October is dedicated to getting better... 7 random "Do Nows!" to make next summer better.
Greetings Everyone and Happy October:
I hope this newsletter finds you doing well. Before I begin with camp info, let me indulge and share with you that our first son, Nolan Willet Maguire, was born last Friday, September 25th. It was and has been simply amazing. There are some pictures above...Thanks!
So I hope your summer was productive, fun and safe. The purpose of the this month's newsletter is to communicate some basic ideas that you can "Do Now!" to make next summer better... I hope they are helpful...
1) Staff: The re-hires, the fence sitters, and the No wayers: Your staff is the group of people that makes or breaks your programs to your campers and parents. Get a white board out right now and divide it up into 3 equal parts. Label the three areas like this: MUST REHIRE, ON THE FENCE, NO WAY. Take every staff member you had from last summer and without looking at evaluations, put them in one of these three categories. This way you will be responding to you 'gut' feeling about their performance this past summer. Once you have done this, go back through their evaluations and tweak your lists. With your MUST REHIRE group, spend the month of October contacting them and letting them know you want them back. The sooner they know you want them back, the less apt they are to work somewhere else.
2) Pictures, pictures, pictures: Get pictures from the summer of 2009 up on your current website. Send your families and staff pictures in an e-mail. Post pictures from the summer on your camp's Facebook page. They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words... well say it then!
3) The definition of insanity... is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Think of the worst 3 or 4 program ideas that you had last summer and be sure NOT to do them again. I'm always amazed when people recognize programs or performers that clearly did not go well, yet they are repeated the next year. Be sure to write this list down and get it into your summer of 2010 folder.
4) Set up of your professional development schedule: Look ahead from October to May. What professional development opportunities are you going to take advantage of, going forward? What are you going to do to become a better camp professional? What philosophies are you going to change or work toward incorporating into next summer? If you want your staff to improve, you have to improve.
5) Make your follow up list: Think about times this summer when someone (counselors, nurses, kitchen staff, maintenance staff, anyone) stepped up and really made a difference to your organization. Send them a gift card to Star bucks (my standby), send them some home made cookies, send a them a gift certificate to a local restaurant. Sometimes its easier to think of those people at this time of the year when you have the chance to catch your breath.
6) Call all of your families and say thank you for coming to our program: "Are you insane?" you are asking. "We had over 500 kids in our program, I don't have time for that." You families had the time to register their kids, pay the fee, and send them to you. You have five minutes to call them and say thank you. "That's what e-mail is for." Not for this. Make your calls!
7) Look at your camp's mission statement and come up with a theme for 2010's summer: Is your mission statement still relevant? Can you still use it? Do you need to tweak or update it? If so, now is a great opportunity to do so. Don't have a mission statement? Put one together.
What's your theme for 2010 going to be? Starting thinking about what you can choose for theme for next year and be on the look out for how to form one for next year. (TV, conferences, pop culture trends, etc.)
Enjoy your month of October. For those going to the MRPA (Massachusetts Recreation and Parks Association) in Worcester at the end of the month, I'm presenting 3 sessions on the 29th. I hope to see you there. Also, for any dog lovers out there, I'm writing a book called "Five Good Minutes With Your Dog" Please contribute to it at www.fivegoodminuteswithyourdog.com Thanks!
Best Regards,
Steve Maguire
Professional Speaker
