The Camp Owners Podcast: Recent Episodes
Go Camp Pro
The Camp Owners Podcast from Go Camp Pro - A space for camp owners to talk about the unique aspects of camp ownership and get inspired by each other. We sit down with camp industry experts, leaders and fellow camp owners to hear how the camp dream transpired for them, learn from each other and discuss some of the biggest issues in the private camp industry.
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/campahead/scenario-planning-101
Exploring Camp Futures: Key Drivers and Scenario PlanningIn this episode of Camp Ahead, hosts Joe, Jess, and KJ expand on the idea of scenario planning as an essential tool for thinking about the future. They discuss key drivers such as climate change, economics, demographics, technological advancements, and social shifts that can shape the next decade of summer camps. Through imaginative scenario planning, they aim to prepare the industry for both positive and challenging futures. Tune in as they explore the potential impacts of AI, climate mitigation, and more on the world of summer camps.
- 01:46 Recap and Introduction to Scenario Planning
- 05:33 Key Drivers for the Future of Camps: Economic and Staff Considerations
- 07:55 Environmental and Technological Impacts on Camps
- 15:09 Social Drivers and Equity in Future Camps
- 20:33 Imagining Positive Futures: Pronoia vs. Paranoia
- 25:36 The Impact of Camp and Nature
- 26:04 Funding and Philanthropy in Camping
- 29:31 The Value of Experiential Learning
- 30:12 Community and Indigenous Relationships
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Episode Links:* The Book: Imaginable by Jane McGonigal: + https://janemcgonigal.com/2021/12/17/imaginable-how-to-see-the-future-coming-and-feel-ready-for-anything-even-things-that-seem-impossible-today/ * https://poe.com/UOScenarioCreator * https://urgentoptimists.org/
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Our Hosts:Jess Elfring-Roberts - Executive Director, Episcopal Camps & Conference Centers
Joe Richards - Executive Director, Pearce Williams Summer Camp and Retreat Facility
KJ Williams - Camp Director, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp
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Sponsors:A huge thanks to our sponsors for making this possible.
Campify:
Is creating your camp schedule a headache? Does it limit the experience of campers or staff? Campify is software that does the heavy lifting for you - taking care of group, elective, and specialist scheduling based on your custom scheduling rules.
Interested in learning more? Visit campify.io/CampAhead to schedule a demo or create a free trial today.
Subscribe to Camp Ahead in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite Podcasts!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/campahead/intro-to-mental-time-travel
Welcome to Camp Ahead: The Futurology of the Summer Camp IndustryIn this inaugural episode of the Camp Ahead podcast, Joe Richards, KJ Williams, and Jess Elfring-Roberts dive into the concept of future-proofing the summer camp industry. They discuss the importance of mental time travel, scenario planning, and preparing for larger global issues like climate change, financial instability, demographics, and migration. The hosts share their personal experiences and outline the goals for the podcast, emphasizing the need for proactive thinking to ensure the long-term success of camps.
This episode sets the stage for exploring how the camp community can adapt and thrive amidst uncertainties.
- 00:58 Meet the Hosts
- 01:51 The Concept of Future Scenarios
- 03:46 Pandemic Reflections
- 06:43 Proactive vs. Reactive Planning
- 30:08 Thinking Big: Managing Smaller Challenges
- 31:10 Climate Migration and Its Impacts
- 33:12 Demographic Shifts in Camping
- 38:09 The Importance of Collaboration
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Episode Links:* The Book: Imaginable by Jane McGonigal: + https://janemcgonigal.com/2021/12/17/imaginable-how-to-see-the-future-coming-and-feel-ready-for-anything-even-things-that-seem-impossible-today/ * https://poe.com/UOScenarioCreator * https://urgentoptimists.org/
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Our Hosts:Jess Elfring-Roberts - Executive Director, Episcopal Camps & Conference Centers
Joe Richards - Executive Director, Pearce Williams Summer Camp and Retreat Facility
KJ Williams - Camp Director, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp
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Sponsors:A huge thanks to our sponsors for making this possible.
Campify:
Is creating your camp schedule a headache? Does it limit the experience of campers or staff? Campify is software that does the heavy lifting for you - taking care of group, elective, and specialist scheduling based on your custom scheduling rules.
Interested in learning more? Visit campify.io/CampAhead to schedule a demo or create a free trial today.
Subscribe to Camp Ahead in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite Podcasts!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/milestones-2024
Celebrating 100 Years: Tips from Camp Foley's Milestone EventIn this episode of the Camp Owners Podcast, Kelly Schuna and Howie Grossinger talk to Marie Schmid and Alli Faricy from Camp Foley about celebrating their 100th anniversary. They discuss planning tips, lessons learned, and details from the milestone event. Topics include scheduling, event activities, alumni engagement, and maintaining camp traditions. This episode offers valuable insights for camp owners planning similar celebrations.
Highlights:
- 02:55 Introducing Marie and Ali from Camp Foley
- 03:41 Marie and Ali's Origin Stories
- 06:28 Planning the 100th Anniversary
- 08:06 Executing the Celebration
- 15:13 Challenges and Solutions
- 23:48 Event Highlights and Activities
- 30:25 Tips and Suggestions for Milestone Celebrations
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Your Hosts: Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner -* Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Marie Schmid*, Owner/Executive Director,* Camp Foley * Alli Faricy*, Director,* Camp Foley**
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCelebrating 30 years, CampBrain camp management software not only provides a great tool and caring support for your best ever workdays, but a delightful registration experience for parents. Discover what more than 1800 camps know and how you can love your software too, visit https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Subscribe to Camp Ahead in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite Podcasts!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/j-gold-crossover
Inside the Camp Ownership World: Success Stories and ChallengesIn this crossover episode from the Day Camp Pod, Join Andy Pritikin, Sam Thompson, and Justin Pritikin as they delve into the inspiring story of Jonathan Gold, a successful operator of three large private day camps in New Jersey. In this episode, Jonathan shares his journey, the risks and challenges he took on, and the lessons learned along the way. The second half brings in Justin to discuss how the next generation of camp operators can succeed. The conversation covers everything from financial planning in the camp business to the evolving career paths for young camp professionals. Plus, get insights into the current state of the day camp industry and valuable tips for prospective camp owners and directors. Tune in for an episode full of wisdom and practical advice.
Highlights:
- 01:41 Meet Jonathan Gold
- 05:29 First Steps in the Camp Industry
- 13:06 Taking Over Meadowbrook Day Camp
- 17:46 Acquiring Oak Crest Day Camp
- 26:17 Expanding to Multiple Camps
- 27:12 Reviving a Dormant Camp
- 32:50 Financial Realities of Camp Management
- 37:11 Entrepreneurial Drive in Camp Ownership
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Your Hosts: Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director -* Liberty Lake Day Camp * Sam Thompson*, Recreation Supervisor -* Crystal Lake Park District * Jonathan M. Gold*,* MBA, PhD, Camp Owner/Director - the Arbor Group of Camps * Justin Pritikin*, Director of Staff -* Everwood Day Camp**
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCelebrating 30 years, CampBrain camp management software not only provides a great tool and caring support for your best ever workdays, but a delightful registration experience for parents. Discover what more than 1800 camps know and how you can love your software too, visit https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Subscribe to Camp Ahead in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite Podcasts!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/new-owner-jason-samuel
Want to own your own camp? Here is the perfect case study from Jason Samuel!Join Kelly and Howie on the Camp Owners Podcast as they delve into the journey of Jason Samuel, the new owner of The Nature Place. Jason shares insights from his transition from a sailing instructor to camp owner, the rich history of The Nature Place, and the challenges faced, especially during the pandemic. Discover the importance of networking, financing strategies, and leveraging support systems within the camp industry. Learn about the complexities of transitioning leadership, maintaining camp culture, and overcoming financial hurdles.
Tune in for valuable lessons and advice on navigating camp ownership, enhancing camp experiences, and sustaining legacies.
- 00:00 Introduction to the Episode
- 00:30 Podcast Overview and Sponsors
- 02:25 Introducing Jason Samuel & Jason's Journey into Camping
- 07:27 The Appeal of Day Camps
- 09:07 Purchasing The Nature Place
- 15:30 Networking and Finding Camps for Sale
- 21:56 Financing the Camp Purchase
- 30:53 Navigating Lease Agreements
- 34:23 Making Improvements and Investments
- 37:26 Transition Challenges and Communication
- 46:42 Lessons Learned and Advice
- 52:46 Rapid Fire Questions
- Host Links:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
- Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
- Jason Samuel - Owner & Director - The Nature Place
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCelebrating 30 years, CampBrain camp management software not only provides a great tool and caring support for your best ever workdays, but a delightful registration experience for parents. Discover what more than 1800 camps know and how you can love your software too, visit https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Subscribe to Camp Ahead in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite Podcasts!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/all-in-on-ai
Revolutionizing Camp Operations with AI: Insights from Travis AllisonIn this episode of the Camp Owners Podcast, Howie and Kelly kick off Season 5 with a deep dive into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the camp industry.
Joined by special guest Travis Allison, co-founder of GoCampPro, the discussion covers how AI can streamline camp operations, enhance communication with parents and staff, and provide valuable insights into effective practices. Travis shares practical examples and future projections for AI's role in camp management, emphasizing how these technologies can save time and improve overall efficiency without compromising the personal touch that defines the camp experience. Tune in to discover innovative ways to leverage AI in your camp's daily operations and beyond.
Links from this episode:* The Google NotebookLM conversation Travis talked about * Travis’ Camp AI Tool - https://campbot.org/ * Howie’s AI Music Tool - https://suno.com/
Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCelebrating 30 years, CampBrain camp management software not only provides a great tool and caring support for your best ever workdays, but a delightful registration experience for parents. Discover what more than 1800 camps know and how you can love your software too, visit https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Subscribe to Camp Ahead in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite Podcasts!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/season-4-recap
Thanks for another great season of the Camp Owners Podcast! Here’s a special send-off from Howie and Kelly.On this last episode of The Camp Owners Podcast season 4, Howie and I are putting a wrap on the season. We are talking about some of our biggest takeaways from some of our guests. We're also talking about some of the new things that we're trying this summer, whether they are from things that didn't go well for us last year, whether they are from conferences and speakers, or some of the speakers or guests we had on our podcast so tune in for our reflections, what we learned, what we’re trying and what we are looking forward to for this camp season. So give it a listen and have a GREAT SUMMER!
