The Day Camp Pod - From Go Camp Pro

Send us a textConquering the dreaded 6th Week Slump“HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED”.That’s a little bit like how we treat that time mid-way through the summer when things start to drag. You know it when you see it though. The staff start to feel the long days, you are getting tired of the same issue coming up over and over, grumpiness can prevail and the magic of camp loses a little bit of that shine.You know what, JUST SAY IT! It’s the 6th Week Slump! It happens, people!If we don’t talk about it, how will we ever address the underlying causes, the effect that it has on morale and how it can burn even the best camp staff out?After all, the campers deserve your best all summer long. They need your staff to always be at their best and that means you as a director need to effectively prepare for the potential (inevitability) that this mid-summer-blues will rear it’s ugly head.Now, on a quest to conquer something HUGE like this, you need a team of companions on your side - and we brought out the big guns on this episode! Ehren, Sam and Andy are joined by the brilliant and legendary Steve Magure from Go Turnstone.Tune in to hear more about:Steve Maguire’s camp origin storyWhat is the 6th Week Slump? Where does it come from?Why does the 6th Week Slump happen to Day Camps all over North America?What are some things we can do to prepare ourselves or even prevent the slump from happening?If and when it does happen? What can we do to be resilient mid-summer?And much more!Any questions? Ideas for shows? Topics? Guests? Please send them to daycampquestions@gocamp.proTHE DAY CAMP PROGRAM TIP OF THE WEEK WILL BE BACK NEXT WEEK!YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectEhren Gluckstein, Assistant Director - Camp Robin Hood - Robin Hood Leadership Centre & Corporate Rentals, Volunteer Ontario Camps Association (OCA) annual conference/accreditation visitorSam Thompson, Recreation Su

Send us a textThe Spirit of Overnight Camp…at Day Camp! (Again!)You asked for it and it’s here!We’re throwing it all the way back to episode 1 of the Day Camp Pod to re-hash one of our most popular topics from the first season.(Episode 1 - Here)Our friends from the sleep away camp industry have an amazing thing going for them. Having a kid stay overnight and be fully immersed into the culture and rituals makes it so much easier to get them to buy in and love camp.We may not have the overnight privilege, but it’s no excuse for making the camp experience anything less than magical for your day campers.Well… it’s a good thing our industry is built on sharing because within the traditional overnight camp experience are things that your Day Camp can implement very easily!To give you some inspiration, Ehren, Sam and Andy are joined by 3, Sleep Away Camp turned Day Camp Pros! We’re excited to have Jaime and Dane Pickles from Everwood Day Camp and Eric “Shendy” Shendelman from Shendy’s Swim School join us and share their many years of both overnight and day camp knowledge.Tune in to hear more about:The Pickle’s and Shendy’s Camp Origin StoriesWhat exactly is the “sleepaway camp spirit” and how can you bring that to your camp?What are the specific ideas that are cost-effective and easy to implement to give your campers an extraordinary day camp experience?What do you do during staff training to get your staff to buy-in to the spirit?And more!Any questions? Ideas for shows? Topics? Guests? Please send them to daycampquestions@gocamp.proDAY CAMP PROGRAM TIP OF THE WEEK!Andy: Moustache Day!Sam: Pinterest - For crafts, program ideas and wayyyyy more!Ehren: Gottcha game at staff trainingThe Pickles: Minute to Win It GamesShendy: Milk Carton BowlingYOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectEhren Gluckstein, Assistant Director - Camp Robin Hood - Robin Hood Leadership Centre & Corporate Rentals

Send us a textA Day Camp Pod Interview with Audrey Monke Sometimes, when comes to selling our camp, we shoot ourselves in the foot. We’re just a little bit too humble. We either don’t want to be too “pushy” or aggressive and we end up undervaluing what we do.Hello!? We change lives! We give kids the type of community experience that they don’t get ANYWHERE ELSE. You are great, we are great and we need to get those 80% of kids who don’t go to camp, to camp!You should be shouting it from a milk-crate on the street corner. Except this is 2019 and there are many virtual street corners that you need to be on.To help you find, and speak from your milk-crate, The Day Camp Pod is joined by Chief Visionary Officer and Gold Arrow Camp, Author, Blogger, Brand Manager and mom, Audrey Monke.Audrey Monke is the brains behind Sunshine Parenting and the author of Happy Campers: 9 Summer Camp Secrets from Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults. She joins Andy, Sam and Ehren to talk about:Audrey’s camp origin storyHow Audrey used her love of summer camp and entrepreneurial spirit to create Sunshine ParentingHow to use email newsletters, podcasting and blogging to become your community’s expert on children and youthHow to capture the attention of your key decision makers: ParentsAnd more!Any questions? Ideas for shows? Topics? Guests? Please send them to daycampquestions@gocamp.proDAY CAMP PROGRAM TIP OF THE WEEK!Andy: Teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to your campers, as young at 5 years old!Sam: Cheese Ball Relay (see pictures below)Ehren: PlaymeoAudrey: 5 Things Game & Home-made question ball - All you need is a marker, questions, and a beach ball!YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs Project

