Helping the Industry Succeed - How can we use our resources and our knowledge to help all camps get better?

Summer camps need to be collaborative. Now, it's not that they aren't already - look no farther than the incredible Camp Pros Group on Facebook, and you'll see a ton of fantastic people sharing their best practices with each other.

It goes a bit farther though. We need to look into how we are serving our nearby neighbours in the summer camp world before they even need it. Some camps do it via staff exchanges, mini-conferences, "mastermind groups" or even by joining policy committees to support the industry in their area. This kind of face-to-face support not only helps each other out, but it builds relationships and extends our personal support networks. 

Even more, we have to look at our no-so-best practices, and be willing to share the times when we've fell on our faces, and thereby learned the most. It takes guts to trust those people with our vulnerable stories and it takes integrity for us to receive those stories empathically, take the learning, and maintain confidentiality. 

We hope you enjoy this podcast and that it inspires you to look at how well you are sharing with your summer camp neighbours. 

Have a thought? Let us know in the comments below!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

• Travis - ULINE Catalogue http://www.uline.com/ or http://www.uline.ca
• Beth - Leaders Eat Last book
• Dan - “Homesick & Happy” by Michael Thompson and Video Dr. Michael Thompson: Eight Things Parents Cannot Do For Their Children (But Wish They Could)
• Joe - Racoon Circles - How to do over 200 activities with a simple 15 foot piece of climbin webbing - Jim Cain and Tom Smith - book and internet download - HERE

Your Hosts:

• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - CampHacker.TV
• Beth Allison, Summer Camp Consultant, Leadership Training Specialist - CampHacker.TV
• Dan Weir, Director of Camping Services - Frost Valley YMCA
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams Christian Centre

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes 

(Thank you!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.