Simple Script to Dump the members of many groups named similarly

param([Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]$GroupPrefix)
# Just specify the group prefix and the script will query all groups and create a csv file named with the prefix in the temp folder.

# This has a dependancy on Quest Powershell tools
add-pssnapin Quest.ActiveRoles.ADManagement -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# get the data
Get-QADGroup -Name "$GroupPrefix*" | foreach {$group = $_; Get-QADGroupMember -Identity $_ } | Get-QADUser | foreach {New-Object PSObject -Property @{Group=$group.Name; GroupDesc=$group.Description; SamAccountName=$_.SamAccountName;LastName=$_.LastName;FirstName=$_.FirstName;Email=$_.email;DisplayName=$_.DisplayName;Department=$_.Department; DN=$_.DN; Manager=$_.Manager}} | Export-Csv c:\TEMP\$GroupPrefix.csv

$temp = $null
$temp = Import-Csv c:\TEMP\$GroupPrefix.csv

Powershell to Create TFS Backlog Items

I work with Team foundation server – keeping track of projects, etc… and now that it’s January i had 100+ tasks to create. I thought to myself… why do this manually?


####################################################################
###
###  Script to create TFS entries from CSV file
###  by Jeremy Castleberry 
###  created 1-16-2019
###  last update 1-17-2019
###  Version 1
###
####################################################################

#region Log Of Changes
####################################################################
###
###  
###  
###
###
###
###
####################################################################
#endregion Log of Changes
####################################################################


#region FUNCTIONS

#############################################################################
##
## Function from Hey Scripting Guys!
##  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/heyscriptingguy/2009/09/01/hey-scripting-guy-can-i-open-a-file-dialog-box-with-windows-powershell/
##
#############################################################################

Function Get-FileName($initialDirectory)
	{   
 	[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.windows.forms") |
 	Out-Null
	
 	$OpenFileDialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog
 	$OpenFileDialog.initialDirectory = $initialDirectory
 	$OpenFileDialog.filter = "All files (*.*)| *.*"
 	$OpenFileDialog.ShowDialog() | Out-Null
 	$OpenFileDialog.filename
	} 
#end function Get-FileName


#endregion FUNCTIONS


#region Get Input File
#We need to prompt for the file. 

[string]$VARfilepath  = Get-FileName

# or set it hardcoded
#$VARfilepath = "c:\temp\tasks.csv"

#EndRegion Get Input File
####################################################################

#region Modules
# Import whichever modules we need
Import-Module TfsCmdlets -Force

#endregion Modules
####################################################################

#region Variables
[string]$VARUrl = "http://YOURSERVER:####/tfs/Projects/"
[string]$VARTFSproject = "TFSPROJECT"
[array]$ARRTFSItems = @()

#endregion Variables
####################################################################

#region Connect to TFS components

#First to the server
Connect-TfsTeamProjectCollection $VARUrl

# and now our project 
Connect-TfsTeamProject -Project $VARTFSproject
$OBJtms = Get-TfsTeamProject -Project $VARTFSproject

# If you need an Array of projects:
#$ARRprojects = Get-TfsTeamProject

# If you need an array of sprints:
#$ARRIterations = Get-TfsIteration -Project TFSPROJECT

#endregion Connect to TFS components
####################################################################

#Region BODY
####################################################################
###
###  Body
###
####################################################################

#############################
## Get the Array of Tasks


$ARRTFSItems = Import-Csv -Path $VARfilepath

# List of columns expected in the CSV:
# areaPath
# iterationPath
# assignee
# title
# type    #'Task' or 'Product Backlog Item'
# description
# parentItem
# $effort
# tags

## Start working through each of our TFS items and Create them.

Foreach ($tfsitem in $ARRTFSItems)
	{
	####################################################################
	# Let's blank out the variables.  
	# if a property is "empty" in the array,  when looping the variable isn't replaced by setting the variable
	# to the property and so the previous use of that property for the pevious item in the loop is kept.  
	####################################################################
	
	$areaPath = $null
	$iterationPath = $null
	$assignee = $null
	$title = $null
	$type = $null     #'Task' or 'Product Backlog Item'
	$description = $null
	$parentItem = $null
	$effort = $null
	$tags = $null
	