Links from this episode:* Unreasonable Hospitality * Book: “Anxious Generation” * Steve Baskin article re why kids need camp
Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/initiative
Where has initiative gone on our teams and what can we do about it?We are really excited to have Emily Golinsky on the Podcast. Emily is a long-time camp professional, and now a trainer and consultant whom many of us in the industry are familiar with from Tri-State and other ACA events and someone who consistently brings wonderful energy, insight and expertise to important topics that we are all dealing with as camp owners and directors.
This episode, we are going to continue our discussion about setting up our staff for success by talking about initiative and how we can foster it in this generation of staff.
Rapid Fire Tips from Emily1. Get your orders in - engage your vendors now, don’t wait 2. Labor compliance posters - get them ordered - they’ll be the best $30 you ever spent to ensure you cover all of your bases 3. Check your camper balances - collections - if they haven’t paid yet, make sure they do or you’ll need to fill those spots. 4. Don’t forget Grandma - keep track of the people out of your camp life - write those cards now and have your office staff mail them this summer. You’ll thank yourself later.
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Emily Golinsky - Camp Consultant - Bright Moose Training
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/staff-engagement
Staff Engagement is a HUGE part of the job of every full-time camp professional…even Camp Owners!While we have spent a good portion of the season on the various ownership and leadership models in the industry, we have decided to jump into a topic that is always on our mind, staffing and the staff experience. Today, we have someone who has some great thoughts and ideas on combating the staff challenge by viewing it as a year-round strategy. We first got to meet Shoshi Rothschild in Liverpool at Camp Collab, a staffing conference held in Liverpool last fall. Shout out to Camp Leaders for putting the event on!
It is there that we found Shoshi’s ideas really relevant and I think super helpful and excited to have her on the show.
In this great episode, we cover:
- Shoshi’s camp journey and how she went from camp staff to consultant
- Why this topic? Why is staff engagement so pressing in this day and age of staffing?
- What do you think are some of the biggest challenges that camp directors are facing when it comes to the staff experience between September and June?
- What are some tips you can offer to help camp directors ensure their staff actually show up come arrival day?
- During your session at Camp Collab, you mentioned organizational culture models, and how we can look to them to improve the staff experience. Can you tell us more about this?
What are some other ways we can look at the staff experience more holistically, instead of just focusing on the summer experience?
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What Inspires You? Find these, and links at https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/staff-engagement
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Shoshi Rothschild - Camp Consultant - www.workwithintent.ca
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full links and show notes at: Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/next-gen
What does the other side of succession look like?This season of the Camp Owners Podcast, we’ve been focusing a lot on the future. From AI, climate change and succession, we’ve been encouraging Camp Pros to think about the intentional decisions they can make now to set their programs up for success.
In all of this future-planning, we can’t forget about the people that will take on the mantle of owner/director!
This LIVE episode of the podcast is dedicated to those people!
Howie sits down with Jordanna Grossinger and Jesse Kronick, two next-generation camp professional to discuss how they have navigated the waters of growing up in camp and their paths towards taking on the mantle of their parents and mentors.
We’re grateful to Joe Richards, the Ontario Camps Association and the team at the BMO IFL Conference Centre for capturing the audio and bringing it to the pod and for Jack Schott from The Summer Camp Society for joining Howie as co-host!
What Inspires You? Back next episode!
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Jordanna Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Jesse Kronick - Assistant Director - Camp White Pine
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full links and show notes at: Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/full-time-pipeline
No one becomes a director overnight.We’re grateful to have the opportunity to share the Camp Owner’s Podcast feed with our good friends over at the Day Camp Pod. In this episode, host Andy Pritikin speaks with Taking over an existing camp operation is no small feat, and today we’re joined by Sam Borek and Gregg Licht - two seasoned, self-made camp professionals who have each had unique challenges.
It’s a great podcast for anyone looking to one day become a day camp operator, as we also explore the challenges of just getting into the camp director pipeline.
What Inspires You? Back next episode!
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Host Links:* Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp * Sam Borek, Owner - Woodmont Day Camp * Gregg Licht, Director - Elmwood Day Camp
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full links and show notes at: Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/succession-2
Succession doesn’t have to be a family affair…When people think of succession, it’s easy to think of it being a familial thing - a director’s kids taking over the family camp and moving it into the next era.
But what happens if your kids aren’t the right next step for camp? What happens if they aren’t interested?
What is your succession plan if it doesn’t involve a clear predecessor at all and a new owner would be a big compromise?
Adam Kaplan and Stephanie took a different approach to succession and we’re delighted to welcome them to the podcast to share their journey of moving Camp Nebagamon away from private ownership to a non-profit.
What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Adam Grant’s Rethinking podcast with Becky Kennedy called “bringing out the good in kids”.
- Kelly: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
- Stephanie: “True Stories of Good People” Podcast
- Adam: “How to Be Perfect” by Michael Schur and the new version of “Wonka”
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * David Malter aka “Professor Dave”, Speaker, Trainer and Consultant - Gratz College
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full links and show notes at: Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/building-the-best-team
Don’t just build it - grow it, sustain it, watch it thrive.All of us are constantly looking to make our teams better whether it's the addition of personnel who add fresh ideas, the re-organization of our team structure and roles or an examination of how team members interact and communicate.
Ultimately our goal is to create the highest functioning team possible. We are excited to have Dave Malter, who is an educator, trainer and life-long camp guy to share his thoughts and insight on this topic.
What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Clifton Strengths Assessment
- Kelly: Jim Collins “Good To Great” - 7 Questions When To Keep Or Fire
- Dave: “Teaching for Success: Developing Your Teacher Identity For Success” - exercise on developing your personal narrative and history - the matching of values and developing professional identities
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * David Malter aka “Professor Dave”, Speaker, Trainer and Consultant - Gratz College
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full links and show notes at: Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/future-proofing
What are you doing to be intentional about AI, Climate Change and all the other things changing around our industry?
Join Travis Allison, camp industry veteran and Co-Owner of Go Camp Pro, as he explores the future of camping in this exciting episode. He dives deep into how AI will revolutionize camp operations and experiences, as well as the challenges posed by climate change.
This episode is filled with practical marketing strategies and insights into the future of the camp industry. Don't miss out on this enlightening discussion!
Tune in to hear about
- AI's Impact on Camp Families
- AI's Impact on Camp Operations
- Climate Change Preparedness and Communication
- Climate Challenges for Camps and Outdoors
- Empowerment and Problem-Solving in Camps
- Practical Marketing Strategies and Inspiration
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Check out Travis’ new book!Travis and Joanna Warren Smith have created the ultimate guide to Camper Recruitment and Retention.
It’s coming soon and you won’t want to miss out.
Interested? Get notified here.
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What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Inspired by the next-gen, leaning on them to navigate some of the issues we discussed today
- Kelly: Nature vs Nurture Podcast Episode
- Travis: Disney Plus show “The Bear” and Unreasonable Hospitality
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Management Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full links and show notes at: Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/succession-2024
Let’s Thoughtfully Plan for the Future of Our Camps!We are thrilled to kick off this season of the Camp Owners Podcast with Steve and Susie Baskin from Camp Champions! Like everything they do, Steve and Susie have an extremely intentional approach to thinking about succession and what that means not only for them as Camp Owners, but as family members as well!
Welcome back to another season! We’re glad to have you here.
What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Find these at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/succession-2024
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Steve Baskin, Executive Director - Camp Champions, Camp Pinnacle, Partner - Everwood Day Camp * Susie Baskin, Executive Director - Camp Champions, Camp Pinnacle
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain’s Camp Managment Software not only provides a great management tool for your best ever workdays, but is a delightful registration experience for your parents. They take pride in building long-lasting relationships through their incredible support and love they show to each client. CampBrain is not only focused on your needs for summer 2024, but for the next 25 summers and beyond. To learn more about how they help 1700+ camps and how they can help you, visit with them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesActivity schedules are the backbone of every camper’s experience. If there’s a staffing change, it’s really hard to find a person that knows your camp and the nuance your schedule takes. Come check out Camptivities to learn more about our scheduling tools, designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com
Let’s Train for Summer Fun!Today we are talking staff training and what our guest thinks staff need to learn this summer to be successful at your camp.
We are happy to have Scott Arizala as resident expert and guest for today.
Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Books “The Power of Habit” Charles DuHigg
- Kelly: Jack Schott/Summer Camp Society: Making Outsiders Feel Like Insiders & The Hidden Curriculum
- Scott: Book “The Creative Act, The Way of Being” Rick Rubin - Book “Dilla Time” Dan Charnas
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Scott Arizala - founder and CEO - The Camp Counselor
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/kitchen-staff-and-the-culinary-experience
Cooking in the Kitchen? Who knew it could be this fun!If you’ve been following the Camp Robindel social media over the past year you might have noticed a new trend in how they feature their kitchen staff and highlight their culinary experience. We were curious to hear more about their motivation to do this and what they’ve learned in the process that other camp owners and directors can learn from.
We are happy to have Jolly Corley with Camp Robindel as our guest for today.
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Inspiration from working with senior leadership
- Kelly: “The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” Michael Pollan
- Jolly: “The good food revolution” by Will Allen and “The Kitchen Brigade” - French Film about food and community
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Jolly Corley - Director - Camp Robindel
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at:
https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/belonging-for-trans-youth
Camp is for Anyone and Everyone. Period.Today we are talking about how we can move from creating a place of “inclusion” at our summer camps to a place of “belonging” for trans youth campers.
We are happy to have Chris Rehs-Dupin from Transplaining as our guest for today.
Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: “Be Kind for Everyone You Meet for Everyone You Meet is Fighting A Battle You Know Nothing About” from the site Leadership First. A basis for staff training and what we create as a culture at camp
- Kelly: Book - “Nervous Energy - Harness The Power Of Your Anxiety” by Dr. Chloe Carmichael
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Chris: Ted Talk - “The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage” by Susan David
Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Chris Rehs-Dupin - Founder - Transplaining for Camps, Executive Director - Camp ReImagined
Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/we-bought-a-camp
It’s Time to Buy in and Invest in the Next Generation of Camping!Today we are talking to experienced camp pros who partnered up to buy a well-established overnight camp. We are lucky to have Tia Wintre and Elijah Geller from Camp Wahanowin join us to discuss their camp journey, their process for purchase and transition to their new roles at their camp and for them to share any tips they have for anyone looking to buy a camp and take the plunge into camp ownership.
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Adam Grant Quote “Great mentors are learners as well as teachers. Data: when mentors value insights from below, they're more engaged and effective—and their mentees are more successful.
- Mentoring is not a transfer of wisdom from one to another. It's a relationship where two people grow together.
