As an American, my frame of reference regarding Scouting revolves around my involvement with the Boy Scouts of America.
The BSA and its Scouting Alumni Association defines Scouting Alumni as “everyone positively and personally impacted by the Boy Scouts of America—former Scouts, family members of Scouts past and present, volunteers past and present, and the millions of Americans who benefit from Scouting in their communities every day.” I respect that definition for the BSA’s purposes.
But as for how I define Scouting Alumni, adopting such a broad definition would make it very tough to target offerings to such a diverse group, made up of former Scouts and those who were never Scouts of any kind, since I believe that when you focus on so many, different types of people, you don’t really focus.
However, when I say “focus” it does not necessarily mean the number of people I want to reach is small vs. large, nor do the people I target lack “diversity” – let me explain….
The Scouting Movement (referring to both the WOSM and WAGGGS) is truly world-wide, made up of boys, girls & adult volunteers numbering well over 40 million current members from 162 National Scout Organizations – who all share a commitment to the “Scout Oath/Promise” and the “Scout Law.”
So consequently, even though there are many millions of diverse Scouting Alumni from all over the planet, spanning the more than century-long history of the Scouting Movement, all Scouting Alumni (men and women alike) share certain core beliefs.
That is the focus of Scouting Alumni.com – the qualities that make all Scouting Alumni part of a shared belief system and participants in a movement that goes beyond national boundaries, gender, age, religion, sexual preference – uniting all Scouting Alumni in what we share, and helping us understand what makes us different.
So for the sake of clarifying my message to the people I wish to address… Scouting Alumni are men & women from all over the world who are former Scouts of any kind.
So I’m just addressing men & women who were Scouts of any kind when they were younger. And in my definition I’m not specifically addressing leaders, volunteers, family members or those that benefited from Scouting either – only men & women who were once Scouts of any kind.
I want to reach Alumni who had a positive Scouting experience no matter which way or to what degree they participated. So I’ll be addressing Alumni who may have achieved Scouting’s top ranks as well as those who may have only participated in Scouting for a brief time or perhaps had never achieved a more advanced rank. The common thread in those I will address is a positive Scouting experience.
Other traits that define who I’m trying to reach are the desire to live life based on the Scout Oath/Promise & Scout Law (as their National Scout Organizations define them), and those who strive for personal excellence, strong relationships, service to others, lifelong learning, and fun & adventure.
And these men & women I’m trying to reach share a desire to see the Scouting Movement survive & thrive for another 100 years & beyond, and they are willing to give back in many ways to that end.
So to sum up, my definition of “Scouting Alumni” is:
Men & Women from all over the world who are former Scouts of any kind who:
- had a positive Scouting experience,
- desire to live life based on the Scout Oath/Promise & Scout Law,
- strive for personal excellence, strong relationships, service to others, lifelong learning, and fun & adventure, and
- want to give back in many ways to help the Scouting Movement survive & thrive for another 100 years & beyond.
