New Jersey Job Opportunity - Camp Related

Travis Allison September 7, 2011

We have been passed on this interesting looking job opportunity by CampHacker friend, Jill Tipograph from Everything Summer (PLEASE NOTE: Applicants to reply ONLY to this email: summercoordinator1@gmail.com).

It looks like a natural fit for someone with camp experience:

PART-TIME, YEAR-ROUND SUMMER PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Do you love CAMP and SUMMER?
In a boutique business environment, we are in need of a qualified, customer-centric, upbeat dynamo who wants to be involved in a growing, fun business. Work and collaborate with a passionate, energetic, entrepreneurial Founder. We are the recognized ‘go to’ leader for guiding parents, kids and teens to their perfect summer experiences making summers memorable and special.
Looking to have a new team member who: contributes on-line research; organization; Microsoft Office, newsletter, Power Point, graphics and similar software knowledge. Individual should be detail-oriented and have effective interpersonal and written communication skills; resourcefulness; independence and multitasking/hands-on skills. Marketing and/or social media exposure required; creative, out-of-the-box thinking self-starter encouraged.
Work Schedule: 3 days/week, flexible hours (e.g. average of 5-7 hours a day); could be 4 days/week in winter/spring; light summer hours.
Location: Englewood, NJ
Salary is commensurate with experience.
PLEASE NOTE: Applicants will ONLY be considered if they use this email: summercoordinator1@gmail.com.

10 Rules for Approving Camp Names at Your Camp

Travis Allison August 29, 2011

Camp Names are serious business

When your summer camp decides to use nick names for your staff it is important to be mindful of what names are chosen. It is crucial as a director that you put some thought into your process of approving camp names so that you eliminate potential problems in the future. It's a long camp life!

At our camp, you could earn your camp name only when you became an LIT or were on staff. We always felt that a camp name was a privilege that you had to earn.

10 Rules for Approving Camp Names:

The namee must like their name (believe me, sometimes that's a hard first step!).
The Camp Director gets final say.
Potential camp names should be tested with a few staff members just to make sure they sound appropriate to everyone. I once had an LIT who wanted to be called Philly, which seemed fine to me, but another staff member nixed the name because she found out it was a reference to smoking weed. (BTW, that LIT never got hired).
The camp name mustn't be a proper name (Bill or Jennie).
The name must be original to the camp - no repeats (this means that you have a list of staff members and their camp names as far back as you can remember). Sometimes you need to call old camp directors to check out new names.
The name must pass the Peche Test. Brad "Peche" Cross was a great staff member of ours who had a brilliant ability to try out any camp name and see if there was a way that kids could make it dirty.
The name could make reference to your skills but not your physical appearance.
Camp names should bolster people's self esteem and make them feel part of the community.
The name must not scare parents away - no Killer, no Psycho, no LovesToHug.
Camp names are an honour and are earned by your commitment to the community.

What is your camp name? How did you get it?

A Time for Saying Thank You

Travis Allison August 28, 2011

Say Thank You to Your Camp Staff with Class

If you had incorporated the Guardian Angels idea at the beginning of the summer, now is the time to be sure each person on staff takes the time to write a letter of thanks. Hopefully, they have received several letters by this time from the person who has been their Guardian Angel throughout the summer. Ask the staff to write a short letter explaining what summer camp has meant to them and how they have grown. Be sure the letters are mailed out this week before the Fall gets underway.

Your Turn to Say Thanks - In September, take the time to send a hand written note to each and every staff member. Thank them for the summer, for all their hard work and dedication and be sure to note something special that you appreciated about each individual. This make seem a time consuming task but the dividends will be well worth it. If your staff is simply too large for one person to write all the cards, divide the task among a few of your full time people.

Letting people know how much they are appreciated is such an important part of Camp.

Hope your summer was simply amazing!

Introducing Camp Names at Your Camp

Travis Allison August 25, 2011

Camp Names Add To Your Summer Camp Magic

I love camp names.

