Finding a Career at Summer Camp - CampHacker #59

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Life is more than a summer job at camp

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For those of us lucky enough to have (or have had) a full time job in summer camp there are a few things that are consistent about our journey from camp counsellor to camp director.   We had a great discussion on this show about our own stories of making the leap.

Some of the things that we recommend if you are looking for a full-time, year-round camp job:

  • start attending camp conferences.  If you camp can’t afford to send you then try to attend on your own dime.  This is particularly inexpensive if you are a college or university student

  • when you are at conferences, don’t be afraid to pipe up.   I know that I first started to get mentors in the camp industry when I started asking smart questions in sessions

  • lead sessions.   Almost all of the conferences offer the opportunity to submit session proposals.   This can be a great way (something that all 5 of us on this discussion have done) to start to get your name out

  • work at camps in the shoulder seasons.   Camp people can have a great opportunity to stand out as leaders and initiative takers when they work at camps in the off-season

  • participate in camp forums such as our own Summer Camp Professionals group on Facebook.   Every camp person I know loves to help young adult become better leaders.  You will find lots of encouragement in these forums.  

One thing that I wish I thought of after the discussion: start giving back now.  There is a LOT of room for more blogs, YouTube shows and podcasts for the summer camp industry.  Check out what Lanet Hane is doing on The Camp Whisperer. She is doing a brilliant job of creating an online resume of her summer camp passion.

I’ve offered this before and I'm happy to do it again… if you want to become a podcaster on the CampHacker network please email me with your idea [travis (at) socialcatalyst.ca].   We are always looking to expand.

What’s your “getting a full-time camp job” story?   Leave us a comment!

Tool of the Week – Make yourself a better Camp Director

Joe: Spreaker
Travis: The Inside Social Media Podcast
Dan: How Difficult Can This Be? The F.A.T. City Workshop ~ Understanding Learning Disabilities
Gab: The Matt and Joe Show - Australia Tour
Rich - “Find Something to Do” book by Jim Cain at http://www.teamworkandteamplay.com/, no-prop game book, order directly from Jim for the best deal

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Thanks for the evening, friends.

Partnering with Parents - CampHacker #58

Building a Great Relationship with Camper Parents

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Sometimes, as a camp staff member, you can see the worst side of parents.  When they are stressed out and they think something could go wrong with their child they can have very intense reactions.   Sometimes that reaction gets aimed at their camp director or their child’s counsellor.

A big part of our discussion today centred around how to build a great relationship with camp parents.   Some of the ideas were for before a child even got to camp (Marty and Camp Chief Ouray have an amazing idea you should steal!), for your staff training period and for during the child’s time at camp.

Thank you to Marty for finding a quiet place to get away to record!

How do you teach your staff to work well with you camp parents?

Tool of the Week – Make yourself a better Camp Director

Travis: Post Planner - Facebook posting app
Dan: Camp Director’s Brian Sense’s TED Talk  “Risk: The four-letter word vital to an inspired, fulfilled and happy life.”
Marty: CAP Time

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Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes (It helps! It really, really helps!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.

Tiered Pricing for Summer Camps - CampHacker #57

Affordable Summer Camp for all Families

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The CampHacker Podcast for summer camp leaders and directors

Tiered Pricing is a model where camps (usually non-profits but we did discuss how this would work at a private camp) show two or three levels of pricing for each session.  

N.B.: this is not the usual "early bird" prices that camps use to entice their families to pay early and therefore help with the cash flow through out the winter.   As we discussed in the show, Early Bird prices can still work.

Usually camps come up with a 3 tier pricing structure based on some approximation of these calculations. 

Tier 1: Current Price (adjusted for inflation every year) 
Tier 3: (We'll come back to Tier 2 - honest) The true cost of running camp as if it was a for-profit business.   Some of the factors in arriving at this price include: the cost of depreciation on all buildings and vehicles; the cost of maintaining the buildings and land in such away that their value grows at the rate of the local real estate market (I have heard that this means spending as much as 4% of the current value of the property and buildings PER YEAR in maintenance and capital projects); the cost of staff salary if they were being paid by a for-profit business; and the cost of operating without any grants or donations

Once you have these numbers you can split the difference to come up with Tier 2. 

**Please note: to calculate your true cost of camp (Tier 3) we INSIST you consult your accountant.   We profess to be not-accountants. 

 (Did I just set a record for the most use of parentheses in a CampHacker Blog post?  It'll be close)

 

 

Frost Valley Y's Tiered Pricing Explanation for Camp Families

Why 3 Tuition Fees?

Frost Valley serves families with different abilities to pay.

Tuition A and B more accurately account for true costs, including wear and tear and depreciation. This program is voluntary, and in no way influences the experience children receive. 100% of the additional fees from A & B rates fund facility replacements and improvements.

Tuition C is our historically subsidized rate, and does not reflect the true cost of operating.

There’s no difference in the camp experience for your child!

Our goal is to make Frost Valley YMCA Summer Camp affordable to everyone through camperships. Please email info@frostvalley.org for more information.

Last season's registration form: http://www.frostvalley.org/camp/overnight-camps/camp-wawayanda/2013-summer-camp-dates-rates-2/

Would you ever consider Tiered Pricing for your camp? 

 

Combating Communicable Diseases at Summer Camp - CampHacker #56

Preventing Spread of Norwalk and Other Infections at Camp

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I have often said that camp would be an amazing place for a public health researcher to take a look at the ways that diseases are spread throughout communities.   I have watched little things like pink eye or head lice (traumatic, but not life-threatening) run through camp in less than a day.

In this episode of the CampHacker Podcast Gab and I were thrilled to bring in Marty Ferguson from YMCA Camp Chief Ouray in Colorado.  Camp Chief Ouray has developed some very smart protocols to protect their camper and staff from diseases that can spread at camp.

We also had John MacDonald, my step-dad, who is a retired Health Inspector from Ontario, Canada.   John has had a long career in the public health field and was always a great resource to Beth and I.     

Thank you to both of them for being on the show! 

Download our Camp Kitchen Compliance Record

We hope you get lots from our discussion.   

If you have any questions about communicable diseases at camp please leave them in the comments below or send us a tweet to @CampHacker using the #CampPros hashtag.

 

Tool of the Week – Make yourself a better Camp Director

Travis: FocusatWill.com
Gab: Twitter for your desktop
Marty: Season of Life by Jeffery Marx
John: HACCP training 

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Thanks for the evening, friends.