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Find full notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/2021-staff-recruitment-and-retention

We’re not exactly sure what the summer of 2021 will look like, but we know we’ll need a great team of staff! Here’s how to get them on board, and keep them around!

As we navigate the pandemic waters, the staffing landscape has skewed a bit. Some might say that potential staff are more available than ever. But are they willing to work at camp? Are their parents willing to allow them to work at camp? And how has the proposition of working at day camp changed.

We have tremendous benefits over most any other summer jobs, and our challenge continues to be figuring out how to translate the camp experience into a language that neophytes can understand and appreciate.

We welcome Kim Aycock and Jolly Corley to the Pod to help share some best practices with our listeners.

In this episode, we cover:

• Recruitment: what advantages do we have within/coming out of a pandemic?
• Internships and travel abroad cancelled or limited
• Utilizing alumni connections
• How to get people back to your camp in 2021, when your camp didn’t run in 2020?
• Staff Culture = Camp Culture
• Panic & being “stuck”  is real
• So many questions, so few answers
• Importance of communication/transparency
• Be a Stress Detective
• Return to Your Values (before, current, ideal)
• Why reinvent the wheel - look to great leaders in times of crisis  (Winston Churchill) for guidance “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” — Winston Churchill
• Frame the Summer, Invoke Destiny, Define Victory/Success, Redefine Hardship

Do you have a suggestion for a future show? Let us know by email: [email protected]

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Day Camp Tip of the Week

Andy: Intentional Staff Bonding - Tie Dye Night

Sam: Mafia Game

Tiff: Survey staff what victory/success looks like at the end of this summer (goals). Cool tool Opinion X helps with surveys: https://www.opinionx.co/

Kim: Disruptus Game (great for ideation, innovation...Disruptus revolves around new ways to create, transform, or improve ideas or objects)

Jolly: Pool Noodle Games for Social Distancing

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YOUR HOSTS:

• Andy Pritikin, Owner/Director - Liberty Lake Day Camp
• Tiffany Gratton-McDuffie, Executive Director - Purposeful Play
• Sam Thompson, Recreation Supervisor - Crystal Lake Park District
• Jolly Corley, Speaker and Director - Camp Robindel
• Kim Aycock, Speaker, Trainer, Teacher and Go Camp Pro Contributor - www.kimaycock.com

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SPONSORS:

Thanks to our wonderful sponsors who help make this Go Camp Pro podcast possible:

• AM Skier Insurance    http://www.amskier.com/
• Commercial Recreation Specialists (CRS)