The CampHacker Podcast

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Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/10/decoding-research

We need to start here. 

Before we get into how to use research to empower our marketing and recruiting efforts, we need to unpack the basics of research.

So, whether you’re a research buff or not, this episode is meant to get everyone on the same page before we really dig deep.

You’ll hear about:

• What are the basics of research and the process behind it that we need to know?
• How do we know who the right people to talk to when selecting candidates for qualitative research?
• Why it’s important that we ask kids and gain their insights in the research process
• Why it’s important to consider the context when the research was conducted.
• How do you find research on camp? How do you know what is worth reading?
  • Pro-tip: Use Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.ca/ 
    • Pro-pro-tip - just email the researcher and they may just give you a copy!

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• Dr. Mandi Baker, Researcher - Summer Camp, Outdoor Recreation, Sociology and Hospitality/Tourism - [email protected] 
• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro - [email protected]

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/10/setting-and-honoring-boundaries

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We are excited to kick off this, the 13th season of CampHacker with an episode that will especially resonate with those coming off of a wild summer.

We are grateful to our guest Kyrah Altman for not only suggesting the topic but for agreeing to come on the show! Kyrah is a summer camp alumni and is the co-founder, CEO and President of Let's Empower, Advocate, and Do (LEAD).

Kyrah Chris and Travis break down the art of setting boundaries and helping your staff do the same.

Welcome back!

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• Chris - The Big Idea Book Series
• Kyrah - Resurgence Burnout Recovery Journal - Link
• Travis - Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara - (🇺🇸 link) (🇨🇦 link)

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Kyrah Altman, Co-founder, CEO and President of Let's Empower, Advocate, and Do (LEAD)

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UltraCamp

Imagine camp registration software that actually gives you MORE time for what you love - CAMP! With UltraCamp, you can effortlessly track attendance, manage staff, streamline registration, and more. Explore now at ultracampmanagement.com/camphacker

Camptivities

Why spend hours on your schedules, only to find mistakes and missed activities for your campers! Let Camptivities do the heavy lifting and help you create the best schedules yet, without the mistakes, and in less time. Come check out Camptivities; specifically designed for camps by camp people. Find out more at camptivities.com

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/08/the-intersection-of-camp-and-research

Yes. It is!

In this new mini-series from Go Camp Pro, join Dr. Mandi Baker and Travis Allison to focus in on prominent and emerging research in the summer camp world.

This episode will set up the rest of the season so tune in and get excited!

You’ll hear about:

• How Mandi found her passion for camp and where the research part of her journey came to be
• Where should we be starting our discussions when it comes to research and camp?
• How do we navigate the research that’s already out there?
• What topics will we cover in this mini-series?

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• Dr. Mandi Baker, Researcher - Summer Camp, Outdoor Recreation, Sociology and Hospitality/Tourism - [email protected] 
• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro - [email protected]

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/06/30-tools
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Well folks, if you’re reading this in June - you’re in it now!

Us, too! As we wrap up this season to take our focus to the summer, we want to leave you with a wickedly practical one.

Producer Matt and Dan Weir join Travis, Chris, Gabz and Joe to share the tools that will keep them focused, happy and thriving this summer.

For the links to all the tools, find the show notes at:
https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/06/30-tools

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau
• Dan Weir - Senior Consultant - Immersive1st

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Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

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UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/05/alumni-community

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It’s a gift to have a group of people that intimately “get” what your camp is all about.

And, alumni can be like getting a gym membership or Ikea furniture as a gift. Ultimately useful, but a crap-ton of work to get there.

Once you’ve got it going, alumni can be an excellent and cost-effective source of staff support, mentorship, maintenance, marketing, board guidance, fundraising and more!

So how do you get to the useful point.

The CampHacker team is here, and specifically, you need to listen to what Gabz has to say in this episode. Camp Ouareau has put in the work to not just open their doors wide to alumni, but to specifically direct them to a place that is available to them either as a supporter of camp, or someone who just wants to enjoy the nostalgia.

(Chris, Joe and Travis all have incredible points, too, of course!)

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• Chris - https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/. 
• Gabz -A question to ask within a team that could benefit from being seen and building trust. “From working with your teammate what would you say their leadership style is?
• Joe - Directors Cupboard Supply Closet - things camp will need that you will just “have”
• Travis - https://www.youtube.com/@Cercle

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau

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Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

(Thank you!)

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UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/05/new-career-new-camp

We’re so grateful to have one of our founding CampHacker hosts Dan Weir join us this episode. Welcome back, Dan!

To support the vast number of new camp directors, Dan, Chris, Joe and Travis engage in a thought exercise to put take all the knowledge they have now and plopped themselves in a new camp.

