TSCS's Recommendations for Tri-State 2022

Next week is the annual American Camp Association NY/NJ Tri-State Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This is the camp conference of camp conferences; the biggest in the country and probably the world. If you’re going, get ready for a crush of learning, socializing, and fun. The Tri-State lineup is incredibly strong this year, and you are going to have a ton of choices of seasoned presenters (think: Michelle Cummings, Jim Cain, Michael Brandwein, Dr. Chris Thurber, Ruby Compton, Andy Pritikin, Dave Malter, Roz & Jed Buck and more). In this blog article, however, we’re going to highlight some of the best new(ish) presenters on the circuit, and tell you why we’ll be first in line to get into their sessions.  

Chris T. Rehs-Dupin, Transplaining

• Foundations for Trans* Inclusion at Camp (Room 417), Monday, 8:30-9:30am

• Supporting LGBTQ+ Campers When their Parents are Not-Affirming (Room 417), Monday, 3:15-4:15pm

• Intro to Gender Inclusive Housing (Room 417), Tuesday, 8:30-9:30am

It’s no secret that we are big Chris Rehs-Dupin fans here at TSCS. The thing about Chris is that he has a huge heart and tremendous wisdom–and has the teaching and empathy skills to bring others along. Chris worked in camping for more than a decade (two decades!?!) and is now on a mission to make camps the safe, inclusive and joyful places that they should be for trans* youth and staff. We’ve been in hours upon hours of seminars with Chris these past two years, and we’ve yet to see him stumped by a tough or tricky question. If Tri-State goes like ACA Nationals, Chris’s seminars will be standing room only. Get there early to get a seat!!

Simone Gamble, OAAARS

• Doing the Work: A DEI Panel on Where to Start and How to Keep Going (Room 417), Tuesday, 9:45-10:45am

Simone is one of the best facilitators we have ever seen. They are somehow able to intersect the camp experience with the greater world, explaining practical yet powerful ways that camp leaders can act as change agents both within their own programs and in the outside world. When we had our retreat last month, Simone’s workshops were listed continually as some of the best professional and personal development experiences our participants had ever had. They are only at Tri-State for this one panel–we think this is a can’t miss event.

Briana Mitchell

Briana Mitchell & Makela Elvy, S’more Melanin

• How to Assess Equity at your Camp (Room 402), Tuesday, 8:30-9:30am

• Briana will also be on the panel “Doing the Work: A DEI Panel on Where to Start and How to Keep Going” (Room 417), Tuesday, 9:45-10:45am

Makela Elvy

Briana and Makela have taken the camp world by storm with S’more Melanin, launching their training and consulting offerings as well as their new S’more Melanin Seal of Approval. We had the privilege of working with this pair for our last two offerings of the Intersectional Equity Scenario Seminar and at our recent TSCS retreat. The way they each approached equity issues at camp from a practical, strategic and compassionate standpoint was mind-boggling. These two facilitators jam pack their presentations with actionable nuggets, broad perspectives, and a commitment to justice in camping and the greater world. Going to Tri-State just for their equity assessment workshop alone would probably be worth it!

Eric Wittenberg, Camper Machine Operations

• Camp Business Financials: Money Moves at Summer Camp with Kenny Brook (Room 301), Tuesday 8:30-9:30am 

• A Lot in a Bot: Technology and People are Changing, There’s a Bot to Talk About (Room 322), Tuesday, 3:15-4:15pm

• Stronger Re-Enrollment: 4 Steps to Follow Your Data to Higher Retention Rates (Room 309), Wednesday, 9:00-10:00am

We’ve known Eric for a few years now and are always blown away by the way that he uses data to get more kids to even better camps. Eric strategically applies data science to the everyday, critical decisions that camp directors make.  Unfortunately, in our industry, many of us have not learned about how to leverage data for better results, instead we rely on our hearts and intuition. Eric understands the heart and intuition part of camp directing, having grown up at camps and even started and operated a highly successful camp, but he also knows that a lot of the story and many of the answers lie in objective data.  If we had to choose one of Eric’s sessions, it would absolutely be the one about stronger re-enrollment on Wednesday. Even if this session only helps you retain one more camper than you otherwise would have, it would be worth it–but we’re guessing that it will help you retain many more than that.

Hillary Gilberg, Kutsher’s Sports Academy

• Can We Do It All? How to Balance Parenting and Summer Camp Life (Room 401), Tuesday, 12:30-1:30pm

Hillary is so passionate about the sustainability of parenting and a career in camping that she reached out to us to volunteer her time to help facilitate our Camp Babies seminar this winter. Hillary has a great sense of humor, huge commitment to camping, and tons of recent, firsthand experience having two super young kids at camp. This is a topic that we haven’t seen so much at flagship conferences, but we truly believe that the disjoint between camp life and home life causes many people (especially primary caregivers) to leave our industry–where we desperately need them. We would love to see more sessions like this at the big conferences and are so excited to see Hillary step up and lead the charge at Tri-State. If you have kids, are thinking about having them one day, or have coworkers who are caregivers, show up to this session and show your support for this critical yet often ignored topic in our industry.

Elizabeth Ramirez

Elizabeth Ramirez and Ryan Ende, OAAARS

• A Crash Course on Being a Change Champion (Room 415), Wednesday, 9:00-10:00am

• Elizabeth will also lead the DEI Roundtable Workspace (Room 419) on Tuesday from 2-3pm

We got to know Liz last spring when she served as a panelist in our Centering BIPOC Voices at Camp webinar. Liz has incredible insights and an awesome resume of experiences, including several years at Fiver Children’s Foundation. She’s also currently earning dual masters degrees in social work and business administration at the University at Buffalo. In this session, she plans to lean on her expertise in organizational development to give audience members actionable frameworks they can use to institute change. So, learn from other presenters about the why and the what, but come learn from Liz and her co-presenter about how you can use management science and psychology to make lasting change within your organization.

LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY AT TRISTATE?

Are you going to Tri-State? Let's get together! Alice and Paige will be at Wing Craft at 11am for lunch on Tuesday, March 15. Want to join? Let us know so we can call in a reservation (click here). We encourage you to bring a friend who might love The Summer Camp Society, too! (If you forget to RSVP - that's ok, come anyway!!) Even if you’ve never done a program with us, we’d love to have you!