	## now we set the variables to the data in our TFS item in the Array
	
	$areaPath = $tfsitem.areaPath
	$iterationPath = $tfsitem.iterationPath
	$assignee = $tfsitem.assignee
	$title = $tfsitem.title
	$type = $tfsitem.type
	$description = $tfsitem.description
	$effort = $tfsitem.effort
	$tags = $tfsitem.Tags
	$parentID = $null
	
	####################################################################
	# for the parent we need to do some custom work.
	# if the item Type is a Backlog Item, then the parent is a #number of a feature. 
	# if the item type is a task - we need to get the backlog Item and it's number
	####################################################################
	
	If ($type -eq "Task")
		{
		#ok. so it's a task.  We need to get the product backlog item from the specified title
		$parenttitle = $tfsitem.parentItem
				
		#we are going to look for the Title in TFS work items
		[array]$ARRparentworkitem = Get-TfsWorkItem -Text $parenttitle
				
		#we most likely will get back multiple so lets loop through and find just the backlog item
		
		Foreach ($parentworkItem in $ARRparentworkitem)
			{
			$parentworkitemType = $parentworkitem.type.Name
			
			If ($parentworkitemType -eq "Product Backlog Item")
				{
				
				$parentworkitemTitle = $parentworkitem.title
				# and lets see if the backlog item is an exact title match
					If ($parentworkitemTitle -eq $parenttitle)
						{
						#ok we have our match - so lets set the Parent
						[int]$parentID = $parentworkitem.Id
					
						#close the IF
						}
				
				#Close the IF
				}
				
			#close the ForEach
			}
		
		
		#close the IF
		}
	
	If ($type -eq "Product Backlog Item")
		{
		#ok. so it's a Product Backlog Item - meaning we should have the Parent ID 
	
		[int]$parentID = $tfsitem.parentItem
		}
			
		
	


	####################################################################
	#
	# Ok. Lets create the object now
	#
	####################################################################
	
	# we create an essentially blank new item

	$newTFSItem = New-TfsWorkItem -Title $title -Type $type -Project $VARTFSproject
		
	# so we need the ID of the newTFSItem

	[int]$Newid = $newTFSItem.Id

	####################################################################
	#
	# Lets build a hash table of the properties
	#
	####################################################################
	
	# we need on set for Backlog Items and another for Tasks

	If ($type -eq "Task")
		{
		
		$HASHUpdateFields = @{
			'Description'=$description
			'Assigned To'=$assignee
			'Iteration Path'=$IterationPath
			'Area Path'=$areaPath
			'Remaining Work'=$effort
			'Tags'=$tags
			}	
		
		#close IF
		}
		
	If ($type -eq "Product Backlog Item")
		{	
		$HASHUpdateFields = @{
			'Description'=$description
			'Assigned To'=$assignee
			'Iteration Path'=$IterationPath
			'Area Path'=$areaPath
			'Effort'=$effort
			'Tags'=$tags
			}
		
		#close IF
		}

	####################################################################
	#
	# Using the SET command we are going to set the hash table to the NewID
	#
	####################################################################
	
	Set-TfsWorkItem -WorkItem $Newid -Fields $HASHUpdateFields


	####################################################################
	#
	# And now we need to connect it to it's parent.
	# TARGET is the PARENT 
	# SOURCE is the CHILD
	#
	####################################################################
	
	# lets make sure we have a parent before we link
	
	If ($parentID -ne $null)
		{
		Add-TfsWorkItemLink -SourceWorkItem $Newid -TargetWorkItem $parentID -EndLinkType Parent	
		
		#Close IF
		}
	
	#close the ForEach
	}	

#endregion Body

A list of columns for the CSV Follows:

  • areaPath
  • iterationPath
  • assignee
  • title
  • description
  • effort
  • tags
  • type
    • Task
    • Product Backlog Item
  • parentItem
    • for Product Backlog Items it should be the # for the Parent Feature
    • for task put the name of the Product Backlog items – which hopefully are unique…. go make it unique


Cool tool for the Cireson Portal

The Cireson portal has it’s own web based pages for Knowledge articles – but what does one do when they have 4000 knowledge articles in Rich Text Format (RTF) stored in the SCSM knowledge base?

A guy named John Doyle was awesome and wrote a script and DLL to migrate the date! Go John! you are the hero of the day.


