The 2016 national event, NEXT: A New Century, will be unlike anything the OA has ever seen. Youth leaders and key adults from across the nation will gather at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN from July 30th through August 3rd, 2016 to learn, grow and be inspired to be the driving force behind the Order’s second century. This hands-on, high-energy event will focus on membership, program and innovation at the local level, which will subsequently empower delegates to return home and be powerful agents of change.

Youth and adult leaders who attend will work with Arrowmen from across the country, providing them a unique opportunity to network and discuss lodge operations. A member of the NEXT Experience Team, comprised of current and former youth leaders and advisers at the lodge, section and national level, will guide lodge delegates, who will be organized into groups for the duration of the event. Each of the four days at NEXT will be focused on a different key topic: brotherhood, program, membership and innovation. Together, these and other programmatic elements will empower the local leaders to shape the next century.

Similar to the 2015 National Order of the Arrow Conference, participants will stay in the Indiana University residence halls and enjoy all-you-can-eat meals at the adjacent dining centers. Environmental sustainability will be a notable aspect of NEXT, focusing on how simple, novel changes back home can make an enormous difference.

Each lodge will be able to send three youth, its lodge chief, another lodge officer and one additional youth member, as well as two adults, the lodge adviser and one associate adviser. Youth delegates who are not lodge chiefs should be change agents or up-and-coming leaders who are passionate about their lodge and will still be youth, influencing their lodge’s program and operations, for at least a year or two after the event. Similarly, the associate adviser attending NEXT should be a part of the next generation of advisers in the lodge. Up to three leaders per section will also be invited to NEXT. The intent is to provide section leadership the opportunity to attend without taking space in a lodge contingent.

The NEXT fee is $375.00 for youth and adult delegates who pay their total conference fee by May 31, 2016. Fees paid after May 31st, 2016 will be $450.00 for youth and adult members. All late fees must be received by the OA director no later than June 30th, 2016. The fee includes four nights housing, three full days of program and training, 11 meals, program and support materials, registration materials, insurance and recognition items during the five-day conference. To secure the youth and adult spaces desired, each council must complete the online council contingent reservation. Your council will be billed for the nonrefundable deposit of $100.00 per-delegate. No individual reservations will be accepted. As of October 15th, 2015, contingent registration has opened at https://registration.oa-bsa.org, and all council contingent reservations must be processed through this website.

If you are interested in attending this event, talk to your lodge chief and adviser today! Lodge Key 3s were emailed a contingent information kit in late October, which outlines key dates and other important NEXT information. Any additional questions you may have regarding NEXT: A New Century may be directed to NEXT2016@oa-bsa.org.

With a new century before us, the OA has limitless possibilities. Will you be responsible for the NEXT big thing in our history?


This article was originally published on the Order of the Arrow's national website. To see the article in it's original form please click here.