Building a Great Camp Culture - CampHacker #76

Camp Culture is Rooted in Your Core Values 

                      Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

                      Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

Change.

Did you just wince?

Admittedly, it’s scary, but also one of the most important things that can support our camp’s culture. On the podcast this week, CampHackers Travis, Gab and Joe discuss Camp Culture. The CampHackers explore how a camp’s core values are realized through the culture that your camp emits.

When it comes to change, try taking a look at what tools or practices at your camp support or detract from your values. Do they add, or take away from your culture?

This kind of mindset will help you and your staff understands the value of change at camp. We change to support our core values, and that will in turn, create a culture that is supported by every single staff member, no matter the changes that need to happen.

What are your core values? Have you ever had to go through some big changes to support your values? How did all of that affect your camp’s culture?

Please feel free to share some stories in the comments below.

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Your Hosts:

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes 

(Thank you!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.

Professional Development for CampPros - CampHacker #75

Finding the right tools to continually improve your skills

                      Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

                      Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

I believe that we all know that our own professional development is crucial to our camps' success.  It is, in a very demanding world, sometimes hard to prioritize.

Our discussion for this show centres around how we find NEW sources of professional education.  Where do we look, outside the summer camp world to grow our biggest skills?

It was so nice to have Ange Atkinson from Camp Lantern Creek back on with us.  You can listen to Ange's first episode Planning Great Programs, too!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Your Hosts:

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes 

(Thank you!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.

Helping All Camps Get Better - CampHacker #74

Helping the Industry Succeed - How can we use our resources and our knowledge to help all camps get better?

                         Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

                         Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

Summer camps need to be collaborative. Now, it's not that they aren't already - look no farther than the incredible Camp Pros Group on Facebook, and you'll see a ton of fantastic people sharing their best practices with each other.

It goes a bit farther though. We need to look into how we are serving our nearby neighbours in the summer camp world before they even need it. Some camps do it via staff exchanges, mini-conferences, "mastermind groups" or even by joining policy committees to support the industry in their area. This kind of face-to-face support not only helps each other out, but it builds relationships and extends our personal support networks. 

Even more, we have to look at our no-so-best practices, and be willing to share the times when we've fell on our faces, and thereby learned the most. It takes guts to trust those people with our vulnerable stories and it takes integrity for us to receive those stories empathically, take the learning, and maintain confidentiality. 

We hope you enjoy this podcast and that it inspires you to look at how well you are sharing with your summer camp neighbours. 

Have a thought? Let us know in the comments below!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Your Hosts:

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes 

(Thank you!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.

Starting From Scratch - CampHacker #73

Radical thinking about the Future of Summer Camp

 

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

Now THAT's what I'm talking about!

This show. 

THIS is the moment that CampHacker was created for. We had the best discussion today. Joe had the awesome idea to talk about what it would be like to start a camp from scratch.  If you weren't burdened by tradition (and a property) what would you do differently?

THAT lead us in to how would you radically change summer camp.  If our mission is to provide a transformative experience for children and teens (and staff) are we reaching as many people as possible with our programs being so remote? 

Outward Bound Canada has done something HUGE.  They sold off their remote sites so that they could build in downtown Toronto - now they serve tons more people. They still do remote trips but they are much more accessible for day programs.

Dan was kind enough to share the nine points that Frost Valley uses when they consider a new program:

  1. Demographics
  2. Audience
  3. Mission
  4. Goals
  5. Staff
  6. Traditions
  7. Sustainability
  8. Site
  9. Quality

(He explains them in the show!).

What would you do to start summer camp from scratch?  Leave us a comment below!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Sources of Legal Music to Use in Camp Videos

Royalty Free Music sites (pay for it once and use it as needed)

  • http://www.shutterstock.com/music/
  • http://www.smartassmusic.com/royalty-free-music/free-downloads
  • http://www.pond5.com/music/1/*.html
  • https://vimeo.com/musicstore
  • https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music
  • http://www.reelmarketinginsider.com/free-royalty-free-music/
  • Audio Bumpers/Stings/Logos
    • search for "music genre" + sting or bumper or logo
    • http://www.beatsuite.com/music/category/audio-idents/576
    • http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/
    • http://www.musicradiocreative.com/podcasters/

Your Hosts:

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes 

(Thank you!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.