Jack's Camp Friends Newsletter

2 Quick Things

Today’s newsletter is a combo deal of a bunch Write From Camp posts - A 3x/ week Substack all about, yeah, camp.
Come to our free Claude Cowork for Camp webinar tomorrow (Friday, 4/17). Doug and I are talking about using Claude, sharing ideas, taking questions, and more. Sign up here

All right, on to getting more kids to camp

It’s April 16th. Tax day was yesterday, oof.

And camp is less than 70 days away for most of us (exactly 69 Days, 5 hours for us, but who’s counting?). Everything camp is basically all I’m thinking about right now. Stressful, exciting, terrifying, exhilarating, and yeah, stressful again.

I suspect a lot of you are in the same place.

And when I’m thinking about getting kids to camp, I’ve got to tell you, my thoughts are kinda all over the place.

Let’s try to make some sense of those thoughts.

The guy or gal

Friend Mario del Cueto (hey Mario!) asked this a bit back, what are the best ways to get kids to camp? You would think the answer would be easy. It isn’t.

But I do often come back to this concept: People love having a guy.

Need a mechanic? My neighbor has a dude she swears by.

Looking for a dentist? My cousin goes to someone amazing.

Want a good summer camp? My friend’s kid went there for three years, and the director knows her daughter by name.

This is one of the most satisfying social transactions that exists. Giving a recommendation feels good. And the more opaque the purchase, the more you need that person in your life.

Camp is about as opaque as it gets.

Parents can’t evaluate it from a website. They can’t tell the difference between good and great from a brochure. At some point, most of them just want someone they trust to say, “This place is great, send your kid here.” And that’s enough.

My bet at K&E: be small enough that I actually am the guy.

That when families have a great summer, they have something specific to say about it. Something concrete enough to pass along at a birthday party or a soccer game.

What I’m trying to do about it

I’m not sure it’s good enough to sit back and wait for recs. We write a weekly newsletter, sure. I talk to camp families all the time.

But I’ve started recording videos. Every day. Trying to build a mini-bank of content on YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Hopefully, do it for long enough to see what tracks, sticks, lands, or get shared.

Honestly, this isn’t in my comfort zone. But the logic tracks: a parent who can send a friend a 2-minute video of me talking camp is doing the real work. Just a faster way for word to travel.

Still figuring it out with links at the bottom if you want to follow along.

Oh, real quick. While I'm thinking about getting kids to camp

I'm also thinking about running camp

And that's where Campminder comes in

Registration, data, forms, and so much more.

If you're running camp, Campminder is what helps get it done

Pick up the phone

Good friend and camp consultant to the stars, Dan Weir (hey Dan!) talks and writes about this all the time.

To quote Dan warmly, but not 100% accurately here, he would say, “Want more campers? Pick up the phone.”

When Dan was overseeing multiple camps, one of them had a 25% higher retention rate than all the others. The director, Jenny, wasn’t a trained salesperson. She was a trained librarian.

What she did is something everyone can do. She called 10 families every morning. That’s it.

Most went to voicemail. Maybe one real conversation out of ten. But the voicemails alone showed families someone cared enough to pick up the phone.

It’s pretty much proven (or as proven as things can get in camp) that getting families on the phone gets kids to camp. You answer questions, remind them you’re there, and get people signed up.

Oh, and it takes some time, it’s a little uncomfortable and many times it goes nowhere. Such is camp life.

Referrals need to be worth it?

Jen Baron at Amplify Rocks Camp (hey Jen!) built something cool.

Her ambassador program is open to anyone who already talks about camp. Current families, teachers, staff, community members. The enrolling family gets $250 off. Jen’s ambassadors get $500, cash or tuition credit.

And it tiers from there. She has had counselors earn an extra $2,000 in a summer just from talking to people they already knew.

Her line when someone asks about advertising: “We don’t do traditional advertising. We believe in word of mouth. Here’s a way to earn money doing it.”

If you want infrastructure for this, Camp Tree is built specifically for it.

So that’s what’s on my mind with two months left until camp.

Recommendations, phone calls, shareable content, oh plus staff training, final hiring, and 1000 other things. I’m definitely not going to get to it all.

But also, none of it is all that complicated either. Such is life working at camp.

What are you doing to get families in the door this spring, or next fall, or all year round? Throw me an email with “Hey Jack, I have the secret to getting more kids to camp!”

You got this,

Jack

PS - Remember, sign up for tomorrow's Claude Cowork for Camp webinar

PPS - The Staff Training Sprint Playbook has everything you need to plan staff training. 4 Live Sprint Replays, Staff Training Recipe book and a bunch of prompts to put it all together.