I’m counting down the days until the 53rd Girl Scout Convention convenes in Salt Lake City, UT, on October 16, 2014. I’ll be heading west earlier for the Girl Scout History Conference, which begins on October 14.
To mark the occasion, the GSCNC Archives and History Committee has installed a new exhibit about Girl Scout conventions.
First, here’s a quick FAQ on conventions:
What is a Girl Scout convention?
Held every three years, conventions include formal National Council Sessions, plus trainings, a history conference, guest speakers, exhibits, a girl Leadership Institute, songs, and friendships to make and renew.
What is the National Council?
Comprised of delegates from each council, the National Council is charged with giving broad direction to the future of the Girl Scout Movement. It is the major link between Girl Scout councils and the national organization. Each council is allotted delegates based on its membership level. Nation’s Capital, the largest council in the country, is sending 36 delegates. Any registered member age 14 and over can be a delegate. With delegates, alternates, staff, and “official visitors” (like me), the Nation’s Capital delegation has 94 Girl Scouts Utah-bound.
What will the National Council do?
There are three resolutions on the agenda:
- Allowing GSUSA to offer new membership formats (now we have just two: 12-month and lifetime; exactly what new formats is not specified in the resolution).
- Having the GSUSA chief financial officer report to the chief executive officer, not the national board of directors.
- Changing the ex officio, non-voting status of past GSUSA presidents to voting members of the national board of directors.
There also will be a much-anticipated discussion about the role of the outdoors in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
Has the National Council Session ever met in Washington, DC?
Yes, three times: 1915 (the first session), 1923, and 1975.
When is the next convention?
Make New Friends, But Keep the Old….
Salt Lake City will be my second Girl Scout convention. It will be hard to top my first, Houston in 2011. I knew I would see my high school troop-mate Elizabeth Brooke-Willbanks in Houston, as she worked for the Girl Scout Council of Central and Western Massachusetts. But what we didn’t expect was to run into our Cadette and Senior leaders, who just happened in be in Houston for a different event. I hadn’t seen any of them in at least 20 years, but it felt more like 20 minutes. What a wonderful surprise that was.
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