Promotion of Council Outdoor Events
Responses to the question: “If you answered “NO” to the above question (Do you feel the current methods used by your council to promote events are working?), how do you think this could be improved?”
Multiple responses are noted in italics. Responses are listed "as is" from the survey. They have not been edited for spelling or grammar.
Multiple responses are noted in italics. Responses are listed "as is" from the survey. They have not been edited for spelling or grammar.
- 1 to 2 weeks notice to enroll in programming should be more than enough time to staff for events. Online payments should be available to register our troops for programming. It is difficult to register for any council programming because the large lead time required by council, at least 30 days.
- 1) The pamphlet we get is like 3weeks late so some of the programs are already over, send info out more often not just twice a year. 2) We are out on the very edge of council by the time we hear what program might be put on it’s all ready full, get a better list of programs out to S U. 3) If we do find a program interesting, it's like 3 months before you can reg. and by them we have missed the deadline.
- A big part of the problem is because the council puts on so few of the events themselves. We aren't alerted about changes and updates promptly.
- A more informational newsletter.
- A more readily usable central location online for info would be better
- A newsletter distributed to parents
- Activities are listed on website but not really advertised to parents.
- Activities catalogs out to service units. Letting leaders and units know what resources are available.
- Additional TIMELY promotion of council sponsored events instead of last minute pleas for sign up. Most events are partner sponsored.
- Advertise at leader meetings and have more mentoring taking place at age appropriate round tables.
- All events are not always listed on the council website
- All info should be in one spot not spread out over different tabs online
- All too often most people don't even know what is going on at our camps. Because of this one of our camps is seriously underused.
- Allow online registration/payment and show number of spots left online, so we can determine if we can offer it to our troop. Otherwise we offer it to our troop and then find out our whole troop cannot go because there is not enough space. Sad Girl Scouts and mad parents are not fun to deal with!
- An easier website or good old fashioned packet of paper would be the best.
- An online calendar that is friendly for all venues. Emails with all events on it.
- An open council Facebook page would be appreciated.
- Be more proactive than listing on the website and expecting parents and leaders to search for the information.
- Be timely!! Any events for girls are not being posted as soon as they become available
- Because there is no way to get the information you are looking for than to go back to the HUB and search for it daily to see if something you might want has been added. I don't have time for that, so my girls miss out. Also, the HUB they use does not connect you to registration, so once you pick something you want, you have to sign in to another program and search for it all over again to register.
- Before the merger we were given a guide that had every event listed.
- Better communication with troop leaders on events and on-going events/partnerships with local venues--- sometimes you don't know about an event until its either full or date has passed
- Better emails or on website versus leaders checking CORA
- Better info when signing up
- Better notification of events
- Better promotion is needed.
- Better website, better emails, more frequent communication in general
- Bring flyers for each event to SU meetings. Send out emails as well.
- Bringing back the full programming guide, and emailing leaders with more than 3 days warning and FULL details.
- By actually advertising things, not just listing them on the calendar.
- By advertising them more than 30 days out of the event. Many councils produce program catalogs, we only get what they have put into the website. The programming department does work well with either membership or volunteerism departments to spread the news. Our website is ridiculous and there is a calendar of events on the website that is never updated. 2) Improve communication among departments, plan events further out, send communication directly to troop leaders and girls. Do not rely on one time Facebook posts to advertise!
- By the time I get the information, process it, narrow it down, and parlay it to the group, it's almost too late. If I want the girls to do the choosing, I'd like them to hear about events directly.
- Camp events tend to only be on the camp website which is not accessible to everyone.
- Come out late and events are full. Emails need to go out to parents
- Communicate with...SU waits till the day before to communicate...not cool
- Communication and actually having programs to offer
- Communication at the SU level is non-existent... Unless leaders know to check the council website for info no one knows what is available.
- Communication can always be improved. Many leaders do not pay attention to what is on the council website.
- Community Meeting would be a way, but my community is horrible on communication, so I will continue to check the website
- Could be better. The trickle down of info is sometimes slow
- Council app for my phone would be great
- Council could email parents directly about programs. If I want to find out what is available I have to search through all the available stuff to see if anything is available for us.
- Council could try communicating.
- Council does not get the information out. I know how to check the internet to see what's offered but a lot of leaders (especially new ones) are not given the information. Mailings go out randomly.
- Council gives us 3 weeks to sign up for events when they email us. Council staff should setup programs months in advance.
- Council mainly emails info out to service unit managers (which I am) and it is then forwarded by me out to leaders in the service unit. I also post events on our SU Facebook page and website. I think council should use more social media as most leaders don't like reading through multiple emails.
- Council needs to use all methods available to promote outdoor activities. Unfortunately, the only real outdoor activities are camping, and next summer, there will be almost NO camps offered at any of our campgrounds.
- Council Reps need to be "in the field" to promote these event. Service Unit managers have enough on their plate.
- Council sponsored events are easy to find, but community sponsored events are not. These are often email blasted out to service units and don't get to leaders/parents until the last minute.
- Council website is very hard to navigate and find where events are listed. Girl Scout Leadership Guide is very difficult to read online.
- Council website is woefully lacking.
- Council's website is impossible to navigate and user-unfriendly. Events should be advertised through mailings. Not everyone in our Council has internet access.
- Direct communication with leaders. We have an electronic newsletter that goes out. Events should all be on there. They aren't. Big events are on the council website. SU events in the different areas may or may not be listed. We are in a middle rural area of a HUGE council. North and South get lots of things - we get left out, not much around here.
- Direct Council sent emails to parents and leaders instead of sending to Service Units and then Service Unit send a mass email through Scoutlander.
- Direct email, direct email to parents. Leaders filter it out if they don't want to or cannot go
- Direct emails or mail to parents of Scouts.
- Direct emails to families would be beneficial. Service units don't always share info in a timely manner. Not all families have Internet to get to the website and if they do, they do visit regularly to see what's going on
- Direct emails to leaders (2 responses)
- Direct emails to leaders and parents. We need more staff.
- Direct emails to parents, info not getting to parents from leaders.
- Direct mail to membership
- Direct mailings and emails directly to families
- Direct mailings to leaders.
- Do a better job of reaching parents
- Don't know a better way but people don't seem to find out easily
- E-mail direct to Leaders and Parents. More notice, many times I don't find things on the Council website until it is too late to register.
