Defining Quality
This is a reprint of a Week-Ender column that originally ran in May 2011Quality--how do you define it? What is its true definition? What makes your camp stand out from all the others?If you look it
Never A Wrong Time For A Good Idea
Where do you keep your great ideas? I have amazing, world-changing, summer camp-revolutionizing ideas written on Post-it notes, in my Moleskin notebook, and in my favorite online tool, Evernote.com.
Don’t Get In Your Own Way
I was on the phone recently with a camp executive friend of mine. We were talking about an upcoming camp conference and the needs of camp professionals as they progress through their careers. Don't
Summer's Over; What Now?
Editor's Note: This timely Week-Ender is from our Camp Business archives. It originally ran on Aug. 26, 2011.If you are like many camp directors, the summer turns into a black hole of busyness. From
Mid-Season Reminders
I assume that many of you who are reading this are in the middle part of your summer season, and because of this I thought it would be a good time for some reminders that will set your camp up to
Bullying Prevention This Summer
Maybe you were like me this week and watched in horror as several middle-school students harassed and bullied an adult bus monitor with taunts and hateful comments.You might have also been like me
Facebook Made Me A Bad Friend
April 23, 2007--that is an important day in my life. That is the day that I joined Facebook (I know this because of Facebook timeline). Since that time, I have gone from a love to hate to tolerate
Camper To Campaigner
I recently had the opportunity to present a workshop at a national philanthropy conference, not because I am an expert in raising money, but because I truly enjoy interacting with people and sharing
4 Tips for Lasting Change
Change: There have been poems, essays, books and songs written about change. And I am beginning to think that most of these items were written about the frustration that comes with change rather than
Don’t Forget To Ask For Help
Even though I have been in summer camp and youth development work for 20 years now, I am fully aware that I don’t have all the answers. I know for some people this can be a difficult admission, but if
Trust: The Currency Of Our Work
I’ve been thinking and talking about trust a lot lately. It usually comes up in conversations I have about the reason why parents choose one camp over another. I believe that reason is trust. This is
Should You Hire A Guest Trainer?
When you are preparing for staff training, you might want to think outside the box.The box that is your office, that is.Sure, you're the camp director. It's your job to make sure your staff is
Who Did We Build It For?
The problem with most summer camps is that they are built by a bunch of middle-aged men (I’m allowed to say that because I am one of them), and our customers, for the most part, are 4’1” and under (I
2012--The Year Of Intentionality
This will probably be my last post of 2011 for Camp Business, and with that I thought it might be a good time to talk about some goals or resolutions for 2012. I have never been good about making
Rehabilitate Or Replace?
We have all inherited staff at some point in our lives. If you are like me, you find that some you instantly connect with and have an agreed vision for the future of your camp.But with others, it
Everything Is A Programming Opportunity
How do you become a chainsaw artist? That is the question that has been “stumping” me lately. You see, I work at a camp in a forest, and while there are thousands of trees, there are also thousands of
Small Is The New Big
It is that time of year again when camp professionals across the country are making their recruitment plans for next summer. My hope is that this summer, you created a strong foundation by providing
Summer’s Over; What Now?
If you are like many camp directors, the summer turns into a black hole of busyness. From the first week of staff training through the final camp staff banquet, the camp director is involved in many
The Proof Is In The Details
Quality--how do you define it? What is its true definition? If you look it up in the dictionary, several entries come up that include words like “excellence” or “superiority”; but the definition that
Overcoming Mid-Season Slump
It seems there are some universal truths when it comes to summer camp. Lost and found will be a problem, staff will get injured more than campers, arrows will be lost at archery, someone will peel