Tri-State 2012 - Steve Maguire Interview

Enthusiastic Summer Camp Training

It was a pleasure to meet Steve Maguire in person after having seen his presentations at conferences.   We talked about what camps should look for in a speaker/trainer from outside of their organization.

We were excited to have Steve Maguire sit down with Travis at the 2012 Tri-State Camp Conference. Steve talked about his own camp experiences (one summer his brother was his counsellor!) and what he can bring to a staff training event.

To find out more about Steve check out:

Turnstone - his website

Director's Camp.

CampHack: Ouareau's Frisbee Golf Course

Beth and I lead a 2-day summer camp senior staff training for the leadership team at Camp Ouareau last week.  Ouareau is a bi-lingual girls camp north of Montreal.

It was a great program that introduced our new staff supervision model: T.I.M.E and S.P.A.C.E. with Grace.

While we were there I filmed a CampHacks video featuring their inexpensive disk golf course.

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Ouareau summer camp built an inexpensive frisbee golf course using material from their local hardware store. Ouareau (http://www.Ouareau.com) is an all-girls bi-lingual camp north of Montreal. If you like their cool way of Camphacking. You can listen to their director, Gabrielle Raill, on the podcast at http://CampHacker.org/camphacker-shows-listen-here

Linchpins at Summer Camp (video) - Seth Godin

Seth Godin's summer camp interview from Tri-State 2011

We need our summer camp staff to be willing and able to be indispensable in their jobs - creative, energetic and steadfast.    At the Tri-State Camp Conference Travis had a chance to talk with best selling author Seth Godin about how we can inspire the Linchpin mentality.

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Seth Godin talks about Linchpins and Poking the Box at summer camp with CampHacker Travis Allison. Interview: Tri-State Camp Conference 2011 For more information and to listen to our podcast or subscribe to our newsletter (great interviews to help camp leaders, free audio shows, etc) click through to http://camphacker.org

Being a CampHacker Podcast Co-Host

Many people have asked us about joining the conversation as a CampHacker Summer Camp Podcast co-host.   We are always eager to have a new voice or two on the show.     Watch our "Being a Co-Host" video and let us know if you are interested.  We record every other Tuesday, usually at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Thank you for being a part of the CampHacker podcast for summer camp directors and leaders! It's quite simple to set up for your conversation with us. We just wanted to take a minute to talk through the process with you. You will need: - a quiet space - a computer with a Skype account (or not...

Marketing Your Camp To Parents (video) - Nancy Shenker

Focus your summer camp marketing

Camps can reach out the the right prospective parents if they are conscientious about their marketing.

When we were at the Tri-State Camp Conference I had the honour of interviewing Nancy Shenker, CEO of theONswitch about her presentation "How to WOW Parents".

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How can summer camps help parents looking to make a decision about camp? With a little research camps can understand how to reach the right parents. Nancy explains some simple techniques to better communicate your "WOW factor". CampHacker Travis Allison interviews Nancy Shenker, marketing specialist, from http://www.theONswitch.com http://camphacker.org

The Lock Trick - CampHacker Video

CampHackers are the kind of people who look at everything about summer camp and think "How can we do this better?".   CampHackers see an everyday problem and think outside of the box.  CampHackers are our kind of people.

This is how it all started: the CampHacker videos.

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Welcome to Episode 1 of Camp Hacker! We would love to hear your feedback and to see your own camp hacks. Leave us a message here or email us your video to info@walkingmaverick.com. Coming Soon: http://www.CampHacker.org Mentioned in this Episode: http://www.campcouchiching.com/ http://www.easterseals.org/services/camp/default.asp?load=facilities.woodeden.directions

Free Range Kids at Summer Camp

I had an amazing opportunity to have a chat with Lenore Skenazy from the Free-Range Kids book and blog.  We talked about her experience being "America's Worst Mom" (not my words - Lenore has proved she's an awesome mom to me) and what that has taught her about parents.

Lenore has some great stuff to say near the end about how summer camps can better speak to parents about getting their child to have an amazing summer camp experience.

Why are parents so scared? What can summer camp directors do to help parents understand the value of the camp experience and how it will benefit their children. CampHacker Travis Allison interviews Lenore Skenazy from the Free Range Kids blog (and book!). http://camphacker.org