- E-mails to parents, Facebook
- Earlier notices to allow troop to plan. Events fill up very quickly and by the time we have a meeting to decide if the girls want to go, most of the time there is no availability
- Easier way to use tap calendar
- Email about events in a timely manner, so that there is time to sign girls up and plan for the trip.
- Email blasts aren't sent out soon enough. Events are posted on Facebook that are already full.
- Email communications, communications sent to Service Unit directors
- Email leaders of the appropriate age level as soon as the event is scheduled, not when trying to fill spots at the last minute.
- Email notifications when new events are added to the calendar
- Email parents. It is not hard to send a mass email.
- Email them directly to the age appropriate group
- Email them out to the families. I put it out as a troop leader and every year they ask where I got the information even though they have received a book to look at. Also if go to the council shop find they have some events that are at the shop but some of us don't live close to a shop to see the extra events.
- Email to parents about activities would be nice. I don't always have time to search through their calendar to find activities.
- Email, call, and make it affordable. Advertise on television.
- Emails (2 responses)
- Emails about upcoming events. I look at the program book and like some things but often get so busy I forget about them.
- Emails don’t provide all info and events are randomly added to the website. If you don’t catch it on time, or if you don’t look on the website often, it is usually filled up (at least the ones that are affordable.)
- Emails go to me (SUM) and leaders. They should go to PARENTS or girls directly, not just for me to pass down.
- Emails of upcoming events, well in advance.
- Emails or mailings (2 responses)
- Emails out to the troops instead of just having flyers at Council shops parents are unaware of the events going on and by the time the leaders get the information from the Council shop it’s too late to register
- Emails should be sent to all parents not just a few. Instead of having to search they should be advertised on the website.
- Emails should be sent to troop leaders when an event is added to the calendar
- Emails to all registered volunteers, not just troop leaders, monthly or quarterly news letters, council Facebook page, council website- clearly indicating events
- Emails to leaders, parents, often times events happen and we don't even know about them
- Emails to leaders/parents
- Emails to members would be great!
- Emails to parents (3 responses)
- Emails to parents to look online for events and the awareness that they can sign their girl up to go without her troop
- Emails to parents, monthly newsletter,
- Emails to service unit or leaders letting them know about events in our area. Maybe we aren't getting info because there are no events!
- Emails to SU managers to give out, emails to leaders and even emails to parents
- Emails would help - esp. if they were age specific. (Leaders unlikely to read through lots of emails for all levels when ONE may relate to them once every few months.)
- Emails, direct mailings, service unit meetings. Some leaders (like me) do not have girls in scouts anymore and often info is not communicated well to us.
- Emails, Facebook, websites, meetings all should be used
- Emails. More outreach to Leaders at Leader meetings
- Events are cancelled frequently but I often hear "I didn't even know that event was happening!" From other leaders when they find out it's cancelled.
- Events are listed in a calendar buried on council website.... Very difficult for parents and even leaders to be aware of events unless they go hunting for one..... Also sometimes not posted in a timely manner... Listed after registration deadline has passed
- Events are not publicized enough - not enough "nags", publicity too close to event date/time - we live two to four hours away from most events and need about a month to get plans together. Hearing about things a week in advance doesn't work
- Events are promoted without enough lead time. Our council only fills out the calendar two months or so in advance, and so we often find out about events that the girls would be interested in when it's too late to schedule them in. Because of this, fun programs are often cancelled because of "lack of interest", when really the problem is eleventh-hour notification.
- Events fill up quickly but not everyone gets a chance at them because not all troops receive the information at the same time. There can be several weeks between when one troop is notified and another is.
- Events fill up too quickly. Sometimes they are filled up before troop leaders have had a chance to meet with their girls and have their girls decide if they want to attend.
- Events fill, but when there are so very few, it’s hard to gauge the reason.
- Events need to be posted in the council's website calendar with more advanced notice, our troop likes to plan a few months ahead and things appear sometimes with less than 2 weeks’ notice despite the fact that the council requires us to send activity request forms in with 2 weeks’ notice.
- Events need to be scheduled and emails should be sent to SUM.
- Events often not scheduled early enough for leaders to be able to schedule around them- our meetings and events are already set before we can even get the council info-so then they cancel due to low enrollment and blame the troops for it. Troops who do register are then disappointed and hesitate to register next time for fear of events being cancelled again - so then council quotes "lack of interest" as reason to not even schedule events
- Events should be sorted by town/area to help find events
- Events should be talked about at service unit meetings by council staff. Or at service unit events. If staff can't get there, get us the material, not just to things that make it in the public but everything. Not just the shore birds baseball family day that general public attends because you want our presence there for publicity
- Facebook (2 responses)
- Families do not take the time to research opportunities. If the troop does not participate in an event as a troop, individual girls are not aware of events.
- Feel as though we really have to hunt for events & info on outdoor activities. Monthly email newsletter to leaders, maybe?
- First, these events are being put on by volunteers, not council. They council makes very little effort to get the word out and support the volunteers putting on these events with promotion, etc.
- Flyers could be sent out. Notices on Facebook. Direct emails.
- For one thing stop selling off properties until you get you OUTDOOR ACT TOGETHER, GSUSA!
- Getting the word out thru the service unit & holding events @ our local camp.
- Go back to face to face meetings with leaders. They need to know that there is support out there for them. They are not alone. We all learn from each other.
- Going back to mailing things out would be best, in my opinion.
- Greater visibility through use of a calendar on the council website would help greatly
- GSWW just started a new program newsletter system so I will have to wait to see what they are going to promote in the 2 monthly emails. I believe one newsletter will be sent to SUM for them to send to Leaders and hopefully Leaders will send to parents. I think they have recently started sending newsletters to parents which should help get the word to parents instead of stopping at the Leaders. A lot of parents either don't realize they can do events without the troop or have no interest in doing it alone with their daughter(s). I did but that was because I was unhappy at the events my daughter leader was choosing to do.
- Handouts/flyers at the SU meetings.
- Have a book available for leaders with events listed in them
- Have council reps out to service unit meetings, represented at local events to hand out flyers, etc
- Have more activity for young scouts, promote through email, service unit meetings, prominent on website
- Have more events offered.
