Saturday, March 24, 2007
Pack Communications If you're reading this on our Pack website, croftonpack731.org, it was posted 1 second after I pressed the "publish" button on our blog. If, however, you're reading this from your email inbox, this email was sent to you up to six hours AFTER I pressed the "publish" button.Therein lies one of the challenges we encountered on the Friday before our campout last weekend.
As you likely recall, it was raining, sleeting, and threatening to snow that evening. At 3:45p I was trying to (a) pack for the trip, (b) field numerous calls about the weather, and (c) get the message out to the Pack as to our approach given this unpredictable storm. It was a bit chaotic.
That afternoon I hastily posted two successive notices on our website stating what we were doing and making recommendations to everyone in the pack about whether or not to travel up to Broadcreek that evening, based on the most up-to-date information I had about the weather. Unfortunately, not everyone got the message in time to use the information (reference the first paragraph above), but fortunately, everyone used their own best judgment and all who decided to come camping eventually arrived, safe and sound.
So, a couple of lessons from this: (1) If you want to know the latest information in situations like this, go to the Pack website. It's the easiest and fastest way for the Pack leadership team to communicate with everyone who is interested in listening. (2) Blog entries on the website are delayed up to six hours when they get sent out as email. (3) The method for sending an email instantly to the entire pack should be understood by more than 1 person (it is now, but wasn't on Friday) . However, email is NOT the best form of communication for real-time issues such as Friday's weather, so don't count on it, and (4) When in doubt, use your head, which I'm pleased to report everyone did.
And now, for the weekend report:
I am extremely proud of the hearty Scouts and parents who ventured up to Broadcreek last weekend. It was an *exciting* ride up there, but well worth the effort. With excellent sledding and snowball snow, I don't think we could have asked for a better winter venue. Give yourselves a big hand! Did you notice that if we had been camping 5 miles farther south, there was no snow to sled on? Now that's good fortune.
I would also like to commend Den 10 for their ingenuity. Although they decided as a den to stay home instead of going to Broadcreek, they turned what could have been a very disappointing situation into an opportunity and made the entire weekend an at-home Cub Scout camping trip, with games, activities, sleepovers, and pre-bought camping food! Now that's brilliant.
With a lot of luck, we'll steer clear of any additional bad weather in the future, but if there is any doubt, please just check the website. We'll do our best to post notices up there to keep you apprised of any evolving situation.
Thank you all again for making this Pack the best.
Wocca-wocca-wocca,
Andy Musliner
Cubmaster aka Pack-Man
Pack 731
Archives
September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007
