Camp Nation's Podcast

At the end of our summer, camp staff are feeling drained and energy levels may be low, but it's such an important time of year. What can camp directors do to help staff through those last couple of weeks and ensure they are happy and 'left wanting more' when they leave for home? In CampNation #16 we talk about tips and tricks to ensure your best camp staff and counsellors return back next summer! Staff parties, trips, gift exchanges and more.

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

Picks Of The Week - A tool that will make you a better camp director

• Joe - Bat Boxes
• Travis - Kodak Zi8
• Gab - Camp Ouareau Pocket Counsellor

Other Interesting Bits

• For the best source of summer camp information on Facebook become a fan of CampNation.  Ask your staff to join - for every 1000 fans Our Kids Media (our parent company) will be donating a campership to an Ontario summer camp.
• Ask the CampNation hosts any questions about summer camp.
• We want to thank our long-suffering amazing audio editor Donovan Romanyk from  Where It's At Productions.

Thanks for the evening, friends.

Good Day and Welcome to CampNation 13 for the 3rd week of June, 2010.   

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

• (Travis) - The Definitive Guide To Higher Rankings For Your Blog
• (Joe) - Rob Dryan of Camp Oochigeas makes Canada’s Top 40 under 40 leaders list.

Discussion   Are We Marketing Camp Correctly?

Picks Of The Week - A tool that will make you a better camp director

• Joe -   Free PVC Building plans and links
• Travis - Referral Engine book

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

1. Small Business Trends: "Banning Social Media Doesn’t Work, Education Does"  
2. Help busy women relax and recharge
3. How Safe is your child’s summer camp?
4. Summer camp launched my career - Andy Barrie

Picks Of The Week – A tool that will make you a better camp director

• Dan W.: Ron Clark - “The Essential 55”,   “The Excellent 11”
• Dan R.: Create any size wall poster from any size image. Also http://www.jotform.com/
• Gab: Cool craft that actually looks good
• Joe: Sreetips - social media professor page of amazing links.  

 Your Hosts:

• Dan Weir, Director at Frost Valley YMCA
• Gabrielle Raill, Director at Camp Ouareau
• Joe Richards, Administrative Director at Pearce Williams Christian Centre
• Dan Richards, former Canadian and New Zealand camp Director
  

Welcome to CampNation 10.  This podcast we talk through what our camps are doing to keep in touch with parents during the summer.    It was a great discussion and it was really interesting to hear what the camps represented will be doing to remain “social” with their clients throughout a busy summer..   Thanks to Gabe Chernov from Birch Trail Camp in Minong, Wisconsin for joining us for this discussion.

Gabe also runs a free social network for summer camps called SmoreCamp.   Camps may find this an interesting alternative to Facebook for maintaining that feeling of community throughout the year.

CampNation 10 – Communicating with Parents During Camp

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

1. 10 Dos and Don’ts for Brands on Twitter
2. Facebook takes over the world.
3. Five Tips for Making Ideas Happen (also listen to the author on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast)

Picks Of The Week – A tool that will make you a better camp director

• Dan: Lisa Loeb’s “Camp Lisa“
• Gab: Article: Summer Camp Launched My Career – by Andy Barry
• Joe: Wild Apricot Blog: http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2010/04/26/is-your-nonprofit-tax-status-at-risk.aspx, http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2010/04/22/nonprofit-blog-topics-ideas.aspx
• Travis: Bobcat Toolcat
• Gabe: Trumpia

Your Hosts:

• Dan Weir, Director at Frost Valley YMCA
• Gabe Chernov, Director at Birch Trail Camp
• Joe Richards, Administrative Director at Pearce Williams Christian Centre
• Travis Allison, Social Media Manager at Our Kids Media

CampNation 9 – Getting Things Done as a Camp Director

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

1. “Teaching About Web Includes Troublesome Parts” (also mentioned: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ http://www.formspring.me/)
2. Pricing strategies for free lance work and how it may apply to camp (other resources:  Robert Cialdini’s Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive)
3. California revises rules on paid interns

Discussion

Picks Of The Week – A tool that will make you a better camp director

• Travis: – The 4S Test from our days directing at Cairn.
  Everything we do at CAIRN must pass the 4 S’s Test. You must answer “yes” to every question in order to proceed.
  • Is it SAFE?
  • Does it promote good STEWARDSHIP of the environment?
  • Does it SERVE others in the community?
  • Does it enhance a person’s SELF-ESTEEM?

• Dan: How to Market Your Summer Camp | Camp Marketing News.
• Jenn: Time Driver
• Joe: Charity Village

I recently attended the American Camp Association Tri-State Conference held in Atlantic City, NJ. I appreciated the opportunity to sit and talk for a few minutes with Jeffrey Leiken in-between his presentations. In this interview we discuss the unique work that he does with Camps, and Jeff explains more about his presentation, "Camp and The Hero's Journey", which was influenced by the work of Joseph Campbell.

For more information on Jeffrey Leiken, his articles, and resources for camp directors, be sure to visit his website at

Adam Issadore is the founder of Path To Rhythm Group Drumming Programs, a company that combines his love of summer camp and his passion for drumming. You can find him on twitter @pathtorhythm

I recently attended the American Camp Association Tri-State Camp Conference held in Atlantic City, NJ. I caught up with with my friend Steven Bernstein to chat about the Conference. An active year round camping professional, Steven is the Director of Diamond Ridge Camps in Pennsylvania. In this interview we discuss the benefits of attending the Conference, the importance of networking, and the sharing of ideas among camp professionals. Steven also shares information about a group that he co-founded called PAYCE (Philadelphia Area Young Camp Experts). To learn more about PAYCE and the friendly people that participate in this group, visit their fan page on Facebook.

