Sun 27 Oct, 24
Join us for a welcome reception at the historic Royal Liver Building. With panoramic views over the River Mersey and a prime location on Liverpool’s world-famous waterfront it's the perfect location to kick-off Camp Collab.
Please access the Royal Liver Building via the waterfront entrance.
Mon 28 Oct, 24
A little morning energizer including freshly baked cookies, smoothies, tea and coffees.
The official Collab kick-off. A short overview of the conference and the exciting 3 day agenda ahead.
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What does leadership mean to you? And what are the leadership qualities that will serve you well as you navigate the challenges you face and seek to elevate your staffing approach?
This interactive session will provide you with the opportunity to use the Qualities of Practice Cards® to explore and reflect on these questions and to provide a learning focus for the rest of Camp Collab.
Throughout this interactive session, participants will explore how their camp’s mission and values can help guide them in cultivating a culture of gratitude and appreciation among their staff team throughout their entire camp lifecycle. The goal behind this culture shift is to ensure a positive experience for all staff members, resulting in a more engaged and committed staff team.
Participants will leave this session with tangible ideas that can be implemented at their respective camps to strengthen the relationship between staff members and the leadership team and improve their overall camp culture.
Jenna, Dr Matt, Dave Brown
This short, guided session will provide you with the space and time to reflect on your learning from the day.
Join us for drinks and canapés at Nova Scotia, an independent bar and eatery that celebrates Liverpool's forgotten Nova Scotia district that was an integral part of Liverpool's maritime history.
Tue 29 Oct, 24
A little morning energizer including freshly baked cookies, smoothies, tea and coffees.
This short, guided session will help you to reflect on any overnight thoughts or insights, and bring intentional focus to the learning opportunities that will present themselves during the day.
The role of effective leadership is well-documented and critically important to any organization's success. You can expect several benefits when developing leaders out of your current staff at Camp, including greater productivity, staff satisfaction and higher staff return rates. These marginal gains can contribute to a high-performing culture and ultimately lead to a more positive experience for your Campers.
In this session, we’ll explore research into what makes leaders effective, how to identify high-potential individuals and engage them in a development process, apply core leadership lessons, and discover the small actions you can take as a Camp Leader that will have the most significant impact.
Want to know the latest employment law trends impacting the camp industry? Need guidance on how to address mental health and other accommodations issues with summer staff? Thinking about updating your policies for year-round staff? Rachel will discuss the most urgent employment issues to think about before Summer 2024.
Mark Overmann of the Alliance for International Exchange will dig into the details of the current context around U.S. Department of State BridgeUSA exchange programs, including Camp Counselor. In particular, he’ll discuss two past existential challenges to exchange programs and the advocacy efforts to combat them, how those experiences should inform our future actions, and what to expect with the current political dynamics in Washington, DC and the upcoming 2024 Presidential election.
This short, guided session will provide you with the space and time to reflect on your learning from the day.
The Liverpool Gin Distillery, produce their very own Liverpool Organic Gin on-site in a custom-built 60 litre copper still. Witness the distillers in action, whilst relaxing and enjoying a refreshing drink at our wonderful bar and dark spirits room.
Wed 30 Oct, 24
A little morning energizer including freshly baked cookies, smoothies, tea and coffees.
This short, guided session will help you to reflect on any overnight thoughts or insights, and bring intentional focus to the learning opportunities that will present themselves during the final day of the Camp Collab.
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Whether through humility or uncertainty, camps do not appreciate the full power they can unleash on the world. The impact is not measured correctly, and, criminally, for camp, the stories are not told well enough. The US camp industry should be recognised by governments, the UN, and Nobel Peace Prize committee... you may think Chris is joking — he isn't.
Learn more about Beth's journey from a 7 year-old to becoming Britain’s most successful female gymnast. You will hear about ups and downs and what life has been like since transitioning from an athlete into everyday life.
