Site Surprises - CampHacker #42

Maintenance and Upkeep of Your Summer Camp.

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No one likes a surprise... when it comes in the form of a hurricane, a septic implosion or a building roof falling in.

In this week’s CampHacker Podcast, Dan, Joe and Travis talk about some of their biggest site surprises.   Of course, Frost Valley takes the cake with the destruction that hurricane Irene brought to their property Labour Day 2011.

We have a few ideas to share:  Pearce Williams has just done a huge site evaluation to determine their site needs for the foreseeable future, Frost Valley is getting better and better at understanding the depreciation of their site and working hard to keep it’s value.

If you are interested you can download the Lifecycle Report that I mentioned in the show.  It’s a tool to keep track of the your major buildings and programs and plan for their eventual replacement.

What can we do to inspire our staff to become even better in the second half of the summer? 
How do you keep a record of your building and program depreciation?

Tool of the Week – make yourself a better Camp Director

Dan: Yearbook (Adobe InDesign & a printer) 
Joe: Getting Things Done - Workshops & supplies
Travis: Smoke Machine - on sale

(please note: Amazon products are affiliate links)

 

Setting the tone for next year - CampHacker #41

Improve next summer’s camp, now.

We are tired.

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At the end of a LOOOONG camp season all we want to do is crawl into bed and watch a great new series on DVD (I must remember to ask Dan what his “catch up” show was this summer).  

However, this is the best time to sit down with your favourite warm beverage, a note pad and your best pen.  Some of you may choose to do this with camper surveys and notes from your senior staff but I think that might be unnecessary.  Take a solid block of time to mentally scan your whole camp and note the things that you want to change for next season.   

Dan and Gab had some great ideas on how they reflect on the past summer and find the changes that they want to make.  Summer 2013 starts now!

Dan has shared with us the Frost Valley Camper Survey from 2012 (click here) and you can download the pdf of their registration form from this link.

What can we do to inspire our staff to become even better in the second half of the summer? Please leave us a note in the comments below or tweet us @CampHacker with your suggestion.

Tool of the Week – make yourself a better Camp Director

Dan: GSI Outdoors Telescoping Spatula & Spoon
Gab: Design Deals, Mighty Deals
Travis: Logitech HD Webcam

    (please note: Amazon products are affiliate links)

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Thanks for the evening, friends.

Inspire Staff to Greatness - CampHacker #40

Pushing your staff to be excellent summer camp counsellors

It seems to be way easier to start a summer well than finish it that way.    We had a great discussion this afternoon about finding ways to inspire your staff to finish a summer with the same enthusiasm as they began it.

It was great to have Beth back on the show and to welcome Chantal "Match" Jackson to the program for the first time! 

What can we do to inspire our staff to become even better in the second half of the summer? Please leave us a note in the comments below or tweet us @CampHacker with your suggestion.

Tool of the Week – make yourself a better Camp Director

(please note: Amazon products are affiliate links)

Your Hosts:

Thanks for the evening, friends.

Camp is Dead - CampHacker #39

Can we keep summer camp alive for another generation?

As our world changes so we fight change.   

Joe and I had an introductory discussion about a topic that has been on my mind for the past 10 months.   I am starting to believe that Camp is Dead.

I think that we need to be WAAAY more radical if we are to keep this amazing service around for more than the next couple of years.    But where are the radicals and dreamers?

Listen in as we discuss our ideas to save summer camp.

Who do you know that is a radical in summer camp?  Please leave us a note in the comments below or tweet us @CampHacker with your suggestion and the hashtag #summercampradical.

Tool of the Week – make yourself a better Camp Director

(please note: Amazon products are affiliate links)

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Thanks for the evening, friends.