- I am not in agreement with the range of events offered, and do not know if the council's promotion efforts are successful.
- I am the only one who learns of these events as I go onto the website once a month to look them up. Kinda hard to generate interest if no one knows about it.
- I answered NO because there are no events close enough to be useful
- I answered yes but they need to find a better way to communicate extended deadlines.
- I believe if they communicated directly to the troops, SU via email they could get more programs and more volunteers involved.
- I believe it would benefit most girls if they were emailed and there was enough room open for girls to attend.
- I checked No to say that not all activities are easy to get information about, whether it is on website or through email.
- I don't always get to check the website. An e-mail or mailed letter with the specific information would be great.
- I don't feel they have enough outdoor programs; the ones they offer don't have multiple dates when my troop calendar fills up quickly months out.
- I don't think leaders know what options are available to their troops - what types of properties we can use, what types of events can we do at those properties, what types of training we need, etc.
- I don't think they care to fix them. Communicate with leaders...give us info before 2 days before an event... Some leaders don't have internet...paper flyers etc.
- I feel it's a hit or miss communication. Sometimes by the time you find out about a program it's already full. In our area we do most of the outdoor events through our GS Community.
- I feel like the events that are pushed are the big ticket events like Six Flags or Centennial Olympic Park, Disney on Ice. Not the camp sponsored events. The only exception to that is the family camping weekends that council offers
- I feel like the information is not advertised well
- I feel more information should be mailed to parents.
- I feel that many of these events are not well promoted, whether it's not seeing them in emails or simply that they aren't highlighted. The council needs to use Facebook more, as that is a great way for many parents to see it! They also need to highlight these outdoor events more. It just doesn't seem like they get the same attention as many other events.
- I feel that there should be more communication to parents and volunteers regarding events that doesn't rely on troop leaders.
- I feel the SPARK Magazine is a great idea, but once the girls page through them, they are often forgotten.
- I feel they should send out flyers in the mail to registered girls so they know what is offered other than just camp.
- I find events because I am the troop leader and I search. Parents don't do that. An email with the quarterly events might be more useful.
- I find it complicated to find details and register for council events.
- I get so much spam for non age-appropriate programs repeated from council and the SU that I can't even stand to read the emails that DO have stuff my girls may be interested in.
- I get the info, because of my involvement in GS. Girls that don't have involved parents may never see the info though.
- I hate hate hate the new way to browse and sign up for events liked the pdf format so much better. Could print off a few months at a time then sit w co leaders and plan
- I hear of other councils offering day-time events at the established camp about six months beforehand to introduce the troops and/or leaders and parents to the camp and its features. It can be a fun holiday-themed wide game, for example, with contests and tours of the camp.
- I know it is costly, but I would like to see a return of the printed camp book for each camp. I also would like to see a segment of the website dedicated camps complete with a calendar of what's happening for girls each weekend. I would also like the council to take note of school in-service and off days and plan program and market to those school districts.
- I know my troop know about all events that go on because I make it a point to inform them however I came from a troop that ever told us
- I know the Council is trying to be more cost effective by moving to technology based announcements only, but it is not working. Too many in my area of the council have no idea what is going on. Often parents don't even bother to open the emails they receive and very few even go to the website. I think the council may need to switch back to a printed program book that can be mailed out or downloaded from the council's website and emailed out so parents can get all the opportunities at one time. Printed books cost so perhaps a limit of one per troop w/ the rest available for download online would be a good compromise.
- I learn more about what's going on through my association.
- I miss the program brochures that used to get mailed to the homes - I always reviewed those when planning/considering outings for our girl scout year.
- I rarely see anything specifically from NYPENN that is local enough for my girls ages
- I search the calendar daily looking for new events for my girls and/or my district.
- I think it could be better. Less info on stuff in the shop, and more on the events.
- I think more can always be done
- I think that my council has a problem planning things in advance and then chooses a sign up deadline that doesn't allow enough time for troops to receive the information, present it to the troop and parents, and register for the event.
- I think that there could be more communication to parents. The majority of information is at the SU meetings and if we are unable to get this to the parents in a timely manner, then girls will miss out.
- I think that they need to go back to putting an event catalog together, printing it, and mailing it out. Many people in our council are in rural areas and do not have reliable access to the internet. A physical piece of mail will most definitely reach their hands and catch their attention.
- I think there are other ways to get communication out to the masses.
- I think they would work better if they were less expensive
- I think, the Source should be accessible earlier in the year (early August) I think Adult Volunteer recruiters should have them available to give to new leaders immediately
- I was a co/leader for 2 years before I even found out about council website. It's difficult to navigate; there's no centrally organized calendar. I made one for our service unit that combined first HQ events with Birthplace Events with whatever other random things I could find. It took hours!
- I would like an email. I have to go in search of events, then to find out they are already booked up and we miss out. Fortunately our SU team is awesome and will email information but again often they are already booked.
- I would like for my leader to promote these events on a more regular basis. I think that the Council would be better off emailing events to those of us with email addresses. I didn't even know events existed on the council website until the second year of scouts. Promotion of these events at the troop- and service-levels would help.
- I would like to see them offer more classes about surviving in the outdoors, camping in the outdoors, cooking in the outdoors.
- I would say they are working - camps fill up!!
- I'm not completely sure. Yes, they are listed in the GS411 (our event guide, available in paper & online) but many leaders don't have time to scroll through that. Regular email blasts about 2 - 3 months ahead of an event could help
- If council did more advertising in their outdoor events, they will see how much interest the girls will have in these programs and girls wanting more.
- If the SUMs get the info and pass it along yes but if we miss a meeting the leaders won't know about events.
- If there was a date where the girls could visit camps and experience the different activities WITH a family member for little or no cost girls might feel more apt to sign up. And not just one day a year, at least 2-3 times a year to make it more flexible for families to make time for attending. Even if it were just the entire weekend from Friday through Sunday. Have seen girls FORCED in to day camp by their parents and they come in crying and leave happy. But no girl should be forced in to something they are unsure of.
- If they communicated accurate information in advance of the registration deadline, it would improve.
- If they have events let the rural service units know because we are very interested.
- If you are motivated, you can find *TONS* of program offerings from the website, or opt in to Council generated emails. It would be great if each service unit had a tech savvy adult (or even an older girl) to regularly review Council program offerings and pass them on to leaders through email and social media.