- Kelly: “The 5am Club” by Robin Sharma
- Tia: Quote from rent “No day like today” as a mindset
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Elijah: Quote from plaque at camp from founder of camp “there is a place where good things happen, where people care,
Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Tia Wintre - Co-Owner/Director - Camp Wahanowin * Elijah Geller - Co-Owner/Director - Camp Wahanowin
Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/vibe-check-2023
Can you call it post-pandemic yet? Wherever we are, it’s the perfect time to check in before we move forward.We are happy to welcome Andy Pritikin, Owner and Director of Liberty Lake Day Camp and host of The Day Camp Pod with Go Camp Pro to share his perspective on where we are in the camp industry and where we need to go from here to have a successful 2023 and beyond!
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Book “How to Begin”: idea of worthy pursuits by Michael Stanler - “my primary pursuit”
- Kelly: Current workforce in Gen Z
- Andy: Book “Strength to Strength” by Authur C Brooks - how to go from Grinder to Yoda
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/staff-progression-staff-retention
Staff Progression = Staff RetentionStaffing, staffing staffing. It’s the topic of conversation in the camp profession right now, especially for camp owners: retention, salaries, recruitment, flexibility… it’s a multi faceted issue and one of the biggest pieces is how do we entice our staff to return each year. Especially if we are struggling to compete with the current wages offered to young people for other summer job opportunities. While we can all argue with passion the value of being a camp counselor, sometimes that’s not enough, and money talks. If your money isn’t talking as loudly as others, what are other ways we can increase retention? Our guest today shared his approach to retention by creating a program progression for staff. Opportunities for leadership as they continue to return each summer to camp.
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We are happy to have Matt Kaufman, Director at Camp Ramaquois, a long time camp professional here to tell us more about the staff program progression he created and what he’s learned in the process.
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: “Done is Better than Perfect” - Sheryl Sandberg
- Kelly: New Adam Grant Podcast “Rethinking”
- Matt: “Turn the Ship Around” by L. David Marquet
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Matt Kaufman - Director - Camp Ramaquois
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Staff come from all around, even WORLDWIDE!It appears that a major topic at conferences and small circles of camp owners is the state of staffing. Today we are exploring the role international staffing is playing in the camp landscape, how to make it successful and the things that Camp Owners should be thinking about to either start pursuing this avenue of staffing or to fine tune and improve on what you are already doing.
We are happy to have Bethany Wright, a long time senior camp leader and someone who has made it part of her mission to encourage international staff to embrace summer camp, give them the insider information on how to make it successful and now looking to help camp professionals do the same.
Listen in as we discuss:
- International Staffing 101
- The Onboarding Process
- Staff training
- In Summer support
- Staying connected all-year round
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Dare To Lead Podcast - Brene Brown with Adam Grant and Simon Sinek - Parts 1 & 2
- Kelly: “Permission to Feel” by Marc Brackett
- Bethany: Followers who are considering coming to camp for the summer - so many exciting messages and interest
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Bethany Wright - Leadership Team - Camp Walden
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/the-summer-that-was-2022
Another year in the books with more to come. With Covid, kids, parents, and staff, there’s plenty to learn from a full camp season. We made it! Another camp season during COVID. Yet for some of us, it felt very different. Were we back to pre-pandemic camp? Was it more challenging than the previous two summers? And what about the staff? Are we looking pessimistically or optimistically at what the next 3-5 years have in store for us camp operators?
Kelly and I are happy to have returning guest Adam Baranker from Jeff Lake Day Camp in New Jersey and new guest to The Camp Owners Podcast Adam Kronick the Owner/Director of Camp Whitepine in Haliburton Ontario Canada.
Listen in as we discuss:
- So how did it go?
- Covid - a thing/not a thing?
- How were the kids?
- How were their parents?
- Let’s talk staff?
- How’s 2023 looking?
- What’s on your mind for 3-5 years down the road?
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: 25th Anniversary of the book “Tuesdays With Morrie”
- Kelly: Dr. Becky: Good Inside podcast and book - great resource for parenting and camp professionals
- Adam Baranker: Adam Grant: quote on Twitter “candor is an act of care”
- Adam Kronick: Adam’s Father and his time in camping
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Adam Baranker - Assistant Director - Jeff Lake Camp * Adam Kronick - Director - Camp White Pine
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/full-for-2022
Parents have FINALLY seen the light and realized that camp is important…so how to we make the most of it?We have heard from many camp owners that camp registration is going really well and many of us have had “waitlists” for many months.What do we do with those waitlists if we can’t get them in this summer? Is it too early to have them think about or dare we say hold a spot for 2023? Can we even afford to start thinking about 2023 registration when the 2022 season hasn't even started?
Well, we think we have the person to talk about all of this and more. We are happy to welcome back, making his return to the show Eric Wittenberg. Eric is the CEO of Camper Machine, a marketing agency that helps camp operators with camper recruitment and sophisticated approaches to automated marketing and targeted communication strategies.
Eric has grown up at camp, directed camp, started camps and has become a valued resource in helping camp owners market their message to existing and potential camp families. Welcome back Eric!
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: The Culture Question - How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work
- Kelly: Book I’d like to use at staff training to practice daily meditation:
- Eric: Thinking in Bets - Annie Duke
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Stuart Jones - President - Outpost Summer Camps
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/staff-not-the-same
Change it up, pivot, flex, whatever you want to call it, we can’t keep doing “staffing” the way we’ve always done it.As we inch our way towards summer our staffing is coming together and we’re gaining a fuller picture of what our teams will look like this summer. We’re also gaining insight into where our staff are at coming into summer through our interviews, returning staff check ins and conversations.
Similar to last year, we are realizing that our staff are not the same as they were prior to the pandemic. What does this mean for us as camp owners and directors? Are there changes we need to make as an institution in how we train and mentor our young staff? Has there been a shift around who’s applying, how they’re applying.
As leaders in our industry it might be time to take a deep breath and look at how things are different and how we’re going to respond. Lead with a lens focused on humility and learning. Our guest today Stuart Jones, President of Outpost Summer Camps located in San Diego, California. Stuart is passionate about child development and best practices. We’re excited to have him join us for this conversation.
Listen in as we discuss:
- From your perspective, how are our young people going to be coming to camp differently than they have in the past?
- Talk to us about your sense of needing to “take a big breath” and look at things differently as camp leaders
- Is this a type of “reckoning” for the camp industry?
- How do we use this knowledge to positively impact staff training and camp this summer?
- What other changes do we need to make to the way we’ve always done things?
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What Inspires You? Find this at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/staff-not-the-same
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Stuart Jones - President - Outpost Summer Camps
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/healthy-camp-2022
Keep it safe, keep it healthy, rock it this summer.Keeping our camps healthy has never been important and we are excited to have Tracey Gaslin to discuss what we should all be thinking about as we plan for the summer. From COVID in 2022, to health center staffing we look forward to touching on many of the hot topics that camp owners would be thinking about as they work towards maintaining a healthy camp.
Listen in as we discuss:
- For those that are unfamiliar, tell us about the Association of Camp Nursing
- Let’s discuss COVID in 2022. What is the current state of COVID and what should camp owners be thinking about?
- Staffing at camp is a big priority this summer. What are you hearing about staffing Camp Health Centers?
- What should camp owners be thinking about for overall camp health, especially in the area of mental, emotional, and social health?
- What might be some key recommendations for summer 2022 as we prepare and plan?
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Resource for young or new staff regarding supervising for the first time: book “It’s ok to be the boss” by Bruce Tolgen
- Kelly: Training at the Winnekota Leadership Conference, keynote speaker Sarah Kurtz McKinnon w/ the Summer Camp Society
- Tracey: Quote: “Courage, courage is sometimes the quiet voice at the end of the day saying I Will Try Again Tomorrow” by an
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Tracey Gaslin - Executive Director - Alliance for Camp Health
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/understanding-gen-z-2022
It’s a new generation of staff at camp and we need to GET. IT. RIGHT!As we all navigate staffing this summer, understanding our workforce has never been more important. The impact of the pandemic on Gen-Z has resulted in the need to better connect, support and adapt to the needs of this important age group.
We are excited to have Adam Baranker, the Assistant Director of Jeff Lake Day Camp in Sussex County New Jersey to talk about this important topic and to share his insight.
Listen in as we discuss:
- Let’s define Gen-Z and the group they typically represent at our camps
- What are pitfalls can camp owners avoid when recruiting/engaging/interacting with Gen Z?
- How have you adapted and what do you want camp owners to know to best relate and/or interact with Gen-Z?
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Book “The Coaching Habit” by Michael Bungay Stainer
- Kelly: Book “The Enneagram & You” by Gina Gomez
- Adam: “I’m not making fun of it, I’m just having fun with it” quote from a 14yr old camper
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Adam Baranker - Assistant Director - Jeff Lake Day Camp
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/onboarding-leadership-team
Our first chance to set the example of how intentionally we treat people at our camp. Here’s how to get it right.Today’s topic is proof that current employment trends impact camps similar to other industries across the country. We’ve heard lots of talk regarding the turnover in leadership team members at recent camp conferences and gatherings. As we prepare for summer and staff training, we’d like to discuss the onboarding of new leadership team members and how we prepare them for this new role at camp.
Our guest today is Ryan Rosen, owner and director of Camp Kinneret, a summer day camp located in Agoura Hills, California. Ryan is also the owner of Camptivities (one of our generous sponsors, thank you Ryan), a scheduling tool designed just for camps.
Listen in as we discuss:
- How have you seen this play out at your camp?
- What does this look like in regards to onboarding and training our new leadership team members?
- What are the best practices you utilize?
- Any tools or resources that make this process easier?
- What are the biggest lessons take-aways from this process?
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What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Article: Connect with Empathy, But Lead with Compassion - https://hbr.org/2021/12/connect-with-empathy-but-lead-with-compassion
- Kelly: Alumni staff member sharing their keynote speaker at General Mills relation to what they learned at camp.
- Ryan: Conversations with long-term staff members about next steps, growth at camp, becoming a better human through camp. Through conversation discussed that your time at camp doesn’t have to be over if that’s where you want to be. Have now developed a new position that meets their needs and camps.
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Ryan Rosen - Owner & Director - Camp Kinneret & Founder - Camptivities
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/staff-resentment
We can’t just keep saying “we know this is a hard job” and then expecting the same commitment year after year.We’re grateful to Andy and Liz Kimmelman for joining on this episode on sharing how they are flipping their mindset from staff retention to staff resentment. These two incredibly forward-thinking professionals share both the philosophical AND extremely practical ways that camp owners and directors can begin to meet the true needs of this changing staff workforce.
Andy, Liz Howie and Kelly go deep into:
- Why shift to focus on staff resentment?
- How have you seen this play out at your camp?
- What should camp owners be doing to assess levels of resentment?