(We have been having an on-going debate on the Summer Camp Professionals Group on Facebook about whether it's good or bad to have camp nicknames)

Although, when I attended Celtic Sports and Arts Centre as a teenaged camper, I fought against camp names. I grew up at Camp Kintail where the staff didn't have nick names and thought it was a weird barrier between the staff and campers at Celtic .

When I worked at Celtic, the next summer, I asked the director, Lumpy, about why they had started the camp name tradition when they created the camp only a few years before.

He said something that has stuck with me for 25 years: Camp is a magical place and we will do anything we can do to accentuate that difference between camp and home.

Ever since, I have believed that camp names are part of what makes our unique world special.

What if we've never had camp names?

If I was going to implement camp-names for next year the first thing I would do is send out my "manifesto" talking about why I believe camp is important and why I want to make it a separate and magical place.

I would then spend the rest of the winter talking about the things that we do well to create that magic and I would ask for ideas of ways that we can do more.

Eventually I would introduce the idea of camp names and ask the camp community how they felt about that as a signal to kids that camp is not part of the mundane world.

The truth is that camp names won't stick in the first year - especially for staff that the kids have know by their real names. The names will stick for anyone who is new.

Like all new camp traditions... by year 2 people will believe it was always that way.

Aren't camp names a form of lying to the campers? Will parents trust their children to a BamBam?

We addressed those issues head on: Staff were always to introduce themselves with their "real" name and a firm handshake. I would always say "Hello, my name is Travis Allison, at camp everyone calls me Zoic. I'm the Camp Director."

There is also a staff picture board in the courtyard (the sun around which everything orbited at our camp) with people's real names, camp names and their position on it.

Our kids new our real names and knew that we just preferred to be called by our camp names.

One camp director (in the Camp Pros discussion) said that it would be hard to remember a staff member's real name when it comes time for a reference... I figured that I always needed to know more about a staff member than what they were called at home so it was just one tiny piece of the information that I could recall about them. Truthfully, you just get used to remembering that stuff.

[Come back Monday for my follow-up post: Rules for Approving Camp Names at Your Summer Camp]

Do you have camp names at your camp? What do you think of the idea?

Developing Real Relationships At Camp

Travis Allison July 30, 2011

Camp Impacts Children's Friendships

One of the most important things about a summer camp experience is the opportunity to develop real relationships.

Here is an exercise that can be used with L.I.T.s, staff or older campers.

Don't forget to choose the right setting...a private place without distractions that will allow the participants to be able to focus on the task at hand.

True Friends Are A Priceless Gift

Explain to your participants that there are very few things in life as important or as wonderful as true friendship. A good friend is a real treasure. Have them take a moment to reflect on their friendships. Ask them to list 3 people they consider to be true friends. Now have them briefly write down reasons why these people are their true friends. Next, have them list the names of 3 to 5 people with whom they would like to become better friends.

For this next part of the exercise, have your participants answer the following questions in their journals or on a piece of paper as you read them. Explain that these answers will not be shared with anyone.

How many friends do you have?
Do you have friends of both sexes?
Do you have friends who are five years younger than you?
Do you have friends who are five years older than you?
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done with friends?
Who would consider you one of their friends?
List 3 qualities you have that make you a good friend.
What qualities does your best friend have?
Are your family members your friends? Why or why not?
Do you have more or fewer friends than you had one year ago?
Are you a good friend? Why?

A True Friend

Bring them together in a circle and ask what qualities they feel make a good friend.

Make a list on a white board or sheet of newsprint. Let them know you will be asking several questions now to which you do not wish any verbal answers. These are simply for them to think about on their own.

which of these qualities are your greatest strengths in a friendship?
In which areas do you need improvement?

Conclude your time together by asking them why you did this exercise and what they have learned from it. Brainstorm together ways in which you can put to use at camp some of what you discussed today.