- If you do not have access to a computer can't get in
- If you don't check the website often events and trainings will take place without you ever hearing about it. Not every event is advertised in push services such as email etc.
- In the past we've had troops travel to one of our camps for an event and the facilitator did not show.
- Inconsistent in how, when they communicate events. Often way to last minute to get girls to go.
- Info is on the webpage, parents have to click through and often sign on to Personify to find info. This is not readily available, parents would only find it if they were looking for it. 2) The info on events comes out too late. In order to get on a families calendar program guide needs to come out much earlier so parents/ leaders can plan ahead.
- Information at meetings is often late/last minute. Guides do not make all requirements (such as supervision) clear.
- Information is not always distributed in a timely manner. Registration deadlines are not always clear.
- Information is not always specific
- Information is often too late for a troop or parent to plan to attend.
- Information needs to be sent out via email periodically. Website is very hard to review/navigate and slow. The "411" we receive helps some but ends up being very incomplete.
- Information needs to get to the girls and parents so they can have options beyond the troop. The Annual Directory is given to leaders. It is accessible online but 90% of parents don't know it exists never-mind where to find it.
- Information should be passed from council to service unit to coaches to leaders to parents
- Instead of just using the Compass Book, it would be nice to get information sent at the Service Unit Level.
- Instead of using money to print and Mail High gloss flyers for a few events, if they activity used their calendar on their website that would be amazing. COMAR is so confusing and does not work when you search something out. There are TONS of cheaper ways. Our Council does NOT Communicate VERY WELL AT ALL.
- Intense marketing strategies and ideas have been communicated to counsel, but they are only putting it out on a web-based format.
- It can be hard to get flyers approved and sent in a timely manner. Also would like more social media (FB) events for people to click on. Direct mailings to girls were cut too far back. Yes, save trees but need to get info sent.
- It depends on the service area. In some regions of our Council we are hitting goals, but in our more urban areas, there seems to be a disconnect in which outdoor skills in not as important.
- It is very hard to register my girl on line for programs when my registration list is never complete
- It seems likes events are listed once in an email, then you must seek them out. I feel like I often have a hard time finding events that I know I saw mentioned in an email.
- It should go back to the booklet that came out. Sadly council thinks that everyone has a computer and is sitting there looking at it waiting for this to pop up. I live in an area that not all the roads even have access to internet hook up :(
- It's getting better all the time.
- It’s very hard to find out if events are actually happening and inner city kids as well as other kids should be better informed about events to have greater turn out less online more in person
- Just answered those above, but again, use Ebiz to advertise events. Send monthly event's calendar to leaders & SUMs instead of so much stuff about the stores! We buy from the stores already!!
- Just moved from Ecouncil to another electronic system. The search functionality in the new system is extremely poor. I thought no one looked at the old online system; they will look at this one even less. You can't even search by PAL, only by grade.
- Last year we were 1st year Daisy Scouts. The leader kept the activities confined to our church location. She did not communicate with all the parents about age appropriate activities that the Council was doing. This year I am a co-leader and we are working on better communication to the parents and girls about events and activities.
- Last year’s marketing for resident camp was SO bad it appeared they were intentionally working for resident cap to fail.
- Leader advisement Specifically
- Leader emails and occasional SU visits to promote
- Leaders don't know what's going on
- Leaders hold all the information and do not tell other leaders or families.
- Leaders need to take a more active role in knowing the Area Council activities and promoting to their troop members
- Leaders still need to make an effort to look but all info is readily available
- Leadership guides are scarce. Troops only get one copy, maximum. Many leaders with two troops get only one guide to share with both troops. If troop activities are to be girl led, girls need access to guides. Many girls still do not have home access to internet and need hard copies. I don't think we need a copy for each girl, but at least 2 or 3 copies per troop, especially for Juniors and up.
- Less computer and more hands on and personal contact!!
- Less cost
- Less council employee turnover, more council employees that have been troop leaders.
- Less marketing - more timely announcements. Example - Gadsby's Tavern programs were sold out by the time the GS newsletter was sent out.
- Less than 10% of the time do we have a council rep. at our mtgs.
- Lessen the price, even more communication.
- Let us know in a way other than a book!! Events are filling up too fast, which says they aren't scheduling enough sessions. Use the email blasts, use service unit meetings, list it on the website (not just the activity finder!)
- Let us know! Too often, we see that an event is or has happened because photos are posted on the Facebook page. Use resources wisely and use social media to promote events BEFORE they happen, rather than just AFTER the fact!
- Level specific email
- Listen to the girls and adults not just the ones at the events
- Little blips buried in the newsletter do not get the attention that allows leaders to understand what the program is. Many times the catchy name is not understood.
- Mail it to the girls.
- Mail the information out and do it months in advance so that there is lots of time to plan. Older girls are busy and need to know things very far in advance in order to make it happen in their schedules.
- Mailing brochures
- Make it more accessible to parents
- Making events available on the website in an easier to access manner with an easier to navigate search engine. If you don't type the exact wording of the event it doesn't come up.
- Many activities are planned with a short lead time.....so it seems like a rush
- Many events are cancelled and it is a hassle to get refunds and to keep getting the girls' hopes up only to disappoint them. Have an event for those that want to go, and let them get excited about it and tell their friends. Perhaps next time there will be more interest. Also, get the information directly to the girls, so they can decide if they want to go. Many leaders don't offer details for events if they are not able to attend themselves and parents don't look at the website calendar. Making the girls aware of opportunities they can attend as individuals would likely get more girls to the events.
- Many events are not advertised far enough in advance or with enough information for Leaders to make decisions about taking troops to activities. Many of the events fill up within a couple hours of registration being opened up. Perhaps providing more opportunities and locations because the Council serves such a large area
- Many events have poor attendance because nobody knows about them, then they give up. Council depends on service units to provide events for their own neighborhoods.
- Many families, leaders do not own computers. Those folks are left out of the loop.
- Mass emails to parents would be wonderful, even if they were just "tidbits" and referred people to the website. As it stands now with a multilevel troop, I spend the majority of my scouting time facilitating registrations for various events.
