Direct link to this video on YouTube.

There are many applications for Twitter in for Summer Camp Directors. One use is to start an account for your camp, add some of the Twitter API code to your web site, and use Twitter to add fresh content to your web site without going through your web master. My tweets come onto TheCampDirector.com web site in this fashion. Many summer camps, recreation programs, or continuing education departments want to push out short messages to their customers but find it hard to make quick changes to their web site. Twitter can provide a quick way to add relevant updates to your web site.

What ideas do you have to use Twitter for your summer camp or recreation program?

Related posts:

1. What If We Ran Summer Camp Like Twitter?

Yesterday I was speaking to a room full of people involved in summer camp programming and only one had heard of the American Camp Association. This is not uncommon because department on campus who run continuing ed programs are often separate from parks and recreation programming or camp programming.  There also can be a lot of movement in these positions so they are frequently bringing in people who have not been working in the summer camp industry. Clearly the ACA has more work to do to get the word out to this segment of summer programmers.

One resource I am recommending to EVERYONE in the LERN organization at the confernece this weekend is Marketing Over Coffee with Chris Penn and John Wall. LERN has an outstanding history of old media marketing and they are working hard to move their members into the world of social media marketing. Marketing Over Coffee is a podcast that can be listened to on your computer or downloaded to your mp3 player. John Wall and Chris Penn understand the importance of the LERN motto “information that works” and they deliver that weekly.

What resources or tips to you have to people new to social media marketing?

Related posts:

1. Marketing with Social Media: Prerequisites from Christopher Penn
2. Inbound Marketing - How Can Summer Camps Apply The New Rules of Marketing for Summer Camp?
3. Summer Camp and Recreation Directors Venturing into Social Media

Disney has a new “Buy 4 Get 3 FREE!” promotion which lets guests buy a four-night/four-day package for a stay at a Disney Resort and get three additional nights at the same resort free. Theme park tickets for the length of stay will be included in the package. There does seem to be some ticket flexibility if you need more hotel days than tickets. But wait, there is more: Plan to visit from January 4-March 29 and guests will receive a $200 Disney Gift Card at check-in - good for food and merchandise at participating locations at the resort. The overall “Buy 4 Get 3 FREE!” promotion is good over most nights from January 4-April 4 and again from April 19-June 27. Advance booking at WDW were down in October 2008 which may be why Disney is offering this great deal.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution November 7, 2008: Get three free nights at Walt Disney World

Listen to the podcast WDW Today’s discussion on this on this Buy 4,Get 3 Free

To get the details go to the Walt Disney World Site - Buy 4 Get 3 Free or visit one of my favorite travel Walt Disney World Travel websites: Dreams Unlimited Travel, Small World Vacations, or Mouse Fan Travel. They are often various savings for AAA members, ACA Conference rates, and some combination of fees depending on how many park ticket days you need. I HIGHLY recommend going through a one of the above travel sites above because they live in the world of Disney travel and look out for deals as prices change to save you even more money.

Although I am confident in any of the aforementioned sites, I have used Carrie Johnson with Small World Vacations:
email: CarrieWDWTravel [at] pioneernet.net
Phone:  425-242-0145
Toll Free Outside WA: 877-498-9348

photo credit [Cinderella’s Castle - Walt Disney World: cdharrison]

Related posts:

1. Camp Directors Preparing for ACA National 2009 at Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World

As a camp director or anyone working with young people, the Ypulse blog should be on your list of daily reads. She and her writers cover youth marketing to teens, tweens & Generation Y.  It is a great place to keep up-to-date on what is going on in the lives of the clients we are serving at camp and hiring as staff.

No related posts.

Related posts:

1. Marketing Over Coffee - One of The Best Resources for Summer Camp and Recreation Professionals to Learning About New Media Markeing
2. Marketing with Social Media: Prerequisites from Christopher Penn
3. New Media Conference for Camp Directors Interested in Technology

Once again the American Camp Association (ACA) will hold the National ACA Camp Conference February 17-20, 2009 at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World (WDW).  As a very frequent traveler to WDW, here are my favorite resources for camp directors attending the conference.

The Conference Hotel - Coronado Springs Resort:  Listen to a discussion on the podcast WDW Today Episode 477 - Coronado Springs….A Review.  Many who attend and review WDW hotels do not like Coronado Springs.  This is in part because it is a convention hotel and less of a Disney resort.  One of the big criticisms is the size and layout of the resort.  If your room is far from the convention center, it can easily take you a 10-15 minutes to walk to and from your room.  Personally, I like the resort. This is in part because I have stayed there so many times and I know my way around.  I also purchased a Coronado Refillable mug about eight years ago and feel like I really have a great ROI each time I go back.