The other day, someone asked about migrating KB articles from the SCSM database to the Cireson Portal. 

I built a small PowerShell script to attempt this. The code is fairly simple. You need to place the MarkupConverter.dll file somewhere on the file system and then reference this path in the script. You also need to set the URL to your Portal Server, and your credentials to authenticate to the portal.

It uses SMLets to get the list of KB articles from the SCSM Server and then uploads the articles to the Cireson Portal using the API – AddOrUpdateHTMLKnowledgeApi.

The code converts the RTF content in the End User and Analyst content to XAML, and then converts this to HTML. I looks alright on my server, but I am not guaranteeing the accuracy of the conversion.

Please feel free to modify it and adapt it to your needs.


https://us.v-cdn.net/6026663/uploads/editor/8c/2q7dwesg4hb7.zip

So of course i wanted to know more about this “AddorUpdateHTMLKnowledgeAPI which lead me to here:


https://support.cireson.com/Help/Api/POST-api-V3-KnowledgeBase-AddOrUpdateHTMLKnowledgeApi

and of course the general Cireson help:

https://support.cireson.com/Help

Commenting your Code

There is nothing more frustrating than looking at Powershell code from someone else – who didn’t bother to comment the code. 1000 lines without a clue of what is happening, unless you understand the relevance of each command in context. Uhg.

In Powershell one can use the # symbol (Pound or Hashtag) to denote information that is “notes” and not part of the code.

For example I will denote section headers with large blocks of # signs for visibility:

############################################
#
# This section is about commenting your code
#
############################################

and smaller notes with a smaller comment:

####################
## Loop through this

You can also add a # at the end to comment out a piece – for example if I use a whatif for testing but don’t want it there once the code is “production”.

$user = Get-Aduser -name $inputname #-whatif

NOTE: Whereever the #starts, the code ends.

In additon you can use a “Regions” to denote sections of your code. Like college football conferences… but with less gerrymandering.

To do this we use the # sign and the word “region” followed by a description to start the section:

#region Our Variables

And then # and “endregion” to end the section.

#endregion

Most powershell editors, like PowerGui Script editor, will then allow you to collapse the region – makes browsing over sections of code:

I hope you find this useful.

SCSM Entity Explorer

Historically I have used the SMLets to query objects in SCSM and learn about classes and relationships. Powershell works – but it’s not always the most beautiful of interfaces.

I stumbled upon a blog article and SCSM Entity Explorer and I really can’t do it justice. There are a number of well written blog articles, so i am not going to bore you with reading mine – and I am going to replicate the info to find the articles here with the express understanding that please give credit where due.

The tool can be used to explore classes and relationships of objects in SCSM. This is invaluable for learning HOW Service Manager is structured… especially if like my company, you have done some customization on top of the standard management packs.

The tool can be located here:
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/SCSM-Entity-Explorer-68b86bd2

It was written by Dieter Gasser who’s blog can be found here:
https://blog.dietergasser.com/2014/05/08/scsm-entity-explorer/


And Xaptiy did an excellent job of explaining the tools use here: https://www.xapity.com/single-post/2017/05/27/How-to-use-SCSM-Entity-Explorer



Continuous Improvement….

Over the last 16 years at work, my company has been generous with the improvement training and seminars. From Six Sigma, Lean, Agile, etc – we have have adapted and adopted what works the best for our customer first focus.

The interesting thing is that getting into such a mindset bleeds over into “real life” and you start evaluating other people and business processes for improvements. You “think” in terms of how to improve. Which can be frustrating when it’s OBVIOUS and yet… you can do nothing.

Take our recent purchase from Target. Target was running a special on SIMS 4. So my wife ordered it – and chose the “Woodstock” store for “in store delivery” without realizing that there where multiple Target stores in the “town” of Woodstock. (ironically – neither in the actual town limits… just postal codes).

https://www.target.com/p/the-sims-4-bonus-bundle-pc-game-target-exclusive/-/A-52782811

See – we live about 10 miles to the WEST of Woodstock – 7 miles or so from the West-most Woodstock store. The Store she chose? was 10 miles further East. Any savings on shipping would be eaten up by Gas.

