Directing Camp Today

Do prospective parents trust you? How does your camp come across to a prospective parent* in those first few interactions? We all know that kids have more decision-making power than they used to, and choosing a camp is no exception. Kids may be drawn to the activities, the facilities, the trips, or what they see on Instagram. But ultimately, parents need to trust you. I've long said that camp-seeking parents don't always know what they're looking for until they've found it. T

As camp gets closer, the amount of time you have to spare dwindles exponentially. So, I'll keep this brief. As a trained social worker and former camp director, during the summer I often serve as on-call mental health consultation for camp leaders across North America. Think of it as having a trusted colleague on standby, as someone who understands both clinical best practices and the realities of camp. When something "big" happens at camp that you weren’t quite trained for,

At the upcoming Tri-State and New England Camp Conferences, I am presenting on the "business of camp." The business of camp is always on my mind. I love working with directors who don't love working on business aspects of camp. Why? I get to see their passion for their camp's mission and the experiences they can provide for kids, which is absolutely something that I share, as a camp founder and former director. But at the end of the day, the bottom line has to work so that di

Does your camp have a decision-making process of what to do, for whom, and when? How did you come up with your process? What factors led to the creation of these policies? Does your camp send a camper home if they are in acute mental health distress? Does your camp try to assess and keep the camper, where possible? To be fair, these are questions that many camps have not yet answered. We'll start by breaking it down simply. For a more detailed analysis, see this blog post fro

Dear Directors, I recently spoke to Immersive1st's Dan Weir about a few things - one of them being camp leadership teams. I have spent a lot of time connecting with directors about this in recent months, and I find that it's top of mind for many. How do we know we have the right positions, both seasonally and year-round? How can we make our wonderful current leadership team members shine even more for us? How can we bring in new team members and/or change job descriptions? Al

I have the privilege of visiting camps during the summer and speaking to directors - sometimes at all hours - about how camp is going. Some of my visits and calls are calm catch-up sessions, some include helping camps through a crisis, but most are somewhere in between. Here is what I typically hear: "Like every summer, we've had our ups and downs." The weather-related tragedy in Texas this past summer affected us all deeply. It made us think about the immense responsibility

How do we get staff to understand, retain, and keep learning through those long summer weeks? We all know it’s difficult for anyone to remember all the information we throw at them during staff orientation week(s), especially new staff. Here, I suggest some ways to help guide them with a little more substance: Use ongoing coaching throughout the summer. In order to keep staff learning and flexing the muscles they started building during pre-camp time, ongoing coaching is a gr

The Changing Landscape of Camps: Insights from Nick Teich With conference season in full swing, we look to make connections new and old, wrap our heads around what the trends in the industry are, and plan how we can make camp even better this summer. As a follow-up to my recent Camping Magazine article entitled Camp Director Insights and the Importance of it All, I was a guest on the Camp Owners Podcast. Though it has certain aims at the privately-owned camps, this episode, a

For a lot of directors I work with, camp is going great, and they wouldn't change too much. Still, they have goals and want help with strategy, problem-solving, and another set of eyes on things to help them in decision-making processes. An almost universal sentiment is that running camp is getting more challenging, not less. Why is that? The campers, staff, and parents all have more needs and challenges. Insurance and other costs keep rising while it can be more difficult to

Your first reaction to the title is likely, "send them home and get them help." And you wouldn't necessarily be wrong. But statements, threats, and sometimes casual talk about self-harm and suicide seems to be on the rise with kids. This is anything but a black and white subject. There are many nuances to explore. When I was directing camp, it was with a population that was marginalized and vulnerable, and thus campers often came into camp with depression and anxiety due to h

As I drove to Maine for another great camp meeting yesterday, I turned on The New York Times' podcast, The Daily. The title of the episode: "The Parents Aren't All Right: Parents report being more stressed than other adults, and the U.S. surgeon general now considers raising a family a health risk." Listen to it here. The theme is "intensive parenting," which is explored from a few angles in the episode. In the past month or so, I've spoken to many directors who felt exhauste

Here we go! Camper recruitment season is in full swing. It's a race to enroll new kids at your camp and to retain returners. As I continue to see camp advertising not only through the lens of a camp director and director coach and consultant, but also through that of a parent of young kids, I begin to think more critically. When was the last time you looked at the front page of your website as if you were a prospective camp parent? Parents and guardians are overwhelmed with a

I'll be back with so much to talk about from Summer 2024....stay tuned! -Nick

If you are at a private/independent, "for-profit" camp and ever think about camperships (scholarships)/financial assistance for campers, please click here to take this two-question, very quick survey. I know it's a very busy time of year! Thanks, Nick

Through coaching camp directors and certainly from my time as a camp director, I know quite well that conflict within staff can always arise. It is as an issue that is present in every organization. It is simply an outcome of many humans working, and sometimes living, together. Lots of camps have been thinking about this lately. (Maine Summer Camps even hosted a director meeting about it.) Staff conflict can be tackled in many different ways, causing wildly different outcomes

Camp teaches so many of the important skills that kids don’t get a chance to practice in the increasingly digital-heavy world, such as: socializing solely face-to-face, starting and continuing conversations, working through conflict, being proud of succeeding outside their comfort zone, feeling physical exhaustion after playing all day outside, and much more. You already know that. Now, your campers’ parents/guardians have bought into camp. They’ve signed up. But are they rea

Several of my clients have often asked me: "what do other camps' year-round teams look like?" Although I know some answers anecdotally, I decided to survey camp websites. I ended up using data from 204 camps in 44 states. I started with more, but some of them did not necessarily have the information I was looking for, or the information as difficult to interpret (more on this below). Of the camp websites surveyed, 161 were overnight camps, 36 were day camps, and 7 were day an

In recent months, I've spoken to over 30 camp directors about various subjects. This is just one of several blog posts I'll be writing about what we have discussed. When asked how they balance everything they do to make their camps run smoothly, many were able to give succinct and practical answers. But even some of these directors, and many others, admitted that they’re often overwhelmed, have poor work-life balance, and are still in trial-and-error phases or that they don’t

Just within the last month, I have interviewed 26 camp directors about their various experiences. As we wrap up 2023, I wanted to show you just a glimpse of what I heard in these interviews. I look forward to delving into many of these categories in more detail throughout 2024. Let's start with the positive, which is why we're all in this business to begin with: camp is the antidote to all that is rough for kids right now. It doesn't mean camp will be easy, and we know kids a

As winter break approaches, college students come home and (maybe?) start thinking about warmer days and what to do. It's time to think staff hiring. As a former camp director, a social worker, and as someone who has lots of contact with camp directors across North America, one of the common themes I hear - and I know - is that some staff who seemed "fine" on interviews show up at camp without a good grasp of what they have gotten themselves into. The results of these situati