The Best Kept Secret?

Since I had to work last evening, I took some down time to go over some of our recent attendance numbers to see if there are any trends that I could pick up over the past few years.  For the most part, our attendance remains very flat and if anything, showing a very slight decline over the past two years.  That really does not mean much as we are limited by campsite space and dining hall capacity and out of the two it is the former rather than the latter which is the issue given our current circumstances.  The variability comes really with the size of a troop that attends and the campsite it takes.  For example, a 20 person troop may be able to fit another 4 scouts into their campsite.  Since you don't really have a troop of 4 (well sometimes you do) then those spaces go unused.  These limitation are the reason why we fill so quickly as we really have no way to easily expand our campsite capacity currently and if we did, then the dining hall will become the real limiting factor.  There are pros and cons behind this; a con is that you limit accessibility as well as income  however the pro leans more towards quality.  At what point do you get so big that you start losing some of the "magic" or personality of the camp?  I think we can probably add two if not three more large campsites without affecting the caliber of the program and experience for the scout and certainly the new dining hall can accommodate that change and then some.

One of the other things I noticed is that 47% of scouts attending Camp Parsons during the past season are from out-of-council.  That is a significant amount, particularly when you factor in that each scout had to pay substantially more than scouts from Chief Seattle Council to attend.  That is much more than the 18% of Camp Pigott's scouts that were from out-of-council.  So I have to ask myself, are the out-of-council troops better organized and get their reservations in before Chief Seattle troops, is it because what we offer is much better than what their camps have or is it because many troops in the council don't know what they have in their backyard?  I am sure it is a combination of many things; from those listed above to other particular drivers...but it does beg the question of where, if anywhere, do troops go.  I know from anecdotal experience, there are several troops that will never attend a Chief Seattle camp.  I am sure that there are a variety of reasons why this occurs; from disliking the offerings we have to wanting their scouts to have an "experience" and leave the council for an adventure.  Regardless, it seems to me that we should be hosting more Seattle troops.

Now, I have discussed this before and I have had people tell me that many troops in Seattle do not get organized for summer camp until the late winter/early spring and have suggested to me that we limit out-of-council troops to a certain number so as to support our own troops here within the council.  Although I can sympathize with that sentiment I would be hard pressed to support it.  We provide a product to scouts...ALL scouts regardless of where they come from.  The vast majority of our income is derived from the camp fees paid by our attendees as well as ancillaries like those found in Trading Post sales.  Income from camp is also derived in rentals, resource sells (like select logging cuts) and other items.  It is not supported by membership fees to the Seattle council.  Granted that membership within the council does generate donations and helps in fund raising and although that does directly affect all of our properties, the simple fact is that we cannot go without our facilities being full each season if we are going to afford to offer the opportunity to have those facilities, let alone staffing them with quality young men and women.

I can understand those troops that like to rotate around camp experiences each year; that is to say this camp one year, another the next, etc.  What I am amused about when I hear "we always look forward to coming back to Camp Parsons after our last couple of summers."  Well, we don't change much, the quality we have is the same when you left as it is when you come back (unless you just don't like what we offer) so why go some place else where you don't know what you are going to get (this is a rhetorical question....please don't e-mail with your response as I know there are other reasons)?  To those troops who do not attend summer camp or those who will not go to Camp Pigott or Parsons then I would emphatically say to those respective troop committee chairs this.....you need new adult leadership.

The Seattle council is steeped in history and tradition and its properties and various programs reflect that history.  Camp Parsons was founded by individuals whose names are on school buildings, universities, mountains, trails and literature across the Pacific Northwest.  Scouts are actually part of that history each year they attend as they jump of the pier, swim on central beach or go to a campfire or maybe take a hike.  No one should keep this a secret.