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This session will help to provide an educational overview of some of the main principles of nonresident tax for both employers of international camp staff as well as camp staff themselves. The session will cover topics such as identifying a foreign national/potential NRA receiving payment as a camp employer, determining tax residency, understanding FICA taxes and more.
Jake Mills will engage you in conversation around his journey from being a depressed comedian to CEO of national mental health charity Chasing the Stigma. Discussing his lived experience and how he created the UK’s biggest mental health signposting toolkit the Hub of Hope.
Dive further into the topic of mental health with an open discussion on what we can be doing to foster positive mental health amongst our staff community. Learn about challenges being faced by young people today, and what sticks in the their minds as they make the decision to spend a summer in a foreign country.
This short, guided session will provide you with the space and time to reflect on your learning from the day.
Ivy and Dave will lead a short all group session to close out the conference.
Join us for an evening of great food and entertainment to close out the Camp Collab conference, where we'll celebrate the kick-off of Camp Leaders' 25th season.
Dress Code: Smart Casual / Cocktail
Thu 9 Nov, 24
Meet your recent hires and future staff in-person for a casual drop in event. Participants will have the chance to ask you and the Camp Leaders team any questions they have and they will have a chance to snag some exclusive free merch.
Camp Collab 2024 Agenda
Sunday
Monday
During our session, we’ll work together to:
- Understand the overarching principles of the 3 Dimensions of Empathy
- Engage more empathy with those around us and those within our span of leadership
- Create a resolution detailing how we will bring more empathy to our leadership
Be prepared to connect more deeply with how empathy can improve your leadership, relationships, and interactions with those around you. Oh, and we’ll do this in a fun, engaging, and impactful way!
In this short introduction, Dr. Matt will help us understand what’s going on with the Mental Health of our camp staff. Based on his work with camps and in his practice, Dr. Matt will share some of the most pressing issues affecting our staff and how we can best care for them.
Dr. Matt, Jenna (Neurodivergent at Camp), and Dave Brown (Fence Post Learning) will explain their work and how it can help your staff at camp. They will also answer questions submitted by attendees ahead of time or from the audience.
Room 1: Dr. Matt
Mental Health Considerations
In this session, Dr. Matt will share some of his best practices and lessons learned when working with staff so they can feel empowered and healthy as they care for other people’s children. But don’t expect Dr. Matt just to give a lecture! He is ready, willing, and able to help you! Bring your questions about working with your staff when it seems like they need more and more from you every Summer.
Room 2: Dr. Kim Howell
Acting With Empathy: Using Our Learning to Make a Difference
After we create our empathy resolutions in the opening session, we will gather in a breakout to brainstorm ways to take our learning and turn it into action. We will discover ways to overcome the roadblocks to leading with empathy and connect more deeply with those we lead.
Room 3: Exec Track with Shoshi - Day 1
Improving the staff experience from application to arrival
Over the past few years, there has been a shift in how camp owners and directors approach the staff experience during the summer, emphasizing ensuring the staff feels valued and appreciated to improve staff satisfaction and retention. But what happens after camp ends and all the staff members go home? How do we continue to engage staff and focus on staff experience from September to June, from application to arrival? This session will discuss ways to engage your staff members, new and returning, international and local, in the “off-season” to ensure that they feel excited, prepared for, and committed to their role at camp next summer…and that they show up at camp on opening day! Participants will leave this session with tangible exercises and processes that can be implemented at their respective camps, from recruitment to onboarding, to improve the staff experience from application to arrival.
a. Ask Dr. Matt
b. General Camp Chat
c. What to Expect at Collab (Dave)
d. Feedback/Eval with Shoshi
e. Ask an Attorney with Rachel
f. Wolfoods Food Service Convo
g. More Empathy! (Kim)
h. Camp Leaders Represents
Aaron Selkow
If You Try All of These Strategies To Build a Successful Year-Round Team and none of them work, I’ll Buy You Lunch
Chris Arnold
Do you think the Camp Industry should win a nobel prize?
