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Listen here to Episode 4 of our Summer Camp and COVID-19 Series as Drew and David sit down with Curt Jackson and Chris Kallal, Camping Professionals and discuss how they managed their way through 2020.

PODCAST NOTES:

What did this summer look like for the two of you?

At Chris’ camp in Illinois we were not able to offer normal camp this summer. Supplies and staffing were going to be too difficult. We tried a lot of different options like Virtual Camp and Camp in a Box, but normal summer camp was out of the question this year. We started a new Facebook group, “Virtual Camp Ideas” with about 8,000 members. Curt ran a Harry Potter virtual camp for 3 weeks with 20 campers each week.

Curt, what made you Virtual Camp work well?

We did a lot of activities based out of a Camp in a Box program, such as wands, snacks, and potion supplies. We also created a lot of our own games and developed a points and house system much like the actual Harry Potter world. We also used a great app called “Sidekick” offered by DownloadYouthMinistry.com. We incorporated some good media like music and videos. We learned what worked well and didn’t work well in the first 2 weeks and the 3rd week was really the best experience.

Chris, you tried out a lot of options this summer. What worked well and what didn’t work so well for you?

Yes, we tried a lot of things this summer. We started first with virtual camps similar to Stomping Grounds. We recorded videos as well as live videos, at the beginning we only had 5 or 6 campers but then once we uploaded the videos we had about 4,000 views. People really liked the recorded videos. Our Social Media efforts really increased a lot this year. Our Camp in a Box kits were also popular, we sold about 125 kits at a range of $30-$45. We looked into doing Family Camps but it wasn’t going to be financially viable.

At the moment we’re offering e-learning pods where parents drop off children at our camp in the morning and the children do virtual schooling from here then depart in the afternoon. Next we’re going to offer an afterschool program for the afternoons. The biggest surprise this year was how great the Social Media engagement has been.

Which of these options will you keep around in 2021?

We would love to keep virtual camps going, especially in the winter months when we can plan for it instead of it being so last minute. We’re also going to keep Camp in a Box kits going in our camp store.

Curt, what common lessons learned have you heard from other Camping Professionals you’re in contact with?

The camps that are doing well in the virtual world have a specialty, niche or project. Also a Live component is good because it engages the campers in real time. Kits are also a great way to engage campers. The nice thing about kits and virtual camps is that you can have kids from all over the country and world participate. I would advise camps to have separate age groups do their own things or at different times though, young kids and older kids don’t always want to participate in camp together. Also, about 3 hours of programming per day seems to be about the limit for a good program. Hands-on projects work well and singing does not. Bad internet can really kill a program pretty quickly. We learned that you have a responsibility to supervise kids at this time and for the most part kids enjoyed virtual camp, but keep in mind it’s not for every kid or camp.

My intuition tells me that camp will be somewhat back to normal for 2021. Virtual Camp may still be happening but in-person camping will be back in some way I think.

What kind of hope should we have for 2021 and the camping industry?

Chris thinks that camp will be very busy because people are really craving it again or it will be slow because parents are still hesitant to send kids. Any kids we have next year will be a win, because we weren’t able to have any this year at camp.

Curt thinks that Day Camps will be more popular than Overnight Camps because parents will still be nervous to send kids away for a week or longer. Camps should still plan for backup programming because 2 years without overnight camp could be long lasting devastation for an organization. Camps should also be looking to adjust programming to meet sanitation recommendations.

Will next year be a return to basics, with less extravagant programming?

Yes, because money will be tight and that affects which activities you can operate. Outdoor Living Skills may make a comeback because it requires less funding and supplies.

Thank you for all that you’re doing, we appreciate your leadership.