Balancing Camp & The Rest of Your Life - CampHacker #77

Work/Life Balance - Is that even an option for Summer Camp Professionals?

                     Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

                     Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher App

How do some people make it looks so easy?

We all know that working at summer camp Is an incredibly stressful job. There never seems to be a break anymore!

In this week's CampHacker podcast we talk through ways that we can cope with the increasing demands of the most important job we'll ever have.

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

  • Travis - SnapHeal - Remove unwanted images from your photos

  • Gab - Songza - Listen to great music

  • Cory - speek.com - Best Free Conference Call Service

Your Hosts:

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show in iTunes 

(Thank you!)

Thanks for the evening, friends.

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.