This isn’t just an episode for newbies! Having this “newbie” mindset will consistently keep you nimble to the changing landscape of the industry and open to change.

Also, want some help getting there? You should consider a consultant.

Dan, Chris and Travis are great assets for your camp. Check out the host links below.

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• Chris - Todoist - Get your act together!
• Dan - Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety https://bookshop.org/a/84130/9781250241214
• Joe - Retevis Radio/Walkie-talkie - https://www.retevis.com/
• Travis - Chipdrop - get free wood chips https://getchipdrop.com/
  
  

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau
• Dan Weir - Senior Consultant - Immersive1st

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Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

(Thank you!)

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UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/04/staff-and-boundaries

Okay, that header is a little misleading.

Don’t mistake this podcast for one big “okay boomer” rant. This conversation about summer staff and meeting them where they are at (to an extent) is an important one.

If “triggering” a staff member is something you’re worried about. Or staff feeling overwhelmed is something you’re bracing yourself for this summer, this is the episode for you.

Chris, Gabz, Joe and Travis are here to challenge you (and your staff) to think differently when it comes to helping staff set healthy and realistic emotional boundaries. 

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• Chris - Give your mind a break
• Gabz - Cueheat Waist heating belt https://amzn.to/3YUOqbm
• Joe - Point Salad Card Game
• Travis - Love and Logic

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau

-

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

(Thank you!)

-

UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/04/partnering-with-parents-in-2023

We need to adapt a whole lot as camp directors.

On the checklist of “things we need to re-assess every 5 or so years”, parents are certainly on that list.

As the majority of our camper parents start to shift toward the majority being millennials, we need to re-think how we are meeting them where they are at. Systems of communication, expectation-building, community-building and trust are all things that we have control over in this special relationship, and one that we need to pay attention to.

Joining the regular panel is returning guest Jolly Corley, a camp pro and parent partner expert to weigh in on re-evaluating this post-pandemic group.

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• Chris - Thompson Tees - Chris’ fav
• Gabz - Loop Ear Plugs - Engage
• Joe - Book - The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
• Travis - Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us about the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans - Michaeleen Doucleff https://bookshop.org/a/84130/9781982149680
• Jolly - Fabulous habit app https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fabulous-daily-habit-tracker/id1203637303
  • https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.thefabulous.app&gl=us

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau
• Jolly Corley - Camp Director and Trainer - www.jollycorley.com

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Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

(Thank you!)

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UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

The idea that our summer staff need to be set up for success is one of those ideas that is intuitive, yet extremely difficult to get right.

Couple that with a seismic shift in the psychology and expectations of this generation of staff and the “correct path” to properly coaching and nurturing this generation of staff is going to be more important than ever. 

Whether this episode is an affirmation of your staffing philosophy, or you’re feeling the strain of this gen of staff, Chris, Gabz and Travis are here to give you practical advice on how to increase the impact of this essential staffing mindset. 

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• Chris - Artisans of Spendent Vale
• Gabz - Multi colour variety pack zip ties
• Travis - Faster Than Normal - Peter Shankman https://bookshop.org/a/84130/9780143131229

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Consultant and Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau

-

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

(Thank you!)

-

UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/podcast/2023/03/camp-program-of-the-future

Last episode, we unpacked the types of programs that we think it’s time to say goodbye to.

And because we all know how annoying it is to have people only give you problems and not solutions, that’s where this one comes in.

Travis, Gabz and Chris are here to talk about not only the specific programs that they are excited to see in the future, but the intentionality that will need to go into them.

Because it’s really hard to know what the world is going to look like 10 years ago. We’re recording this in 2023 and think about how different the world was in 2013! A smartphone, 4 major social media platforms and a pandemic later, and we could have never seen what was coming.

Whether technology majorly changes or not, we know that it’s “people before programs” so making sure we have the right people and right philosophies around social-emotional learning is what’s going to really move the needle.

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• Chris - Get yourself a foam roller
• Gabz - Finch: Self Care Widget Pet
• Joe - FUNdoing Fridays - Chris Calvert
• Travis - 5-Minute Fridays - Liz’s AI How To to make marketing writing better, Chris & Alyssa’s work on making a place for Neuro Divergent staff, Michael, Jorgi - all GCP

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• Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - Go Camp Pro
• Chris Hudson, Camp Director - Camp Highlight
• Joe Richards, Executive Director - Pearce Williams
• Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau

-

Rate and Review the CampHacker Show

(Thank you!)

-

UltraCamp

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if your registration software gave you MORE time? With UltraCamp, you can track attendance, manage staff applications, streamline registration, and much more. Get back the time you need to focus on what is really important: CAMP! Find out more at summercampsoftware.com/camphacker

Our free Resilient Camp Blueprint diagnostic is available at: https://camp.mba/travis