There’s a shift happening in how parents experience their kids’ lives. Most camps don’t see it. The ones that do are moving ahead of the others. This is a structural thing. Technology drove it, and it’s reshaping every relationship parents have with their kids’ world. I’m a parent myself. I’m inundated with information about my kids. Everything has an app. Everything has a group chat. And I see camps every week trying to operate as if that’s not the reality. Silence Has a Cost Notifications...
12 days ago • 2 min read
A camp client wanted to know how parents are using AI to research their camp. So we sat down and “pretended” to be a parent (even though I am a parent!) looking for a camp like his. Simple prompt: “Tell me if [Camp X] is the right fit for my 12-year-old daughter.” What came back was eye-opening and definitely something all camps need to understand, and understand quickly. The AI framed its response as “my honest take, parent to parent.” As a reminder, AI is not a parent. The Audit I ran it...
19 days ago • 2 min read
The great John Wooden won 10 NCAA basketball championships 12 years UCLA. Even armchair fans know him as one of the greatest coaches of any sport in history. And he spent a ton of time teaching his players how to put on their socks. You read that right. Putting on socks. The best basketball players in the country. This wasn’t some sports metaphor. He literally sat down and showed them how to put on their socks. Before practices, before games, Wooden would go through properly seating a sock on...
26 days ago • 2 min read
I get a certain kind of phone call this time of year. Camp season is close. Staff training is around the corner. Enrollment numbers are what they are (and can be increased!). But the calls from camp pros spike without fail. The presenting problems look different each time. There are staffing gaps, marketing that isn’t converting, or a gut feeling that something is off, but without a crystal-clear way to fix it. All of these camp themes show up, but the subtext is almost always the same. What...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
You wouldn’t think of summer camping as lonely work. After all, camp is where kids and staff are running around all summer with constant energy, smiles, laughter, all of it. But leaders in the big chair often don’t have anyone to talk to. At least about the things that actually matter for your camp. Executive directors, program heads, owners, board presidents. The higher you sit at your camp or program, the fewer honest conversations you might get. Sure, camp is generally a happy place, but...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Nobody calls camp people entrepreneurs. But that’s exactly what they are. Think for a couple of seconds about it. Small organization. Often, one leader at the top. Limited resources. Trying to sell someone on a vision and a dream. Figuring it out as you go. Wearing twelve hats because there’s nobody else to wear them. That’s a startup. And that’s what working at a camp looks like. The outside world would never describe it that way. But the job fits the definition perfectly. How You Got to...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Many camps still communicate with parents like it’s 2005. Back in the olden days of the early aughts, you could send a welcome packet, slap up a few photos mid-session, and trust that families were fine with what was happening. Parents filled in all the blanks with camp goodwill. They assumed things were going well unless they heard otherwise. That worked then. It doesn’t work now. The Disconnect Consistently, I see this gap growing between what camps think parents need and what parents...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Did the subject line of this email send cold chills down your spine? I get it. The whole point of sleepaway camp is independence. Kids away from parents. Facing challenges on their own. Growing in ways they can’t when mom and dad are nearby. So the idea of parents on the property feels like it undermines everything. But I’ve been running market research on this, and the numbers are hard to ignore. What Families Are Telling Us I surveyed 102 affluent families from the metro New York City area...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Writing this not long after returning from Tri-State. Great sessions, even better conversations, and, as always, a ton of energy in the rooms. One big takeaway from conference season in general, and just walking through regular life: people are craving personal connection. It’s easier and easier to feel sort of online-connected and also very alone. And camp’s superpower is making people feel seen and heard. The digital world keeps accelerating. AI is everywhere. We’re on our phones...
2 months ago • 2 min read