This document provides an overview and agenda for a presentation on using technology and online resources to support Cub Scouting. It discusses setting up shared calendars and websites, using social media appropriately, youth protection guidelines for online activities, and educating parents on digital safety. The goal is to help Cub Scout leaders access helpful online tools while protecting privacy and following BSA policies.

1. Cub Scouts Compute
GET CONNECTED. LEARN HOW TO ACCESS COUNCIL, NATIONAL,
AND OTHER WEBSITES. INTERNET ADVANCEMENT, AND ALL THINGS
COMPUTER THAT WILL BE HELPFUL TO ANY CUB SCOUTER.
Roman Havrylyak
with credit to Scott Milliken

2. Agenda
 GSMC Technology Committee
 Council website
 Events Calendar
 Digital Marketing
 Mobile
 cyber CHIP
 Cyber Bullying
 Internet Etiquette
 Gaming
 Cell Phone
 BSA Brand Identity Guide

3. GSMC Technology Committee
 Started in 2014 by Larry Brown with agenda:
 Communications with Scout Leaders and Volunteers
 Newsletter, Social Media, SMS subscription
 Quarterly training for technology advancements
 Re-Design of Council’s website
 Events Calendar
 Mobile App (future)

4. GSMC Events Calendar

5. GSMC Events Calendar TOBE
 Integrate with smartphone (Android, iPhone)
 Import of events
 Add as separate calendar
 Context agnostic (autoselect district)
 Manage pack/troop scheduling in council calendar
 Simplify pack scheduling by adding events
 Support Popcorn Sales

6. GSMC Digital Marketing
 Facebook
 Great Smoky Mountain Council, Boy Scouts
 Newsletter
 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m4lrzs2d5mnv79a/AAAzTMie2e0s3Bd-
yjBfp4Qra?oref=e&n=24680538
 Mobile (TOBE)
 App to centralize communications and support pack/troop activities

7. cyber CHIP

8. cyber CHIP partner NetSmartzx
 http://www.netsmartz.org/scouting
 Cyber CHIP is a good start, but not enough
 Focuses mainly on the outside-in attack vector
 Doesn’t mention social media safety until the 6th grade module
 Doesn’t address safety rules for parents – many of whom don’t think about the impact of their
posts on their child’s online safety
 What you put on the internet will never go away
 You can ask someone to take down text/pictures, but that doesn’t remove it
 Our children inherit our social media presence – guilt by association
 There is no technology to keep others from sharing what you post

9. BSA Social Media Guidelines
 Yes, they exist.
 http://www.scouting.org/Home/Marketing/Resources/UnitWeb.aspx
 http://www.scouting.org/Home/Marketing/Resources/SocialMedia.aspx
 Three Main Concerns
 Protection of personal information (COPPA is the baseline)
 Copyright Infringement – Use your own pictures, or ones that you know are
available for use without attribution
 Commercialism – If you host your website on a free service, it must be ad free

10. Why should I have a website?
 “Nobody has come to our pack through the web before.”
-- Cubmaster of a Pack with NO WEBSITE
 People search the web for businesses, activities, and social groups
 Allows you to establish a definitive reference for what’s going on
 Paper describing your activity calendar becomes inaccurate with time
 Events change. Period.
 Parents looking for an active pack can’t tell if you’re active or not from a piece of
paper that they don’t have.
 If that paper was left at home, it gives another reference point
 Changes in event logistics become instantly available to all subscribers
 Great place to post rules for Pinewood Derby, Raingutter Regatta
 Keep your website current – if you stop updating it, take it down

11. What Other Tools Should My
Pack/Troop Use?
 Picture Sharing
 Facebook (easiest to share / hardest to control)
 Picasa/Flickr (moderate for both sharing and control)
 Shutterfly (hardest to share / easiest to control)
 Event Coordination
 Google Calendar (by far the most features for sharing and control)
 Facebook Event Invitations
 EventBrite / SignupGenius / etc – Cloud based solutions
 Electronic Payments
 Paypal / Square

12. Social Media and Youth Protection
 Ensure that you have 2-Deep Leadership in the administration of your
website and/or social media pages
 All communication channels on social media must be public!
 Private Facebook Pages are explicitly not allowed
 If you must email one of the youth, openly (cc:) copy another adult
 Social Media accounts must be monitored – if you decide not to use it
anymore, don’t leave an orphan; delete it
 Remember that you are representing Scouting and your Unit when
communicating as the Social Media account

13. Basic Online Protection Principles
 Go with the most restrictive rules for Personally Identifiable Information
 Johnny Scout’s parents tag him in every post
 Billy Scout’s parents don’t tag him in anything
 Reference your pictures/activities as “Pack X” or “Den Y”, not individual names
 If you have a parent that is vehemently against pictures of their son online, have your
Cubmaster work out some sort of compromise
 Don’t place your scout and/or parent roster online unless it is password protected
 Create special email addresses for your leadership – cubmaster@; den1leader@;
treasurer@ - especially for any involving money transactions!

14. Easy Pack/Troop Website
Google Sites
 Free
 Plenty of pre-written templates
http://sites.google.com/site/cubscoutwebsitetemplate.com/home
 Can be used with Google Apps for extra features
(but at a cost/month)
Cub Scouts Website (Template)
 Has a page for each Den
 Easy posting of news
 Shared calendar widgets
 Easy to add in PayPal payments for online store

15. Using Shared Google Calendars
 Don’t lump everything into one calendar
 The Bears don’t care that the Tigers are going to the TV station
 The Wolves don’t care that the Webelos are going camping this weekend
 Set up calendars for Pack Committee; Pack Events; Den Events
 Follow the instructions at
http://support.google.com/a/answer/1625902?hl=en to create a shared
calendar
 Android users will automatically be able to view Google Calendars
 For iPhone users, follow instructions at
http://support/google.com/calendar/answer/151674?hl=en

16. Setting up a Facebook Page
 DON’T just have one person start posting on their own page
 DO create a new Organization Page
 DO share pictures of activities that the Pack/Troop does
 DON’T share pictures of just your kids, or your pets
 DON’T tag people in your pictures (other than yourself)
 If parents want to tag themselves or their own kids, let them
 COMMUNICATE that parents shouldn’t tag others in pictures
 DO like pages/businesses that support or are related to Scouting
 DON’T like celebrity pages or businesses just because YOU like them
Above all, remember that this is the Pack or Troop’s Facebook page, not your
personal one.

17. BSA Brand Identity Guide

18. Safety Summary
 Use separate pages/accounts for your Pack or Troop roles
 Don’t put personally identifiable information on the internet – especially
tagging or naming children in pictures
 Remember that what goes online will be there forever
 Work with your leaders to establish Rules of Conduct
 Educate your parents
 How to use your online tools
 How to be safe for the entire Pack/Troop’s sake