Send us a textBring up the bad, bring up the good, make next summer better. No matter what time of year it is, if you haven’t intentionally looked back on your past summer season, you need to.There’s nothing worse than a problem that keeps coming up, summer after summer. You say to yourself, “didn’t we talk about this!?”. Well, did you?This type of review can be something that can be looked on lightly, or dismissed for putting more effort into marketing for the following season. However, in your marketing, you’re promising this this upcoming summer is going to be the best one yet, right? Well then what better way to commit to improving your program than to hash it out while it’s fresh in your mind?Whether it’s a CPR (Complete Program Review), Glitch List Review, Better Board, summer reports, or Go Camp Pro’s Back on TRACK review, a tried and true system for making the bad good and the good better, is essential for making things better for the future of your program.For hashing out the best review systems, Andy and Sam are joined by Will Pierce from Pierce County Day Camps and Howie Grossinger from Camp Robinhood. Tune in to hear more about:Ready to use systems for debriefing your summer in October and NovemberThe do’s and don’ts when it comes to running the debrief meetings effectivelyHow to leverage the knowledge of staff of every level through meetings and reportsHow to take what comes up in the feedback and keep people accountable for the changes that need to be madeAnd more!How do you effectively debrief your summer? Let us know in the comments! And, if you have any questions, send us an email at daycampquestions@gocamp.pro DAY CAMP PROGRAM TIP OF THE WEEK!Andy: Giant SlideSam: Electric Current ContestHowie:  Running the campers around site to give high 5’s to all staff (ESPECIALLY the office & maintenance staff)Will: Colour Run YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectSam Thompson, Recreation Supervisor - Crystal Lake Park District, Vice president ACA IllinoisWill Pierce, 4th Generation Owner/Director - 

Send us a textWelcome back to the Day Camp Pod! How was your summer?It’s season 2! We are so excited to get back to another year of the Day Camp Pod!Before we begin, have you filled out our 2019 listener survey? We’d be super-grateful if you would!As we start the season, we’re looking back on the summer of 2019. The good, the bad, the ugly and the issues that our hosts noticed at their Day Camps this year. Some of these topics will form our line-up of shows for 2019/2020 and some of them are things that you can start thinking about now!Join our hosts, Andy, Ehren and Sam and hear more about their experiences with...How to teach staff of all levels to ask for help when they need itManaging last minute staffing changesDealing with the increased needs for staff and programming for children with special needsPunch-passes, check-ins, communication and dealing with a family’s wild scheduleWorking with vendors and especially bus companiesKeeping staff happy through recognition programsWhat did you face this summer? What are some things that came up that you would like us to talk about this summer? Let us know in the comments, or send us an email to daycampquestions@gocamp.pro DAY CAMP TIP OF THE WEEK!Andy: Colour War For Life!Sam: Look alike contestEhren:  Certificates for staff YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectEhren Gluckstein, Assistant Director - Camp Robin Hood - Robin Hood Leadership Centre & Corporate Rentals, Volunteer Ontario Camps Association (OCA) annual conference/accreditation visitorSam Thompson, Recreation Supervisor - Crystal Lake Park District, Vice president ACA Illinois

