Marketing When You REALLY Don't Want To - CampHacker #158

It’s not about selling people on camp. It’s about telling your stories.

Do you like every single part of being a camp director? Come on, be honest.

There’s something that is every camp director’s kryptonite - something that you KNOW you need to do, and you probably do it, but just the thought of it makes you feel gross.

For many directors out there, marketing is that thing.

Social media, newsletters, podcasts, word of mouth, ads…yeesh. If it doesn’t come natural to you, it’s hard, but there’s hope.

This episode will take you through all of the emotions through our hosts for today. Travis, the marketing expert, Gabz the enthusiastic marketing camp director, and Chris…on the opposite end of that spectrum. Give this great conversation a listen.

And it’s not just the mushy stuff, there are a lot of great practical tips, so get excited!

Links from this show:

Hey - you read the show notes, and that’s pretty neat! These are for you:

Thanks to Camp: Help families, campers, staff and alumni tell your camp story

Canva: Save time and use Canva to create your digital/printed images and with the press a couple of buttons you can create your images in multiple formats.

LOOM: Answer families questions by using Loom, a quick way to record videos of your screen and camera

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

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The Value of a Great Operations Director - with Abigail Stuart and Ari Polsky - CampHacker #157

It’s time for Camp Directors to stop trying to do everything. Invest in operations.

Ari Polsky, the smartie that he is, posed this question in the COVID-19 + Camp Slack last June:

“Based off the texts I have received from a few camp colleagues, and the current setup work I am doing I have some thoughts/questions:

  • Are we (as a field) investing enough in operations and systems staff?

  • How are we looking to cultivate/train/improve/retain people who keep the trains running on time?

I am talking about the people who can rattle of database queries in their sleep and solve any operations, logistics, camp chessboard problems. It seems like in this time it’s, especially in need.”

The conversation sparked from there and it was clear this was something we needed to zoom in on.

Join Travis, Ari and Abigail Stuart (3/5 of The Brief Newsletter Team!) as they share what their roles have looked like as operational directors and why every camp should consider investing in the position.

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Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

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!)
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Thanks to our sponsor!

UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

The 2021 All Tool of the Week Episode! - CampHacker #156

Cue the trombone music, its ALL TOOLS ALL THE TIME!

Back by popular demand, back again is our annual All TOWs show!

This year, a focus on gifts for camp directors that promote positive mental health.

Chris, Gabz, Travis and Joe all share…

  • 2 tools that positively affect your mental health

  • 2 books you read JUST FOR FUN

  • 2 gifts you’d recommend for every camp director

Let’s get to the links!

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Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

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)

Your Hosts:

Thanks to our sponsor!

UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

How to Be a Better Delegator - CampHacker #155

Who’s the best delegator you’ve ever met?

The working title of this episode is “delegate like your life depends on it”.

A bit dramatic? Yes. Kind of true? Also yes!

If you can’t delegate - if everything at camp needs to run by you before it happens - if you need to facilitate every hard conversation - then you (and your camp) may not last very long.

So we know that - but why can’t we do it? There are a multitude of reasons/excuses why we don’t, but there are even more reasons why it’s absolutely necessary.

So let’s dig in. Gabz, Chris, Travis and Joe join forces to share their perspectives on how they became better delegators and how it’s shaped their camp experiences.

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)

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Your Hosts:

Thanks to our sponsor!

UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker