Band App for your Girl Scout Troop

When our troop first formed, all we used was email.  But for some users my email would go to spam and I had no way of knowing if the parents received my email or not.  So we started a Facebook group which worked out fine the first year.  The second year however, we had a parent who didn't login to Facebook frequently so she wasn't always up-to-date with the newest info.  Year three and we have several parents either without a Facebook account or with so many notifications popping up that they don't see our Troop posts in time.

So we switched to Band app.  This allows users to avoid Facebook if they like, separates the Troop notifications away from other Facebook posts, and allows me to see who has read the posts and who hasn't.  Band is available on Google Play, the App Store, or just a regular web browser.  And best of all it is completely free!!

Get started today at http://campaign.band.us/rp/nes

Once you signup for an account with Band, you will need to create your group.  You can have different groups using the same login and app with no worries about how they interact with each other.  Select "Create a Band" and then pick "Custom" as the type if you are asked, name your group, and choose a cover photo.  The name and photo can be changed at any time.  For the group type, select secret so nobody can get any information about your Troop unless they are invited.

With the group created you can now invite parents and other adults to join Band.  To start our group I used the "copy link" or url and sent an email to all parents.  With each new Girl Scout joining our Troop I sent the invite via SMS when I entered their contact info in my phone.  We invite all parents and even grandparents that regularly help bring the Girl Scouts to and from meetings and event.

Start out by setting up reminders for your regular meetings.  Create an event using the Events icon.

Set Event Name, Location, Start and End Time, and when to send the reminder.  The End Date/Time on the Google Play app says "Deadline", but is still located directly under the End Time.

Set a reminder minutes, days, weeks, or even months before the event date.  Repeat the event every day, week, 2 weeks, or month as needed.  If your troop meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, create one event for the 1st Tuesday and set the repeat to 1st Tuesday of every month and then create another event for the 3rd Tuesday of the month and have it repeat every 3rd Tuesday of the month.  Select an End Repeat date if you plan on taking summers off.

In the events tab you can see all the scheduled events in a calendar view and also in a list.

Any special events are created with an RSVP option.  This allows me to know if I have enough interest or need to cancel the event.  Parents will show up as Join, Decline, Maybe, or Not participated yet in an easy-to-ready format.  I can also set an RSVP end time, so if a Girl Scout hasn't confirmed attendance by a certain date she will not be able to sign up at the last minute and leave me scrambling for supplies or reservations.  Users can easily click on the map for driving directions which is handy!!

At the bottom of every post I can see how many group members have read it and who hasn't.  This is my favorite feature.  If I see not everyone has looked at the post, I can open the post and click on the unread link to view names.

Other handy features are polls, signups, to-do lists, photo album uploads and group chats separate from the main group.  I started one group chat for our cookie booth design, and another for a camping trip where not every girl was attending.  This reduces the "noise" for members not interested in the conversation and keeps everything organized.

Overall I am very happy with this app and highly recommend it to other Troops!