17 New Tips for Your Staff Training - CampHacker #70

Our Best Ideas for Leadership Training Your Camp Counsellors

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Now that is how it's done!  Dan, Gab & I just had a 25 minute LIGHTNING ROUND of great ideas.  They were coming fast & furious.

On today's show we talked about ways to make sure you have a great Staff Training Week.  Each of us shared 3 or 4 of our best ideas - the things that we know will have an impact on how your camp runs this summer.

Listen in for the details but here's our list:

  1. Know your audience
  2. Put on your Leadership Glasses
  3. Do it with intention
  4. Develop (and teach) the Clientele Mindset
  5. Give them bathroom reading
  6. Change it up
  7. Make "how-to" videos
  8. Show videos of interviews with camp parents
  9. Break up the style of your presentation (did you know that at Ouareau they are limited to only 15 minutes of lecture-style delivery before they must change it up?)
  10. Develop Duty Ditties
  11. Write your question down
  12. Create a Theme for the week.  One of Frost Valley Y's was Build Strong
  13. Embrace your history.  Gab also suggested we highlight the shifts that the camp directors have make to keep camp growing
  14. Create a manual people will look at (check out this Camp Code podcastStaff Manuals: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)
  15. At each area have 2 signs: What do Campers Need to Know? What do Staff Need to Know?
  16. Show your enthusiasm
  17. Create a culture that values sleep (thanks Dr. G!)  [Click to Tweet This!]

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Travis - Replace your broken iPad or phone screen your self - kit
Dan - The Way of the Seal (book)
Gab - Big Stock

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Thanks for the evening, friends.

Retaining Campers - CampHacker #51

Keeping campers is much easier than finding new ones

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Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App  (search for CampHacker)

One of the great tricks of being a good camp director is finding ways to keep campers coming back year after year.

I have heard a number of directors, when I talked to them at conferences, who have said that they feel like they need to add something new and exciting to their program every year.   I know from my own experience that it was never the programs that I remembered each winter when I was at school but it was my counsellors and the other kids that I went to school with - many of whom are still friends today.

Dan, Joe, and Gab share great, easy to implement ideas from their very successful camps.

How to you make sure that as many campers as possible will return year after year?  Please leave us a comment!

 

Tool of the Week – Make yourself a better Camp Director

Travis: Strobist Ducktape Keyfob
Joe: Google Ad Words Grant
(US - http://www.google.com/grants/)  (Canada - http://www.google.ca/intl/en/grants/)
Dan: ACA’s 2013 Emerging Issues Results
Gab: Wireless speaker Bluetooth speaker - Philips Sound Shooter
 

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Thanks for the evening, friends.