Send us a textThe best social media strategies for your day campReview us on iTunes!If you’re reading this in mid-June, we know you’re busy, so we’ll get right to it.Social media is here to stay, at least for now. No matter what you personally believe about social media, it’s one of the easiest ways to reach out and directly engage both parents and campers.It’s not that you should ditch your other marketing efforts, but if you aren’t putting some intentional time into your social media, you are potentially missing out on both new acquisitions and on keeping your current clients excited about next summer.To help you start, continue or revitalize your social media presence, Andy, Ehren and Sam are joined by Adam Baranker from Jeff Lake Camp and two day camp social media coordinators, Blair from Camp Robin Hood and Shelby from Liberty Lake Day Camp. They are here to give you the e-kick in the pants that you may need to get started now on your strategy for this summer and next off-season.Tune in to hear about:Who is using what? Where are the parents and where are your campers on social media?How to talk to your marketing department or social media team about what engages parents and kids the best?How to use Instagram stories to sky-rocket your social media engagementWhy it’s so important to cultivate great photos and videos this summerFacebook and Instagram are huge, is it worth exploring Snapchat and other platforms?What camps are doing great things on social media and who should you follow?What are you doing to engage your parents and campers on social media now, and during the summer? Let us know in the comments below! Day Camp Tip of the Week!Andy: Staff Weekly Reports - Get the inside scoop on what’s going on at camp. (check out this example from Crystal Lake - Thanks, Sam!)Sam: Statue TagEhren:  Weekly summary sheets that go out to parents to tell them what their kids did while at camp.Adam: Switching up just the name of some camp favourite activities to keep things fresh!YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp

Send us a textMental Health and YOUR Day Camp StaffAs you prepare for your staff training, you no doubt have heard everyone and their aunt talking about mental health and maybe even mental health issues with camp staff.If you haven’t, one stat should perk your ears up. About 32 percent of American teens between the ages of 13 and 18 have an anxiety disorder at some point.Our Gen Z staff are growing up in an anxiety-driven world, with not many coping skills and then are put in to a hugely stressful environment at camp.We need to help our staff this summer and the Day Camp Pod is here to help you, help your staff have the best summer they can.We’re bringing out the big guns for this episode. The man, the legend, Bob Ditter, and the woman behind the mentally well staff at Liberty Lake, Cathi Fischer are here alongside Ehren, Sam and Andy to bring you the some very practical tips and training ideas.Tune in to hear about:Where this mental health crisis comes from?Why camp seems to trigger anxiety and high stress in staffHow to educate staff to be able to be normalize stress and learn from stressful momentsSpecific techniques on how to help a staff member in crisisHow to build in mental health supports into your staffing, training and camp routinesWhat are you doing this summer to help your staff be the mentally best they can be? Want more ideas and inspiration on how to handle staff and mental health? - Dr. G is here to help!Episode 5 of First Class Counsellors - Mental Health, Breaks and Self Care for Camp Staff with guest Dr. G!Travis Allison’s interview with Dr. GCheck out Dr. G’s “Prescription for Preventing Stressed out Staff. Camp staff, talk to your directors about this and send them these links to check it out.Watch the video hereFind out more here YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectEhren Gluckstein, Assistant Director - Camp Robin Hood, Director - Robin Hood Leadership Centre & Corporate Rentals, Volunteer Ontario Camps Association (OCA) annual conference/accreditation visitor Sam Thompson, Recreation Supervisor -

Send us a text Getting the best out of your Day Camp staff during staff training. It’s May and that means that it’s time to start thinking about staff training!When it comes to staff training at day camp, we all know that time is precious. You have basically the same amount of training to cover as our overnight camping colleagues, but with maybe half the time!On top of that, we are training staff members that are one or two generations away from us that learn, grow and bond much differently than you did back when you were a first year 16 year old counsellor.It’s hugely challenging, but hugely important and the Day Camp Pod wants to help!Joining Andy, Sam and Ehren is the brilliant “Professor Dave” Dave Malter who brings his vast camp, training and consulting experience to the pod to give you the inside scoop on how to level up your staff training.Tune in to hear about:How to best engage this generation of camp staff and get them to buy-in to what they’re learning. (hint - you need to ask them)Different formats and scheduling ideas for trainingWhat are the big ticket items and areas of focus to coverHow to be intentional about what you are including to maximize the little time you may haveHow to foster and build community within the constraints of not being an overnight campOur industry is all about sharing, so let’s share! What is your #1 tip for selling your Day Camp? Let us know in the comments! DCP - DAY CAMP PROGRAM IDEA OF THE WEEK - LEVEL UP YOUR DAY CAMP!Andy: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! (see image below)Sam: Home made stress-balls - Pom poms in balloonsEhren: Cre

