Tri-State

Programming Share Out
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Room 416
There is a ton of wisdom at this conference, let’s take advantage of it! Share your favorite programming ideas and gain some new ones from fellow camp professionals.
Topics may include sensory-friendly evening programs, connecting your existing programming to your mission AND what the kiddos want, staff bonding activities, and so much more.

The Backward Plan: A Camp Staff Training Roundtable
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 419
Join fellow camp professionals in an interactive roundtable discussion focused on mastering the “backward planning” approach for designing dynamic and effective camp staff training schedules.
This session moves beyond a standard presentation, offering a collaborative forum for you to share challenges, swap strategies, and brainstorm solutions with peers. We will tackle key questions in an open dialogue format:
• How do you prioritize the most crucial skills staff need by Opening Day?
• What are innovative ways to integrate essential components like health/safety and camper development into engaging, hands-on activities?
• How do we ensure every piece of training content aligns deeply with our unique camp’s mission, vision, and values?
Whether you lead a resident camp or a day camp, bring your experiences and your toughest questions. Walk away with fresh perspectives, shared resources, and a ready-to-implement strategy for transforming your staff training into an empowering experience that fosters a positive, ready-to-lead team. Active participation and shared expertise are the cornerstones of this session. To get the conversation started, come ready to share and discuss a few of your best (or worst!) ideas. You’ll have the opportunity to explore the ones you’re most excited or proudest to discuss.

The Kids Are Ready: Using Play as a Tool for Social Change
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 418
In this workshop, participants will explore how play can be used as a powerful tool in youth programs to spark conversations about identity, power, and the wider world, while fostering positive social change. They will gain strategies and practical approaches to embed these discussions into their programs, helping young people build foundational language around social change and develop the skills to become changemakers. Finally, participants will engage in hands-on activities that demonstrate how play can be used intentionally as a strategic method to support young people in navigating and responding to today’s sociopolitical context.

Alumni Development Roundtable: What Camps Can Learn from University Models and One Another
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 401
While camps foster deep connections, building a formal alumni association often remains a challenge. This session opens the floor for a moderated discussion on your camp’s alumni plan, whether it’s a full-fledged association or non-existent. Be prepared to share your current strategies, hopeful future plans, past successes or mistakes, and more. Cory will share some of his lessons from conversations with the CEO of the Clemson University Alumni Association to get things started. This is an opportunity to learn from peers as we discuss how to turn camper nostalgia into active, lifelong belonging.

How to Adapt Marketing and Sales Strategies to Attract and Enroll Children from Non-Traditional Camp Families
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 410
In this Dining Hall, we will lead a conversation focused on how to market and sell camp to “non-traditional” camp families. Non-traditional camp families are made up of families with parents who did NOT attend camp, families who come from areas in the United States or abroad that do not have camp at all, and/or families who live in neighborhoods where it may not be the norm or part of the culture to send children to camp. We will discuss aspects of the marketing plan, inquiry follow ups and the camp tour that must be adapted if we wish to communicate effectively with families new to the camp world.

4-H Camp Roundtable
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 415
Step into a dynamic session designed for 4-H camp professionals! Whether you’re a seasoned camp director or new to the team, this round table is your chance to connect with peers from across the region, exchange ideas, and spark inspiration.
Discover what’s working in other state 4-H camp programs, share your own success stories, and gather fresh programming ideas and resources to take back to your camp. Bring your staff training agendas, emergency management plans, program evaluations, and any tools you use. This is a space for open sharing and collective growth.
Expect lively discussion, practical takeaways, and new connections that will strengthen your camp community. Come ready to contribute, learn, and leave energized for the season ahead!

EPIC Dining Hall
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 402
Anyone who identifies as an EPIC (Emerging Professional in Camping) is invited to join this session of networking and casual conversation that is relevant to our community. Bring your challenges, hot topics, and lunch!

Parks and Rec Camps Meet and Greet
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 405/406

ACA Upstate Gathering
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 202

ACA Chesapeake Gathering
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Room 413

VOCE Roundtable Discussions
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:45 | Room 411/412
Join Fritz, Dan Zenkel and other VOCEs as we network, grab lunch and take part in small discussions around things that effect us, the Veterans of the Camp Experience. More information on topics and moderators will be shared after the data from a survey is collected.

Developing Future Camp Leaders with CIT Programs
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00
Finding the staff who want to work with kids and be part of your camp’s culture can be challenging. A high-quality CIT or leadership program will cultivate campers into staff. Programs must be based on providing mentorship and developing future leaders beyond just giving an opportunity to be at camp for another summer. We will explore characteristics of a successful program, pitfalls to avoid, and tips for transforming a program into a robust leadership pipeline. We will cover best practices and share real examples.

How to Do What You Said You Would Do: Being Accountable to Yourself and Others, with Less Stress
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 301
Wouldn’t it be great if we were judged by our intentions instead of our actions or lack of action? Do you struggle to manage your task list, or wish you even had a task list? Would you like to raise accountability for yourself and those you collaborate with? In this session with Diana Bloom, we will learn actionable steps that can be implemented to achieve high productivity and efficiency and to bridge the gap between our intentions and our actions. Together, we will discover systems and processes to prioritize, track, and complete tasks with less stress. We will learn techniques for better clarity in task management, how to prevent tasks from falling through the cracks, and how to track work to completion.

