Consultant

Since October, I've been working with a camping consultant who has helped me improve camp marketing, recruiting, programming, etc. She was supposed to visit camp in June, but with the flood, her visit got pushed back to this week.

She and one of the board members 'M' came out on Monday and were here for an intense 24 hours. They toured camp, talked with kids and staff, met one on one with the media specialists, the program directors, with 'A', with me and then debriefed with the leadership team.

The consultant has been in the camping industry for a long time and has visited over 500 camps! She is no-nonsense and direct and I appreciate that about her because when she gives a compliment, it actually means something. Her feedback is so helpful and comes from experience. She and 'M' were at camp 7 years ago when the board brought her to in help save the camp, rather than close it. I was so pleased that during her visit, she took me aside several times to make the comment, "camp is SO different, you've made SO much progress."

On Monday night, we had an opening ceremony for Olympic week. We processed across camp and all of the kids and staff cheered and then we got to the fire circle and I used the torch to start the campfire. It was a great moment and I was really proud that J & M could be there to see it. Later, J told me that she doesn't often get emotional, but that she teared up while watching the ceremony. She's a very straightforward person so her compliments mean so much more because I know she is being genuine.

At the end of the visit, we sat down to debrief. She told me that she's had a difficult time with debrief meetings this summer because there hasn't been much "good" for her to go over. She said that being at camp helped renew her energy because it was such a great visit.

She was impressed with our programming and with the level of camper engagement. She was impressed by how much camp has changed. She acknowledged that our buildings are old and decaying and that is a major issue that needs to be addressed. I agreed with everything she said and I was happy to have her share my perspective. I feel like I've done everything I know how to do and everything I can do with limited funds and now I need some major support from the board to make some big (and expensive) changes.

I am eager to see her final report and hear her suggestions for the next steps. I feel a little overwhelmed by the "now what" part of all of this, but this has been such a beneficial experience and I know that camp is going in the right direction.

I'm exhausted after an intense 24 hours, but I feel really energized too...