- Mass emails, flyers, emails to leaders
- Maybe more emails
- Maybe? I think the emails come in and there are so many we ignore them. I mean, I don't as a leader, but I know my parents are never aware. Plus, what's the point when everything is 2 hours away in Portland?
- Monthly emails with upcoming events. During product sells and early registration we get near daily emails. Once a month emails with calendar links could not be that impossible or demanding of resources.
- Monthly leader emails
- Monthly magazine in addition to Email blast
- Monthly mailing or better organized website.
- More advertising than just simply putting it passively on the website or paper book. putting required minimums on the posting so people know that they need to rsvp
- More communication either via social networks or through the chain of command with council staff
- More communication of events to leaders.
- More communication to parents and girls directly. It seems if SUM's are not that interested things don't make it to the leader meetings, if leaders are not interested it things don't make it to the girl meetings. Girls should also be encouraged to attend some things without their troop, my daughter flys solo a lot of the time because some of the girls are not interested. She has met so many of her GS sisters this way.
- More communication, too many spammy emails cause people to ignore event emails
- More communication!
- More communication. Started opening events early for sign up but did not notify troops
- More contact directly with parents of girls, allowing SUs to use Council mailing lists to correspond directly with girls, sending hard copy listings to girls
- More direct communication. If you are not out surfing eBiz for opportunities way in advance, you miss them or they are sold out. This applies for ANY event, not just outdoor events.
- More direct mailing to home of Girl Scouts - leaders sign up and get emails from councils but most parents do not.
- More diverse avenues of communication--social media, email blasts, to parents and members in addition to leaders and service unit managers. Sometimes information doesn't get disseminated. If you don't go looking for it (deep into the website) you never find it.
- More emails to parents so leaders don't have to forward each, Facebook post
- More emails would be great.
- More events at lesser used properties
- More excitement
- More frequent mailings...not everyone has internet
- More info in Go! Book
- More information
- More information from the membership manager to the SUM
- More information, earlier information, maybe pairing up troops older and younger? Leader mentors?
- More local events needed
- More needs to get to the parents whether by email or texts.
- More opportunities
- More participation would happen if offered to troops and or individuals. Leaders tend to do only some, but rarely share info...
- More personal contacts, which has been happening more this scouting year than last
- More programs. Accommodate larger groups. Allow troops to book programs as long as we cover minimum participants and fees. print and mail hard copies and fliers. By the time we get the printed copy the program is full or cancelled or is already happened. We get the book for September through December in October!
- More promotion at the Service Unit level, reps from Council to Service Unit. The leaders need to take ownership of the responsibility to present to their girls. In our council only 3% of the girls attend resident camp. Nearly 50% of my troop did - 4 of 9 girls attended resident camp this year. 15% council wide went troop camping, our troop goes several times a year. 8% attended day camp - 2 of my 9 girls did. So much of it depends on the troop leader.
- More publications instead of the one book
- More specific outdoor programming info to the service units, leaders, and parents.
- More staff knowledge/presence at service unit meetings to promote events.
- More through web pages not just program essentials page listing. Maybe through service units and Connect news letter.
- Most events a filled so it must be working.
- Most events are held too far away or we don't get info early enough
- Most of the time the service unit team doesn't even know what events are happening. Personify is usually the only knowledge we have of events and quite often personify isn't even working.
- Most of the time, the event is listed on the council website but you would never know it existed unless you chose to go looking for upcoming events. The council should provide more information to leaders about troop based events and to parents about events that a girl can attend on her own. Ideally this information could come out in the form of a newsletter via e-mail.
- Most parents are not aware that they can even sign their girls up for events that the rest of their troop doesn't want to go to.
- Most parents do not use Personify because it’s no "user friendly"
- Most parents in my troop have no idea of the events that the council puts on unless I plan it as a troop event. Their daughters often miss out on great opportunities since I cannot always attend or stay on top of everything available.
- Most programs are not advertised other than on the events calendar on the website. If you do not check the calendar often, you do not know what is going on. I would be good to have the information emailed out to all parents, girls, & leaders via a weekly newsletter or something of that sort.
- Most the time if they send it in an e-mail the deadline or even the event is already pasted. Most my parents don't check the website very often. Need more notice even for trainings before deadline. A few days notice is not enough.
- My council does not market their outdoor programs very well. I feel they need to do more than just post to calendar events on website. They need to do more emails & frequent postings on social media pages to build awareness & excitement1
- Need an easy to navigate website
- Need more communication from our council....which is so far away from our regional office
- Need more communication with parents.
- Need more marketing for parents other than leaders telling them what's going on
- Need more or at least one place to look with them all. Currently you hear about them at the service unit meetings (if you can make them), or service unit Facebook page or email.
- Need to give leaders a book on events, like they used to.
- Need to reach leaders directly, emails and snail mail. Must be more timely!
- Need to repeated pushed in my face
- Nesbit was almost closed and sold. By the time they decided to let the camp run this summer (2014), the brochure was published. How are we supposed to increase numbers when the brochure doesn't include us? This is a bigger problem when the council covers multiple states.
- New events are sometimes added to the council website without email or other notification.
- New website and the listing of events is not very friendly. Ned a listing by date..that is what most people do is see what's available on dates that they can do it. General call on your own needs to be listed on a separate area..it muddies up the single opportunities.
- Newsletter to all registered girls. I am a leader and know to check, most parents have no clue they can take girls individually
- No - ebiz is horrendous. Rumor has it our council will not be offering activities anymore after January 1st. The activity calendar is very skant.
- No effort is made to stay in contact with Independent Girl Scouts or notify them of anything
- No one goes on ebiz and it's a pain to use and coordinate.
- Not all sum pass all info on to the troops
- Not enough lead time. Troops need months sometimes to plan events. We can't know 2 weeks in advance that there is something coming up when we only meet twice a month.
- NOT every family HAS internet access! And I can’t see families going to the library to look up Girl Scout info.
- NOT everyone (including myself) receive emails. Need an updated email server. Also, if they were listed on the council website that would be helpful as well
- Not everyone has access to a computer. We are assuming they do. Sometimes regular mail would be a better option.
- Not everyone has access to internet. They use to provide flyers at Service Unit meetings but now usually no one from council comes to meetings
- Not everyone has access to social media and email. If your leader doesn't inform you then you don't know about it
- Not everyone has access to the internet or e-mail. Even putting things in local news would help.