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Your best year ever, by Michael Hyatt
- Kelly: Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance
- Andy: Brene Brown’s decision to pause her podcast on Spotify - making that decision with curiosity and listening
- Liz: The band, the “Linda Lindas” - they live into the punk rock value and vibe of questioning the patriarch - Podcast “The Pen Pals” - with Daniel and Rory
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Liz & Andy Kimmelman - Owner/Director - Tumbleweed Day Camp
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/first-gen-camp-families
We want as many families to experience the joy of camps, so here’s how to make it as accessible as possible for families that have no idea what camp even is. Over two-thirds of kids in the US DON’T go to summer camp and many of them don’t even know that it exists. That means that there are kids out there who don’t even know the potential of a summer in a positive community. That means is should be our goal, no, our MISSION, to reach out to them and give them a chance to say YES to a summer that can change their lives forever.
To help us break this down we welcome Max Claman to the show to share his experiences as a camp staff, director and consultant. Max has some deep thoughts on how to bring in new families to the camp experience and we’re grateful to have him share his time with us.
Tune in to this episode to hear Max share:
- Who exactly are ‘First-Gen Families?
- Why aren’t First-Gen families interested in summer camp?
- What are ‘First-Gen Families’ looking for in a camp?
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You? Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Adam Grant’s Instagram Account - great leadership quotes
- Kelly: Book “Professional Troublemaker” by Luvvie Ajayi Jones: “We have to become professional troublemakers: people who are committed to not letting fear talk them out of the things they need to do or say to live free.”
- Max: Basketball (the plays at the end are last minute, drawing it up on the sidelines) vs. Football (practice, plays, very organized) - both just like camp - be prepared but also be ready to drop a play in the moment
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Max Claman - Principal - VestEd Consulting
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/state-of-camps-2022
How have the ACA, it’s members, and directors all around the world supported the industry through the pandemic and where are we all at now?We’re grateful to have Scott Brody, ACA Board Chair and a fellow camp owner and director to share his thoughts on the work of the ACA throughout the pandemic, the work forward and the things that owners and directors should be thinking about as they move forward.
Tune in to this episode to hear Scott share:
- Can you give us a big picture view of the state of the state of camping for 2022?
- What is important for camp owners to know?
- Are there any action items for camp owners or things they can do on a local level to support these initiatives?
- What do you see coming down the pipe for the future?
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Effortless by Greg McKeown - How to reach a feeling of effortless doing challenging and essential projects
- Kelly: Conversations with returning staff members and their “why” for choosing to come back to camp
- Scott: Hopes and Fears: working with todays independent school parentsby Robert Evans and Michael Thompson
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Scott Brody - National Board Chair - American Camp Association & Owner+Director - Camps Kenwood & Evergreen
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/family-business-transitions-the-pandemic
Succession, but the feel-good campy version of it!Todays topic is one that is near and dear Howie. His family has owned our day camp for 60 years and completed a generational change in leadership and ownership within the last 10.
They are now at the beginning of our 3rd generation of family leadership at camp and anticipate that they will have to consider another transition sometime in the future.
Our guests Jeff and Brooke Cheley are the Directors of Cheley Colorado Camps who have experienced a chapter of family transition in their camp ownership and operation. We are excited to speak with them about their experience, lessons learned and advice about transition in a pandemic and beyond.
Welcome to the show Jeff & Brooke!
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: Finish What You Start - Peter Hollins
- Kelly: Audrey Monke Podcast with author of Entitlemania, Episode 101
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Jeff and Brooke Cheley - Directors - Cheley Colorado Camps
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/partnering-with-staff-parents
It’s time to stop fighting the parents of our staff team.On the heels of the very successful ACA staffing summit this past fall, we wanted to have Deb Gilboa “Dr.G” return to the show to discuss one of the topics that was a bit of a buzz for all the camp pro’s out there. Partnering with Your Staff Parents.
We look forward to hearing Dr. G’s perspective which just may change our attitudes and approaches to our recruitment efforts, developing excellent staff behaviors and driving retention by engaging, setting boundaries, and opening to a partnership with parents of our staff
As many of our listeners know “Dr. G,” is a leading parenting and youth development expert, family physician, international speaker, author, and media expert. Her straightforward advice (always accompanied by good humor) helps wade through the stress, doubt, and guilt that all parents and educators feel at one time or another. A lifelong camper, she has a knowing admiration for counselors and administrators who play a key role in shaping the campers around them.
Welcome back to the Camp Owners Podcast Dr.G!
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Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!)
(click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
Thanks for listening!
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/01/why-pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyi-writes-letters-to-her-employees-parents.html
- Dr. G: http://wecandohardthingspodcast.com
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Dr. Deborah Gilboa - “Dr. G”, Parenting, Youth Development & Resiliency Expert - www.askdoctorg.com
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/buying-a-camp-due-diligence
You asked for more about buying a camp… so here it is!We are pleased to have Rob Heming join us on today’s episode. Rob has been the go-to person for many buyers and sellers of camps for over 25 years. A camp professional for over 40, Rob is a successful real estate agent in Canada and has particular expertise in facility and operations. He has consulted and brokered many camp purchase deals over the years and we feel that he is the perfect guest to give us insight on the due diligence necessary when buying a camp.
Tune in to this podcast to hear about:
- What is due diligence when buying a camp?
- Difference between financial and facility/operational due diligence.
- How has it changed over the years?
- Advice and wisdom for those considering buying a camp.
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Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!)
(click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Enneagram Test: https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test
- Howie: Simon Simek’s book “Leaders Eat Last”
- Rob: 23 year old niece’s food bank she’s created to serve others after her own life-changing circumstances: Georgian Bay Food Network
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Rob Heming - Ontario Summer Camp Realty Expert and Realtor - https://www.campscanadarealty.com/
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/buying-a-camp
An investment that changes lives…especially yours!Kelly & Howie welcome Dan Zenkel to the show to discuss buying a camp and the things any of us should be thinking about in making this big investment.
Dan wears and has worn a number of hats in the camping world. He is currently the owner of the Berskhire Soccer Academy in Otis, Massachusetts. He is a partner in The Camp Professionals, which helps folks buy and sell camps, and he is an advisor to North American Camp Trust, a not-for-profit that purchases for-profit camps and turns them into not-for-profits.
In 1997, Dan co-founded CampGroup, and served as its CEO until 2009. During his time at CampGroup, he spearheaded the acquisition and start-up of 12 summer camps, and, since then he has purchased two camps on his own and has assisted or advised on the purchase and sale of approximately 20 more throughout the country. He comes with a wealth of experience and insight on the topic of buying camps.
Tune in to this podcast to hear about:
- Key considerations when buying a camp
- How COVID has impacted the process - positive and negative
- What we know now that wish we knew then
- Final words of wisdom before taking the leap.
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Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!)
(click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You? Find these at - https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/buying-a-camp
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Dan Zenkel - Managing Principal - The Camp Professionals
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/reorganizing-leadership
The best time to do a re-org is yesterday. The second best time is after a pandemic. The third best time is now. Kelly & Howie welcome back Jeff Bradshaw to the show for a discussion about re-organizing leadership responsibilities and structure at our camps. What triggers these types of moves and how has the last two year influenced a closer examination of our organizational structure.
Tune in to this podcast to hear about:
- Jeff shares about his recent reorganization
- His motivators to do this
- When you say yes to one thing, what are you saying no to?
- What have you learned in the process?
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Bonus Content!* RACSI / RACI Analysis
Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!)
(click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: ACA Staffing Summit, Keynote Quote “What got you here, won’t necessarily get you there” also, the book MAID by Stephanie Land
- Howie: “Leadership is the liberation of talent” by Mark Messier
- Jeff: Looking internally, taking the time to celebrate what we’ve done
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Jeff Bradshaw - Founder and Executive Director - Camp Wenonah
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/rethink-re-org-staffing
What to do when it feels like you need to rethink EVERYTHING?Summer 2022 is the time.
What more of a kick in the butt do you need? Staff need to be paid equitably, programs need to be rethought, value-added means something totally different nowadays and we need to be ready.
And here’s the thing - PEOPLE WANT CAMP. They need it more than ever.
So demand is up. How do we meet the need?
We need to bring some serious brainpower to this conversation - so why have one Podcast hosting team when you could have TWO!?
Joining Kelly and Howie is Sam Thompson and Andy Pritikin, the co-hosts of Go Camp Pro’s The Day Camp Pod.
Together, they will take an initial dive into two of the hottest issues in camp right now - staffing and re-organization.
We can’t wait another second. Let’s dive in.
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Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!)
(click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Back next episode!
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp * Sam Thompson, Recreation Supervisor - Crystal Lake Park District
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/spouses-as-partners
When your life partner, is also your business partner…can it work?So here we are, into our 3rd season and we are taking the plunge to have our spouses and business partners join us for an episode. Not sure if this will morph into couples therapy but we know so many of our colleagues share their lives personally and professionally with each other and some may be considering it.
We hope the 4 of us can provide some insight into what I know the 4 of us feel is an incredibly rewarding experience, fully aware that it's not for everyone.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Describe for us what your camp business partnership looks like, big picture and day-to-day
- How do you make it work-
- How was the summer for each of us - what was our lens
- How will your roles at camp change over the next few years
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!) (click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Bob Ditter webinar “I survived summer 2021 and I need help”
- Howie: Quote from Ted Lasso: “a good mentor hopes you’ll move on, a great mentor knows you will.”
- Peter: Book “ The 5: Where will you be in 5 years”
- Sari: FAT City: Frustration, Anxiety and Tension. Rick Lavoie. Socialthinking.com is another amazing resource.
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/back-in-the-saddle
We’re back! Let’s get to work.We’re delighted to be back for a 3rd season and to have you along for the ride with us! It’s been a heck of a summer for everyone and after a bit of a breather, we’re ready to get back to doing everything we can to push the industry forward.
This episode is all about how we’re getting our heads on straight and being ready to push on towards an even better 2022!
What are you thinking about right now? What topics would you like to hear this season? If you have a thought, send our producer, Matt an email at matt@gocamp.pro and we’ll be sure to put it on the list!
Enjoy!
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Lead Up to Summer After Final Podcast
- How was the summer?
- Silver Linings: Reflections, What did we do that we’ll always do, moving forward
- Topics We’d Like To Explore For Future Episodes
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Thanks for listening!Do you read the show notes? Let us know - click the following link to receive 10% off a lifetime subscription of Go Camp Pro's 5-Minute Fridays. (psst. Even if you don't buy anything, clicking this link will still help!)
