Learn outside of camp, to lead at camp.
Following along with our last episode’s theme of learning, we wanted to bring this podcast episode to you at a time where you may be planning your professional development for the year. However, even if you aren’t, it’s never too early or late to start thinking about how to invest in your professional development.
Watch out though! It’s easy to get stuck in the camp body of knowledge when you’re trying to be better for your job and for your camp. It’s good to stay up to date with the latest in all things camp, but it’s important to think about reaching outside the industry as well. The best camp pros take inspiration from many places and if you’re Joe, Gab, and Travis, those places can get VERY cool!
Conferences or opportunities that the hosts talked about on this episode:
Free - Mastermind groups with fellow Camp Directors
Free (ish) Creative Live - Free courses on all things creative
Free - Finding blogs to follow non-camp people
Free - Journaling
Free - Taking up a hobby that can also help camp
$ - CampMavericks.com - Ongoing, for life!
$ - ThinkCamp - Nov 26-28 - London, Ontario
$ - Touring a bunch of summer camps in a region to learn directly from the directors
$ - Online Courses - Skill Share - Especially for creative tasks.
Possibly free through your local library (https://www.lynda.com/)
$$ - Your local or regional ACA, OCA, ACQ, Religious denomination or association conferences
$$$ - Seth Godin’s Alt MBA
$$$ - Nonprofit Story Telling Conference - Oct 28-30 - San Diego, California
What do you consider professional development? Any wicked conferences to plug? Let us know in the comments!
Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director
Travis: Superfans by Pat Flynn https://amzn.to/30aNepx
Gabz: DYI Standing Desk, or Top 5 Standing Desks
Joe: Photo Resize: http://www.rw-designer.com/picture-resize
Your Hosts:
Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - CampHacker.TV, Founder at Go Camp Pro
Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau
Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams Summer Camp & Retreat Facility