Press the play button above and take a listen.

Welcome to CampNation 8.   We were sorry to miss Dan this week but he was off on a well-deserved holiday.  This was one of my favourite discussions yet.  We talked about what it is like to be a camp director and have a family.    Each of us have had a unique experience - Gab grew up living at the camp, Joe has been raising his children onsite and I met and married my wife at camp (I heartily endorse camp weddings!).

Thanks for Listening!

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

1.  (Joe) New ways to run programs at camp to introduce immigrant populations
2. (Travis) CampTweets.com  
   
3. Gab: The Marshmellow Test
   

Discussion - Famly Life at Camp

Picks Of The Week - A tool that will make you a better camp director

• Gab: How to download video from the internet using realplayer 11
• Joe: Google Apps for your camp email, documents and shared calendars
• Travis: Scheduleonce for Google Apps

I sat down for a brief chat with Dr. Susan Rubin during the ACA Tri-State Camp Conference held in Atlantic City, NJ. Dr. Susan delivered a presentation entitled, "Camp Food That is Delicous, Healthy, and Fun".   A holistic nutritionist and a leader in the world of food and health,  Dr. Susan is the founder of  Better School Food, a coalition of health professionals, educators, and concerned parents, whose mission is to raise awareness about the connection between better food and better health.

In this interview we discuss the importance of making conscious and healthy choices for food programs at camps. Dr. Sue also shares information about how she helped to create an amazing food program this past summer at Camp Ballibay.

Listen to the interview below. You can learn more about Dr. Susan at by visiting her blog and find her on twitter @DrSuRu

Adam Issadore is the founder of Path To Rhythm Group Drumming Programs, a company that combines his love of summer camp and his passion for drumming. You can find him on twitter @pathtorhythm

In this week's CampNation Dan, Gab, & Travis talk about the news in the world of summer camps.

We were thrilled to have Scott Arizala (http://www.thecampcounselor.com/) join us from the TriState Camping Conference.   He and Dan recorded while huddled around Dan's computer at the hotel.   We took advantage of Scott's experience to discuss one of the topics that he had presented just that morning.

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

1. (Dan) US survey finds sharp drop in children's bullying
2. (Travis) OKGo video as Camp activity 
3. (Gab)  DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera) episode with Chris Thurber. The interview takes place early on in the hour, about 1/5 of the way in. 

Discussion - You're Fired (and other difficult management conversations)

Picks Of The Week - A tool that will make you a better camp director

Dan -  Good to Great by Jim Collins
Gab - Afternoon slump?  Use peppermint and cinnamon to help keep your staff alert
Scott -  Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Travis - Rubbermaid Farm Cart

Your Hosts:
Dan Weir – Frost Valley YMCA (New York)
Gabrielle Raill – Camp Ouareau (Quebec)
Scott Arizala - The Camp Counselor.com (Oregon)
Travis Allison – Our Kids Media

From Dan:

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sylvia Van Meerten at the Tri-State ACA Camp Conference.  On top of years of working at summer camps, Sylvia is the founder of Empower Autism.  She is also one of the camp directors at Dragonfly Forest.

We talked about why a child with autism can attend any summer camp if the parents and camp director are willing to accommodate.  Sylvia gives some great tips on how to simply do this from a parents’ and a director’s perspective.

Take a listen.  You can find more about Sylvia at EmpowerAutism.com or follow her on twitter at @empowerautism

Dan Weir is the Director of Camp Wawayanda at Frost Valley YMCA. He blogs at DanLovesCamp.com and tweets @danlovescamp.

In this week's CampNation Dan, Gab, Joe & Travis talk about the news in the world of summer camps.

We had a great time during this recording chatting about the effects of Facebook on the lives of camp directors.   I think one of the great take-aways from the discussion was the link that Dan posted (see below) to the list of more than 80 organizations social media policies.   Using these as a starting point will make your work a lot easier.

On with the show!

Links - News about the camping/recreation industry

1. (Gab) Slate: Why Can't Johnny Jump Tall Buildings? Parents expect way too much from their kids.
2. (Dan) Instructables.com: Rustic Hammock Style Wilderness Chair
   
3. (Joe) Trend of articles on saving money on summer camp: Tips for making summer camp more affordable, How to keep the cost of summer camp low, How to save on Summer Camp
4. (Travis) - Seth Godin's Linchpin Book Club for Camp Directors
   
5. Extra: Frost Valley's Registration Form, Pearce Williams Registration Form

Discussion: Facebook

• Social Media Policies from 80+ Organizations - you can use this Mashable.com resource to help create your own policy

Frost Valley YMCA - Staff members are representatives of Frost Valley YMCA and should act in a manner consistent with the mission and objectives of camp at all times.  They will be held strictly accountable for their actions on and off property.

Picks Of The Week - A tool that will make you a better camp director

Dan -  TeuxDeux
Gab - VoiceShot
Joe - Flavors.me http://flavors.me/yoyojoe http://flavors.me/pwcc http://flavors.me/zoic
Travis -  1Password for Mac

Your Hosts:
Dan Weir – Frost Valley YMCA (New York)
Gabrielle Raill – Camp Ouareau (Quebec)
Joe Richards – Pearce Williams Christian Centre (Ontario)
Travis Allison – Our Kids Media

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