Jack's Camp Friends Newsletter |
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“25+ years ago the OG of camp consulting, Bob Ditter, told the room of assembled directors that the single biggest mistake we made was to not speak as child development authorities.
I don’t think many accepted it - out of modesty, or whatever else held them back. Glad to hear the affirming reminder again - and with such conviction!”
Steve Purdum sent us that note after our first Write for Camp session.
That quote’s got everything. Bob Ditter drop. Child dev. Reaffirming. A bit of trepidation from the group. It’s all camp!
But it def got me thinking about camp pros who are total experts in this who also start sentences with “I’m not an expert, but…”
Bob Ditter called this out in the 1990s. And it’s still kinda happening.
Where it comes from
American culture has sometimes weird puritanical ideas about what counts as “real” work.
If kids are out there running around, smiling and loving camp, it must not be important. If it looks like fun, how could it be developing anything meaningful?
Camp directors have absorbed this message. We sometimes act like because kids love being at camp, we’re not doing anything that requires skill or knowledge.
This is backwards. Kids learn better when they’re engaged. They develop faster when they feel safe. They build stronger skills through experiences they care about.
The fact that camp works so well should increase our credibility, not decrease it.
What We’re Really Saying
When someone starts with “I’m not an expert, but…” something weird is happening.
There’s about to be an awesomely insightful share insight from years of observation and practice. Knowledge that comes from working directly with thousands of kids. Understanding that most people would pay consultants (a lot of $$$) to access.
But it leads with an apology.
Us camp pros sometimes do this. At conferences, in conversations with parents, even when talking to each other. Hedging before sharing what we know.
“This is just my experience, but homesick kids usually…”
“I don’t have the research, but I’ve noticed that anxious campers…”
“Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like kids who struggle socially…”
Qualifying insights that come from (hiking) boots on the ground practice. Downplaying knowledge that other professionals would cite as expertise.
The hedging isn’t humility. It’s learned behavior from a culture that doesn’t always take camp seriously.
Apologizing for expertise means other people will start discounting it too. Parents second-guess the advice. It might reinforce the idea that camp knowledge doesn’t count.
Something’s Changing
Going to brag a little here, but it’s mostly a brag on behalf of a lot of other camp pros. The Write for Camp cohort is already proving Bob Ditter right.
Camp people are starting to write newsletters that go deeper than activity schedules and photo galleries.
Sharing insights about child development.
Explaining their approaches to independence, resilience, and social skills through stories about Gaga, Polar Bear Swim, evening games, and everything else that’s happening at camp every second of the day.
They’re writing with authority instead of apology.
Before this even started, I’ve seen a shift in the overall landscape too.
More camp newsletters are hitting family inboxes every week.
I know of a bunch of camps sending out these thoughts every week, every other week. Consistently.
Longer thought pieces about why certain approaches work. Real explanations of the expertise that’s been hiding in cargo shorts and staff t-shirts for decades.
Parents are responding. Forwarding these newsletters to friends. Asking follow-up Qs. Oh, and enrolling to camp earlier. Yeah, it helps there too.
Parents start listening differently. Adults take the insights seriously. The industry begins to get the respect it deserves.
Twenty-five years after Bob Ditter called us out, camp pros are claiming their authority as child development experts.
And everyone is better for it.
You got this,
Jack
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