Community Forum
The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com - The Internet’s Largest and Friendliest Disney Community

Websites
WDW Info - The Internet’s Largest Unofficial On-Line Guide to Walt Disney World
WDW Touring Plans  - a website companion to the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - essential if you are going to the parks

Web Radio Shows/Podcasts
WDW Today Podcast is an interactive webcast/podcast that covers various topics from around Walt Disney World
WDW Radio a Podcast featuring Walt Disney World news, rumors, trivia and guest interviews.
The DIS Unplugged podcast is a weekly roundtable discussion that discuss all aspects of planning a Disney vacation.

Books/Articles
Disney World Rookie Mistakes to Avoid (from WDWinfo)
The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009 (Unofficial Guides)
The Complete Walt Disney World 2009

Related posts:

1. Going to the American Camp Association Conference - Check Out this Walt Disney World Buy 4 Get 3 FREE
2. Blog World and New Media Expo 2008 - Summer Camps Can Learn to Incorporate New Media

Camp directors have to be experts in a number of areas from Child Development to State Regulations to Marketing.  We cover a vast knowledge base and it can be a challenge to keep up with content as it changes.  The evolution to the internet was a big leap for camps. Finally, nearly everyone is online.  Social Media is the next big change. Camps are still trying to grasp the idea that they cannot control what others say about them online.  While the content Christoper Penn is talking about in this video may be a more advanced level, it will change the way you look at your online marketing.  The discussion on if and how you should get into social media is one camp directors need to start having.

What is your summer camp doing in the areas of online marketing and social media?

Related posts:

1. Marketing Over Coffee - One of The Best Resources for Summer Camp and Recreation Professionals to Learning About New Media Markeing
2. New Media Conference for Camp Directors Interested in Technology
3. Inbound Marketing - How Can Summer Camps Apply The New Rules of Marketing for Summer Camp?

 Keren Lehavot, MA, presented findings from an exploratory survey to determine the online activity of graduate students in psychology. On the one hand, she said, these students find social media provide “relatively effortless socializing, both personally and professionally.” But on the other hand, these sites raise the possibility of personal information leaking unintentionally into psychologists’ professional lives. “The Internet has redefined the process of self-disclosure,” she said.

When speaking to groups who are new to social technology, the challenge is often two fold. First, is fundamental usage hurdle: what is it and how does it work.   The second challenge is often  bigger, addressing their fears associated with using new media and social technology.  Summer camp directors, school districts, recreation professionals are understandably cautious about any information about children going on the web.  They are also, like many big corporations, very protective of their brand and fear what they cannot control.  Having their staff posting photos on the web or users writing reviews on yelp is new territory they have not fully grasped.

While gathering my slides for my session I was listening to a great podcast by C.C. Chapman called Managing the Gray. In Ten Things in Ten Minutes, C. C. ran down a list of ten social media tools that everyone should try in order to get a quick introduction to the space. As most of what he does, it is brilliant primarily because it is simple.

This will be an exciting speaking season.  Check back here for the updates and come say hi if our paths cross.

Photo Credit: ninjapoodles

Related posts:

1. Blog World and New Media Expo 2008 - Summer Camps Can Learn to Incorporate New Media
2. Marketing Over Coffee - One of The Best Resources for Summer Camp and Recreation Professionals to Learning About New Media Markeing
3. Marketing with Social Media: Prerequisites from Christopher Penn

Her reply: “Just wondering if u had heard of anything about john murphy there’s all this stuff on facebook like pray for john n I hope he makes it . . .Makes me sad/worried. Heard anything?  Don’t mean to ruin the wedding but john fell out of a 4th story window and fractured his skull .. . He is in a coma. Hope he will live at this point.”

I run a day camp and as a camp director, this is one of the calls we never want to get.  Of course we fear anything happening to kids or staff in our care but next to that, a staff member gravely injured at any time is high on the list of events we plan for . . . and hope to never encounter.

The Details
Taken from what his family has posted at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnmurphy

John fell from a 4th story window in the early morning hours on Saturday, July 19th, 2008.  They know that John and his dear friend had gone to bed and John must have gotten hot in the night and tried to open a window that was stuck and he lost his footing. He is in intensive care in very critical condition due to the severe head trauma. His other injuries include a fractured scapula, clavicle, three fractures in his neck, all on the outer bony processes of the vertebrae. No fracture in his neck threatens the spinal cord. He has a swollen knee and slightly swollen left foot, scraped up fingers and toes with minor problems.