- Not everyone has internet access
- Not everyone has internet...needs to be in writing and mailed out or available for pick up at the Council office
- Not everyone is wired in. Using all methods would ensure a better saturation.
- Not listening! Treat alumnae rudely...even though we have tried time and time again, to help and work for free to continue camp life....met with distain. Everyone complains about the council!
- Not on the website soon enough for troop planning. More than one event scheduled on the same day.
- Not overcharging for events and more options
- Not sure it really matters. They'd just be wasting more money on postage, flyers, whatever. We physically cannot get there they way they are scheduled.
- Not sure. But just sending info once a semester, we forget to keep looking as the events get closer. They used to email, but then they stopped and "condensed" the emails they said... but now there's no easy way to see the events. But they sure like to send unnecessary "newsletter" type emails... nothing important in them, but they do make sure I know when there's a sale on the GS website. It seems like that's all they are worried about.
- Not user friendly
- Notices should be sent directly to Members of the appropriate age level for the activity. They certainly reach us this way when it's time to get their renewal money.
- Often the events that are promoted in emails occur the weekend we get the email and they are already filled up. We did have a Council Sponsored STEM activity this year that filled up within an hour of the registration being opened up. It was very disappointing that I was unable to check with my girls to see if they would want to go.
- Often, the time events are posted only 2-3w before the event itself
- Once a year email and posting on website does not help those without internet
- One central location for information that is consistently updated. email, letter, phone call any communication at all would be better than none
- Only a few people come to service until meetings. Many do not use tap calendar
- Our council ditched the calendar. Bring it back. Every volunteer I speak to complains how hard it is to find events with new tool
- Our council does not effectively market itself to the community at large. The bi-weekly emails get buried in the in-boxes of people who are extremely busy. Any paper marketing materials that are supposed to be mailed out, have been noted to not be mailed out has planned.
- Our council is very unorganized and some things are found in one place and then other listed someplace else. Never sure who does what but located in NH they don't care about Vermont. They will say there is low numbers in our area but that is because nothing ever happens here. It's kind of like building a following; you start small STICK WITH IT and grow.
- Our Council needs a much better communication and marketing plan (which they are now working on). Emails to leaders, parents and girls with reminders of upcoming events and a more visible and user-friendly calendar on the web site would be a great start.
- Our Council website is excruciatingly difficult to use. Many of the search function buttons do not work. Events are not online until well after the school year begins.
- Our council's eblasts are just not very effective--they are long, sometimes repetitive, and not easy to "save" if they contain info needed later.
- Our events where program and food are provided by staff or other volunteers fill quickly. Troop camping, day camp and sleep away camp, not as much.
- Our website is a mess. It is not user friendly at all.
- Our website STINKS! It is so archaic and will take lots of money to replace and bring into this century. Too bad the vote went to multiple membership registrations......that will cost money councils don't have.
- Paper mailers would be nice though expensive. Just even having handouts at the Council shop and at Leader meetings.
- Paper through mail and service unit
- Paperwork for leaders to pass out.
- Parents don't want to have to go to the calendar on the website and hunt for activities for their girls. Neither do leaders. Send it out in an email, post it to Facebook. International River Crossing is widely attended and well known because it advertises and promotes on Facebook. By the time we hear of other cool events through the leader grapevine, they are usually sold out or closed to registration due to the date.
- Parents find our registration web site too confusing to use.
- Parents need to know. I know as a leader how to look, but parents need a newsletter or something of options
- People are the best promoters, not the cost cutting emails.
- People throw away the ultimate guide not realizing what it is for. I think communication in general is poor and needs fine tuning.
- Possible more communication from the SUD to the SU on events, etc. Councils need to remind the SUD's of how important it is to get the info from the council out to their SU in a timely manner and constantly.
- Program staff need to go out and talk with leaders and develop relationships with them. Then more leaders will feel valued, have a connection to the person and be more likely to go. This is why some service unit events are sometimes more well attended. Leaders and parents know the person putting it on. Local leaders know their local membership person but more and more local leaders have no clue about the program staff. Putting an event online and then just expecting people to come isn't enough.
- Provide events. Not much to communicate if you are not doing anything
- Publicize the camps and all they have to offer. Come to meetings or SU activities and get girls interested. Do this early so parents can save up. Cut cost of weekend events or make it longer on Sunday. We are paying more now and the event ends after breakfast with no option to stay longer. More family events like the one at the start of the year that are one day only would be good.
- Publish events sooner.
- Quarterly newsletter style pamphlet with all upcoming council events sent to girls.
- Registration deadlines are not clear.
- Registration events are dysfunctional. The pilot program to enroll girls via web is not working because it is too centralized and the individual service units have no knowledge or participation in the enrollment process and cannot help girls (or parents) find a troop. The membership chairs in the service units should be allowed to do registration--even if on paper. It is much more efficient and the human touch is essential in making connections!
- Restructuring of service leader meetings to improve attendance of leaders.
- Rural areas need more communication through mailings.
- Semi-annual "Go" book is helpful for girl programming, but many offerings for adults get added last-minute and are not widely publicized
- Send it to just to the parents of the targeted age groups and since our council is 7 hours from top to bottom just send it (or make it obvious) to the correct region (we have 3 properties - north, center, and south)
- Send out flyers or some type of communication
- Send out info to parents and leaders too not just list them on the site so we have to go searching or asking a million people to find them.
- Send out information in a timely fashion. Sending an attachment to the service unit coordinator less than a week before an event and asking her to forward it is unacceptable. Send out information in a consolidated form - everything for a month, separated by level (if relevant). Wading through several emails with attachments is a pain. Have in your subject heading which group, if any, is targeted.
- Sending an email to all leaders would be great
- Service Unit, direct emails to troop leaders
- Should be emails sent to leaders with all events. Send out a book with all events. GSHOM (different council has a book The Source that has all camps/events currently available)
- Simply they don't encourage outdoor events or activities.
- Since council has email addresses for leaders, parents, etc and they should send out email blasts to them, either by level or in a general event email.
- Since girls have different interests and schedules, e-mails should be sent to parents about events. Leaders only get events sent to them in a general newsletter/updates type format. It would be nice to be able to sign up to be informed of events that are of interest to our girls/troop.
