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Camp Director Experience Debrief Recap

, Allison Krabill

From the TSCS archive. New ideas land every Thursday in Jack’s Camp Friends. Get it

So many of you joined us last week to debrief the camp director experience! It was GREAT to see you and AMAZING to hear all the conversations. Camp people helping camp people and building community - it’s what we love to do!

So everyone can feel safe sharing their experiences, we are not recording the debriefs. Instead, I’ll recap each one with a quick blog post. We hope these help!

BIG THEMES

  • It was a challenging and exhausting year, but we made it!

  • This year felt more difficult.

  • Burnout is something most of us feel at least at some point in the summer.

  • Some people are struggling with disconnected bosses/boards.

  • Most camp directors feel like they do not get enough time off during the summer.

  • Most camp directors feel like they do not get enough time off AFTER the summer.

  • Time off doesn’t necessarily feel like time off.

  • Lack of staff negatively impacted director experience (put more work/pressure/problems on directors).

OTHER STUFF

SOME QUICK IDEAS I HAVE

In all honesty, I don’t think there are any quick fixes for these. Instead, I’d:

  • Look for policies around time off and draft an ideal time off policy to present to my boss

  • Do some research on managing up



LOVE THE COMMUNITY, CONNECTION, & CONVERSATION AT OUR DEBRIEFS?


Want to start working on some of this in person?


RECAP COMPILED BY

ALLISON KRABILL

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TSCS
CONSULTANT, TRAINER, COACH

allison@thesummercampsociety.com