Travis' Interview on Cairn's Rock Talk Live

A little bit of my summer camp origin story

Several times a year the Cairn Alumni group organizes a Rock Talk Live event.   Often there are interviews with Cairn alumni who talk about their camp experiences and how they have helped.

Last month I was interviewed.  I'm thrilled to be able to share the video here - I had a chance to talk about how camp has affected my life.

What was it about camp that impacted your life?

A "HINT" About Camp Rituals from Joanna Warren Smith

The Best Times at Summer Camp

great-summer-camp-rituals

According to campers, these memorable moments are when silence pervades, all eyes are focused and a song or a chant emerges.  These are the times at resident and day camps when everyone belongs to the family and the collective 'doing' validates each individual. 

These are the RITUALS of camp which bring campers back year after year ... but they must be tended to and treated with reverence by ALL campers, counsellors and staff or they quickly become perfunctory and meaningless.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Identify your signature rituals.  Evaluate each, eliminate those that miss the mark and commit to those that further your mission, strengthen community connections and increase camper outcomes. Confirm that each session contains ritual content. 

What happens in a four-week session is likely to be more intense than rituals for a shorter session; however, rituals should be included in all sessions. Script out the 'perfect' scenario for each ritual. 

Don't go to the place of how staff have been executing the event, focus on how you want it done and maximize the impact with timing, props, specific language and songs. Teach rituals during orientation.  Establish the model, help counsellors see the value of the ritual and set expectations for performance. Monitor performance for compliance.  

After each ritual, take time to mentor those who performed and establish expectations for the next team.

When you tend to your rituals, you give campers emotional connections that will make them tell their parents that they 'must' come back to camp.

Joanna

Want some other great camp marketing ideas?  Give me a call at 310-451-1876 or email campconsulting@verizon.net

(Note from Travis:   Camp consultant Joanna Warren Smith nails it every time with her HINTS!  If you don't already, you should sign up to receive theses HINTS in your email - in the right-hand column of Joanna's website: http://camp-consulting.com/)

[Podcast] Treat Your Summer Staff Right - CampHacker 65

On our latest CampHacker podcast we spent some time talking about how, as directors, it is our job to look after the staff.    If we are to compete with other summer employers (goodness knows it can't be on what we pay) then we must be creative with the way we treat and TEACH our staff.

Podcast: Listen for free (and ON THE GO) in iTunes or the Stitcher App

Find our Tools of the Week and links to our co-hosts info here: Treat Your Summer Staff Right - Episode #65

Prepare your child for summer camp

Excellent resources for summer camp parents from Dr. Chris Thurber

We had a great afternoon webinar with Chris where he and I talked about ways to communicate with parents before the summer camp season begins.

I focussed on the how-to, technical side of running an online New Parents' Meeting for your camp while Chris talked about some of the things that we should make sure to explain to parents.

Check out Chris' videos for camper parents that help them prepare their child for this completely new experience. 

Summer Camp Prep Tips for Parents - Part 1

Summer Camp Preparations for Parents - Part 2

Chris has been kind enough to also send us his E-xcellent Mail handout. It teaches parents how to send their kids great emails while they are away at camp.   Download it here.