- Social Media
- Social media use would spread the word to those who opt out of emails and don't attend SU meetings.
- Social Media and just more local events.
- Social media! Also our signup is difficult, a computer system (comer) that most people hate and have trouble using.
- Some do not get posted very far in advance - there is a narrow window before the 30 day cutoff for refunds. It's hard to schedule a troop & drivers, and there often isn't time to do so.
- Somehow include a mass email, I get a paper info is expensive, a mass email or FB. Paper to those that need it that way due to no computer access
- Some improvements have been made to better organize the information, but there are still gaps in what is given on the website.
- Some parents get the mail and others don’t.
- Some things are shared too near the deadline, some are not shared at all
- Somehow, programs are full only a day after I receive the magazine that advertises them.
- Someone other than (name removed) needs to be hired to make events. When he was hired he promised all sorts of activities for all ages and the only that has been done was a summer camp that my daughter will never attend because it could have cost her, her life because of the poor way camp was run.
- Sometimes - word of mouth seems to work better, but we shouldn't have to rely on that.
- Sometimes a face to face explanation (service unit meeting?) of an activity makes it more appealing than a few written words
- Sometimes I feel like there are events that I don't know about. I think flyers sent in the mail would be a good idea, plus more email reminders.
- Sometimes the list never filters down to the troops.
- Sometimes there's not enough advance notice for popular events, and they fill up before we can sign up.
- Start emailing parents about events.
- System by design is bottle neck....Council contacts SUD, SUD relays info to Leaders, Leaders are supposed to pass on to parents. Often the system breaks down and isn't timely....then Council wonders why there is so little participation
- System is not always up to date. Difficult to navigate
- The book published in Spring/Fall is great. The events calendar on website is hard to use and hard to find events. Emails would be great.
- The camps fill fast so I guess it’s working but there are such limited offerings that it’s not really a good question.
- The Core camps fill up very quickly. Often by the time I see them listed they are full. We have missed several because of this. Our SU is not big into camping so camping opportunities are often not passed along.
- The council communicates many of these events with very little notice. As a working mom/leader with girls that are active in many activities, I have to schedule activities far in advance to ensure everyone has adequate time to work around events. In addition, with all of the paperwork that is required, I need time to collect and copy everything.
- The Council does not send out a paper program guide so one would have to look on the website. It is not easy to find the activities by category. Since I am a leader, I have easy access to personify and I know how to find training and program activities. I regularly look for new offerings. My troop parents and other parents in our Service Unit rely on the leaders to convey offerings to parents. The Council does send out a nice printed summer camp guide. I do feel that the Council puts a lot of effort in scheduling and offering summer camps.
- The e-blast is "busy” and you need to scroll down to find relevant information. It has a lot of "Women of Distinction" and invitations for fund raising and then in a small corner of the side bar- there is a link for an activity.
- The E-blasts are great in one area, but not so much in others. Not all the events get listed in time, some not at all. The website is not working well; events are not being listed in enough time to plan to go for some troops. It is a hit or miss. The events in Louisville get listed right away and outlying areas a lot later, or not at all.
- The event listing on the website could be easier to access and search for nearby events. Also, a news / blog section with info about upcoming events would be useful.
- The events are often full by the time any one sees them and the max attendance is too low.
- The events fill up quickly and by the time we learn of an event it is usually no longer available.
- The events listed on our council web site are primarily those in Portland, which can be a very long drive. Service unit volunteers put on local events and advertise them via e-mail, due to the cost of putting them in the council's registration system. This usually ends up involving a paper registration with check or cash being dropped off at the Service Unit office, which is time/cost/overhead for the leaders.
- The girls want to go. You've got to get the leaders motivated.
- The guide is not always complete. Many events end up being cancelled. Our biggest problem is the registration department. They are not always helpful or friendly.
- The information comes out either too far in advance or right before the deadline. The information on the portal page that the council uses is hard to navigate.
- The magazine is not quick and the website, while new on the outside, isn't better on the inside. And the 3 month prep to do something....I don't know what me and my girls are doing in 3 months and neither do they.
- The Membership Executives could do their job and pass info from council to volunteers and vice versa
- The new guide is very confusing.
- The online guide MUST be made easier to scan through and find events
- The only communication is email. Not enough information trickles down from Council to Service Unit to Troop.
- The only time they mention camps is in the catalog or a little button on their main web site saying "camp info here". They don't do much to get girls and parents motivated for camp!
- The only way to really find out about events that are happening is through the service unit manager on the Facebook private group. There are several parents that do not have Facebook and have to be contacted other ways. If the information is not posted on the Facebook group page from the service unit manager I do not know about the events.
- The parents need to know
- The patch and Journey programs do not support outdoor activities.
- The reservation system is difficult to use...it is hard to find on the website and not informative to a new user at all.
- The web site is hard to navigate and unless you know about an event you sometimes cannot find it. If it is listed in the Golden Link Magazine it is much easier to see what is event is coming.
- The website could be MUCH better. Very poor for user friendly
- The website is very difficult to use/ not user friendly for sure!
- The website needs to be more user friendly to get from the program guide to registration pages for events. Also a current listing of events for the month in a calendar format would be nice too.
- The website search is not friendly; they need it advertised in more areas.
- The website tends to be outdated (I looked yesterday) and so many don't show up on the website until they are full
- The weekly mailer is fine but I need to be able to click a button and go right to registration and then pay with PayPal. I need to be able to go it on my phone at soccer practice.
- There a clear lack of promoting events especially via electronic media. Sad thing there is a much lower cost to advertise electronically then in print
- There are not events in my area to promote.
- There are so many events it can be hard to have the girls look at all the opportunities and decide what they want to do as a troop.
- There have been several events that have been cancelled or postponed due to low attendance.
- There is always room for improvement
- There is not the push since the properties available pay for themselves through summer camps not individual programs.
- They are assuming is they bury the info on their website or in some super long wordy email that we are all going to see it and know about it. I personally don't have time to sit there and read every single word on every single email. Plus when I have gone out to try make a reservation for troop camping it was impossible with hardly anything available and no decent options of things to do while we are there (I love the..."well just down the road there is a...").
- They are working for the most part, but our website (like most councils) is very difficult to navigate. The online registration system through ebiz is also not very user friendly.
