Join veteran staff trainer, longtime camp cheerleader and friend, and 2025 New England Camp Conference Keynote Speaker Bob Ditter, who has agreed to step out of his camp retirement to lead an exciting and powerful in-person day of staff training for Directors and Head Staff.

This experiential workshop is loaded with practical tips and activities to help you prepare your staff to give your kids the best summer ever. You will walk away with basic counseling skills and how to impart them to your staff in fun, exciting, and memorable ways.

By the end of the day, you will know:

• The 5 mistakes most adults make with children
• How to help staff develop buy-in with their campers
• The 3 levels of discipline
• How to set limits and boundaries, and what the difference is
• How to deal with anxiety and panic attacks
• De-escalation strategies
• How to help co-counselors work better together

and more!

This will be an action packed, highly informative day.

About the Presenter

Bob Ditter is a highly respected child, adolescent and family therapist in Boston who has worked nationally and internationally with people who work with children. Since 1982 Bob has conducted staff and leadership training at over 600 camps throughout the United States and Canada.

Bob Ditter has written some of the best-loved and most influential camp leadership texts on the planet, including Summer Camp Rules, Next Generation Camp Leadership, Camp Matters – By the Experts, and In the Trenches. His articles in Camping Magazine, which span from 1986 to 2021, were some of the most popular and widely read among camp professionals everywhere.

Bob has been quoted in The New York Times, The Ladies Home Journal, Parent Magazine, USA Today and The Boston Globe, to name a few. Sports Illustrated called him “camping’s most articulate spokesperson.” He has also appeared on the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America and the ABC Evening News. He served as consultant to America’s Camp, the camp for the children whose parents were killed in the planes and Twin Towers in 2001. Bob retired from his camp related work in 2020 to focus on his psychotherapy practice.

Bob Ditter, Lisa Fortenberry, and Chris Burke at the 2025 NECC Keynote fire-side chat

Registration Information

When: Friday, May 2, 2025. Check-in/networking opens at 9:30am. The event runs from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Lunch is provided.

Where: Summer’s Edge at Camp Thoreau, 275 Forest Ridge Road, Concord MA, 01742

Cost:

For members: $110 for your first attendee, $90 for each additional attendee

For non-members: $140 for your first attendee, $120 for each additional attendee

Click here to register.

If registration is closed, we can likely still accommodate you – please send an email to gillian@acanewengland.org

Registrations are non-refundable but may be transferred to another attendee from your camp/organization. If you need to transfer your registration, please reach out to ACA, New England at 781-541-6080.

Send multiple people from your camp to save!

Participants will earn 4.5 CECs

For more information, reach out to Gillian, Events & Logistics Coordinator at ACA, New England, at gillian@acanewengland.org or 781-541-6080 ext. 106.

Use of Images and Audio by ACA, New England: Through my registration, I give American Camp Association, New England (ACANE) full rights and permissions with respect to any photographs, video, and audio recordings taken during the ACANE event. These images and recordings may be used by ACANE and its agents in any format or medium and for any lawful purpose.