(click here - https://bit.ly/pod-notes-discount)
-
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - https://charlesduhigg.com
- Howie: Adam Grant’s Instagram Feed https://www.instagram.com/adamgrant/?hl=en
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 50+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/ownerspod
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/empowering-staff-to-act
Who better to wrap up another great season with, than our friend Gabrielle Raill.I don’t know about you Howie but one of the worst things at the end of the summer, as a camp owner or director, is to find out that one of your staff members has been upset about something all summer or a group of counselors has been talking about something you had no idea was an issue.
When this happens it creates misunderstandings, missed opportunities for staff improvement and a potentially toxic staff culture.
The very talented Gabrielle Raill, Director, Camp Ouareau and Co-Host of CampCode is our guest today to share her A.C.T. strategy that empowers staff to ACT so they don’t talk behind your back.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- What is A.C.T.?
- How do you see this approach to staff empowerment being even more important this summer?
- Tips on training supervisors to be skilled at facilitating this?
- In what ways could our counsellors use this with their campers?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest you’d like to hear on an upcoming show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change The Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stainer - also was guest on Brene Brown Podcast
- Howie: Advocacy letter writing campaign to the Premier - incredibly emotional and heart warming to hear them speak to the need for camp and “because of camp” messages.
- Gabrielle: Brandi Carlile - Broken Horses
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/state-of-our-industry-2021
What will Summer Camp look like in 5 years? We’ve brought in the next best thing to a crystal ball. Welcome, Travis Allison!As we approach the start of the camp season, after the year we have all had and continue to have, we thought it would be great to have a conversation with Travis Allison, the Co-Founder of Go Camp Pro and someone so familiar to all of us in the industry. He is the co-host of the Camp Hacker Podcast and is responsible for all of the podcasts on the Go Camp Pro podcast network and is the person who brought us together.
Travis is also the incoming president of the Canadian Camping Association.
Our goal is to have an open discussion on important topics of the last year and get Travis’s take on the industry in general.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Camp as a business
- Promoting and Marketing camp
- Social Justice at Camps
- What do the next 5 years look like?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest you’d like to hear on an upcoming show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: If your camp cup is low,find a chance to see one of your campers faces - just what we need right now to get us to the first day of camp.
- Howie: Book by Edith Eger “The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your LIfe” https://amzn.to/3u2mB1L
- Travis: “God Is Change, and Change Is God” from The Parable of the Sword by Octavia E. Butler- change is going to happen and will always happen in camp https://amzn.to/3tfUgUF
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/virtual-staff-training-2021
No matter how much time you have left, you still have time. to make your virtual training the best it can be!As we enter into our final weeks of planning we wanted to be as relevant and helpful as possible for fellow camp owners and directors. Staff training is one of the most important aspects of the success of camp and this summer many of us are offering virtual components.
Our executive producer and co-host of the First Class Counsellors podcast Matt Honsberger is here to help us make the most out of our virtual training and relieve some of the stress that we may be feeling as we deliver new and innovative ways to prepare our staff and maintain positive connections, even when we’re online.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- How do we make the most of the time we spend with staff virtually?
- What are the big “to-dos” and “to not dos” in the virtual training world?
- How do we double-check for knowledge when they arrive in person? Do we need to?
- How do you foster the social connections and support systems when we’re in the virtual world?
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Bonus LinkConversation Starters World Website - https://conversationstartersworld.com/
Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest you’d like to hear on an upcoming show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Find these at https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/virtual-staff-training-2021
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Matt Honsberger - Executive Producer of Podcasting & Consultant - Go Camp Pro
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/team-building-virtually
No matter what your summer looks like, kids will need team and character development activities! Michelle Cummings is here to help.As we approach the final stages of summer prep, staff training is an integral piece of our summer success. Many camps are planning for virtual training, in-person training or a hybrid of both. Our guest today has been an expert in our industry on in-person team building and has now established herself as a virtual team-building resource as a result of our need to shift to an online space over the past year.
We’re excited to have Michelle Cummings, of Training Wheels share with us her best practices for team building both in person and virtually as well as ideas we can all implement with our staff this summer.
Tune in to this episode to hear about
- In your opinion, what are the founding principles of team building that must be there for success?
- Talk to us about shifting to virtual team building and what can you share with camp directors and owners attempting their own virtual trainings this year? Virtual Scavenger Hunts/Escape Rooms.
- What are your go to training activities for camps that our listeners could consider adding this summer?
- Where do signed waivers fit into the relationship? For on-site testing, contracting COVID or activity participation in general.
- Where do we stand on COVID waivers?
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Bonus Links - Thanks, Michelle!Find these in our show notes: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/team-building-virtually
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What Inspires You? Find these in our show notes: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/team-building-virtually
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Michelle Cummings - Big Wheel & Founder - Training Wheels
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/legal-considerations-2021
Alexa, play the “Law & Order” theme song.As we approach the final stages of summer prep, we thought we would turn our attention to issues that all camp owners should be thinking about. Is the language we are using in staff contracts and communication with families up to speed with current legal practice. Whether it be codes of conduct, camper waiver forms, and especially COVID-related clauses related to testing vaccination and cancellation we thought it would be good to get a legal perspective.
We have two great people from both sides of the border to help us with US and Canadian viewpoints on some of the issues. Rachel Fendel Satinsky is with Littler, an employment and labour law firm based in Philadelphia and Robin Squires from Borden, Ladner, Gervais a law firm in Toronto. We really thought this was a timely topic as many of us are contracting staff or considering COVID-related addendums to their contracts.
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Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- What do you think are some of the top staff contractual issues camp operators should be thinking about for 2021?
- When it comes to communicating with families about camp this summer, what do you want camp owners to think about?
- Where do signed waivers fit into the relationship? For on-site testing, contracting COVID or activity participation in general.
- Where do we stand on COVID waivers?
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Emmanuel Acho “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man” - quote: “Prejudice is an emotional commitment to ignorance”
- Robin: book by Leigh Bardugo “Ninth House”
- Howie: Volunteers and the great work of camp advocates in Ontario and their work to get resident camps open this summer
- Rachel: Camp professionals, in all roles who are making camp happen for children this summer, especially as a camp parent.
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Rachel Fendell Satinsky - Partner - Littler Mendelson P.C. * Robin Squires - Partner - BLG
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/talking-resiliency
The Doc (tor G.) is in!What a treat today.
We have the one and only Dr. G! Deb Gilboa with us.
Dr. G is an incredible friend to the camp industry and has provided all of us with a wonderful insight into all aspects of camp. From helping staff manage stress, changing camper behaviour to being a resource to camp parents, Dr. G’s work helps all of us “Do Stress Better”.
Her current work on resilience and the insight she will provide today is an important discussion given the year that we have all had. Whether it’s our own ability to be more resilient or our team resilience as we gear up for this summer, Dr. G is the right person to help us along this journey.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- How did you land on resilience being such a focus of your work?
- Can you tell us about the resiliency cycle and how you have seen this play out during the past year?
- What are some of the important opportunities camp owners have to address this topic this summer?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest you’d like to hear on an upcoming show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Brene’ Brown Unlocking Us Podcast Episode with Melinda Gates on her new book “The Moment of Lift”
- Howie: https://jamboard.google.com/ & current media on the return to camp
- Dr. G: Dreamworks Interview, all stories have a similar format: Act 1: Set up the hero and problem Act 2: Every hero attempts to solve the problem the easy way but learn what it will take to solve the problem Act 3: They get vulnerable and it’s hard and most of the time they figure it out - but we have to go through the 2nd act to get through the 3rd act. Creates empathy for kids and young people trying to do it the easy way 1st
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Host Links: Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Dr. Deborah Gilboa, “Dr. G”, Parenting & Youth Development Expert -* www.askdoctorg.com**
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Thanks to our sponsors:CampBrainCampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
CamptivitiesIn a year where you’re juggling so many changes, let’s take activity scheduling off that list. Camptivities is specifically designed for camps by camp people. Save time, money and resources to create your best activity schedule yet! Find out more at camptivities.com
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/radical-empathy
Radical Empathy - for every kind of summer camp!We are really excited to be talking with Jack Schott, of Camp Stomping Ground on our show today. Jack is an active, passionate member of the camp community. His grassroots efforts with Camp Stomping Grounds and their mission to build radical empathy in their campers is really impressive.
Jack shares about Radical Empathy and how its philosophy can be applied to campers, staff and how it is good for business and the entire camp industry.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- What is Radical Empathy?
- How has it been applied in the creation of Camp Stomping Ground?
- In what ways can it be applied to private camp ownership? Is it good for business?
- Any particular considerations in light of COVID and a return to camp for most campers and staff in 2 years?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest you’d like to hear on an upcoming show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: “How to keep your cool in high stress situations” from the Harvard Business Review
- Jack:
- Agile Sprints - We are calling it a Get Shit Done Week
- https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum/sprints
- Doing Agile Right Book
- https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Agile-Right-Transformation-Without/dp/163369870X
- Illuminating the Hidden Curriculum for New Staff
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uGsaj2HLpo
- Kelly: The Four Winds
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Host Links:* Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Jack Schott, Co-Founder and Executive Director - Camp Stomping Ground
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/be-a-better-boss
The boss & staff relationship can be something special at summer camp. Let’s unlock that potential with Ruby Compton.We are really excited to be talking about how to be a better boss with the one and only, podcaster/trainer extraordinaire Ruby Compton, of Ruby Outdoors and Go Camp Pro. Ruby is a co-host of Camp Code, where they focus on best practices for training staff, but she also has been zooming in on what it means to be a great boss to our high-school and college-aged staff.
We’d not only like to talk about how we can become better bosses but also how we can train our leadership teams to be better bosses to those they supervise.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Why do you think this is such an important topic for camp owners and directors to be discussing?
- How has your view on being a camp boss different than being a boss in other settings or workplaces - common challenges and potential opportunities?
- Has COVID changed our role as a boss at camp?
- In what ways can we train our leadership team members to create a culture of effective supervision - to be a good boss but not bossy?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest you’d like to hear on an upcoming show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: “You Win Some, You Learn Some” from the book “You Are Awesome”
- Ruby: Onward ever, backward never - Big Magic (Liz Gilbert) - Marie Thieme 2004 book → actually “Forward ever, backward never” is a phrase that used by West Indians. It was coined by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first prime minister and president
- Howie: Think Again by Adam Grant - The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
Host Links: Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Ruby Compton, Chief Exploration Officer -* Ruby Outdoors**
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/2021-staffing-trends
Kim and Jolly - the closest thing we have to a crystal ball to see what this wild year of recruitment is going to be like…We are really excited to be talking about staffing for 2021 with Jolly Corley (Jolly Corley LLC and Camp Robindel) and Kim Aycock (Kim Aycock, Kimspiration LLC, Camp Consulting and Staff Training).