- They collect emails! They need to sue those emails to send information to parents and leaders!!
- They don't follow up and they don't assist. I was never intended to be a leader and then out leader quit. My girls still wanted to continue and so I stayed on. Now, in my 7th year, I still don't know what I'm doing; I am not an outdoorsy person. If there were someone taking the lead, I would go, but no one offers to lead the leaders. It's pitiful.
- They have a FB page, but only put some things on it. They do not advertise any of the events in our region (Northern MI), just in the Muskegon and Grand Rapids area. They could be more consistent about who gets on distribution lists.
- They have a publication called "the 411", but this year it was only sent to leaders. Others have to download it online.
- They need to be emailed weeks before the event not the same week it is planned
- They need to be part of the E-blast or an email to the Service Unit Director so that she can send out as an email
- They need to email all parents. It shouldn't be up to the leaders to email everyone. Some leaders make the decision for all of the girls. Parents don't always receive ALL of the options.
- They need to go back to having flyers for all of their events.
- They need to offer some free or inexpensive events that are about experiences instead of about patches.
- They need to plan events!!!!! We have one bridge walk event. Sad and pathetic:/. Heart of Michigan puts on an entire catalog of events.
- They need to start promoting the events at least 2 months prior to the deadline so people will remember to sign up and put on their calendar if they have not.
- They only way we know of events are through the Spark magazine. New parents probably don't even bother to look through the magazine.
- They send out the information but do nothing in person to promote the experience.
- They should send emails about activities to parents too. They should be more active in recruiting volunteers. It should be more fun and exciting.
- They should send weekly emails saying things like - there is still room in the following events, about two weeks out. There are so many programs it is hard to remember.
- They should though. We get an email and a book in the mail. Still some parents aren't aware.
- They should try sending info out to all adult volunteers, if more parents saw the info they would ask their leaders about it. our council needs to promote events more
- They tend to double book. Three years ago junior jam was same weekend as the Bronze Award ceremony. Last spring they had camp clean up and had a Boy Scout troop camping and using the main hall.
- They used to send out lots of timely emails and reminders. Stopped doing that.
- They utilize all of the ways I checked above, but only for certain events. They need to do it for all of their events.
- This information is not provided by troop leaders
- This is a huge problem! I understand the cost of printing individual event announcements but parents NEED SOMETHING IN THEIR HANDS or they don't remember to repeater..
- Those Girl Scouts whose families don't own a computer or smart phone don't get the messages. They are only in English.
- Timeliness of info needs to be better. We have fewer options this year so not as many girls are interested.
- To find an event you have to search an online index that does not always function properly. They should have a guide book or flyers.
- To send flyers via a program like PeachJar.
- To some extent yes, but any day/twilight camps offered through Service Units or other volunteers are not published in any centralized way. You just have to be lucky to come across a flyer.
- Too impersonal. Sometimes too many clicks to get to the info someone needs on line. Not enough "flyers". The info doesn't get to the girl to decide....often the adult just decides what SHE has time for.
- Too much info given all at once - not bulleted enough so that you can get what relates to you and your family or scout troop.
- Troop leader must take the initiative to LOOK for information whether on line, hard copy, or attending community meetings.
- Undecided, - there should be more public notice
- Use a variety of methods. Don't rely on just web related means.
- Use the technology available! Post things on the Facebook page! Send emails! And do this BEFORE the deadlines!
- Very delayed in getting program guide out. Sometimes by the time they publish guide, some events already happened or too short a leaf time to register for them
- We are working on it at our service unit level but it doesn't always trickle down from the leader to the parents or sometimes only the events that interest the leader or her daughters that other girls may be interested in but either never learn about or it's too late to register for.
- We did orienteering and not many troops knew about it. What a great experience from knowledgeable people
- We don't always get the message until too late.
- We don't get the info timely.
- We get a monthly leader email but don't get a lot of the information in time or else it is not all inclusive. A more uniform way to distribute from a service unit level would probably be more appropriate although if the SUM doesn't know of these activities, she cannot communicate this to the leaders.
- We get the information too close to the due dates and it is hard for parents to come up with the money for the events if they can afford it at all.
- We have had some many programs cancelled to due lack of registration. we need a way to reach the girls/parents better to make sure the programs are able to run
- We may have gotten an occasional email in the past, but does not seem to happen now. This seemed to be d.c at the same time the brochures (GS guide) ended. It took us a while to figure out that we needed to dig on the website occasionally. Our Service Units mention them at times too. I think an email with a catchy subject line with a summary w links would be helpful.
- We meet 1x a month for SU meetings. In this day and age things could be sent to a majority my email.
- We need it according to reign and level in said reign
- We need more notice to register. Tell us at Kick Off what the events are for the entire upcoming year (Oct 1 - Sep 30). Tell us when registration opens, when it closes, min/max, etc. Colonial Coast and Skyline do a great job with this. Our Council needs to find better ways to manage the programs piece.
- We need printed fliers not everyone has the ability to use a computer or a library close by.
- We need to brainstorm new methods of communication. Posting messages on Facebook and sending emails are not sufficient as they are ignored by many leaders. I think an old-fashioned telephone chain, or a modernized phone communication method might be more effective.
- We sometimes don't get the information until last minute. Or not at all and you hear about events that have taken place through other members.
- We sometimes miss events. Wish a calendar of events could be emailed with a link to sign up for each event.
- We used to receive program guides in the mail. Liked them
- Website is very hard to find things and community meetings rely on one person the SUM to relay info. They frequently rush through or only tell about ones that untreated them. Also attendance at these meetings id down.
- WEEKLY EMAIL NEWSLETTER
- Weekly emails need to go to all registered scouts and parents. Now only a few get
- Well if a workshop sells out - they need to let us know to sign up for it soon, or offer enough of the same workshop to allow as many girls who want to go & learn go.
- While using social media is good, nothing beats a piece of paper in a girl's hand.
- Would like to see things come through the SU for promotion to make sure information gets out.
- Would like to see year's offerings. Instead of next few months.
- Yes, but I think we could do better with emails from council staff.
- You only find out about events from website.
- Zero effort by council to communicate, other than posting on their site, which in today's social media environment/ fast paced world, is not enough for leaders to be proactive and search their site weekly, only to find the events are already booked up, or something happening "this weekend"....