New Camp Directors' Workshop
8:30 am - 7 pm, Thursday, March 25, 2010
This is "Boot Camp" for new camp directors or those planning a camp career. In a small, supportive atmosphere, you’ll get the tools you’ll need for running a successful day or resident camp. Learn from the pros about everything from facility and financial management to promotion and marketing, from staff hiring and training to working with parents, from dealing with children to handling the everyday situations and issues that are an inevitable part of your life at camp. A team of experienced directors and consultants will lead in-depth workshops and provide invaluable materials and hands-on training scenarios. Dinner will be provided on Thursday night, but you must bring a lunch with you for Thursday.
Cost is $85 for ACA members or staff of affiliate or accredited camps, plus the cost of full-time registration for the conference on Friday and Saturday. All others are $115, plus the cost of full-time registration. Space is limited, so register right away.
Read about the 2009 New Camp Directors' Workshop
A record number of participants — 42! — spent a long, busy, and productive day at the New Camp Director Workshop last month, starting off the ACA New England Conference with a bang. Representing a wide variety of professional backgrounds and preparing to serve an equally diverse range of camps, the group worked with nine experienced "faculty" in a wide-ranging seminar that covered such diverse subjects as leadership, programming, staff morale, interviewing/hiring, risk management, staff training, crisis management, and supervision.
“We noted at the outset that it would be impossible to cover these significant topics in any sort of depth,” commented NCDW Chair Rob Grabill, “but that has never been the idea. We're hoping instead to start a dialogue, and then point people in the right direction.”
Coming at the start of the Conference, the Workshop allowed the participants to make better use of the resources available to them, and just as importantly provided a valuable bonding opportunity. “For some of these individuals, it's a valuable chance for them to recognize that they are not alone as they confront new jobs or new responsibilities working for the same organization,” Grabill said. “They also take advantage of a wonderful opportunity to network with experienced directors with whom they now share a closer connection.” It's not unusual for the conversations to continue throughout the Conference and beyond, and there are several ‘reunions’ set up within the Conference schedule to facilitate this.
Grabill praised the quality and effort of the faculty, who spent a number of collective hours preparing for the Workshop, assembling a comprehensive notebook of resource material, and meeting in smaller groups to discuss the presentations and breakouts. “We've achieved a nice balance between faculty who have been doing this for many years, and several who are relatively new.”
He cited Camp Hawkeye Director Garrett Colgan-Snyder, who three years ago was a participant, and was eminently qualified to counsel those new to the job and to the ACA. He also singled out Nancy Frankel, who later in the Conference would receive the ACA New England Distinguished Service Award. “She has been doing this for decades, and is just as tireless and enthusiastic as ever, if not more so. Her magic trick, always a déjà-entendu,
was a big hit."
In addition to camp directors representing a wide cross-section of camp backgrounds (resident, day, private, agency, and day camps were all accounted for), the NCDW has also benefitted from industry experts such as Morris Gold of Sobel Affiliates, who has done a now legendary risk management presentation for twelve years. “That one always gets everyone's attention,” commented Grabill. “We try to save Morris for later in the day, so as not to lose anyone before they have had a chance to get comfortable.”
The Workshop ended with a traditional pizza dinner and ‘graduation,’ and the exhausted participants and faculty called it a day. “We all benefit from this,” noted Grabill. “The faculty have as much fun as the participants, and we never fail to take something away.”
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