Jolly and Kim have spent the past 10 months diving into what staffing will look like for this summer, taking the time to listen to potential camp staff, hear their concerns about returning to camp along with why camp is exactly what they need this summer.
We’re curious to hear from their perspective the trends they are seeing in staffing for camps across the country, strategies for recruiting new staff, commitments from returning staff (whether you ran in 2020 or not) and “buy in” from all staff for a summer of unknowns.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- What recruitment strategies are new staff responding to right now?
- What do you think is one of the most important things that camps can do right now to set themselves up for successful recruitment?
- What are your thoughts on how staff training will change for this summer?
- and much much more!
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: “Why Your Most Important Relationship Is With Your Inner Voice” in the Guardian
- Jolly: Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate: her journey, acknowledgement of mentorship, coaching, interest in the growth zone. What’s possible.
- Kim’s “Kimspiration”: When I’m out running or walking my dog, I like to think about what’s going to come across my path. The other day, a sign said “no strollers” but underneath there was a “why” underneath. Always explaining the why. Also, the idea of dropping an anchor, so we have something to hang on to as we decide where we are headed.
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Host Links: Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kim Aycock - Camp Consultant and Trainer - www.kimaycock.com - TikTok - @workatcamp * Jolly Corley - Camp Director and Trainer - www.jollycorley.com*
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/2021-camp-healing
We can’t just go back to “business as usual”. We need to re-start our cultures for the better.We are thrilled to be talking today with Rachel Kent (Girl Guides Canada & Co-Host of Beyond Camp) and Sol Birenbaum (Director & Co-Owner Camp Walden). As we are early into 2021 and the work of camp owners continues tirelessly and optimistically for the upcoming summer, we thought we should have a discussion about what a return to camp will look and feel like for our campers, staff and for ourselves as so many of us had an unprecedented summer away from operating our camps - but also for camps that did run who will be welcoming campers and staff back after experiencing another 9 months of the pandemic after camp.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Talk to us about what you believe will be the theme of Summer 2021
- What do you think is one of the most important things that camp can provide to campers this summer
- What are your thoughts on how staff training will change for this summer?
- In what ways can camp owners best prepare for a return to camp after a summer away?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Sol: “The Choice,” book by Edith Eger, our partners, the support and insight they provide, lyrics to various songs such as “wildflowers” by Tom Petty
- Rachel: James Clear “3,2,1” newsletter https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/january-7-2021
- Kelly: Ted Lasso show, the optimism, focus on the ability to change a culture through belief and the quote mentioned in an episode by Walt Whitman “be curious, not judgemental”
- Howie: Meeting with staff via zoom, hope and optimism for the frame of mind going into 2021
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Rachel Kent - Coordinator, Member Risk - Girl Guides of Canada * Sol Biernbaum - Director - Camp Walden
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
A special, timely interlude from our friends at the Day Camp Pod:Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/ppp-era-aca
Timely info for American Camps - Jan/Feb 2021For many camps and small businesses in the United States, the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program was a lifesaver- enabling us to keep our best people employed which we navigated the uncharted waters of the covid-19 pandemic.
Starting January 13, the second round of PPP has been made available to qualifying businesses, as well as other resources like the Employer Retention Credit. While most of us may be good at running a summer camp, this other stuff is both supremely important and pretty darn confusing- which is why we have called for an EMERGENCY Podcast with ACA National Chair Scott Brody and the great Steve Baskin - so that we can better grasp the options that can ensure our financial solvency as we enter the 2021 camp season.
Tune in to hear about:
- What we need to know about the PPP situation
- The issues of timing, and filing for forgiveness
- What’s coming down the pike.
Do you have a suggestion for a future show? Let us know by email: daycampquestions@gocamp.pro
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Important Links:* Andrew Ziv’s thorough explanation of ERC & PPP - https://andrewziv.substack.com/p/breaking-down-the-employer-retention * SBA / PPP - https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program * IRS / ERC - https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-employee-retention-credit-under-the-cares-act
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YOUR HOSTS: Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director -* Liberty Lake Day Camp**
GUESTS: Scott Brody, Owner & Director - Camps Kenwood & Evergreen * Steve Baskin, Executive Director -* Camp Champions*,* Camp Pinnacle*, Partner -* Everwood Day Camp**
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SPONSORS:
Thanks to our wonderful sponsors who help make this Go Camp Pro podcast possible:
- AM Skier Insurance http://www.amskier.com/
- Commercial Recreation Specialists (CRS) https://crs4rec.com/
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Please review and subscribe!If you’ve gotten even one good thing from the Day Camp Pod, we would be so grateful if you left us a review and subscribed to this show in your favourite Podcast app.
It’s so easy!
Just click here: https://ratethispodcast.com/dcp
Thanks, Camp Pro!
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/camp-marketing-in-2021
After an unprecedented year, we need an unprecedented marketing strategy. Today we are talking to Eric Wittenberg the creator of Camper Machine, a company that assists camp owners in camper recruitment and retention. Eric’s knowledge of the camp industry is extensive as he has been a camp owner himself.
Eric will provide insight into the things camp owners should be thinking when it comes to keeping campers coming back and how to attract new families to your camp. Given the continued challenges provided by COVID-19, we look forward to hearing how our current reality impacts the approaches we should be taking with camp marketing.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- What should camp owners be thinking about most when it comes to marketing.
- Prioritizing Recruitment and Retention
- Approaches - Digital Advertising, referral incentives (clients and staff), Open Houses
- Learn more about Camper Machine
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Bonus Resources: batchgeo.com for looking at the zip codes of your camper base * Quarantine Funnel Tech-cceleration*
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Women in Camp Summit (annual event each Nov/Dec for women in the camp industry)
- Howie: Book “The Soul of an Entrepreneur” - Work and Life Beyond the Startup myth - David Sax
- Eric: Quote “maybe what’s bad is good and what’s good is bad” - when the world is upside down, maybe look at it upside down. A chance to change our perspective
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Eric Wittenberg, Chief Marketing Officer, Camper Machine
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/save-next-summer
If we want to SAVE NEXT SUMMER - we need to act NOW. On today’s show we are excited to welcome the creators of SAVE NEXT SUMMER, a camp advocacy movement spearheaded by our guests. Many States and Provinces have still not provided guidance for camps to open in 2021, our guests have created a resource for campers, parents and camp pros to have their voices heard by their local governments. We are excited to have the guys join Kelly and I and learn more about the work they are doing on how private camp pros can support the effort.
We’re excited to introduce our guests for today's show, Mike Stillson from Valley Trails Summer Camp in Southern California and Andy Moeschberger from Gold Arrow Camp in the Sierra National Forest in California.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Tell us more about the SAVE NEXT SUMMER initiative
- What was the motivation for creating SAVE NEXT SUMMER?
- In what ways can camps participate?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Guest on NPR discussion on when we’re asked to reflect back on this time by our grandchildren, what will we say when asked “what did you do to help others during that time?”
- Howie: Book by Simon Sinek “Together is Better” Quote: “working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress, working hard for something we love is called passion”
- Mike: The power of camp and how important that is now more than ever. Also the support of the community and feedback from families for what we gave to them during summer 2020
- Soy: Copy-paste Mike’s answer please:) Also, Brene Brown’s podcast with Dolly Parton and her advice to not look away when someone is in pain.
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Host Links: Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Mike Stillson - Executive Director - Valley Trails valleytrails.com or mike@valleytrails.com* * Andy “Soy” Moeschberger - Camp Director - Gold Arrow Camp or www.savenextsummer.com
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/lgtbq-at-camp
Camp Owners are responsible for making their camp an inclusive, welcoming and affirming space for participants and staff of all sexes and gender identities. Period. Today we are discussing what Howie and I feel is a really important topic in our world today and in the camp industry - gender.
A 2019 Pew Research stuff found that 35 percent of Generation Z say they personally know someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns like “they” and “them,” compared to a quarter of millennials who said the same.
There are a number of progressive camps in our industry that serve LGBTQ+ youth as well as camps leading the way with “all gender cabins.”
We are looking foward to discussing how camps can be progressive and proactive vs. reactive in serving both campers and staff who identify as gender-neutral, transgender, cisgender or as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
A big thanks to Michael Waxman, camp alumnus and social worker, for joining us in this extremely important conversation.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Why do you think it’s important for camp owners to be talking about gender as it relates to campers and staff?
- What do you think are the most pressing issues for camps when it comes to gender?
- Any advice to camp owners who want to make their camp an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ campers and staff
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: Wolfpack by Abby Wambach
- Howie: BARNGA - An Intercultural Simulation Game - https://youtu.be/j9KMksUIH2Q
- Michael: “Us Kids” documentary about kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Michael Waxman - Social Worker
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/2021-registration
No matter what Summer 2021 looks like, we’ve got to get people registered first! Here are the ins and outs of a registration season like no other!Today, we have two seasoned camp owners with us to share their 2020 experiences and to give us some perspective on the trends they are seeing in 2021 registration. Both of our guests operate overnight camps and can provide a unique perspective on their approaches to getting their campers to return in 2021 and what they are doing to attract new campers. We’re thrilled to welcome David Miller from Camp Starlight in Pennsylvania and Jeff Bradshaw from Camp Wenonah in Bracebridge Ontario.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- How was your summer? Give us some insight into how 2020 went for you
- In what way did registration for 2021 change from what you traditionally do?
- How is registration going/what’s the response been? What have been successful aspects of your approach? If anything hasn’t landed so well, what has it been?
- Any advice to camp owners who haven’t launched registration yet?
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- David: His work with “Global Camps Africa” and how they were able to pivot dramatically this summer and offer virtual programming
- Jeff: 7 words to inspire “Create something that can survive your demise”
- Howie: AppleTV+ show “Dear” - is this something that we can do with camp counselors and use at training
- Kelly: Video by Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times about your “Echo”
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * David Miller - Co-Owner & Director - Camp Starlight * Jeff Bradshaw - Founder and Executive Director - Camp Wenonah
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find out more at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/takin-care-of-business
In a financial year like no other, we’re thrilled to welcome Jonathan Gold to The Camp Owners Podcast!On the 11th episode of The Camp Owners Podcast, we are taking care of business. We sit down with Jonathan Gold where we get his insight into all things business, the cash crunch and all financial considerations to make 2021 an amazing summer for our campers, family and staff.
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- How has what you experienced have you thinking about the financial road ahead?
- What are some things all owners should be thinking about?
- How should we think about our intentions in operating in 2021 with the way parents might be thinking about camp next summer?
- Much much more!
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Jonathan: Relevance of Camp - I know for an absolute fact that we need to be open for kids this summer. The power of play and camp is the last venue that we can teach them that, especially amidst the pandemic. “If you want to improve your game, you don’t focus on your strengths, you focus on your weaknesses.”
- Howie: Quote from 1987 from Michael Brandwein at staff training: Participation Principle: “People take better care of things they help create.”
- Kelly: Quote by Simon Sinek from his book “Infinite Game”: “The path to a victory is finite. The path to fulfillment is infinite ⇒ To live a life for fulfillment is to live as if there is no finish line ⇒ to play the infinite game.”
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Host Links: Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Jonathan M. Gold, MBA, PhD, Camp Owner/Director - The Arbor Group of Camps*
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1300+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/blog/women-of-gcp-podcast
What do you call it when you gather a bunch of female camp and podcasting pros in a room? You call it AWESOME.In today’s special crossover episode, Beth Allison from Camp Code hosts a conversation with several of the women who podcast with Go Camp Pro. Today’s episode features Rachel Kent and Cassie Bloy from Beyond Camp, Sam Thompson from the Day Camp Pod, Kelly Schuna from The Camp Owner’s Podcast, and Ruby Compton from Camp Code and Gabrielle Raill from CampHacker and Camp Code.
Listen in as these women discuss their mentors who inspired them in the industry, challenges women face working at camp and advice for new camp pros. Interestingly, all of these women have also attended the Women in Camp Summit in previous years. During the episode, they discuss some of their biggest takeaways from the event as well as what they are most looking forward to for this year’s Live Virtual Summit taking place December 2-3. Find out more about the Women in Camp Summit Live Virtual event at https://www.womenincampsummit.com.
Gabrielle announced this year’s Summit will also feature the first of the “Becoming Allies” series with an event titled “Becoming Allies: Supporting Women in Camp” on December 4. Folks who want to participate in the Allies event can register through this link: https://acai.wildapricot.org/event-4051965
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The Women in Camp Summit needs your support! The planning team for the Summit has set a $7,500 fundraising goal to offer scholarships to attendees and off-set the costs of hosting this unique professional development event. Every dollar counts. Donate today and donate again on the Day of Giving for the Women in Camp Summit on November 24. Donate here: https://acai.wildapricot.org/allies/
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Love this episode?Find more Podcast goodness at gocamp.pro/podcast. Also, if you want to support the work that we do, please consider subscribing to the shows, and leaving us a rating in your favourite Podcast app.
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On This Episode:* Beth Allison, Camp Consultant and Co-Owner - Go Camp Pro * Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau * Ruby Compton, Chief Exploration Officer - Ruby Outdoors * Sam Thompson, Recreation Supervisor - Crystal Lake Park District * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Cassie Bloy, Consultant & Freelance Camp Director - Stephane Richard Development Consulting * Rachel Kent, Coordinator, Member Risk - Girl Guides of Canada
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/diversity-intentional-choice
André Brewer is back for part two of this incredibly important conversation.You can’t just say you’re a “welcome and diverse camp”. You have to make the intentional choice and effort to actually be a diverse camp.
That means changing the way you market, recruit, interview, talk about and even run your camp program. This is definitely not “the way you’ve always done it” and that’s the point.
A giant thank you to André for joining us to share his experience and best practice with Camp Owners and leaders across the globe.
Thanks for letting your awesome out, André!
Tune-in to this episode to hear about
- Discuss the current landscape for campers of color.
- Is camp accessible for campers of color?
- Once they are at camp, is it the environment/culture/community we promote?
- Positive changes as an industry?
- Challenges/hurdles that remain?
- How can we as camp owners learn from those challenges and pave a new way forward, not just for our own camps, but industry-wide
- And much, much more!
Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: The election through the eyes of children and the hope for change, progress and the next generation
- André: The new ACA committee on diversity and the amazing members of that group
- Howie: “Find The Helpers” by Fred Gutenberg
Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * André Brewer - Director, Camp Lincoln, Camp Lake Hubert
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1200+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/working-as-person-of-color
André Brewer, Director of Camp Lincoln joins Howie and Kelly to unpack his camp journey and what it’s meant for him to be a Black man in the industry.It’s no secret that our industry is vastly over-represented by white owners, directors and leaders. It’s a problem that needs to be addressed as we look towards anti-racism and better representation of staff and campers of color.
One of the steps we can take is to better understand the experiences of people of color who are already doing great things in our industry.
We’re so grateful to André for taking the time to have this real and candid conversation with us.
Tune-in to hear about
- André’s journey to the director of Camp Lincoln.
- His experiences as a person of color in the camp industry.
- Some of the successes, challenges and obstacles along the way.
- How can we as camp owners learn from those challenges and pave a new way forward.
- Much much more.
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Kelly: RBG quote about dissent
- André: His Mom and also the ACA steering committee on diversity, inclusion and equity
- Howie: Podcast - Heroic Minds with Ben Fanelli - Overcoming adversity and transformed into something better.
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * André Brewer - Director, Camp Lincoln, Camp Lake Hubert
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1200+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find links and full show notes at: https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod/camps-that-didnt-run
Shari Sigoloff, Howie and Kelly unpack their summer 2020 experiences and get a grasp on it was like to not run camp this summer, and what they’re thinking about going forward.It’s time to tell the other side of the story - last episode, we talked to some camp owners who opened last summer, and now let’s explore a whole new world of “hard”. Camps that didn’t open.
We’re grateful to have Shari Sigoloff from Camp Thunderbird in Minnesota to dig into the mental fortituite that it took to not run camp this past summer. Howie, Kelly and Shari all share what’s on their minds and hearts as they are looking ahead.
You don’t want to miss this episode.
Tune-in to hear about
- How the camp dream transpired for Shari
- The approach to our host’s decision to close:
- How did they navigate:
- The decision-making process
- Communication with families and staff
- What did their summer end up looking like?
- Virtual
- Use of facility
- Any other programs/rentals?
- Some challenges, growth moments and reflections on the summer?
- What does summer 2021 look like at this point?
- How did they navigate:
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Thanks for listening!If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
- Howie: The Choice - Embrace The Possible by Dr. Edith Eger
- Kelly: Stretch by Steven Sonneshein
- Shari: How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram Kendi
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Host Links:* Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Shari Sigoloff - Co-Owner and Director, Camp Thunderbird
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain provides management and registration software to camps and conference centers. Serving 1200+ camps since 1994, with a dedicated staff of 45+ providing personal, caring support and building beautiful, intuitive software.
For more information visit them at https://www.campbrain.com/
Find full show notes and links at https://gocamp.pro/ownerspod
Eric Shendelman and Andy Lillienthal join Howie and Kelly to begin to unpack what was likely the hardest season in a Camp Owner’s career.
The Camp Owner’s Pod is BACK!
We’re thrilled to bring you a full season of podcasts from now until June 2021! Stay tuned to our podcast feed to hear new episodes dropping every two weeks.
It’s fair to say that it’s been a bit of a rough 3 months since we last dropped an episode. So even though we’re excited to move on and get to some different episodes, we can’t not talk about what happened this past summer.
To help unpack this blur of a summer, Howie and Kelly are joined by Eric Shendelman from Crestwood Valley Day Camp & Shendy’s Swim School in Ontario and Andy Lillienthal from Camp Winnebago in Maine.
All 4 of our hosts had very different summers, so get excited for this episode to really cover some broad ground!
Tune-in to hear about:
- How did you navigate:
- Camp Logistics
- Customer
- Service Staff Training
- In what ways were you challenged like never before?
- What changes did you make that will carry forward to future seasons regardless of the presence of COVID?
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Thanks for listening!
If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Howie: Article: “Your Surge Capacity is Depleted, That’s Why You Feel Awful”
Kelly: Book: Yung Pueblo “Inward”
Andy: Poem: “How Many and How Much” by Shel Silverstein
Eric: Camp community at large, the coming together of leaders in both Canada and US
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Host Links:Hosts:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
- Kelly Schuna - Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
- Andy Lillienthal - Owner/Director of Camp Winnebago
- Eric Shendelman - Director, Crestwood Valley Day Camp in Toronto and Owner, Shendy’s Swim School. Past President of the Ontario Camps Association
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
That’s a Wrap on Season 1 of the Camp Owners PodcastWhat a fun first season!
A big thanks to Howie and Kelly for embarking on this adventure with Go Camp Pro and camp owners around the world.
In this episode, Kelly and Howie recap their biggest takeaways from the first season and how it has impacted them as they move forward towards a strange season of camp.
Finally, Howie and Kelly talk about what they are excited to talk about topics for next season.
If you have a suggestion or guest for a for a show, please email our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.Thanks for being with us, friends! We’ll see you next season!
Season 1 Episodes:Episode 1 - Camp as a Business with Steve Baskin
Episode 2 - Work-Life Balance with Gabe Cernov and Audrey Monke
Episode 3 - Parent Expectations - With Emma Fogel and Corey Dockswell
Episode 3.5 - COVID-19 and Summer Camps with Steve Baskin - as of March 31st
Episode 4 - Superb Staff Training - with Paul Kupferman
Episode 5 - Virtual Staff Training - with Michael Brandwein
What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Howie: Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Kelly: The younger staff that she is working with who are stepping up and being the change-makers that this world needs during the racial inequality protests that is at the forefront of June 2020.
Host Links:Hosts:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
- Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
Does virtual staff training bring you to tears? Well have no fear, Michael Brandwein is here!Among the many things on camp owners’ minds during the current landscape related to summer camp and COVID-19 is what this means for staff and staff training.
If we have to pivot from how we’ve traditionally trained staff, how we can execute a staff training that is engaging, effective, sets the tone for the culture of our staff - all from a new virtual platform?
It can be overwhelming. Not only do we have to think of technological logistics, how are we going to keep the same sort of intentionality, feeling of togetherness and camaraderie that our teams are used to?
Well, when it comes to problems, who else to help us than the man who teaches us to say, “this is just a problem, and we’re great at solving problems!”.
That’s right! We are thrilled to have Michael Brandwein on our podcast today to share his insight, knowledge and enthusiasm with camp owners as we take on this and challenging opportunity to innovate.
Michael has truly stepped up to support the camp industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re grateful for the time he spent here with us on the show and we're so grateful.
See what else Michael is up to on May 12th, 13th and May 26th with ACA Illinois.
“Brandwein on Training: The Step-by-Step System for Planning & Presenting Your Best Staff Training Ever”(May 13, Day Two Optional Bonus Discussion/Practice Session, Live at 1:30-4:00 p.m.) www.acail.org/beststafftraining
“Super Staff SuperVision: The Top Techniques to Lead Staff to Professional Performance.”
(May 27, Day Two Optional Bonus Discussion/Practice Session, Live at 1:30-4:30 p.m.) www.acail.org/superstaff
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What are you going to do to make online staff training successful? Let us know in the comments!
