Honey I Shrunk the Unspoken Rules of Engaging in TSCS into a Blog Post

Jan 16

If you have been privy to anything The Summer Camp Society has done in the past, you probably have a pretty good idea of what the “hidden curriculum” is. If you’re fun, you might even call it “hiddy crics.” Click here for a link to a beautifully written definition of the hidden curriculum, whether it’s your first introduction or you’d like a more eloquent refresher than the following: The hidden curriculum, in my humble words, is the set of unwritten but communally accepted rules and expectations in a specific space. For example, I know that when I go to visit my parents, I can leave my shoes on in the house, make many jokes about butts, and speak frankly about politics. However, I wouldn’t dream of burping without excusing myself, making myself a snack without making enough for everyone, or scrolling on my phone while in conversation. These are completely different expectations than when I’m visiting my partner’s parents, or visiting friends, or if I’m having people over (can you burp louder? I barely even heard you). These are the hiddy crics at play.

So what the heck goes on at The Summer Camp Society? Well, you know, classic Zoom meetings starting with 30-Second Celebrations, then we talk sometimes in Open Space formats, but sometimes we actually meet to Level Up, although you can’t forget Somebody Somethings.. On my first call with Allison, I frantically took notes of every name of any type of meeting that she’d mentioned, and promptly realized they wouldn’t mean anything to me before I’d get to partake. Luckily for the readers of this blog post, you can find descriptions for all of these strange meeting names here. So, beginning here, very soonly, following the end of this sentence, is my attempt to illuminate The Summer Camp Society’s Hidden Curriculum, through the lens of a little bébé who knows nothing of The (Summer Camp Society’s) world, to create more clarity around its culture, and therefore to eliminate as many barriers as possible.

The meetings

Most of the content, trainings, meetings, etc., happen on Zoom. Every time I’ve been on so far, the facilitator/host (sometimes that’s two people, sometimes it’s one person doing both jobs) has filled the first five or so minutes with pleasant chitchat, giving a little bit of leeway to those who might be running a little late. Most people join in with their cameras on and stay muted until they have something to say. I find that this part happens pretty organically and that enough people tend to know each other so it’s easy to jump in and start chatting, or to be completely silent and call no attention to yourself, if that’s more comfortable. (Note: having a pet on your lap will make you more susceptible to being spoken to, so be prepared to talk to strangers if that’s the case).

Once we’re about five minutes in, the facilitator will often begin by giving a rundown of the session’s gameplan. We normally kick things off with a round in which everyone can introduce themselves (names, pronouns if comfortable, and affiliated camp) and something exciting. Most often, this is a 30 Second Celebration, in which everyone shares something they are excited about (ranging from “this coffee is good” to “I’m pregnant”, no joke) in under 30 seconds. Click here for more on 30 Second Celebrations. The intention behind doing this type of exercise is that it psychologically makes you more open to whatever is coming next, which is cool! Kurtz said that and I trust her, no additional sources needed for me.

NOTE FROM ALLISON

I love and trust Kurtz as much as the next person (I promise!), but my brain is one of those that DOES need additional sources. This idea comes from Barb Fredrickson’s Broaden & Build Theory.

back to the meetings

There are multiple formats for what comes next, and the best I can do to illuminate the hiddy crics here is to suggest trusting the facilitator. Every facilitator I’ve seen so far has craftily scaffolded the directions, often with links to Google Docs that have the information written down to refer to, as well. As much as it can be anxiety-inducing to enter a space and not know exactly how it’s going to go down, the facilitation I’ve seen has been top notch. I rarely feel unsure of what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m one to start talking if there’s a long pause and that can feel awkward, but I’ve found that the culture of conversation is generous. People tend to want to help each other out.

Meetings tend to run exactly one hour, or less. The staff at TSCS values members’ time and knows that most folks aren’t looking to be on Zoom all day. The goal is to be as efficient and effective as possible, and to use appropriate tools to not waste anyone’s time with any this-meeting-could-have-been-a-Slack-post situations.

Event explanations

Full sample calendar

the slack

The Slack channel we use is active, but not overwhelmingly so. The majority of posts are from Allison, who sends out reminders about meetings and event. Members also often pop in with questions, some of which are work-related, some of which are silly, and some of which are about potential affinity/accountability groups. I’ve spoken to members who think of Slack as one of the most valuable parts of their membership experience, because it facilitates sharing resources, streamlines conversations, and is accessible and bypasses the need to work out the logistics that come up when meeting via Zoom or in person. Overall, the Slack is easy to be involved in, easy to observe, and a glorious option for whenever one might need some quick perspective.

the mushy gushy stuff

Now for the mushy gushy stuff. The hidden curriculum around community feels like a giant YES. Yes to saying what you’re thinking, yes to being a little silly, yes to speaking when you’re moved to speaking, yes to sharing thoughts, resources, space, and most of all, yes to showing support in whatever way you can think of. My first month with TSCS has been full of kind, personalized welcome messages from complete strangers. I’ve heard tales of meaningful friendships forged during in-person retreats. I’ve seen people bond virtually over shared interests (apparently some people like running??) and create accountability systems for one another. I’ve also heard loads of members reflect about how they’ve called up TSCS staff or other members in moments of stress during the summers, to get another perspective and help them work through conflicts. This speaks to the truly communal aspect of TSCS, and how information and resources and support are meant to be shared. Everyone I’ve seen has been on board with that, and I think that’s pretty cool.