The Perks, Privileges, and Pitfalls of Hiring and Managing Staff Parents
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 310
Parents of current campers are valuable assets in many camp programs. However, they also come with challenges, including feelings of entitlement, supervising one’s peers, discretion, being an ambassador of your brand inside and outside of camp, and the inability to separate their job as a staff member from their role as a parent when their children are “at work” with them. This session will help the people who hire, train, and manage staff parents understand the importance of setting clear expectations from the start and recognize the value in having targeted training for staff parents during orientation. This session will focus on positive ways supervisors can convey to staff parents that they were hired to do a job, and that while at camp, their parental role comes second. When/if staff parents overstep that boundary, their behaviors not only reflect poorly on the job that they do, but can negatively impact their own children’s camp experience. Don’t let it!

A Strengths-Based Approach to Working with Tough Boys
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 404
The 13- and 14-year-old hotshots who are causing headaches for your instructors; the second-year counsellors who are disrupting your staff culture. These aren’t just problems to be fixed-they’re leadership opportunities waiting to be channeled.
This session equips camp leaders with practical strategies to work with the boys and young men who naturally emerge as influential figures within their camp culture. We will begin by exploring how precarious masculinity the constant pressure boys feel to prove their manhood drives attention-seeking, risk-taking, defiance, and disconnection in camp settings. From there, participants will learn proven strategies for aligning with, challenging, and empowering boys that can be implemented at the camp leadership level as well as taught to camp staff. Transform your most challenging campers into your greatest assets for building a camp culture where everyone, not just the loudest voices, can thrive.

Encouraging Intentional Dialogue in an Age of Division
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 311
In an era defined by polarization and fear of saying the wrong thing, camps have a unique opportunity to model what productive disagreement looks like. This session examines how leaning into hard conversations—rather than avoiding or canceling them—builds communities rooted in trust and empathy. Drawing from research in restorative practices, social-emotional learning, and self-determination theory, participants will explore how structured dialogue and shared responsibility help young people develop resilience and perspective-taking. Through case studies and interactive reflection from Camp Stomping Ground, we’ll analyze how adult discomfort can reinforce division, and how intentional dialogue creates belonging across difference. Participants will leave with concrete frameworks and facilitation tools for transforming conflict into connection in today’s fractured cultural landscape.

The No-Sweat Marketing Plan
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 418
You already sweat enough at camp, let’s not add to it in the off-season! Stop overthinking and start marketing smarter. In this interactive, fast-moving session, you’ll learn how to create a clear, values-driven, actionable marketing plan in minutes, not months. Together, we’ll map out realistic goals, define your target audiences (and the people who influence them), and build a customer-centered strategy that drives enrollment and engagement. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to marketing, you’ll walk away with a practical plan you can put to work the moment you return home.

Building Bus Community: The Human Approach to a Better Transportation Experience
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 417
This presentation will explore how a focus on human connection and community-building can transform the bus experience for day campers. While logistics like efficiency and safety are paramount, we often overlook the social dynamics that shape a child’s daily commute. By shifting our approach from simply transporting campers to fostering a sense of community on board, we can significantly improve the overall experience of not just our campers, but also our bus staff and drivers.
Our focus will be centered not only on how community building makes the bus ride more enjoyable but also helps reduce behavioral issues and reinforces a sense of belonging among campers, bus staff, and drivers, creating a lasting positive impact that extends far beyond the bus ride and camp season.

Balance Beam Management: A New Approach to Keeping Team and Campers Happy
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 415
The ability to manage our team and their ability to do their jobs well is central to creating incredible camp experiences for campers and families. Balance Beam Management is a new approach to team leadership that builds trust, fosters open conversation, and helps staff regulate emotions in real time rather than reacting to stress. The same techniques can also be used to support campers more effectively.
This approach centers joy and care, helping leaders and staff develop meaningful relationships and healthy communication. By promoting emotional regulation, co-regulation, and play-based techniques, we create environments where everyone feels seen, safe, and supported.

The Complexities of Medication Management: Understanding the Regulations and Responsibilities
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 421
Medication management continues to be the most litigated activity that happens at camp. Understanding the many steps that medications need to take (intake, screening, securement, dispensing, documentation, error management) is essential for the safety of your full camp population. This session will discuss the components of medication management and steps your camp can take to create a healthy protocol for care.

Incorporating Drumming, Rhythm, and Movement Into Your Camp Activities: Easy Ways to Boost Energy, Teamwork, and Camper Engagement
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 202
Get inspired! This hands-on, interactive session will expose you to the possibilities of incorporating rhythm into your offerings and activities in camp.
Featuring demonstrations from Adam and his team from Path To Rhythm, participants will be a part of the high energy and connection created by rhythm making.
Adam will break down easy ways to lead and facilitate group activities that you can take to your campers and staff. Come learn specific techniques to be able to lead activities, be inspired to incorporate rhythm activities into your programming, and expand upon your music program offerings.