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What Inspires You?
Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Howie: Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution on Netflix
Kelly: Untamed by Glennon Doyle - https://amzn.to/33nVGkz
Michael: Good Neighbour: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King & The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
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Host Links:Hosts:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood
- Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
Guest:
- Michael Brandwein - Speaker, Trainer, Author - www.michaelbrandwein.com
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
One of the best investments a Camp Owner can make is time spent on building a great staff training.For a lot of full-time camp owners and professionals, staff training is the best part of the job.
Many of us got into this industry because we love to teach and work with youth. Then, the cold hard realities of budgets, insurance and property tax sets in and it feels like we lose a bit of what inspired us to get started in the first place.
Staff training is our chance to reawaken that love of teaching, playing and mentoring. Not only that, but when you give your staff a truly remarkable training experience, they will be best set up to deliver a truly remarkable experience for the campers.
Great training = great staff = great camper experience = camper retention = happy budget.
Simple, right? Maybe not.
A great staff training takes an incredible amount of time and intention to make incredible. Not only that, but a good director will constantly be looking to innovate to best serve their staff and keep the material fresh, engaging, inclusive and relevant for all ages and abilities of learners. It can be mentally exhausting to feel like you have to start from scratch every year.
Luckily, you’re a smart director and listen to Podcasts like this one!
To help you build the best training you can, Kelly is joined by Paul Kupferman from Catalina Sea Camp. Paul is a deep thinker when it comes to staff training. He’s shared his wisdom at many camp conferences and we’re glad to have him here with us for this episode.
Tune in to hear about:
- What is Paul’s camp origin story? - How did he fall in love with camp?
- What the perfect start to staff training looks like?
- What are some of the biggest “don’t do’s” for staff training?
- What tools can you give your staff to help them retain the absolute TON of knowledge they need to know?
- How can technology help your pre-staff training and even during staff training?
- How do we help different aged staff properly connect with each other?
- How to empower your staff to take on leadership during training with a mini-conference
What will you do to intentionally set up? Let us know in the comments!
What Inspires You? - Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Kelly: Brene Brown’s Podcast - Unlocking Us
Paul: A compassionate mindset from the Executive Director of the organization. You’ll have to listen to this one. It’s great.
HOST LINKS:
Hosts:
- Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
Guests:
- Paul Kupferman, Summer Operations Director, Catalina Sea Camp
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
What we know about COVID-19 and how it is affecting summer camps as of March 31st, 2020.Things are changing fast in the COVID-19 world. With camps being forced to make some huge decisions, Howie and Kelly wanted to bring you this conversation from the perspective of Camp Owners and Directors.
With a topic this big, we’ve brought back one of the big guns, Sir Steve, himself! A big thanks to Steve Baskin from Camp Champions for taking time out of all the incredible work that he’s doing to lead with care, intention and business prowess during this time. Steve - you’re good people.
Whether you are an owner, executive director, program director, or a board member, this episode will be useful for you.
In this emergency episode, we discuss:
- What should camp owners be actually doing today from a business perspective to manage this crisis?
- How do we effectively plan for all of the different potential start dates of camp this summer
- Cash flow - how do we work well with banks, vendors, parents, debtors, etc.
- What government funding sources and relief opportunities should both Canadian and American camps be looking in to.
- How to personally manage this.
- Hint - You aren’t alone. Lead with compassion and vulnerability. Think about how 10+ older you are going to feel about how you lead during this time.
DisclaimerThis is not legal advice, nor does it act as a substitute for keeping yourself up to code with your governmental health regulations. Please act with an informed and current perspective.
Resources ACA Camp Business Resource Page + Webpage on the ACA website with links related to federal and state resources, webinars, articles, etc. * Go Camp Pro’s COVID-19 & Camp Master Resource Page * Go Camp Pro’s Camps & COVID-19 (free) Slack team * The Day Camp Pod’s Episode from March 20th*
Hosts: * Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps * Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch * Steve Baskin, Executive Director - Camp Champions, Camp Pinnacle, Partner - Everwood Day Camp
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
For full show notes and resources, visit http://gocamp.pro/ownerspod
Your campers may want to come back, but the parents ultimately make that decision! Here’s how to manage their expectations to help them choose your camp again and again.Parents and care-givers are the decision-makers. You can have a great program and great staff, but if you aren’t assessing, managing and responding to parent expectations, you won’t earn their trust, and they won’t send their kids to your camp.
In the day and age of the “bulldozer/lawnmower” parent, it can sometimes feel like the parents and the staff have set up an unrealistic amount of expectations that leave us almost beholden to them.
However, it’s important to remember that we are an industry that has always strongly believed, and continue to believe in helping people. Even if a parent’s expectations can feel like a burden, it’s important that we take a step back, accept their feelings as valid, and support them the best that we can.
So how do we strike that balance? How do we help everyone get on the same level and get excited
In our third episode of the podcast, Howie and Kelly are joined by Corey Dockswell from Camp Wicosuta and Emma Fogel who is a camp alumnus and registered social worker with The Social Work Consulting Group. Our four hosts come together to discuss how they have seen parent’s expectations shift over the last few years, as well as to share best practices when it comes to responding to those expectations.
Tune in to hear about:
- When the camp dream became real for Corey and Emma
- How to manage parent’s expectations when it comes to their wanting of “control” or ensuring that their kids are always happy
- Communicating the benefits of the things at camp that comes with a bit of “positive stress” or “healthy risk”
- Ways to help staff understand parent’s expectations to set them up for success
- Some practical tips on systems and boundaries to establish within your communication systems
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What Inspires You?
Howie: The Summer Camp community rallying around each other in the uncertain times that we are in.
Kelly: Happy Campers - by Audrey Monke - https://amzn.to/33nVGkz
Corey: An awesome quote from a camp parent - “We control ship and sail, but never wind and wave…. While we are in unsettling times, we will get through the storm.”
Emma: You are Awesome - by Neil Pasricha - https://amzn.to/2x5TMsu
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HOST LINKS:
Hosts:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
- Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
Guests:
- Corey Dockswell, Director, Camp Wicosuta
- Emma Fogel, Registered Social Worker, The Social Work Consulting Group, Mindcalm.ca
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
Camp Owners - You DO deserve a work-life balance!Camp Directors work HARD. Our summers are 24/7 and even in the offseason, the emotional nature of what we do often leads to us saying “yes” to more than we usually should. The late-night parent phone calls, the desire to answer every email right away or any number of things can tear our focus away from our lives outside of the camp world. Family, physical and mental health, friends and leisure can, and should exist as part of every Camp Owners life!
In our second episode of the show, Howie and Kelly are joined by fellow camp owners Audrey Monke and Gabe Chernov to discuss what it means for a Camp Owner to find some sort of healthy work-life balance.
Tune in to hear about:
- When the camp dream became real for Audrey and Gabe
- What work/life balance looks like specifically for our hosts and guests
- How to create appropriate boundaries with our staff and clients
- Some practical tips for how to actually create some semblance of a work/life balance
What did we miss? Let us know how you find a work/life balance in the comments!
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What Inspires You? - Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Howie: Radical Candor - https://amzn.to/37irWWy
Kelly: Brene Brown Date to Lead - https://amzn.to/2tNrmSW
Gabe: Thinking Fast and Slow - https://amzn.to/2Sxf3CC
Audrey: The Infinite Game - https://amzn.to/3brZjcJ
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Host Links:
Hosts:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
- Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
Guests:
- Gabe Chernov, Owner/Director, BirchTrail Camp
- Audrey Monke, Chief Visionary Officer, Gold Arrow Camp & Sunshine Parenting
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Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain!
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at http://campbrain.com.
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What is the Camp Owners Podcast?We're here to explore a side of the summer camp world that is experienced by those that have the privilege of running an independent program.
Howie Grossinger and Kelly Schuna will be joined by some seasoned prime camp professionals to dive deep into the issues that most private camp pros will need to face, and the best practices that they use to create, and sustain a summer camp for their campers to enjoy summer after summer.
Thanks for tuning in! If you have any feedback, please get in touch with our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
Welcome to The Camp Owners Podcast! Whether you are a Camp Owner, an aspiring camp owner, or a lover of some of our other Go Camp Pro podcasts, we’re so happy to have you here.
The Camp Owners Podcast is here to explore a side of the summer camp world that is experienced by those that have the privilege of running an independent program.
On this podcast, our hosts, Howie Grossinger and Kelly Schuna will be joined by some seasoned prime camp professionals to dive deep into the issues that most private camp pros will need to face, and the best practices that they use to create, and sustain a summer camp for their campers to enjoy summer after summer.
In season one, tune in to the podcast monthly to hear about topics like Camp As a Business, Camp Insurance, Buying and Selling Camps, Work/Life Balance, Pricing, Staff Training & Engagement
Thanks for tuning in! If you have any feedback, please get in touch with our producer, Matt at matt@gocamp.pro.
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In our first episode, Camp as a Business, Howie and Kelly are joined by the wise and wonderful Steve Baskin of Camp Champions. Together, Howie, Kelly and Steve address some of the unique aspects of the private camp industry and what even the most business-savvy camp pros need to be thinking about as we enter a new decade.
Tune in to hear about:
- Steve Baskin’s camp origin story
- What does it mean to view camp “as a business”?
- What is a unique or unexpected challenge of being in the business of camp?
- What is an insider tip that you would give to a new or up-and-coming camp owner?
- What is something that camp owners should have on their radar for the future of the industry?
What is something you hope to learn from the hosts and guests of the Camp Owners Pod? Let us know in the comments!
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What Inspires You? - Things that inspire our hosts and guests to be the best Camp Owners they can be.
Howie: Simon Sinek
Kelly: Esther Wojcicki - “The single most important behaviour that you can role model for your children is the ability to have functional relationships” -
Steve: Angela Duckworth, Carol Dweck and David Jaeger’s work regarding mindset.
- Carol Dweck
- Angela Duckworth
- David Jaeger
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Host Links:
Hosts:
- Howie Grossinger - Co-owner/Director - Camp Robin Hood, Partner - Camp Walden & Madawaska Camps
- Kelly Schuna, Owner - Hidden Pines Ranch
Guest:
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Steve Baskin, Executive Director - Camp Champions, Camp Pinnacle, Partner - Everwood Day Camp
Thanks to our sponsor - CampBrain
CampBrain is a robust camp tool designed not only to manage summer camps, but also manage your conference center and fundraising needs, all in one database. Since 1994 CampBrain has been innovating and constantly adding new features. Look for the Camp Store Module being released this spring. For more information visit them at CampBrain.com