The Tool of the Week Show - CampHacker #94

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Do not adjust you're monitor! The Tool of the Week heading is in the right place of this blog post.

That's right, it's a Tool of the Week EPISODE! This one is for all of the masters of chrome extensions, the efficiency junkies, the royalty of DIY online design and for those people who's last panel on their phone is full of apps from listening to the Tool of the Week section on our show.

With doing literally no research to back this statement up, the following list has got to be the world's biggest list of computer, web-based and phone apps curated by camp people, for camp people.

Tune in to hear Travis, Dan, Gab and Joe's short explanation on each of these apps and how they make their Camp Pro lives a little less crazy.

Oh, and don't forget to make sure you're wifi is turned on before you start your downloading!

Computer:

Phone Apps

What apps save your bacon every day? Let us know in the comments below!

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The Conversations You Have With Yourself - CampHacker #93

When You're the Only One by the Campfire

CampHacker podcast producer Matt here.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher

One of my favourite parts about working in the camp office during the summer is being able to bounce my ideas off of my co-director or whoever happens to be in the office. If there isn't anyone in the office, I'll often pull in a counsellor or staff member on their break to bounce a new programming idea off of. Needless to say, I'm a big bouncer-idea-off'er. Now that it's October, the office walls and empty desk chairs aren't as receptive to my ideas, no matter how excited I am about them. I'm forced to resort to talking to myself a little more.

Even when it's not the off season, a Camp Director's inner monologue can be their best friend, or their arch nemesis. Hashing things out with your brain can spark new ideas but can also slow you down with your own insecurities or doubts. We preach that mental health is something that we need to nurture in our staff and campers, but how kind are we being when we speak to ourselves?

On this episode of the podcast, the fantastic (camping) four are re-united to share not only what goes on in their director heads, but what they do to keep that voice regulated and pushing them forward. This episode was just what I needed to hear at this time of year so I hope that it's the same for you. If you get anything from this episode, hear Travis, Joe, Dan and Gab say, you're not alone in this!

What do you do to keep your inner monologue in check? Let us know in the comments below!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Travis -  Richard P. Feynman,  Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman

Joe - Kijiji.ca

Gabz - Tyme iOS app 

Dan - Wooden book

 

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The Business of Camp - CampHacker #92

One of the biggest parts of camp that your staff don’t get to see. 

    Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher

    Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Stitcher

Finance, capital planning, budgeting, donor relations, business strategy – and remember, we’re not on the 123rd floor on Wall St! This is camp! 

All of the things that we know and love about camp – campfires, singing songs, high-ropes, canoeing on a lake are all incredible, but they all won’t exist in a camp that is mismanaged from a business standpoint. For most full-time Camp Directors, this big-picture thinking about camp as a business is absolutely critical to create a sustainable and thriving place that will be around for future generations of campers.  

As you may have heard Travis say, “Money moves the mission”.  

We’re all here for the campers. It’s why we do what we do, but being a business-minded director doesn’t mean that you aren’t any less camper-minded. Being business-minded, at least some of the time, means that you are taking on the responsibility of ensuring that camp is just as awesome, if not even more awesome for many years to come.

On this episode of the CampHacker Podcast, Travis and Joe are joined by Johnathon Lee, Co-Executive Director of Camp Kintail, and Sarah Kurtz McKinnon, Camp Consultant and Go Camp Pro partner. Tune in to hear these four camp pros share some of their best business practices and philosophies that allow their camps to thrive and will surely spark some new ideas for this upcoming year.

Want to get stared? Joe recommends the book Basic Camp Management for some fall professional development.

Welcome back to the CampHacker Podcast! We can't wait for another great season.

 

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Travis - Seth Godin’s altMBA - https://altmba.com/ -  if you apply, use Travis’ code: Leap now - [Travis Allison]

Joe - Marshall Goldsmith - Triggers 

Sarah - Roger Fisher - Getting to Yes 

Johnathon - MS Excel

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Technology and Camp - Interview with Kevin Kelly

Technological Forces That Will Change the Camping Industry

It may be safe to say that we've started to reach a bit of a renaissance when it comes to technology at summer camp. If you've been a long-time lurker on the Summer Camp Professionals Facebook Community , you may have noticed that the conversations have started to shift from developing cell-phone policies and overall frustration with technology to a more acceptance/embracing (with a healthy dose of skepticism) attitude towards tech at camp.

According to Kevin Kelly, that progression is probably a good thing.

Kevin Kelly (Authour of The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future), joins Travis in this special interview edition of the CampHacker Podcast. Together, Kevin and Travis discuss his views on how not only the world as a whole, but our little camp world will surely be shaped by the integration of technology into the everyday.

Whether you're camp has a Pokemon Go-gettem attitude or if you are a camp still fighting for a true "unplugged" experience, this interview definitely has something for you to mull over.

We can't thank Kevin enough for joining us on the CampHacker Podcast. You should definitely head over to kk.org to check out more of Kevin's books, Cool Tools and other passion projects.

Thanks for listening, friends!

Stay tuned!

The next season of the CampHacker podcast will be coming soon!

Best of luck in wrapping up your summer and we'll see you in the fall.

-

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