The Process of Contacting Staff
As you can imagine, word was out on Facebook first.  Both of John’s sisters posted an update to their friends.  As anything on the internet in a well connected community, word spread like wild fire.  John is an extremely well loved young man. Just the sort of guy you want working at your camp.  This was his second year in our camp and he went to high school with at least 15 other staff members. His long time best friend (who was with him that night) worked at camp as did his college room mate.  This sort of news was going to devastate our team on many levels. We were exactly half way through the summer, mid-way through a session and over 400 kids were coming back on Monday.  From my years of crisis response in the public school setting, I knew getting accurate information out quickly to staff was essential.  It would be better to give them time to process this at home rather than getting hit with it Monday morning.  We also scheduled a mandatory staff meeting for Monday morning.  Regardless of John’s condition, we knew staff would want some time together before campers showed up.  Thanks to facebook and my assistant directors who were admins on our facebook camp group, we were able to message everyone within 30 minutes of that first text message I received.  We activated our crisis team who were checking into our organization’s resources for grief support, additional staff, etc.  We did have staff standing by to make calls to campers on the weekend had we received word that John did not survive the fall.  We also called the young CILT (age 13) who had been working with John most of the summer. Amasingly, she chose to come into work on Monday to be with the campers in their group.

Preparing for the Monday Morning Staff Meeting
John had surgery Sunday night and was out by the time I woke-up to check his web site.  The family was now posting regularly to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnmurphy. Caring Bridge is a free and simple service for people going through a critical illness.  By this point many of the staff were able to get the family’s journal updates instantly on their phone.  We were greeted with this message prior to our meeting:

MONDAY, JULY 21, 2008 04:44 AM, PDT
. . .John went in last night around 9 for the bilateral craniotomy procedure which lasted approx. 5 hours. The results of the surgery are not ideal. His condition is very grave. John is comfortable and his body is still strong - but the impact of his fall to his head is severe.

Please pray for John, our family, and friends.
This is a difficult day. We need a miracle.

There have been difficult days at camp and as a school psychologist I have been on many crisis response teams . . . called into schools that have lost teachers and students (sometimes in the same accident).  This Monday morning meeting was going to be different.  I was not the outsider observing the grief - trying to console.  The faces looking at me weren’t teachers and students I did not know.  They were kids (primarily 15-22 yr olds).  My young staff, many of whom I knew as campers.  All so sad - - looking lost and confused . . . Imagining that I was going to bring some relief or some sort of solution as I have done so many other times in their life.

Determined Not To Cry
I was determined not to cry at this meeting.  Certainly there were no tears left in me at this point.  There is always that awkward silence when someone starts to cry and no one knows what to do.  The crier just wants it to stop and the watchers are not sure if what they do will make it worse or better.  Trying to avoid that at all costs, I shed a few more tears in the copyroom with my facility manager, took a deep breath, and entered the small gym where all 70+ staff sat crowded together with their shoes off so they didn’t damage the gymnastics mats.  I took one look at all those sad and shocked faces, and my eyes just flooded, and the tears streamed down.  I have 2 great assistants who were there getting the meeting started.  (Little did they know it was because I was crying in the copy room with my facility manager.)   One of them put his arm on my shoulder and with that gesture I had enough strength to pull myself together . . . . But what in the world was I going to say?

Find the Words and Dealing with the Logistics of the Day
At camp training we talk about what sort of business we are in.  At all levels of participation, from camper to director, we are in the ‘life skills business.’  All I could think of, looking at the staff, was that I really had not wanted this to be the life-skill they learned.  At the meeting we got everyone caught-up on all the details about John and the accident.  Handed out tissue and talked about how the day might go.  Given that over 400 kids were showing up for camp, (in thirty minutes) we needed a plan for how to cope.  We had subs for John and his friends who were with him at the hospital.  The kids in John’s group were seven and eight year olds.  With 7-13 year olds at our day camp we decided to let the camp community know generally that John was injured and that we would be making cards for him.  I was silently very concerned that if John did not make it through the day that we would be dealing with a different situation entirely.  Since many of the staff were plugged in with the updates from the web site, I asked them not to pass any additional information to the campers, especially if any worse news about his condition broke during the camp day.  We cleared a room at camp and designated it as a place staff could go if they needed a quiet space.  We stocked it with tissue and some poster paper for staff to write notes to John.  Ultimately I had to stress the need for all kids to be supervised and safe.  Despite our grief - we were still responsible for other people’s children who really were not going to be that affected by this immediate news.  The campers were going to make their “get-well cards” and then want to move on to play.  It was times like this that we would need to rally and put our game-face on when were we out on the field.  Behind the scenes, in the dugout, we drop our charade.

