Camp Forum

• new posting rules for counselors and campers
• concerns about cyber-bullying and internet predators
• beefed-up monitoring of social networking sites

Anxiety and apprehension chimed in about a new youth culture, branded by iPods and social networking. The summer camp industry had been ambushed by teenage counselors who liked to party online. What were summer camp administrators to do now that the sky had fallen?

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Every five to ten years youth culture turns society upside down and creates shock waves through an older generation:

- hippies
- punk, new wave, goth
- grunge
- neo-punks

and now, the iPod-social networking-crowd — the Roaring 2000’s.

Summer camp has never been impervious to the outside world; it informs the campers and counselors who arrive on day one and depart on the last day. Camp directors and owners who deal with these changes are those who go with the flow, rather than trying to conquer it. And the best part is that summer camp management can employ these teenage trends to their advantage.

Online directories, like MySummerCamps.com, can provide a 100% trackable marketing solution. But to heighten the buzz around a camp, owners and directors can utilize social networking communities, like MySpace.com, which monthly receives 47-million unique 12 to 20 year old visitors.

This incredible volume can dramatically increase summer camp enrollment.

Rather that fretting about what’s on the accounts of counselors, camp administrators can create new ones linking them to accounts designed purely for camp purposes.

Here’s an overview:

The central camp account relays camp stories, pictures, and blogs to
counselors, ensuring content is appropriate and monitored

• Counselors link to campers on MySpace.com
• Campers keep up the buzz by linking camp content to their friends
• Their friends follow the trail back to the camp on a safe, fun pathway
• New interest is drawn to camps by online word of mouth