Let’s take a look at some numbers from the summer:

15 states
5,120 miles behind the wheel
10,000+ air miles across three round trips to Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona
80+ meal stops at Chipotle, Starbucks, and mom-and-pop taco places

This wasn’t one planned mega-trip or anything like that. It wasn’t even family vacation! It was visiting camps all over the map.

And yes, I catch some flack from my accountant who looks at my expense reports every quarter and says something along the lines of:

“Dan, please pick some new places to eat and get coffee.”

He is not wrong.

Because the real number that matters was the 40 camps visited across all those miles, flights, and Chipotle runs.

The travel puts me at these camps: seeing how they run, how they operate, what leaders look like when the hiking boots are on the ground.

Every camp, even under the same brand, has its own distinct culture. Directors can feel it. They cannot always articulate it. Presence is the only way for an outside consultant to hear it.

It means standing in the dining hall at lunch, watching parents drop off their kids, seeing the buildings up close, meeting the camp staff. None of that shows up on a Zoom call.

And visiting this many camps has a compounding effect, too.

What worked at one camp is often exactly what another camp might need help with. Every visit expands what can be brought to the next director, at the next camp. Or brought back to the pro from the visit before.

Going to brag for a second here. Those numbers add up to a lot of time with camp pros, leaders, directors, and staff across the country. Which is who the brag is really about.

Outside of ACA leadership, the insurance folks, and the leaders of the international staffing companies, I think I visit more camps every summer than nearly anyone else in the industry.

And it’s all because those in-person visits are what actually help camps. And helping camps means getting more kids to camp.

Thanks to every camp that opened their gates for me this summer. You are the reason any of this matters.

I am already looking forward to next year, and another set of numbers.

Sincerely,
Dan Weir

Senior Consultant at Immersive1st

dan@immersive1st.com

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When a camp’s personality is tied to a beloved founder or former executive, recruiting their successor can be daunting. Pedestalling the most recent senior professional can paint them as an irreplaceable giant, leaving no candidate or search committee feeling capable of filling those shoes.

To counteract this tendency, break down that legendary persona into tangible and realistic expectations. What qualities do you need the next leader to have going forward? What outcomes must be achieved...

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