Got back from an amazing workshop in Ohio in late March. This is the second year I attended the Buckeye Leadership Workshop and it is one of the most unique experiences I have had at a conference in a long time.
When I first attended Buckeye in 2007 I could not believe how welcoming and inviting everyone was. Upon first arriving you where taken in to be part of the group and people were genuinely interested in who you were and where you were from. It is one of the main reasons that I returned in 2008 – for that feeling of community. I would highly recommend Buckeye to camp people – because it gives you a look into new ideas on community and how to build and maintain it. There is no other gathering that I attend where my table mates at a meal range so greatly in age, but are so easy to talk to and get to know.
As camp professionals we strive (I hope) to build community in our camps. It is our hope to have the campers, staff, alumni and parents feel a part of the greater community that is our camp. There are many camps that go to great lengths to strive for this and to achieve it.
Do we as the Ontario Camping Association reach for the same goal? Do you feel a part of the community of the Ontario camping scene? There is a story to be told that occurred in the past year when someone mentioned that the OCA was a community – someone else responded quite quickly to say that, “We are NOT a community.” I feel that there is a community in the OCA, but I also feel I’m on the inside looking out, I want to know how you feel if you are on the outside looking in?
Well which is it? Do you get the sense that we are a community? When you attend an educational event do you and your staff feel that welcoming presence that would have you come back – that you would travel for hours to feel?
And if not, how can we better become that community? How can we make sure that everyone that chooses to work in the profession of camping feels like we are here to help them and make them better.
Our campers would not return if we didn’t
help them feel that way…