Scouting Now: enhancing our image

Some self-disclosure: I have worked in the journalism and public relations field for 20-plus years. As a journalist I have worked as an editor at weekly mainstream newspapers, as a freelancer for faith-based magazines and am currently the editor of a faith-based monthly newspaper with distribution in major centres in Ontario. As a public relations professional, I have worked for a provincial museum in Western Canada and as the media liaison for the Toronto-area regional office of a Canadian religious denomination. And, in a few other jobs or volunteer positions, media/public relations were part of my areas of responsibility.

1) Web development should not be the most important element of strengthening Scouts Canada's profile. Telling our story to the various media - print, television, radio, web - should be. The medium only carries the message - the message must be primary. Don't re-task staff to solely focus on internet and new media opportunities - use all the media resources available. And don't forget, many mainstream media outlets are now incorporating new media in their coverage - just take a look at the Globe and Mail or New York Times websites

2) News coverage will increase with proper training. While delivering the latest copy of the newspaper I edit, I came across a Scout Troop collecting scrap metal as a fundraiser. I had a chance to talk to one of the Scouters and discovered they'd only contacted the local weekly to have a public service announcement included. Here was an opportunity to get all kinds of coverage for their efforts and tell a Scouts Canada story with an environmentalism angle - which is playing nicely in the media these days. In many cases, teaching Scouters how to tell their story will help them access "free" media coverage and improve our image.

3) Scouting has a number of stories to tell - not just the flavour-of-the-day with childhood obesity or environmentalism. Tell all of our stories in a timely and effective manner. E.g., let the media know about the upcoming awards banquet, highlighting the youth getting the Medal of Maple award or the Scouter with 20-plus years of service. One of journalism's principles is immediacy - getting the list of award/honours recipients two weeks after the banquet probably won't garner much, if any, coverage.

4) Don't rely solely on paid PR campaigns. The denomination for which I worked had a high-level marketing campaign. But some of our best PR came from the stories we were able to get published/broadcast about volunteers going about their tasks because of their desire to help others. Let's tell our story through both paid and non-paid PR efforts.

5) The creation of a youth spokesperson program is a great step. Especially since these youth may eventually become leaders and will have gained valuable experience in media/public relations that can be transferred into leadership positions.

There was recently a thread on the ScoutsCan-L mailing list about how the PR for Tim Hortons Children's Foundation is the type of thing that Scouts Canada should be doing.

I've just seen the new TV commercial promoting the THCF (I can't find a copy on-line yet) where kids are seen performing camp activities wearing t-shirts with the words "Leadership", "Teamwork" "Confidence" etc showing the benefits they've received from Tim Horton's Camp - it's a real feel-good commercial and is very well done. I'm sure it's doing great things for Tim Horton's; It is precisely the sort of thing we need in order to reach a mass audience.

Of course, the costs of the commercial and airtime would be way out of our reach, our only hope of doing something similar would be to either get some sort of media sponsor or to bypass conventional media and get the video passed by email, word of mouth etc. (like the bride bad hair day that everyone has seen but was mainly passed by email http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_Has_Massive_Hair_Wig_Out)

Sorry, but I can't agree that our number 1 priority is "development of effective web and new media presences". Yes, this has to be done, but it's not "priority number one". The priorities are looking after Program Delivery and Leadership.

The Report used the UK example of getting good PR and "reestablishing their expertise". But wait a minute.

>> It was said in the Report that Net Geners aren't influenced by "the media" -- so why go after that?
>> They are influenced by their peers. So, give one youth a great experience, and you'll have 3 more next week. It's the experience that does it, not the PR.
>> W hat is the "expertise" UK Scouting offers??

** Is it in the subject matter or is it in educational delivery?
** Either way, how do you develop that in section leaders when the average service time is less than a year, and/or the adults progress through the sections with their own kids. (Sometimes bringing their 'expertise' of the Beaver program on into the Scout Troop!)
>> By all means, let's keep the program relevant, but be careful not to: a) base the program on "the media frenzy of the month"; or b) spread ourselves so thin that we don't DO anything well. The Scouting experience has to be worthwhile, or the youth will see right through you, and no amount of PR will over come the FaceBook gossip.

The Report used the UK example of getting good PR and "reestablishing their expertise". But wait a minute.

This would involve Scouts Canada choosing a number of topics - youth education/development, physical activity, environmental awareness, etc. - and presenting themselves to the media as "experts" on these areas. When the media is reporting on these topices, they can use Scouts Canada as one of their sources.

This does a couple of things: 1) it gets the Scouts Canada name into the public eye. "Top of mind awareness" is a key element in PR; and 2) It keeps Scouts Canada in the mind of parents, grandparents, caregivers, etc. who would make the decision to enroll their children in Scouting, because of what they see in the media.

It was said in the Report that Net Geners aren't influenced by "the media" -- so why go after that?
>> They are influenced by their peers. So, give one youth a great experience, and you'll have 3 more next week. It's the experience that does it, not the PR.

The report is right - Net Geners aren't influence by media, but their parents or caregivers still are. The media messages are aimed at them, not at the youth.

Where the Section Scouter can help is by sending information about their exciting programs up the ladder through Area to Council and/or National. Area volunteers who focus on PR or Council staff can then properly handle the PR.

Robert D White you have hit the nail on the head with the points you have made above.

Advertising would also help educate the public and enhance our image.