How This Started

My son joined Scouts in September 2010 as a Tiger Cub and one of my best friends asked me to think about starting a website for the Pack. (This should have disqualified him as a best friend on the spot.)

Since I have 'all the time in the world' to design and start and manage and contribute content to a website (sarcasm) I did some searches for Cub Scout Website Templates. You probably did the same. I am versed at several website engines but those have a steep learning curves I wouldn't wish on my enemies and they just plain wouldn't work for a Pack that has a 3 year turnover in leaders. A Pack Website MUST be easy to manage and training new leaders MUST be simple. Otherwise all the work would be for nothing when my son reaches 6th grade. And the Pack would need to start from square on again.

So I needed something easy to manage. Something the leaders could learn quickly. Something clean and appealing. Something all of us could work together on - because I have problems doing this stuff alone. Something that could be handed off every 3 years. And something dirt cheap because, after all, "this is Scouting". Those were my requirements. And I found nothing close.

Try searching for that. I gave up my search after a week and figured I would try Google Sites. I had messed around with Sites before but never really understood how it worked. But I figured I'd give it another shot because I am hooked on all the free products that Google provides. So Google Sites had to be the answer. It just had to be. It was Google, right?

What you see is the result of that line of thought. This website brings all of the Google products together in one very sleek setup. And it fits all of my requirements listed above. If you download this template, and start working on your "Launch Countdown" you will soon agree. This website is very cool. Trust me.

I posted my (three month old) website as a template one year ago and just about everyday I got an email thanking me for my work. It has been very rewarding. It's nice to know I am helping uncounted Packs across the country get the word out about Scouting through this template. But they know it goes deaper than that. This website will help you stay organized and working together. It puts all your leaders on the same page and you will start working as a team rather than a Pack of leaders on different islands.

But the Template I posted a year ago (I call it v1.0) was an infant in terms of what I have learned this past year. It was only three months old when I posted it. I would add more content to MY Pack Website but the template didn't get those improvements. So Packs were downloading an incomplete website. It still worked fine but it bothered me they weren't getting a full blown version that our Pack is using. So I decided to upgrade the template. This is version 2.0 and it about as complete as I can make it. I set the countdown to the day I posted the upgrade.

But I didn't just add the upgrades. I added the training. If you read the Launch Instructions - and follow them loyally - you will realize the power this website will bring to your Pack for many years to come. I hope you enjoy your new website and that you use it to its potential. By doing so you will notice better recruiting numbers, increased retention rates, and more parents who want to be part of your leadership team.

Yours in Scouting!

Pack 000 Admin

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