wagionvigil wrote:The Summit concept is to have “activity centers” such are Shooting Sports, Adventure Courses, Aquatics, Extreme Games, and Hiking/Nature. In addition there is a planned Buckskin area and in the future a potential Highland Games outpost. These activity areas will incorporate most of our Action Center activities. Shooting Sports would have Trap Shooting as we know it, Camp Thunder and perhaps a full fledged 5 stand course, 22 cal. Rifle, Archery (both targets and 3D course range) and perhaps more. Adventure Courses would have Zip lines, confidence courses, Canopy Walks, Climbing Towers, Rappelling, Bouldering, etc Extreme Sports would have Motocross, Mountain Boarding, Mountain Biking, Skateboarding, etc. Aquatics and Boating would have multiple activities on the lakes and rivers. Hiking and Nature would have Geocaching, Orienteering, Spelunking, Digital Games, etc.
I like the idea of having activity centers. I think activities and facilities can be better if they focus on having them in a single activity center rather than trying to duplicate everything and have them in multiple action centers. (However, the former directors from towers A, B, and C may put up a fight to take your tower director position if there is only one such position available.) I think they can improve capacity in one activity center better than trying to duplicate capacity by having multiple action centers.
wagionvigil wrote:The current concept under consideration is to have the participants sign up during the registration process for half day or full day at the activity center of their choice. They would be given choices (1-5 for example) on a first come first served basis. When they arrive they will be checked in and receive an AT&T device that contained all of their registration information, schedule, etc.
I like the idea of preregistration for a few limited events, but I don't like it for general use in all activities. When a boy registers for Jambo (sometimes 2 years in advance), he will not know what activities he will want to register for on each day, and will have no way of knowing when such plans may conflict with other activities. This type of system would make it very difficult to participate in activities with a patrol or troop. If they want to preregister for some activities in order to control lines, then I think a better option would be to have the registration on site when the participants arrive. There should also be accommodation for leaders to register for a group (patrol/troop) to participate in activities. Maybe a similar line control could be achieved by issuing tickets that could be available at subcamp headquarters.
wagionvigil wrote:Did I mention that Randall Stephenson (AT&T CEO) is the 2013 Jamboree chairman?
If his plans are similar to what they did at the last jambo ('the most connected ever'), I hope they fire him now and get someone who can actually get connected.
My phone had rare, spotty service at the jamboree. Their recharging stations were not adequate. There was no recharging facility for non-AT&T devices. They punished us for exceeding their capacity by further limiting access and by locking the phones left on the chargers inside their building (not plugged into the chargers) for 18+ hours.
wagionvigil wrote:During the 10 days of the Jamboree there would be two Arena Shows (more on the arena later), a day of hiking with the OA, and a day of “giving back”. The “giving back” day would involve community service in the area (a community, the national park adjacent to our property, or on the property).
I hope that the 'giving back' is done in the national park or for nearby communities. It would seem rather self-serving to 'give back' on projects that only benefit the scout property.
wagionvigil wrote:The Entrance Area (The Village) would have the Arena, visitors area, and several activities in which day visitors (who will pay a fee) may participate (yes, some of these might be our standard Action Center activities). The concept is that visitors are visitors are not allowed in the participant area. They will be accommodated, have the opportunity to meet with family members on staff or participating but will only have access to “The Village” which also includes the Arena.
I think it rather cheap of the BSA to charge admission to visitors who aren't allowed to do anything. If they come to visit with a participant, or to see the Jambo, they should be able to do that for free. If they want to see the arena show, then they should pay a small admission fee. If they want to participate in activities there should be a way for them to pay a participation fee, and there should be capacity to accommodate day participants.
While I am giving my opinions to people who can't do anything about it, I have a few more jamboree comments not directly related to your post.
Is there some reason that participants shouldn't use the shuttle buses after the dinner hour? I had some very long evening walks, and the drivers of the empty buses wouldn't let us ride because we were not staff. Even if they make rules that staff gets priority seating, I can't think of a reason that participants should not be allowed to fill the empty seats.
Mysterium Compass - If the OA is going to hype their show for years in advance, I think they should live up to the hype and have capacity to accommodate all the participants that their hype generates. Issuing tickets for half of each troop was a cheap shot. Also, the youth who participated could see no reason that the adults could not have gone in with their youth. Was the 'no adults' restriction just another part of their hype techniques?
I paid a lot of money for a tent space, some food, and the privilege of watching the boys participate in activities. I think that the adult fees should be lower than those of the boys who get to participate in the activities, or the activities should be planned with capacity for adults to participate. I understand that some may not have equipment in my size, or that adults in the group would lessen the experience for the boys. Those are cases where I may not be able to participate, or rules would have to be made to keep adults from interfering. In most cases, I think activities could be arrange so that adults could also participate.
What is with the stupid rule that adults can't trade patches with youth? If it was to prevent adults from taking advantage of youth and making unfair trades (as was the rumored reason), it didn't work. The youth were the ones who I saw insisting on unfair trades.