Send us a textRetaining, Engaging and Training Your Day Camp Staff Like A ProSo, we did one episode on Day Camp Staffing, and we said we were going to another one.Let’s get real, the more Kim Aycock the better, right? How could it be any better?How about we add in a little DR. G to the mix!Oh YES! WE DID THAT.As we inch (leap) closer and closer to the summer, staffing is surely starting to eclipse many of our other responsibilities. Consequently, this can be a little stressful because we may be balancing still filling staff spots while intentionally starting to create and foster community with your new hires.To help YOU navigate this staff season, The Day Camp Pod’s triumphant trio (Andy, Sam and Ehren) are joined by the brilliant Kim Aycock and the one and only Dr. G!Listen in to find out about:How to keep staff on board and avoid being “ghosted”Different platforms and methods to keep staff engaged as the summer gets closerCreative ways to help staff get their paperwork and other business items inHow to use your returning staff to begin creating community with the new staffHow to begin to invest in your staff’s future and show that you really care about their growthWhat are you doing this year to be intentional about retaining quality staff this summer? Let us know in the comments below! BONUS RESOURCES AND ARTICLES - Because Dr G and Kim are great and they think you’re pretty neat.Kim Aycock’s Resources:ACA (4 videos + downloadable handouts)Project Real Job (articles and blogs)GhostingWhat effective leaders knowDr. G’s Rx for preventing stressed out staff:Watch the video hereFind out more hereDCP - DAY CAMP PROGRAM IDEA OF THE WEEK - LEVEL UP YOUR DAY CAMP!We’ll be back with the DCP next episode! (Seriously thought, did you check out those resources just above this one?YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectEhren Gluckstein, Assistant Director - Camp Robin Hood, Director - Robin Hood Leadership Centre & Corporate Rentals, Volun

Send us a textGetting bums on the bus. Selling your Day Camp like a pro.Overheard in your camp office:“Hello? _______ Day Camp how can I help you?”“Oh, you’re looking to register for this summer?”“I’m so sorry, but we’re full for this summer. We’ve actually been full since April, but I can absolutely put you on our waiting list if a spot opens up!”- scene -How awesome would it be to hear that conversation come from the office?Whether you’ve heard that in reality or just a far off dream, you know that the only way to make that happen is to put the work in and effectively sell your program. However, one of the tricky blessings that we have as camp pros, is that unlike Apple and Amazon’s army of marketing employees, we do it on our own, likely on an out-dated camp laptop and likely next to a STACK of other work we have on the go.When it comes to selling your camp like a pro, it would be easy, and maybe even fair, to throw up your hands and turn to a higher power to fill camp. However, not that we can confirm nor deny that a higher power will or won’t help, it’s not as hard as you might think to dip our toe, leg or entire body into the marketing waters.Enter The Day Camp Pod’s latest guest pro, Laura “Twigs” Johnson! Twigs joins Andy, Sam and Ehren to share her stories and best practices from starting not just one, but FIVE programs all in very short order. Laura and her team work wonders to sell her Leadership Academy programs, and we are so grateful for her openness and willingness to share with all of our listeners. You ROCK Twigs!Tune in to hear about:How to take the leap if you’re thinking of starting a new camp or new program.How do you do it on your own? If you don’t go the Not for Profit route, how does this help/hinder growth?Treating your summer business like an e-commerce website to maximize exposure and engagement.How do you onboard new customers and keep intentionally leading them to the purchase?What you can do to simplify your marketing plan and not get lost in the weeds of marketing.Our industry is all about sharing, so let’s share! What is your #1 tip for selling your Day Camp? Let us know in the comments! Bonus Content - Get your Day Camp Pod swag!Want to thank Bunkline for hooking us up with Day Camp Pod hoodies - you too are able to create your own Day Camp Pod swag! https://www.bunkline.com/category-s/566.htm  - ryan@bunkline.com DCP - DAY CAMP PROGRAM IDEA OF THE WEEK - LEVEL UP YOUR DAY CAMP!Andy: 4-Square and other “old school” playground gamesSam: “Pac-Man” TagEhren: Tough MudderTwigs: Rock throwing- bought pots and pans, gave different points for different things - KIDS MADE THE RULES! YOUR HOSTS:Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp, past president ACA NY/NJ, partner/founder Everwood Day Camp, founder/past president NJ Camps Government Affairs ProjectEh