What’s Happening this Fall?
September 6, 2023
Welcome back from summer! Here’s a quick look at upcoming events with ACA, New England
September 11-12: New England Resident Camp Tours – Vermont
This is a great opportunity to see a variety of camp properties, experience how other organizations run their programs and facilities, re-energize by networking with peers, discuss lessons learned and hot topics from the past summer, and gain new ideas as your off-season planning begins.
September 15 @ 10AM: Coffee & Camp Chat – Season 4
Coffee & Camp Chat is a bi-weekly discussion among summer camp people! Sip your favorite beverage as we share insights, swap stories, and discuss trends in camping. Cozy into your Friday with fellow camp folk while we brew ideas, forge connections, and remind each other why there’s no place like camp! Topic for 9/15: Reflecting on summer. What worked, and what needs work? We’ll chat about the challenges and opportunities that popped up throughout the 2023 camping season.
October 2: New England Day Camp Tours – Massachusetts
NEW THIS YEAR – ACA, New England is excited to offer a one-day Day Camp Tours program in Massachusetts on October 2!
Join us to explore the properties and facilities at: Hale Education (Westwood, MA) and Everwood Day Camp (Sharon, MA). This is a great opportunity to see camps while also learning about their programming and operational strategies (e.g. transportation and drop-off/pick-up) and networking with your peers. Lunch will be included.
October 5 – May (Monthly, see event page for schedule): Resource Community Series: Business of Camp
Have you been in a leadership role at camp for several years (think executive director, CEO, COO, camp director), understand at least the fundamentals of “business of camp,” and are interested in digging deeper to intentionally explore these areas with colleagues? If so, this resource community is for you! Discussion topics will include: Budgeting and finances, Risk management, Human resource management, Strategic planning, and Marketing and camper recruitment
We know that building community with colleagues from a variety of camps throughout New England will help you feel supported as you move forward in your camping career. Join us for a series of monthly facilitated discussions (October to May) where you’ll have the opportunity to share ideas and resources, get feedback, troubleshoot challenges, and explore opportunities in a safe and professional space. Topics will be flexible based on the group’s needs/interests, but discussions in prior years have included: Building & supporting your team: recruiting, hiring, compensation & benefits, retention, training, evaluation; behind-the-scenes: risk management, budgeting, technology, marketing; being a leader: time management, hard decisions; mental, emotional, and social health (MESH): policies, best practices, resources, self-care; camp culture and tradition: exploring the “why,” innovating; and parent engagement: handbooks, communication, recruitment.
Have you/your camp been setting up mental, emotional, and social health (MESH) supports for your staff and campers or are you ready to take the next steps to do so? This series of monthly facilitated discussions (October to May) is designed to give camp leaders with decision-making responsibilities the space and support to dive deep into examining what your camp is already doing, identifying gaps, and setting intentions for future actions. For example: Do you have staff dedicated to social/emotional support of campers/staff and if so, what is their role and how is it going? If not, what would it take to get you there? – What resources are in place in case of a mental health emergency or a crisis requiring urgent emotional/mental health support for your staff/campers? – What kind of MESH training does/should your leadership staff get each year? Counselors? – Have your staff expressed the need for more breaks or time off? What actions can you take? – How are your health forms/intake systems providing you with the information you need to best support campers and staff (or what needs to change)? – What innovative things do you want to try and how can colleagues help you workshop ideas?
October 31 – November 1: 2023 ACA Staffing Summit
ACA Inc., ACA, New York and New Jersey, ACA, Illinois and ACA, New England are proud to present the 2023 Staffing Summit. The 2023 Staffing Summit will feature critical learning, speaker panels, roundtables and engaging sessions spanning three days. The virtual delivery of the conference increases the benefits of convenience and value while preserving the great networking and timely information which are hallmarks of ACA conferences. We will share practical solutions around addressing the staffing shortage, innovative ways to recruit staff and best practices for staff retention. The 2023 Staffing Summit will offer 45 sessions on out of the box ways to connect with staff, virtual job fairs and interviewing, recruiting specialized staff, and so much more. Session recordings will be available to attendees until December 1. Each day will have featured speakers, keynote presentations from industry thought leaders and networking opportunities to share resources and ideas. Don’t miss one of the most important events of the season!