Upon discovering our mistake (almost immediately after submission) we called Target customer service to tell them we will pick it up in the OTHER Woodstock store…

Turns out – they do not keep the “Target edition” in the store – it was an online special only. Awesome. So update the store? They can’t. They can only cancel the order – and we can pick a new store when we place another order…

So we did that. A 2nd order later… we go to cancel the first? Nope. Can’t. See – they can’t cancel a ship to store because the stores and internet are not linked. We have to go by the store…. to cancel.

So now we have two games on the way.

We did finally get a hold of the store and get the first game canceled – what a pain.

So the game came in – and I was able to run out in the rain last night and pick it up.

And what did we get? Take a look at the image to the right. Yes.. that’s exactly what the box looks like…. look close…

Seriously Target. You shipped out a box… that only contains…

a piece of PAPER with download instructions. 

I had to use my Gasoline to go get a box… that only contains…

 a piece of paper with download instructions... 

Now I am NOT a Continuous Improvement specialist like by friend Hanson Turner. However, I am still pretty good at looking at processes and identifying problems that could be improved….. lets see… how about….

EMAIL THE CODE. EMAIL COSTS LESS THAN SHIPPING.

AND YOUR CUSTOMER GETS IT INSTANTLY

And why make a pretty package for something only available online in the first place?

as the next gen would say… #SMH

Santa’s visits and our family

Image may contain: 3 people, people smiling, beard

Santa Claus represents the largest conspiracy solely for the sake of giving without expecting something in return.

Millions of parents give gifts to kids knowing that Santa, not them, get the credit. True sense of giving right there. Kinda makes those parents Santa for real doesn’t it?

For this reason, we still stick by the story of Santa – visiting Santa each year, getting pictures, etc. It’s fun for us as parents and my Daughter still sees some magic in the experience.


However, there is always the issue of other kids – who may or may not get “Santa”.

This is a challenge that we all face – and my awesome wife has a great view on the issue. Santa brings ONE gift.

Each year, Santa brings my daughter something, but the rest come from Mom and Dad. This way when she talks to her friends at school – most of whom come from underprivileged families, she can say Santa brought her ONE gift. Keep the magic alive for all her peers without the problem in the comic.

Just a thought to share. Merry Christmas.

Credit for the comic: http://buttersafe.com/2018/12/27/santa-likes-me-more/ 

Service Manager – Which user?

One of the challenges when working with MS Service Manager 2012/2016 is that while there are related user types for things like the affected user (for whom the ticket is related) or the portal user (who put the ticket in), etc – most of the questions in which you choose an Active directory user – are simply related as “related to” and thus – if you as for multiple, you are not 100% sure which is the answer to the question asked.

I find myself frequently looking for a user specified in the questions in my powershell script.

Now one way to determine the actual user is to parse the XML from the answers block and get the name and the question. Match it up and you are good to go.

Anthony Watherson over at microsoft did a good writeup on that process – so I will just link that here:

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/automagically/2014/11/16/dealing-with-xml-inputs-from-service-manager/

However – I use something else – Not because it’s necessarily “better” but simply because it popped into my head when i was working on it – and I didn’t google for the XML solution until a much later date… i.e. when I was looking to talk about this content.

For me – I use Cireson’s “multiple mapping” feature to map the name of the user chosen, to a property in the SR:

and eventually handed off to SCORCH and the runbook :

So that gives us the NAME of the user chosen.. but how do we make sure it’s the right user? We might have two John Smiths of Sameer Kumars after all.

We pass that information along the chain to a SCORCH workflow:




The script grabs the user from the name – and passes it to the get object which then returns it to be used by whatever workflow you might need to use that information in.

here is the Powershell:

