Throwback Thurber (From the Desk of Professor Dave)

With the weather turning towards Spring and Summer around the corner, many of you will start collecting information from Parents. Here is a fantastic post from Dr. Thurber about one piece of that correspondence.

Enjoy and let the countdown continue!

Dear Parents,

Help Us Help You. Append the Health Form.

It’s not as bad as your income tax form, but most camp health forms are pretty detailed.  Beyond the basic demographics, there’s immunization and illness history, allergies, medications, permission to treat, and data from your son or daughter’s most recent physical.

And now I’m suggestion you add a sheet of information?  Append the health form?  That’s right.  You know your child better than anyone.  Indeed, there are things about him or her that have taken you (and maybe a pediatrician, nurse, or psychiatrist) years to figure out.  Without your help, your child’s surrogate caregivers—his counselors or cabin leaders—don’t stand a chance at figuring all that out in just a few weeks.

“But wait,” you protest, “I don’t want my child to be labeled.  I don’t want him known throughout camp as The ADD Kid or The IEP Kid or The Prozac Kid.”  These are valid concerns.  If the camp’s staff isn’t properly trained on parameters of confidentiality and child development, there’s a chance the information you provide on the health form will be disrespected, over-shared, or communicated out of context.  Thankfully, more and more staff receive proper training on handling children’s private health information.  If the camp doesn’t tell you how they’ll treat confidential information, be sure to ask.

Once assured the camp will respect your son or daughter’s privacy, your next objection might be, “Isn’t camp a purely recreational experience?  Why would my child need to continue taking medication at a place that’s just about fun?”  The simplest answer to that question is: If the medication is helpful in one setting, it’s likely to be helpful in another.  Yes, camp is fun, but it’s also socially, emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively demanding.  In good ways.  Camp is a powerful accelerator of positive youth development.  And that development is a byproduct of all kinds of healthy risks and challenges, each of which depend on young people’s social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children not take medication holidays while at camp.  However, if you’re considering that option, be sure to discuss it with your child’s prescribing physician and your camp.  Keeping camp in the dark about recent medication changes is both unethical and unfair—to your child, her new caregivers, and the camp’s health care team.

So you see, it’s important to complete the camp’s health form honestly and thoroughly.  Simply put, your candor and completeness put the camp staff in the best possible position to care for your child.  But the health form is generic; your child is a custom entity.  For that reason, I urge you to type a paragraph or two describing your son or daughter.  Share details about his or her temperament, routines, personal strengths and weaknesses, and social, learning, and coping styles.

The more camp staff understand about what makes your child tick, the better they can meet your child’s needs…and the better experience your child is likely to have.  Camp health care professionals and front-line staff are tremendously grateful to read parents’ insightful reflections on the nature of their child.  It’s the perfect prerequisite to immersing your child in nature.

 

Meaningful Meetings – 15 Immediate Improvements

The word “meeting” can evoke negative emotions because most are long, boring, long, and sedentary. In this eye-opening webinar, Steve Maguire will explain 15 simple and practical meeting upgrades you can immediately implement to dramatically improve the way people experience meetings in your camp, school, or parks & rec program. Transform these necessary business gatherings from dreaded obligations to productive events that your staff look forward to attending!

Screen Shot 2016-03-22 at 5.47.18 PM

Throwback Thurber (From the Desk of Professor Dave)

If you haven’t engaged last summer’s staff in this off-season, you should read this!

Here is an awesome blog from Dr. Chris Thurber which is really relevant this time of year…enjoy!

Pull In; Push Out

Igniting Your Ambassadors

If you pulled your staff into a cohesive group this past summer, then they’ve embraced your mission. That’s something to be proud of. Random friendships abound at average camps, but the exceptional camps yield staff who would defend the camp with their lives; who claim their blood is the color of camp; who preach their willingness to spread the good word about the experience. You think to yourself: What fantastic marketing…and how wonderful it is that I’m not alone in living this vision! But do you coach your staff on how to be good ambassadors? Here’s how.

First, remind them that they represent camp every day of the off-season. If they’re wearing a camp sweatshirt while taking a selfie doing a keg stand, that’s a problem. Sadly, it’s a problem many staff don’t realize until a group of parents has already texted it around and called you on the phone. Camp gear is awesome; so is the way it amplifies good and bad behavior when your staff are wearing it.

