Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. Common communication methods include
ScoutLink
Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international Scouting activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the Internet. Common c ...
(
IRC
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...
), e-mail, and
VOIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
. This provides the Scouts with a means of learning about fellow Scouts from around the world. JOTI operates alongside
Jamboree on the Air
Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devis ...
(JOTA) and is an official event of the
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...
.
History
JOTI was pioneered in 1995 by Queanbeyan Rovers when one Rover, Norvan Vogt was on a student exchange in the Netherlands, with the home crew in Australia coordinated by Brett Sheffield. They connected
Putten
Putten () is a municipality and town in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It had a population of
in . It is located in the coastal area of the old Zuiderzee (Southern Sea). To the east of Putten lies the Veluwe, the biggest national par ...
, Netherlands and
Queanbeyan
Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...
, Australia with dedicated
IRC
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...
servers.
[Walker, B: ''Calling Home'', page 4. Queanbeyan Age, 23/10/1995.] In November 1996 the
World Scout Committee
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...
, noting that Scouting already had a considerable presence on the Internet, and that there was already an informal and rapidly growing Jamboree on the Internet, decided that JOTI should become an official international Scouting event, and that it should be held on the same weekend as the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), the third full weekend of October each year, starting at 00:00 hours local time on Saturday and concluding 48 hours later at 24:00 hours local time on Sunday.
Special Internet Jamborees may also be organized in conjunction with local, national and international Scouting events which are held at other times of the year. Getting together does not always require a physical presence. In 1957, the concept of the World Scout
Jamboree on the Air
Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devis ...
(JOTA) was launched, and it has been a popular event which today involves more than half-a-million Scouts and Girl Guides who communicate with each other on the third weekend of each October by amateur radio and related technology. In the mid 1990s the means for international electronic communication became available to virtually anyone with a computer. Scouts have been among the first to use every technological development to "get together" electronically. The spontaneous and overwhelming involvement of Scouts on the Internet is proof that it is a viable way of bringing Scouts together in ways that Baden-Powell probably would have wanted to use to the fullest.
JOTI.org reports that JOTI had over 4,000 participants online at one time in 2005. 2011 saw the first ever
JOTI Radio station founded by
Scout_Radio
Scout Radio is a National Scout Active Support Unit (NASU) of The Scout Association with the aim of supporting broadcast radio within scouting. It was initially formed in 2009 following the founding Manager Martin Steers and the founding members ...
, a broadcast internet radio station based in the UK to provide entertainment for the JOTI weekend, which had live interviews from Scouts all over the world, the team that lead JOTI Radio are now made up of the
Avon Scout Radio team, which are a County Active Support Unit for Avon Scouts and provide broadcast radio services within the Scouting movement worldwide. JOTI Radio is now part of the annual JOTA-JOTI weekend. In 2014, over 2,300 different computers were used to listen to JOTI Radio over the course of the weekend.
In 2014, almost 80% of participants used Scouts can speak, while 60% used the
IRC
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...
platform provided by
ScoutLink
Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international Scouting activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the Internet. Common c ...
, while a further 30% used the ScoutLink
TeamSpeak server.
In 2015, participants using IRC increased to 80%, while use of TeamSpeak decreased to 28% and 80% used Scouts can speak.
See also
*
Jamboree on the Trail
Jamboree on the Trail, known by its acronym JOTT, is a co-ordinated international Scouting activity held annually, following on the idea of the ''Join-in'' events from the World Jamboree Year. Scouts from all over the world simultaneously partici ...
(JOTT)
*
Jamboree on the Air
Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devis ...
(JOTA)
*
ScoutLink
Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international Scouting activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the Internet. Common c ...
References
External links
ScoutLink's website*
{{Scouting
Scouting jamborees