#
Find Related User
#
Import-Module SMLETS
$SCSMServer = "scsmserver.app.intranet"
$SCSMServer = "localhost"
Set base variables
$SR = "PASSED IN VARIABLE"
$name = "PASSED IN VARIABLE"
$SR = "SR172196"
Establish GUIDS:
$RelationShipType = "System.WorkItemRelatesToConfigItem"
Establish relationship classes
$RouteToRelationship = Get-SCSMRelationshipClass -Name $($RelationShipType +"$") -ComputerName $SCSMServer
$SystemWorkItemAssignedToUserClass = Get-SCSMRelationshipClass -Name System.WorkItemAssignedToUser$ -ComputerName $SCSMServer
Get Service Request
$ServiceRequest = Get-SCSMObject -Class (Get-SCSMClass -Name System.WorkItem.ServiceRequest$ -ComputerName $SCSMServer) -ComputerName $SCSMServer -Filter "ID -eq $SR"
Get user Object
$RoutedToUser = (Get-SCSMRelationshipObject -BySource $ServiceRequest -ComputerName $SCSMServer | ?{$_.RelationshipID -eq $RouteToRelationship.Id -and $_.IsDeleted -eq $False})
#
Foreach ($relateduserobj in $RoutedToUser)
{
$smuserobj = $relateduserobj.TargetObject
If ($smuserobj.displayname -eq $Name)
{
$Global:Userobject = $smuserobj
}
}
$SAM = $Userobject.Name
$ArrSAM = $SAM.Split(".")
#
$outSAM = $ArrSAM[1]
$outname = $Userobject.DisplayName
$outGUID = $Userobject.IdNow this may not be useful to you... b

We use this because we already have it. I was easy to put together when I was looking for a solution. Maybe it’s also useful to someone else… if not… I thank you for at least reading my ramblings 🙂

Dad of a female “Boy” Scout

————————————————————
(this is long but I hope you can find time to read).
#dadofafemaleboyscout
——————–
Kaylee Age 6 Cub Scouts

Let me preface this conversation than I am a conservative. I fight the good fight for constitutional rights, small government, and a Jesus first lifestyle.

I’m not claiming I am some saint or that I think we should accost people for their sins. Just that generally most would say I am politically conservative guy.

So when Boy Scouts said that they were going to start accepting girls, I like many of my peers really objected to that. I mean it’s Boy Scouts right? I can see the argument, there’s a girl scouts for a reason right? There’s other organizations for girls right? And so I was against it.

I’m still not sure it was the right decision to make but I’m getting there

——————–

First let’s talk about the geopolitical situation.

When we talk about the Organization of the Scouting Movement— the worldwide governing party that deals with 169 countries, the United States along with such wonderful places as Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Barbados, and Papua New Guinea – are the only ones that worried about gender.

I mean really, is there any other situation where conservatives would say they want the United states to be more like Saudi Arabia?

Maybe on oil production.

But certainly not on women’s rights.

As a conservative I might believe that it’s my duty as a man to provide and protect my family, and that is my wife’s duty to nurture our family, but no means do I believe that she has any less rights than I do.

In fact every conservative man I know would tell you that he is the king of his castle and his wife gives him permission to say so.

I mean come now, we’re conservatives… the party of respect your mother. So how is it that we’re lumped in with countries that don’t believe in women’s rights when it comes to scouting? That’s definitely cracking the shell for me.

——————–

Second, the boy scouts have often been a pathway to the military service. Which I think is Honorable, but let’s face it there are a lot of women in the military these days.

( Now the scouts believe in actual equality of effort and earning the badge requires doing the skill. It’s not one badge for girls and one badge for boys. You either can do it or you can’t. The military can learn a lesson there…)

But the fact remains that I would not be disappointed if my daughter join the Navy someday and following the steps of family like my brothers, cousins, uncles, dad and my grandfathers, and great grandfathers. Hypocritical of me to say she’s good enough to join the Navy but can’t join Boy Scouts. In both cases she’s a girl in a boys world.

——————–

Third – there’s the Girl Scouts. Common misconception, the Girl Scouts has nothing to do with the Boy Scouts. They are completely separate and now competing organizations

I was ok with girl scouts as a conservative, or at least as much as I could be… so we investigated

The local troop near me told us flat out that they’re expecting kids to sell thousand box of cookies. Now I understand those cookies are damn good, and it probably isn’t that hard to sell a thousand boxes. But is that really the focus that I want my daughter to deal with? I want her to be an anesthesiologist or a financial Trader. Not yet another pretty face selling something. No wonder every sales rep out there is a former Girl Scout… They learn it at a young age.

I didn’t give up on GSUSA… my mom said when she was a girl scout they did camping. My wife says she did camping with her mom. I wanted to keep a girl in girl scouts…

A little bit of research and I find a number of discussion boards where parents are fighting the same problem. The Girl Scouts in their area I’ve become about being a social club, with very little in the way of outdoor skills or activities.