Second, send them some mission-related literature. Perhaps something a staff member wrote this summer will inspire everyone. Perhaps a glowing evaluation from a parent will remind everyone why they work at camp. Perhaps a free subscription to Camp Business will further professionalize their attitudes and behaviors. The point is: Send them something cool to read. (By the way, all of my previous blogs and articles can be downloaded for free from CampSpirit.com. I’m just sayin’ J )

Third, enlist their help organizing local camp events. When you do home visits, camp fairs, or regional alumni gatherings, it’s important to invite local staff or recent alums so that they can infuse the event with youthful exuberance. Your including them also adds importance to their job and renews their sense of commitment to the organization.

Fourth, tap your staff talents for videography, podcasting, and graphic design to give your promotional materials, yearbook, or even your website a bit of a facelift. Or simply ask some of your staff to write content for some of these outlets. You’d be surprised at how insightful and sincere your most loyal staff are. Let go a bit and allow them to be the voice of camp from time to time.

Fifth, incentivize certifications. Now is the time to communicate to your staff that a lifeguarding certification is not only something camp will pay for, it’s also something camp will reward by adding $100 to their summer contract. Too many camp directors wait to remind staff about certs until the spring. Courses like Wilderness First Responder, Lifeguarding, Water Safety Instructor, and even CPR take some time to schedule when you’re a busy student. Jump on that now.

Your investment in your staff not only strengthens their hard and soft skills, it also makes them skilled spokespeople. Too often, we load training at the front of the season and forget about the long-tail success strategies that strengthen our programs in the months the follow closing day. This fall, push out your message and marketing with intentional ambassador instruction. It’s one of the best ways to pull in new campers.

From the Desk of Professor Dave

Welcome to the first Monthly Blog Post I will be writing for ExpertOnlineTraining. In addition to these blog posts, I will frequently be posting interesting articles and research from ExpertOnlineTraining Faculty.

So…here we go!

Are You Mapped for Success?

I was at a camp conference in San Diego a few months ago at a beautiful resort. I looked at this resort before arriving and while it seemed quirky, the pictures portrayed it as a stunning place on the water and not a bad place to spend a few days.

When I got to this property, the experience didn’t live up to the website or my expectations. I checked in and was handed a map of the property with no real further explanation. It is rare that I go to any hotel (I attend 12 conferences a year and travel for fun as much as possible) and get handed a map and sent on my way. This was odd and only got odder as the day went on. First, I couldn’t find my room at all (it wasn’t my map reading skills despite what my wife says) and I wasn’t the only one. I saw several other guests walking around like zombies with luggage, maps in hand and trying to figure out the complicated numbering system of this gorgeous resort.

Then, the kicker came in an unexpected conversation. After finally finding my little bungalow, I freshened up and left the room to head back to the lobby to meet up with some of my camp conference buddies. As I began to walk (sans map), I quickly realized I was completely lost in the lush jungle and the maze of roadways of the resort. And then, as if a mirage in the desert, I saw a staff member and thought I’d been saved. That staff member’s response to my request for directions to the LOBBY of the hotel HE WORKED AT, “It’s really complicated and I am not quite sure, just keep walking and you’ll get there eventually”. Yes, the perfect answer! Thanks, buddy.

What does this mean in terms of camp? Well, think about that first time parent who shows up for a tour on Visiting Day. Think about the first time camper who shows up for the first day of camp. What are you doing to teach your staff how to lead the way without a map? While I did eventually reach the lobby, I couldn’t help but keep thinking about how this ordeal made me feel as a customer. It also became a topic of discussion at the conference as many other attendees felt let down in the same way.

As you begin to structure your Staff Training, it is worth considering spending time on the concepts of Customer Service which may seem strange in a camp setting. Your staff may ask, “Aren’t we here to swim, play GaGa and make sure the kids are having fun?” While these are certainly cores to a successful summer, how we make our families feel welcome at every step of the way may be equally as important. It is all about the details and making sure ALL staff members, from top to bottom, are equipped with the tools they need to be the map instead of just handing one out!

Until next month, you can always email me at [email protected] with any staff training questions!

Want to read more about customer service? Here is a book I highly recommend: Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service by Dennis Snow.