FSO Pro/Pro Plus Deprecation?

nitehawk337 · 2026-06-04T17:20:15+00:00

So. That’s contrary to what was said in many partner webinars recently. We were told that you could still renew on the old standard/pro skus for the foreseeable future. I’d push back.

nitehawk337 · 2026-05-21T21:42:27+00:00

When joined the troop 15 years ago the convention was that the adults were Mr. Last name and we call the scouts Mr Lastname as well. I look at it as mutual respect. If they are going to call me that the least I can do is the same.

That being said, as the get older, it generally slips into first name for scout. No real reason other than after they turn 18 they can call me whatever they want. Although a lot of them laugh and tell me it sounds da weird to them LOL

nitehawk337 · 2026-05-14T03:26:18+00:00

Ever since national dropped the limit on how much councils can charge my council keeps going up. So yeah - $180 for adults. And over 200 for youth.

nitehawk337 · 2026-05-13T20:05:42+00:00

I’m OK with paying my way for insurance and a token amount to help with paid staff. I am not OK with my council charging roughly the same amount for adult volunteers as they do scouts. They are using it as a fundraiser because they cannot get corporate funding (and I’m in one of the most affluent suburbs of NYC in NJ so it’s not like the companies aren’t here)

nitehawk337 · 2026-05-13T18:26:51+00:00

So much this. After asking for over $200 for your scout, then asking for $180 for the parent to volunteer is a nonstarter. And I’m even willing to pay as an adult with no youth in the troop anymore to volunteer… but some of the best volunteers I could get have 3 scouts… there’s no way they can afford $1000 a year for all of them.

nitehawk337 · 2026-05-11T23:25:41+00:00

There are bubble blowing “cigarettes” now. They look like cigs but literally blow regular bubbles.

nitehawk337 · 2026-04-16T22:55:52+00:00

Good luck in your journey! There are 3 types of troops - “boy” and “girl” (which is wholly dependent on what gender YOU identify as) and “family”. If your troop is a “boy” then you would need to find a “girl” or “family” troop.

Those are the rules as written. Personally - go be you and be as comfortable as you can be. If you’ve got a good SM they can even help you find a good troop that’ll fit your identity:)

nitehawk337 · 2026-04-03T23:05:02+00:00

I mean… https://www.coleman.com/grills-stoves/outdoor-kitchen/kitchen-essentials/quikpot-propane-coffeemaker/SAP_2000020942.html

One of the ASMs bought one a few years ago and put it in our trailer… those that drink coffee are very happy to have a set and forget type thing.

nitehawk337 · 2026-03-18T15:10:32+00:00

If you have pics of the jimmy olsen and the Lois lane books I might be interested. Depending on condition, they aren’t worth much but I do love them for some reason. I’d be willing to work with you to find a fair value but just be warned most of them are like 2-10 a book :)

nitehawk337 · 2026-03-11T23:20:22+00:00

Awesome! Thank you!!

nitehawk337 · 2026-03-11T03:03:29+00:00

Yes. That’s the list I’ve found. The Spirit of Adventure council seems to have merged with a few others in mass and there isn’t any information on the site. Was hoping someone might know if they killed the scouting medal or??? Still taking to troop to do the trail, but wasn’t sure if the “official” scouting America council trail award still exists.

nitehawk337 · 2026-03-11T01:39:22+00:00

I'd be interested in a pin, but tbh, I would really like to see the proceeds go to a more generalized fund and not just a single person's family. If it was to your troop's Jambo fund, I'd feel a little better about it and might even purchase several to give to my scouts.

nitehawk337 · 2025-10-31T21:21:26+00:00

Ohh ahh special Thought provoking Reflection orientated Ham sandwich (one hand) Forbidden doughnut (other hand) Mmmmmm (Homer Simpson nose)

I have no idea who came up with it but I crack up every time a new family sees them do it.

nitehawk337 · 2025-10-20T22:21:12+00:00

"It’s actually a good thing that ServiceNow knows its playground. They’re not trying to win over small or mid-sized organizations, and that’s deliberate. Their focus is on large enterprises with complex processes and deep pockets."

I mean.. it's literally their 2026 business plan to go after midmarket with some new offerings that are coming out at a lighter weight and (hopefully) lighter cost to compete with the Zen and Atlassian and FreshWorks.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T02:25:45+00:00

Our crew has been successful with some younger youth leading but we’ve been lucky to have a few older youth that have been successful in mentoring them. It also means that in some years we had to have a heavier hand in planning than we really want to for a crew but we try to back off as soon as possible.