And girl scouts are recognizing the problem… They added 23 badges in STEM and Outdoors. Wow… It’s 2018 and you finally think girls can do science? How progressive of you GSUSA.

I am glad GS are changing in response to Boy scouts…but i would have been a lot happier if it was proactive to create better women for the future – rather than a response to a drop in membership.

So I am sure there are Girl Scouts out there that or just as adventurous as Boy Scouts. They just don’t seem exist in my area. the affluent in my area, probably don’t have any desire to go camping. So they’re not having their kids go camping or fishing or tying knots or playing in the mud. And the poor in the area can’t afford boy or girl scouts ( the start-up fees is about $300 all said and told)

Lastly – it seems the girl scouts have taken a stance on politics that is just to the left of BSA – which is already too liberal for my tastes. I think kids organizations should stay out of politics..

Maybe in a few years we can reevaluate GSUSA.

——————–

Fourth; We also looked into some of the other christian-based organizations like American Heritage girls and Frontier girls. Unfortunately none of them have chapters in our area. Kind of makes it hard to join if I have to drive an hour and a half to meetings. Not going to happen on school nights.

——————–

My daughter on the other hand keeps asking about camping and fishing and going places. I just had just given up, I figured I’d take her a couple times a year and we’d make do with just that. I mean after all, I felt like i had exhausted my options and I knew how to teach some of what she wanted.

And then 2 weeks ago my daughter came home from school and said I want to join Boy Scouts.

” There’s one at my school.” she says….

It turns out that at least in my area – now that boy scouts is open to all.. It’s OK to promote it at the public schools.

When my 6 year old asked.. I suddenly knew that my life is going to be utterly changed, and that my stubbornness might have to be compromised to give my daughter the support that she deserves. I was going to have a daughter in an organization I felt should be boys only. Man did I feel like a hypocrit.

So Egg on the face – I go to the meeting. After all I am a dad first, and as a conservative I believe in participating as a parent. What kind of man would I be if I let my pride keep her from what she saw as a solution.

How do we teach our girls to fight gender stereotypes if we’re unwilling to get outside of our own comfort zones and do the same? Lead from the front by setting the example.

Besides Pride is a sin ya’ll.

——————–

So we went to the pack meeting and we joined, there are about eight girls and about 12 boys in total. Certainly not a large pack. It seems they where kicked out of the previous church over gays… (different story – skip the comments please). So I am joining a pack right in the middle of literal chaos caused by much of the decisions like letting my daughter join.

So far it’s been an uphill battle.

The first night we joined I get told by a pack leader – “they didn’t want girls in Boy Scouts.”

We didn’t live that deter us. They meet practically right next door to our home and so my wife and I certainly can’t argue with the convenience, and besides, I do believe in equality under the law , and so I will be damned if I am not going to defend my daughters right to have fun.

In the two weeks we’ve been members I’ve been told three or four times by friends and family that they just can’t support the girl in Boy Scouts.

On the other hand I’ve had people jump out and say “you go get them!”; “She’s a trailblazer!”; “I’m so proud of her”; “I know she’s going to do great things!” (thank God for those friends)

My kid just wants to camp and do things outdoors. She’s six she’s not thinking about boys and girls. To her there’s no difference, I mean she knows that boys stand up to pee and that girls sit… but to her a kid as a kid. She doesn’t care if the people she’s playing games with or competing against are boys or girls. She just happy to be part of the adventure.

——————–

Our first camp out I got to talk to some of the other parents and leaders from other troops. It’s interesting … Boy Scouts is allowed troops to choose to be either traditional or coed. And there are separations between the Boys & Girls by Den, remember this is Cub Scouts not Boy Scouts, and once there the 12 and up age bracket, they have to be in completely separate packs in their own campsites excetera.

One parent told me they where okay with girls being Scouts so long as “the boys and girls camped on different weekends”, after all she said we know teenagers are “going to sneak off in the middle night and end up in each other’s tents” .

I am not dumb enough to think that teenagers don’t think about other teenagers or sneak off in the middle of night… But let’s face it there’s some parental responsibility on raising your kid correctly in the situation.

