Michelle Obama Challenges Girl Scouts

Earlier this month, United We Serve team launched a “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” initiative. The goals of said initiative are to use service to promote physical activity, expand access to healthy and affordable food and prevent summer learning loss in America’s kids. Honorary Girl Scout National President Michelle Obama has challenged all Girl Scouts to take part in this opportunity. She asks all Girl Scouts to read, exercise and keep track of these activities.

GSCTX girls have a head start in this initiative. Our scouts find ways to have fun outside with their troops while maintaining their desire to enrich their minds through books. You can check out all of the fun activities our girls have been doing this summer on our Flickr and Out & About pages. If we keep it up, GSCTX can answer Ms. Obama’s challenge and show her what Central Texas girls can do if they set their mind to it. All girls can join in on the GSUSA initiative and log their hours reading and exercising right here. You can also join GSCTX by sending in your stories on how you are keeping up with your reading and exercising or just what fun stuff you have been doing this summer with your troops. Send them to us and they might be posted on the web!

Have a great rest of the summer Central Texas Girl Scouts! Keep active, smart and healthy!

Becoming a Brand Ambassador

At the 2009 Service Team Conference, GSCTX asked volunteers to take the position of Public Relations Coordinators. The position entailed sending in press releases and pictures to local media along with keeping an eye on Girl Scouts in the news. For this year, we have adjusted the responsibilities to better align with your needs and time constraints as a busy volunteer.

We still ask you to keep us updated on what your girls are doing in their troops or even outside of the troop because no one knows them better than you do. In order for the council to remain aware of the happenings in your troops, we would like for you to become our Brand Ambassadors. This position simply relies on you submitting your stories, photos, events, etc. to us so we can do the work for you and get your message out to the community in an effective manner. When you see your stories or the stories of other troops in the news, please still send them into the council. We also ask that you remain aware of how our new brand is being implemented in your troops. The volunteer page of our website offers a Powerpoint presentation on the new brand so you can be aware of how to correctly use the materials.

If you have any questions on this change or would like to submit stories of your troop to be featured on GSCTX sites and in local media, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for all that you do for girls,

-Kristine Rheinboldt

After 98 Years, Girl Scouts gets a Makeover

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), one of the most well known organizations in the nation, is revitalizing and reenergizing its brand to reach a new generation of girls.

After extensive research and development, Girl Scouts debuted a long-term, multichannel brand campaign last week that is designed to reacquaint the country with the iconic organization and communicate the power girls have to change the world through Girl Scouting. The campaign, known by the tagline What Did You Today?, is also keyed to boosting the number of girls and adult volunteers who participate in Girl Scouting annually after a period of declining membership.

“About one out of every 10 girls participates in Girl Scouting and that’s a tremendous number when you think about it,” says Kathy Cloninger, Chief Executive Officer of GSUSA. “We have revamped our entire organization to appeal to that 90 percent of girls who aren’t benefiting from the Girl Scout leadership experience. And with our new brand work, we think we have the right message at the right time.”

The branding is composed of a striking new visual identity, which includes a distinctive trefoil mark, revised color palette, and refreshed logo that was originally created in the 1970s. In addition, the initiative also includes plans for a 360 degree marketing program that taps the online, place-based and traditional media.

“The new brand look will reinforce the Girl Scout message that is relevant to girls and the lives they lead today,” says Etta Moore, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Central Texas. “We’re excited to launch the new brand initiative locally in an effort to continue to build girls of courage, confidence and character and to position ourselves as the premiere leadership organization for girls in Central Texas. “

Girl Scouts is launching its rebranding from a position of strength because it can draw upon strong name recognition and a long legacy of leadership development. With this new campaign and the projected growth in overall girl population in the United States, Girls Scouts expects to see its membership begin to increase over the next few years. The campaign will also pave the way for a major effort to gain exposure during the organization’s national centennial celebration in 2012.

-Kandace Fierro

For more information on the new brand and to view the new brand graphics, check out the Communications Department table at Service Team Conference this Saturday!

A Girl Scout Summer

Many thanks to all who submitted their great Girl Scout photos! Here are a few good ones of girls enjoying the activites Scouting provides to 21,000 Central Texas girls.

Grand Canyon Trip

Rock Climbing at Barton Creek Greenbelt

Camp Texlake Session 2

Camp Texlake Session 1

State Gold Award Ceremony

Have any great quality Girl Scout photos you would like to share with us? Send them our way by August 1 and they could be featured in a number of Girl Scout publications.

Girl Scout Incorporates Love of Art into Career

Art is my passion; it has been in my blood for a long time. I love creating, experimenting and storytelling through imagery. It allows me to put my ideas into something concrete. The great thing about being imaginative is that I don’t see things as they are, as finite ideas. I see them as the possibilities they can become. A blank surface, whether it be a canvas, drawing pad or computer screen is not intimidating to me. It is a starting ground to make something beautiful and great.

When I was presented with the big, scary question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, I chose graphic design. I was able to incorporate my passion into a marketable career through my education at Western Kentucky University. In school, I was able to learn a variety of studio arts, which in the long run made me a more prepared Graphic Designer.

After college, I made my way to Austin, Texas and was hired by Girl Scouts. I love my job. When I come to work, I get to play with colors, photos, fonts and images. I design and produce all the print materials our council distributes. I make posters, newsletters, brochures, online camp guides, calendars and a whole array of other projects. Some days I attend Girl Scout events to take photographs and interact with the girls. I have a lot of fun bringing life and color to our materials in order to make the experience more fun for each girl. Through art and graphic design, you can make your personal mark in the world.

To view my designs, please visit my website and the GSCTX website.

- Larisa Chavarria