facebook randomly shows timeline photos or posts from however many years ago? This one came up from an image I shared from the GSUSA Are You Listening? Facebook page two years ago, and it’s still relevant. I suppose it always will be!

May 16 2018

The Customer is Always Right?

National Operations, Opinions 10 Comments blue book, cei, councils, dead horses, democratic process, farthest north council, gsusa, j-low, membership dues, national board, national council, national delegate, strongly worded letter, volunteers, vtk

This is a topic that’s been beaten to death everywhere else, but I’ve never gotten around to it here on the GSWAC (not a council) blog.* And that is the word…

Customer.

Yes, the dreaded and hated word of volunteers and GS alumnae everywhere. And as featured in the title of the ubiquitous Customer Engagement Initiative (CEI). If you aren’t sure what CEI is all about, it’s basically a web-based technology developed by GSUSA. The components we see as volunteers are the website framework, the online membership registration system known as MyGS, an Opportunity Catalog in which parents can search to see what troops are available and have openings in their area, and a troop management system called Volunteer Toolkit (as featured in many inane videos on this blog). Almost every council in the United States including Overseas is on CEI at this point with the exception of the rogue councils Farthest North and Middle Tennessee.

When GSUSA and councils began to use the word customer a few years ago, volunteers everywhere got a strange look on their face and thought, “Huh? Who are they referring to?” Later on we realized, “Wait… WE’RE the customers?” Continue reading

May 11 2018

Cats and Badges

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me No Comments badges we don't need no stinkin badges, cats, history, the 80s

A friend of mine the other day sent me a picture of a retired badge and said she thought of me when she saw it:

I told her, “I earned that badge growing up!” and took a picture of it on my patch blanket:

May 7 2018

GSUSA Claims To See Russia From Alaska

National Governance 9 Comments farthest north council, governance, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national convention, national council

Well, there is no Judge Judy Sheindlin in Fairbanks, AK, but there is a Judge Bethany Harbison, and she ruled in favor of GSUSA rather than the Farthest North council on May 1st, 2018:

April 27 2018

Delegate Tips: Q&A

Delegate Duties 1 Comment board of directors, councils, delegate, governance, roberts rules

So say you’re a delegate, and you’re pretty frustrated because you feel like all you do at annual meetings is sit and listen to presentations given by the board and your council leadership. You have complained many times about the lack of delegate input but to no avail. Q&A sessions, if you even have one, are short and are cut off due to “running out of time.” You might even have to submit your questions ahead of time. How unfair is that? What if you have a question about one of the presentations?

You can find a more thorough explanation and more in-depth articles about council governance on the Council Delegate Primer found on GirlScoutGovernance.com.

April 24 2018

National Center West Map, Patch, and Cartoon

Reminiscing No Comments backpacking, history, jenny, national center west, patches, trip out west, troop 20

A few months ago, fellow Troop 20 member Jenny and I reconnected and went through a lot of her scrapbook stuff from our time together. I took some of it back home in order to document it. She even saved permission slips!

First is a copy of the smaller National Center West map that each of us received when we got there. Of course I lost mine, but Jenny to the rescue! A few years ago, I was able to track down a copy of the larger and more detailed topo map on ebay and pieced it together in one graphic but I was hoping to find a copy of the smaller map too. Continue reading

April 8 2018

How Much Is That Camp in the Window?

Delegate Duties No Comments back to the future, camps, councils, delegate, money, old 96 council

Presenting George’s best selling novel, A Match Made in Space

So say your council has sold camps through the years, and you want to find out how much they sold for and who bought them. Did you know all of that information is considered public record? Yes, you can find out with a little bit of digging! Here’s how. But just a warning – it might be a little frustrating and more than a little time consuming, but as George McFly said, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” Continue reading

April 2 2018

Survey #2 Results: What Type of Troop/IGP?

Experiences as a Leader, National Operations 2 Comments leader issues, multi-level troop, stress, surveys, troop stuff, volunteers

It’s time for the second GSWAC (not a council) survey results to be revealed! This survey was about getting a rough estimate of the percentage of troops that are multi-level vs. single level and also the percentage of Individual Girl Program (aka Juliettes) to see what sort of part they play since they are also a program option.

This poll was very short and straight forward and garnered a total of 826 votes. Here’s what it asked:

What type of troop do you lead? Or IGP (Juliette)?
If you chose multi-level, you were asked how many levels are in your troop.
If you chose single level, you were asked what level you lead (Daisy through Ambassador).
If you chose IGP, then you were not asked any further questions.

These votes were taken via various Facebook groups including Girl Scout Gab, Greenblood Gab, The Outdoor Journey, and various other service unit and council groups. It was also shared via email and on the Facebook pages Greenblood News and GSUSA Are you Listening? I tried to steer away from groups dedicated to a specific level as I was afraid they would skew the results.

So what’s the verdict? Drum roll, please! Continue reading

March 21 2018

Survey #2: Types of Troops/IGP

Experiences as a Leader, National Operations 3 Comments gsusa, leader issues, multi-level troop, surveys, troop stuff, volunteers

Here’s the second installment of the newest category on the GSWAC (not a council) blog called Surveys! These series of polls are designed to be very short and easy in order to get a quick snapshot of whatever the topic is at hand. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the first one about the number one cause of stress for volunteers went, and I hope this one is a success too. Continue reading

Girl Scout with a Cause

The Yates Lodge at Camp WaBak