There are things you can do to ensure that the girls stay in the girls camp in the boys stay in the boys camp. And if that means I need to stay up all night and watch over them, then so be it. That’s called being responsible parent.

Besides you don’t think your kids going to the mall to play Pokemon go do you? We can’t prevent our teens from interacting with other teens.

I’d much rather that interaction be in a structure where somebody said hey these are the rules and you need to follow them. Learning to respect the girls will go much further towards making good men out of our boys than isolating them. We can teach them to respect women without demasculating them too. I still understand that boys need to be boys and girls need to be girls.

Another parent told me that they had kept their pack traditional. Ironically that particular parent had a Boy Scout with a younger sister who was a tag along for the weekend.

In Cub Scouts the parents are required to attend campouts. You can’t leave your child with a leader until they’re a weblo.

So in deference to all the parents who have no choice but to bring their siblings along, Cub Scouts has generally allowed siblings along so long as they obey all the rules.

Entire generations of girls have grown up alongside their older and younger brothers, doing scouting activities, learning the same knots, building the same fires, sleeping in the same tents, playing the same games and and being held to the standards of a scout, but they didn’t get any of the credit or reward.

And no parents were complaining about it because it was expected of the parents to keep their children in line with the Boy Scout standards.

This huge irony just screams to me … I mean is Boy Scouts really just for boys If we’re already allowing female siblings to attend?

And what kind of message is that sending to the girls that the boys can earn Badges and rewards the effort, but you’re just a tag-along. Wow that’s a little too 1950 even for me as a conservative.

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Lastly I looked around and realized that probably 80% of the leadership was women. So we’re okay with boys being raised and lead by women… Women that themselves couldn’t be part of the program as kids. I talked to several of them and they all told me a similar story. As a child they attended Cub Scouts with a brother, and loved it. So when their child asked to join Scouts and their request for leadership was asked of them they volunteered. Because they love what the program is about.

Another gentleman who was listening in to my discussion, told me that he was a 4th generation Scout. He was a leader in Scouts not because he really loves scouting, because like any family tradition it was nearly expected of him.

He said he had grown to love it as his son had grown to love scouting, it was their time together and for that reason alone, he said he would do anything necessary to make sure his pack was a success.

So we have women in the same generational situation, the children of scouts, but couldn’t be Scouts themselves.

Maybe in the future my daughter’s great-grandchild will look back and say hey I’m a 4th generation Scout.

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The last argument that I had to deal with was among corporate culture. It’s ironic that in a world where people talk about the glass ceiling, it’s the women who are telling me most often the girls don’t belong in the boys club.

I understand that boys and girls have differences. My daughter has physical limitations compared to some boys for sure, but nothing in the terms of equality of spirit or intelligence that will limit her from doing anything a boy can do. And let’s face it, women have a higher pain tolerance and a better at multitasking in general than men. It’s okay that not everybody is meant to have the exact same skill-set.

But I have to wonder if her near future of obstacles in relation to her gender as a minority girl in a boys club, might prepare her well for a world where she may be a woman truly breaking into an industry that is mostly male whatever that might be. Maybe so, it certainly isn’t going to hurt her to have to learn to deal with the opposite sex.

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Our first camp out ended with two boys and a girl playing in the rain. I don’t think any of them cared about the others gender. They were much more concerned about when the burgers would be ready to eat. And how much longer they would be allowed to stay before having to head out . Those are the memories I hope all of our kids take home. Friends family food and fun – and maybe they will never have to know about the geopolitics that their parents were dealing with…

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In closing, I would love to see my daughter go all the way to Eagle… Though I’m not sure it will open the doors for her that it would have if she was a boy, but I’d like to think that 12 years in the future people have gotten over the issue of the fact that it’s Scouts now and not just boys.

We have a long way to go, she’s just a kindergarten “lion” today, and I’m not sure if we’ll stay with Boy Scouts forever.

But if we leave BSA it won’t be because Dad wasn’t willing to swallow his pride and support a girl in “boy” scouts.

Time will tell and I hope you all can give us your support.

A better portal..

One of the big limitations that Service manager has is gathering information on requests. In my company we utilize a third party browser based “head” for SCSM requests by a company called Cireson.

https://cireson.com/

Those guys all used to work for Microsoft and do good stuff. If you need any details – just reach out and ask.