Bill Johansen’s summary
The Program group has been very active since camp ended planning the Outdoor Program Conference which took place at Camp Royaneh last weekend. We hosted 81 participants across every district and program discipline in the Council. The main goal of the weekend was to build a calendar of Council-level events for the next three years so our Districts and Units can plan accordingly.
This was the first time that many of the participants had met or it had been a long time since they had seen each other in person. There was a lot of work done, but the fellowship that occurred was priceless. We broke out the weekend’s discussion into four areas: Advancement, Camping, Training, and Program.
Each team started with a SWOT exercise to open the conversation and find a common ground and understanding. When these were shared with the larger group, there were many common themes across areas. Each area then crafted a draft vision to help bracket the planning conversation.
The rest of the time was spent putting initial plans for Council-level events on the calendar for 2022, 2023, and 2024. The real fun begins now to try to work out any overlaps on the calendar, but having this common starting point to being with is the only way we can be successful in that effort.
This will be an annual planning effort – in 2022, we will review what we have on the calendar for 2023 and 2024 to make sure no adjustments are needed and then add events for 2025. It was great to have the participants ask that we make sure to put next year’s retreat on the calendar.