A Scoutmaster's Blog

As the new year begins I cannot help but think of A Scoutmaster’s Blog and the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. I have been writing posts to the blog for over two and one half years already. (Wow, time flies fast.) This is the 374th post to the blog. If I would have know in high school how much time I would be spending on a thing called a computer, I think I would have taken a typing class.

The MSPP podcast currently has 58 videos, with another to be posted later today if I find the time. I have enjoyed putting the videos together. I hope you have enjoyed watching them. I also hope I can keep finding new material to post to the podcast. It is getting harder finding material for videos designed to entertain Scouts, leaders, and parents. I guess Buttons may have to start making more videos each year.

When I started the podcast I had the help of Mr. Bob of the Akela’s Adventure podcast. He was able to steer me in the right direction on how to write the xml pages and prepare the videos. Last summer, Cubmaster Chris and I made a few changes to the tech side of things and created a new feed so that I could get better statistics of the visitors to the site. We left the old feed up and running for people to continue finding the podcast and make the switch to the new feed.

It has been over six months since the new feed was created, and from the looks of the stats, nearly everyone has switched over to the new feed, so today I have taken the old feed offline. If you have not switched yet, the new/current feed is found at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
If you prefer to follow the podcast through iTunes you can find it at
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=251187870

The old feeds that will no longer work or be updated are the following:
http://melrosetroop68.org/podcast/podcast.xml and
http://feeds.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingProductionsPodcast
If you are still linked to one of these feeds please switch to one of the current ones.

By the way, you can also find the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast as a part of the PTC Media family of Scouting podcasts. The link for that site is http://www.ptcmedia.net/

Once again, I would like to thank you for reading the blog and watching the podcast. I invite you to leave comments and let me know what you think about them. I also challange you to invite two or three more people to check out the blog and podcast. The higher the numbers of viewers become, the more excited I get about keeping things going. And to tell the truth, I could use more viewers.

My friend Jerry, who writes a blog called The Scoutmaster Minute, recent wrote about an experience he had while waiting to checkout in a store. Jerry was wearing his Scout uniform. A lady next to him started a conversation with him and began expressing her negative opinions about the Scouting program. She began complaining about the new uniform, then shifted gears to God, gays, and guns. It appears that she was looking to provoke an argument with Jerry. But Jerry kept his cool and answered her questions in a well mannered and professional manner.

To read about Jerry’s experience check out his blog at The Scoutmaster Minute.

You have got to check this out. Mike Rowe, the star of the television show Dirty Jobs, recently wrote a post to his blog in response to a letter written by a parent of a Boy Scout who wants to quit Scouting because it is not “cool” to his friends. Mike, who happens to be an Eagle Scout, wrote an excellent article. You can check it out at:
http://blogs.discovery.com/mike_rowe_answers/2008/11/mike-offers-a-p.html

Here is a small except from it:
“Your Dad asked me to drop you a line and say something inspirational that might persuade you to dig down deep and find the determination to make the rank of Eagle Scout. It’s a reasonable request, from a father who obviously wants to see his son succeed. But here’s the thing – The Eagle Award is not really meant for people who need to be dragged across the finish line. It’s meant for a select few, and I have no idea if you have the guts to see it through.”
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I forgot to post last Friday that “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” has received 50,000 visits since I began using Blog Patrol to gather statistics about the blog. It took over a year and a half to reach the 25,000 mark, but only only six months to add another 25,000 to that.

Once again, I would like to THANK ALL OF YOU who continue to read my blog, and watch the videos of the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. If you wouldn’t be reading, then I probably wouldn’t be writing. Drop me a note sometime and let me know how you like the blog, or if you have a suggestion on how to improve it.

Yes, I am still here. Unfortunately, I have been so busy over the last several days I have not had the time to post to this blog very often. Between filming video for a couple new “Buttons, the radical Boy Scout” videos, editing the videos, going to troop meetings and parent meetings, and recording The Leader’s Campfire podcast, there has not been much time left over for the blog. Hopefully, after this weekend’s troop camping trip, things will slow down a bit and I will get back to writing.

I have discovered two new Scouting blogs that I thought you might like to check out. One is written by a commissioner, the other is written by a pack committee chairman. Both blogs have just started up recently.

The first blog is written by Shawn Cleary of Wisconsin. Shawn is a Unit Commissioner for the Voyageur District in the Bay Lakes Council. I look forward to his posts as a commissioner as I am sure he will bring some new perspectives to Scouting that I may miss being a scoutmaster. You can find his blog at  http://commissionercleary.blogspot.com/

The second blog is written by Garry K. of San Antonio, Texas. Garry has recently become his pack’s committee chairman after being a den leader, so I am sure his blog will be full of interesting posts as he becomes trained and learns the ropes of his new position. You can find Garry’s blog at  http://chairmangarry.blogspot.com/

I wish both Shawn and Garry well as they embark on their new blogging frontiers. I invite all the readers of this blog to check them out. And don’t forget to leave them a little feedback if you enjoy them or find them useful. After all, all us bloggers like to receive feedback.

Today the blog hit 40,000 visitors! Once again, I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read this blog over the last two years. I hope you continue to enjoy stopping by for a visit.

A little over two years ago I posted the first article to A Scoutmaster’s Blog. Since that day in May of 2006, I have posted 277 articles about my thoughts and experiences in Boy Scouting, along with a sprinkling of other topics.

A little over a year ago, on April 4, 2006, I posted the first video to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, a podcast about Boy Scouting by Boy Scouts and leaders. There have been 39 videos posted do far, averaging nearly three per month.

During the month of May, 2008, this blog received 2545 visits (according to Google Analytics), with 2155 unique visitors. The podcast receives even more visitors. I give you these facts not to brag or anything (after all, there are other sites that make these stats seem small by comparison), but to prepare you for the following statistics.

I have read a couple studies about people who read blogs. It appears that only one or two percent of readers lave a comment or send an email to the blogger. I would have to believe that the stats for podcasts would probably even be worse since mosts people will listen to or watch a podcast away from their computer, or away from the website.

To tell you the truth, as a blogger and podcaster I find these statistics to be disheartening. I am like the majority of bloggers and podcasters in that I do not get paid for doing this. I do it because I enjoy it. But I will admit, after reviewing the stats for my blog last month and finding that less then 3/10 of one percent of people who visit my sites take the time to leave a comment, I am becoming a bit discouraged.

Is my writing that bad? Are the articles that boring? Are the videos that painful to watch? Yes, I admit that I am happy to receive the hits and visits that I do, but I would like to know if you, the readers and viewers, are enjoying what you see? Are you finding them to be helpful in any way?

By posting a comment you are able to leave feedback about how you feel I am doing. It is the only payment I ask of you. Heck, I would love to receive feedback or emails from even two percent of the sites’ visitors. It would be a lot more then I currently receive.

So, can you find it in your heart to help out a lowly blogger/podcaster? When you read an article that you enjoy or find helpful take a moment to leave a comment. When you watch a video that leaves you with a smile on your face drop me a line and let me know about it. I would really appreciate it, and it encourages me to keep doing it. Numbers are nice, but feedback is great.

I am not too proud to quote the boy in the movie when he said, “Please sir. I want some more.”