We ended the meeting with a minute of silence for John and let the staff have the last 20 minutes with each other.  Promptly at the camp start time, everyone took their marks with smiles on, doing their goofy dances, and high-fiving kids.  I can’t recall a moment when I was more proud of the tenacity and maturity of our team.

Surviving the Rest of the Day/Week
The rest of the day went remarkably well.  As predicted, the campers did not miss a beat.  They made their cards, signed the poster and moved on completely unaware of the gravity of the situation.   As any good camp administration, we planned for the worst and hoped/prayed for the best.  A draft email was edited and on hold should news come in of John’s passing.  At that point, parents would need to be informed, phone calls would go out to John’s campers specifically.  I hesitated every time someone from the hospital called or texted me.  I thought, “Was this the news I so feared?”

Parents came into the office, unaware of what we were dealing with.  It took all our patience and service orientation to greet them with a smile when they complained at us about their camper losing their towel.  I just wanted to say, “Really?  Is this what you want to complain about to us today? Really?”

John is a fighter,  his family is tight knit (pictured left), his spirit is strong, and his will to live even stronger.  People all over the world were praying him back to life.  Friends and family drove in from across the state and dozens of people flooded the ICU.  As John passed the 72 hour mark - still alive - we all rejoiced.  As his condition stabilized, my focus shifted to the impact of this tragedy on those left to grieve.  While I knew him only 2 years, at least 15 staff members went to school with him, several knowing him since early childhood.  How were they going to cope?  Each experiencing this trauma in a different way.  How was I going to cope?  One thing that helped me was composing my thoughts in short letters to John for his guestbook.  Initially it was a way to document our collective journey as a staff and provide something of a record for John to read when he pulled through this.  In retrospect, it turned out to be a very therapeutic way to express what I was experiencing.  Ultimately, it provided additional opportunities for healing as staff and strangers read them and sent me notes of gratitude.  I have re-posted those letters to John on this blog and with links below.  He is currently in a coma-like persistent vegetative state receiving amazing treatment at an Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital to help him “wake-up.”  You can get the most up-to-date information at John’s Caring Bridge Site.

What I Learned

1. It is essential to have a mechanism in place to communicate with your staff when they are not at camp.  Text messages, email, and Facebook were essential. I suggest all the staff put my cell phone number in their phone at training and let them know they can text message me, email me, call me, etc.
2. Having prior relationships developed with my staff meant that they got in touch with me immediately when news broke and they kept me posted from the hospital.
3. Young adults and teens are truly amazing.  I already knew this and am always encouraged about the future of this country when I see how my staff can do great things when asked to rise to the occasion.
4. Having extensive training as a crisis responder helped significantly as did being part of a big organization with grief and counseling resources.   If you are a smaller camp if would be essential to have a resource list in place before each summer.
5. It is hard to be the one charge when the crisis affects you as well.
6. Be satisfied and content with the way you spend every day because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
7. Make sure people around you know you love and appreciate them.

Additional Crisis Resources

• National Association of School Psychologists - great resources in the Educator’s Section
• When Tragedy Strikes: What Schools Should Do
• International School Psychologists Association - Crisis Resources
• Crisis Camp Management by Will Evans posted on the ACA Web Site

Related posts:

1. Letters to John #2: When a Camp Staff Member is Critically Injured
2. Letters to John #1: When a Camp Staff Member is Critically Injured
3. Letters to John #4: When a Camp Staff Member is Critically Injured

Summer Camps have often been slow to adopt new technology.  There are a few reasons for this:

• Many traditional camps focus on getting children outdoors and participating in activities that the cannot normally do at home.
• A large group of the well established camp directors and owners did not grow up with new media and technology.
• Residential camps are often located in areas that have poor internet and cell reception.

There are conferences that can introduce new media to beginners and provide an abundance of resources and supports.  BlogWorld & New Media Expo is one such conference.

Taken from their site:

The 2008 BlogWorld & New Media Expo will take place September 20-21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with the exclusive “Executive & Entrepreneur” conference beginning September 19th. The first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media. In addition to the only industry-wide exhibition, BlogWorld features the largest blogging conference in the world including more than 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and internet-savvy business. If you are currently blogging, vlogging, podcasting, producing other forms of new media content, entering the new media industry, or just want to know what the blogosphere is all about, then you need to be at the most comprehensive blogging convention.

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2. Summer Camp and Recreation Directors Venturing into Social Media
3. Camp Directors Preparing for ACA National 2009 at Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World