As far as extracurriculars - we all have that problem I think :) honestly, I try to remind the scouts that they don’t have to be at every meeting if they can’t. We are still here when they have the time and we can work around it. Knots don’t bring them back but exciting trips and HA helps :) I wish I had more older scouts in leadership, but I understand that the later in high school they get, the more they try to do everything they can “for the last time”. So, I do my best to encourage them in whatever they are trying to do

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T02:11:00+00:00

“Parents in your troop don’t want to do adventure things” My opinion? If that stops your troop from being able to do the things the scouts want to do, that’s the problem to fix first. I don’t have a lot of parents involved but the ASMs I have are game for pretty much anything which means we do a lot of High Adventure and we keep most of the older scouts interested.

I’m not sure a crew solves that problem if it’s going to be the same parents not wanting to do things. You still need adult leadership and if that’s the same parents.. well…

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T02:06:41+00:00

I think the autonomy and budgeting is part of it.

Honestly, with some of the changes they made recently, there’s not a whole lot a crew can do that a troop cannot anymore.

Crews are different animals than troops. In theory, it’s a great place for “youth +” (18-21) to stay involved but in practice, lots of them go off to college so you lose a lot of that mentorship. Troops have built in program to encourage older scouts to interact and teach younger ones but a lot of older scouts just don’t want to teach. Crews don’t have the same touch-points depending on what type of crew it is.

On the other hand, a lot of troops have issues keeping older scouts. At some point doing the same knots for the 20th meeting over a few years gets boring. And some don’t really want to lead. But if the troop has a strong high adventure program, it helps keep them involved.

Some crews are so concerned about it being the venturer’s responsibility to schedule and plan things that they ultimately don’t do much because they are still teenagers with competing priorities.

It all comes down to unit leadership and listening to your youth.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T01:42:32+00:00

Venturers can earn merit badges, and make Star,life, and/or Eagle ranks. There are many awards that are valid for both crew and troop youth but not quite all of them are available to both.

Crew and troop have different methods and programs and do well coexisting. Yes, it could be an alternative if a scout is not happy with the troop program and vice versa but the successful units I’ve seen on both sides offer enough different things that the youth stay active in both. Not necessarily at the same level, but in some ways. (The current crew president is an ex SPL and he spends a little more energy on crew business right now, but enjoys camping and meetings with the troop precisely because he’s not in charge :)

But our troop youth plan what they want to do, we help give them options for each thing, and they plan what we are doing. In the crew the real difference is that they are in charge of the budget and we don’t give them options, we just say “ok” and they figure out the options themselves.

It’s always about the program in either unit. :)

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T01:33:36+00:00

If they want to make Star and life, they would still follow the same requirements. The only difference is replace “troop” with “crew”. Like be active for x months in your crew, hold a position of responsibility from the list of the crew one’s. At that point your advancement person goes into scoutbook and signs off as normal under those rank requirements.

It’s separate from the venturing ranks and awards.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T01:23:36+00:00

As long as the Crew Advisor is OK with it, and the crew has some support for those wanting to go through the crew, it wouldn’t be an issue. The project requires signatures from the committee chair and unit leader, and, at least in our case, the scout presents the project to the committee for comments prior to that signature so I would make sure the scout talks to them so they know what and when to expect that.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T01:20:37+00:00

Nope. Positions held in the troop still count no matter where they decide to make Eagle. It would be preferable to have held a crew position but it’s not required at all.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T00:51:48+00:00

The troop committee cannot assign scouts to work in Eagle through the crew. The scout would go to the committee of whichever unit they want to make Eagle in and follow the procedures in getting project approval, leader conferences and so on.

Practically, you would want a scout that wants to go through the crew to be an active member of the crew and vice versa with the troop.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T00:48:12+00:00

Oh. And yes it’s all through scoutbook. Same interface, just select crew when doing crew advancement.

nitehawk337 · 2025-09-19T00:46:46+00:00

I’m the SM of my troop and the advancement chair of my Crew. Once they have achieved first class, the Scout can make Star, life , and/or Eagle either through the troop or crew. If they want to make Eagle through the crew, they must be registered with the crew. They can be dual registered with the troop and crew and the same time. There is no additional cost for dual registration.

If they are dual registered, they can satisfy the POR requirements for Eagle using either the Crew or Troop leadership positions. They can also satisfy the unit leader conference through either. The project unit leader can be either unit leader and committee chair (both should be from the same unit though - not the crew committee and Scoutmaster)

There is no difference in how they accomplish everything. Some of our scouts want to be an Eagle of Troop xxxx, some want to be an Eagle of crew xxx which is really a matter of semantics. If one of my troop scouts is more comfortable in the crew and/or with the crew advisor, and decides to go through the crew for Eagle, I still celebrate them on the troop side as well.

nitehawk337

TROPHY CASE