Accounting Strategies to Increase Profits and Reduce Taxes
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 314
Running a camp comes with unique financial challenges and opportunities. This session provides camp professionals, owners, and executives with essential accounting insights tailored to the camp industry. Learn how to maximize tax deductions, navigate new tax law changes—especially around depreciation and the employee retention credit—and manage key accounting issues for both for-profit and non-profit camps. Experts will also explore how to strengthen bank relationships and financing options, structure the purchase or sale of a camp, and develop a sound succession plan for long-term sustainability. Participants will leave with practical strategies to overcome financial obstacles, improve profitability, and ensure their camps fiscal health in changing economic times.

DEI Status Report: A Fishbowl on Inclusion in Camping
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 312
We’ve been talking about DEI for years, so where are we now? In this candid, in-the-round conversation, four practitioners drop the script and speak honestly about the state of inclusion in camps: the progress, the fatigue, the wins that keep us going, and the barriers that still hold us back. No slides. No Q&A. Just real talk about what it means to keep doing this work when the world is pushing back. Attendees will leave with a new perspective on inclusion work, renewed clarity, and the courage and insight to advocate for inclusion in youth spaces.

Intentionally Designed, Large-Scale, Cheap Games
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 410
This session will bring participants along on a journey that transformed the programming paradigm at YMCA Camp Cory. Budgetary constraints led to the emergence of high-quality all-camp games. And we are sharing them with you. For free! Come learn about game design and all the things that make all-camp games exquisite (Dramatis Personae, epic music, engaging costumes, pacing, prop building and storage, coopetition, and engagement strategies).
We will share design standards and other strategies we’ve used at YMCA Camp Cory to develop original, all-camp games on a shoestring budget. We’ll introduce some game examples, show the creation process, and provide resources that other camps can use.

Fearless Feedback: Building Confidence in Camp Supervisors
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 419
Many seasonal staff can find it uncomfortable or intimidating to give difficult feedback to staff during the summer. In this session, we will explore three different feedback models that will help camp staff grow and leave leadership feeling confident. Through role-playing common camp scenarios, you will practice giving and receiving feedback. This roundtable will provide you with a ready-to-use session that will prepare your leadership team for summer 2026.

Ditching Walkie-Talkies for Discord
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 315
Crackling static, dead batteries, and endless “can you hear me?” moments sound familiar? In 2024, Camp Jamison, led by Executive Director Jacqueline McDonough, ditched walkie-talkies and switched to Discord. Now, after two summers of testing it, Jacqueline shares how the change cut costs, boosted staff buy-in, and improved communication from whole-camp coordination to one-on-one check-ins. This session covers the benefits and (of course) the challenges, including those 2 a.m. emotional staff messages, so participants can decide if Discord is right for their camp. Attendees will leave with practical guidance for setup, staff onboarding, and communication norms that make modern tech work for even the most untechy of camp cultures.

Creating Calm in Uncertain Times: Supporting Staff, Children, and Families
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 309
Camp is often a safe and joyful space where kids and staff can grow, connect, and build lasting memories. Yet times of uncertainty, whether in the world or within the camp community itself, can bring up stress, fear, and big emotions. Counselors and camp leaders are in a powerful position to offer stability, consistency, and connection when things feel unpredictable.
This interactive workshop helps camp staff understand how uncertainty and stress affect both the mind and body, drawing on research in resilience and emotional regulation. Participants will practice clear and compassionate communication, stress-management tools, and strategies for building a supportive team culture where everyone feels grounded and cared for.
The session also focuses on staff wellness-recognizing signs of burnout and using regulation skills to sustain energy and empathy throughout the season.

Finish Strong: Inspiring Ideas to Close Your Staff Training
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 402
Whether you are planning staff orientation for a day camp or a resident camp, you always want to end your training strong. How do you close each session, each full day, and your entire week or more of staff orientation in a meaningful and inspiring way? You will experience a variety of impactful endings that you can quickly and easily integrate into your staff training for this summer.

Camp Unpeeled: What the Savannah Bananas Can Teach Us About Change
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 322
Camp operations often repeat the same routines year after year, even when they no longer reflect how parents and staff want to engage. Like old-school baseball, they can feel rigid and outdated. The Savannah Bananas reimagined the game by keeping what fans loved and reinventing what they didn’t. In this session, learn how camp directors can become change agents by modernizing infrastructure and operations—without losing the magic of tradition.

Beyond the Sales Pitch: Communicating the True Camp Experience to Today's Staff
2026-03-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Room 302
More staff than ever are arriving at camp feeling misled about what the job truly entails. Some leave early in the season, or never show up at all, because what they were “sold” during recruitment doesn’t match the reality once they’re on site. We see international staff requesting transfers and domestic staff ghosting before or during orientation, or quitting once campers arrive.
Discover strategies to close this expectation gap through intentional communication during the hiring and onboarding processes. Learn how to clearly convey the full camp experience, from daily rhythms to real challenges, so staff arrive prepared, engaged, and ready to fulfill their commitments. These actionable approaches will help reduce early turnover, build trust, and strengthen both short- and long-term staff retention.