Molly Hott Gallagher
Why our campers need happy staff
Tuesday
Leaders at camp should focus on instilling four vital attributes into the everyday lives of their staff. These attributes, growth mindset, servant mindset, integrity, and caring, are crucial for effective leadership at camp and achieving the desired outcomes from camp programs. Fritz’s session will dive deep into cultivating these attributes among your staff.
Join Dean as he presents the latest updates on the Camp Leaders platform. This session will highlight key features and improvements from the past season, along with an exclusive preview of upcoming developments designed to enhance the user experience further. Dean will close with an open feedback forum, where your insights and ideas can help shape the future direction of the Camp Leaders platform.
Breakout 1: Rachel Satinsky
Lessons Learned from 2024
This interactive session will dive into real-world case studies to provoke discussion on how camp professionals can proactively address some of the most challenging HR issues faced in the industry today. Through detailed case examples, participants will explore best practices and strategies for affirmative planning to prevent problems before they arise
Breakout 2: Drew Fidler
“That’s Not Good For My Mental Health:” Setting Staff Up to Support Campers and Manage Their Mental Health
Across the country, counselors are struggling to support the needs of their campers and support themselves. Day camps are seeing counselors not show up for work, overnight camps are seeing counselors leave for “mental health,” and camper care teams stretched thin by the needs of campers are left struggling to support staff. This session will help our staff attend to our camper's mental health and wellness differently and provide a framework to assist your staff with their own mental health and wellness challenges.
Breakout 3: Dig Deeper with Fritz
Fritz will continue breaking down the four attributes vital to building a team of engaged, effective staff members. He will help us uncover the answer to the question, “How do you identify these attributes in a team member you want to bring on board?” by putting language to these otherwise unmeasurable attributes.
a. Ask an Attorney with Rachel Satinsky
b. Supporting Staff with Drew Fidler
c. Leadership Essentials with Fritz
d. Dr. Kim Howell
e.General, Debrief Summer 24
f. Technology and Camp trends with Eric Wittenberg
g. Supporting Staff with Jenna
h. Staff Well-Being with Dave Brown
i. Feedback and Evals with Shoshi
Breakout 1: Anna Fitzpatrick (Sprintax)
The Nonresident Tax Clinic – A Guide to Paying and Hiring International Camp Counselors
This session will help to provide an educational overview of some of the main principles of nonresident tax for both employers of international camp staff as well as camp staff themselves. The session will cover topics such as identifying a foreign national/potential NRA receiving payment as a camp employer, determining tax residency, understanding FICA taxes and more.
Breakout 2: Eric Wittenberg & Jordana Grossinger
Modern Staff Recruitment: Strategy, segments, ads, and funnels, not just for camper recruitment
Do you know your numbers? How many leads you'll need to fill all your lifeguarding roles? How many people are ready to book an interview with you but need the perfect nudge?
Learn how some camps leverage their strategies and technology from camper recruitment to build a funnel that converts staff leads to contracts and staff training from day 1.
Breakout 3: Exec Track with Shoshi - Day 2
The challenges of modeling self-care at camp
How many hours off do you take in the summer? What time do you generally get to sleep or wake up in the morning? How often do you allow yourself to take time for fun throughout the summer? If we want our staff members to take care of themselves, it has to be modeled by our leadership teams…but we all know how hard a work/life balance at camp can be. Join this session to discuss self-care challenges for senior camp management and learn about the importance of modeling proper self-care so that our camp staff are encouraged to do the same.
Mental Fortitude Workshop
Sam and Parker believe the key ingredient to elevating is MENTAL FORTITUDE
This workshop will help attendees dive deeper into
1.Who They Are
2.What They Want
3.What Inspires Them Through deep introspection, storytelling, and breakout sessions, each counselor will work towards developing their own...
Mental Motto: A phrase that embodies what you stand for, who you are, and how you want to live your life.