A Scoutmaster's Blog

Wow, I did not even realize this until today, but a few posts ago I hit a milestone with the blog. I had posted my 250th article to A Scoutmaster’s Blog! This post is actually the 255th article. I guess it goes to show how well I have been paying attention to things, huh?

I just want to thank you all for reading my ramblings. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Once again, more a note for myself then those of you reading this blog…

I am always looking around the internet looking for new places to visit and bookmark about Scouting. Here are a few Scouting blogs I recently discovered. I invite you to check out:

http://KISMIF.org (A very good Cub Scouting blog)
http://thecubscoutleader.blogspot.com/ (another good Cub Scouting Blog) and
http://halfeagle.com (A collection of various Scouting blogs in one place.) The author of this blog has included the blogs of PTC Media, of which the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is a part of.

This note is more for myself then anyone else – The visitor counter hit 10,000 this afternoon! It took less then five months. Cool!

I enjoy browsing through Scouting blogs and forums. I may not leave many messages or comments but I do find things interesting, and sometimes quite helpful. I also like to google melrosetroop68 once in a while to see where links to our troop website and this blog have been appearing. I found two interesting things on the net today that made me think “Wow! I must be writing okay.” (I know, that is horrible grammar, but that is what I thought.)

The first site I found today must be a fairly new site. It is called “Scouting With The Mouse” and is created by Disney. You know, the Mickey Mouse people. The site, which seems to be less then a few months old, tries to bring Disney and Scouting together. Tries. It is an interesting idea. The site does not have very much on it yet, but knowing Disney it will grow quickly if people begin visiting it.

What brought me to the site of the mouse was my google search. One search entry linked to this site that I have never seen before. It was the forum of the “Scouting with the Mouse” website. Of course, I clicked on the link. To my surprise I discovered that someone had left a message that referred to my blog entry about “Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader“. Wow! Someone found my blog worthy of listing on a Disney website!

As Buttons, my alter ego, would say, “Cool dude!”

The second surprise I found today was on another Scouting blog that I enjoy reading. It is called “A Scoutmaster Minute” and is written by Jerry in Oregon. I like reading Jerry’s blog because he is more focused about the ideals of Scouting, where I like to write about things that have happened in my Scouting experience and random Scouting topics.

Today, Jerry wrote another of his top ten lists which are always fun to read. This time the subject was the Top 10 Websites he likes to visit. Okay, I thought as I read the title, let’s see how many websites we both visit. I was shocked when I read what was number two on his list. It was a tie between two Scouting blogs, Lone Star Scouter and A Scoutmaster’s Blog! This blog. My blog. Wow! I made a top 10 list. I was a little stunned, but also found myself smiling at the same time. Thanks Jerry.

As Buttons would say, “Awesome, dude!”

One thing that is exciting about being a blogger is when you write something that gets noticed and read by many. It seems that I have written a couple articles over the past year that have been popular reading for a several people. It is very exciting when a post is found noteworthy enough to be mentioned on other people’s blogs. I am always amazed when I find links on other Scouting blogs that mention an article from “A Scoutmaster’s Blog”.

So you can imagine my surprise to find my blog listed on a non-Scouting related site. It has not happened very often, but it did happen this week. The newest video of Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has been found worthy to be mentioned on a blog that covers puppetry. The PuppetVision Blog does a weekly post called “Weekly Puppet Web Series Round Up” in which the writer highlights puppet videos he has discovered and enjoyed. I guess he liked the video of Buttons asking the question “You know you are a Boy Scout when…” I would like to thank Andrew for adding Buttons and “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” to his list of puppetry sites.

Back in February I posted about some Scouting related blogs I have come across. Well, five months have past. I have found that a couple of have their names since then. I have also discovered a few more that I would like to share with you. Check them out and see what you think of them.

Akela’s Adventure (Cub Scouting Podcast): http://akelasadventure.com/
The Leader’s Campfire (Cub Scouting Podcast): http://www.leaderscampfire.com/
The Scouting Vine (Scouting News): http://goodturn.newsvine.com/
A Scout’s Campfire: http://www.scoutcampfire.com/
Troop 11, From The Committee Chair: http://troop11bsa.org/barnes_blog/
Rikki’s Scouting Resources (Scouting in Australia): http://rikkiresources.wordpress.com/
Scouts From The Big City: http://houstonscouts.blogspot.com/

The picture of the patch is from the USSSP website. It is an (unofficial) award that you may earn through the internet. Check it out.

If you know of any other good Scouting Blogs then drop me a line.

It is hard to believe but a small milestone has been reached. This entry to “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” is the 100th time I have sat down at the computer to post something for my thirteen loyal readers to read. (Actually, I do not have a good idea how many people read this, but I know it is not in the thousands.)

While I do not know how many people read these ramblings that I post online, I do know of a few statistics that I am willing to share with you. First, and I find this interesting, is that the blog now receives more hits per month than the home page of the troop’s website. For example, last month, May, the site’s home page received 1515 hits while the blog received 1999 hits. This month the blog is also ahead in the number of hits. Is this impressive? I have no idea. I do not know what other troop sites received in number of hits.

I understand that this site is very much a niche site. The only people who visit the site are probably involved in Scouting as an adult leader, or are a Scout them self. This site does not include controversial issues of the day so people are not brought to the site looking for those type of articles. But that is okay. This site is about Scouting, and more importantly, about my Scouting experiences.

During the last year and a half that I have been writing this blog there have been a few changes. The first is the layout of the page. I have experimented with a couple looks and finally deceided on this one. I think it is easy to read and easy on the eyes. I also started hosting this site within our troop’s site, instead of leaving it hosted by Blogger. I did this to keep people on the troop’s site as long as possible. I did have to give up some features that are found in a blog that Blogger hosts, but that is a price I was willing to pay.

One of the biggest “changes” to the blog was the inclusion of video podcasts. I have had several people write me about how they could get some of the videos I have posted on our troop’s site and YouTube. I thought a video podcast would be a great way to make these videos readily available. I have to thank Mr. Bob of Akela’s Adventure podcast for giving me a hand getting things up and running, and helping to get Melrose Scouting Productions listed on iTunes.

I have no immediate plans to change anything about the way I write this blog during the next hundred entries. I will continue to write about my Scouting experiences, add more podcasts as they become available, and let you know about interesting Scouting-related articles I find on the web. If you have a suggestion or two about subjects you would like to see covered here then leave a comment or drop me a email. It would be great to hear from you.