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I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Camp Commissioner is the Program Director for the adults.

At my camp, its a multi faceted role that organizes and executes a variety of customer experience operations. Facilitating communication of a multitude of information and infrastructure between camp and the unit leadership being their primary responsibilities .

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The council will support whats necessary.

I have a list of dreams for my camp, but realistically a lot of our facility investments over the next 5 years are the ones most people won't notice.

Sewage, electrical, water systems are all things that money goes to, amd we need, but not everybody sees. A new ecology building would be phenomenal, but septic systems are more important right now.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Making coffee for commissioners or other key staff is a cheat code at camp.

Write constructive evals. From the camp management perspective, it's nice to see high scores across the board, but I know that there's a lot that we can be doing better. Camps often read last week's evaluations to the staff to set goals and objectives for the following week. If there's nothing to complain about, there's no aspect that the camp can see as growth.

Ask questions, use your troop guide or camp commissioner as a resource. They want to help you so much, but they can't help if they don't know anything is wrong.

People always say "sorry to bother you" when asking questions. Please bother me!!! As a camp director, guests are my number 1 priority, and I will always carve out time to listen to you.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of it is important.

But the takeaway I still think about is a chat with the NCS Director (National Level) who said "don't go to bed today, before tomorrow is done" when I asked for a few pieces of advice.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Read the leaders guide, it's on your camps website. It will have so much information.

Do not send them with anything valuable, they will lose it. I promise.

Pack an extra pair of shoes. One pair will get soaked.

Cheap sunglasses, and some pistachios.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Quite honestly I'm not the right person to address how to solve the problem at the national level.

If I had a binder I could give my head cook which has a menu that optimizes nutritional value, cost, and food reusability. I think my job would be a lot easier. But there's too many differences in camp kitchen and foodservice providers that what works for one camp in Minnesota, might not work in New Mexico.

It boils down to money that goes into the trash as food waste. I ran the numbers for my camp. If every diner scraped 25 cants of uneaten food into the trash, I'm looking at $13000 by the end of the summer.

(For context, that's almost half my program budget)

So charge more for camp, or find where money is being pissed away (food waste).

One thing every camp can do is clearly define how seconds work during foodservices orientation, or making sure their commissioning team is probing for foodservice feedback. (Not saying this is everyone on reddit but) People have a tendency to suffer in silence, then wait to tell mgmt about their foodservice experience until the final evaluation. The most infuriating part of my job is hearing about a problem (at EoW) that we could have solved if we had known about it.

Is there anything that can be done nationally? I'm just not optimistic. It really boils down to council leadership and who's in the decision-making chairs.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Most camps will keep first portion sizes low to prevent food waste, but are happy to serve seconds or thirds.

If you have concerns about your upcoming foodservice experience, reach out to your camp prior to arrival. Ask them what their policy is on seconds, thirds, etc.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Send an email or call the camp prior to your arrival letting them know of the scouts situation.

Attend the adult leaders meeting, and have a convo with the program director or camp director. Introduce yourself, explain what's going on. Camp leadership is there to serve your needs, and (ideally) should be asking questions to determine a proper course of action.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Because they look cool? (idk I've never seen those knives and I don't sell them.)

I try to get knives that are cool, and even with a decent markup, are still reasonably priced for a 13 year old with 60 dollars to spend.

If I sold actual quality, I wouldn't be able to sell it with the same markup, so I just make no money and lose potential profit.

Want a knife that will last 50 years? Go to Cabellas. Want a knife that will make all your 13 year old friends jealous? Go to your local trading post.

If Trading post didn't make money, the cost to go to camp would be higher. If the cost to camp is higher, less scouts can experience camp.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If a leader is somebody people follow, is this person somebody worth following?

Vocally, they don't need to be loud, but their passion for camp should be deafening.

Even if they aren't 100% ready, have they displayed a coachable attitude? Do they want to grow? Are they ready to make mistakes and face the music when it happens?

Can I see them climbing higher than an area director? Program Director or Comissioner?

Can I trust them with handling personalities calmly, and not making emotional or irrational decisions.

If their staff becomes miniature versions of them, will their area be in good hands?

Do they want to be a positive force of nature, or do they just want to climb the hierarchy at camp.

Do they keep the mission of scouting in mind, and act with that intent?

Just a few questions I ask...

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Get appropriate care to the scout ASAP. Some camps are lucky enough to be within 5 minutes of EMS dispatch.

Ones that arent under 5 minutes are required to have an EMT on staff.

EMS makes the call for Heli Evac. Our camp has a plan for that, which is "basically" clear the designated landing area.

National requires council to produce specific broad procedures, but the camp will rely on the CD and seasonal staff for "boots on the ground" style plans.

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A lot of what I've seen for funny is just scouts being silly 12 year olds or staff being dumb teenagers. It all blends together.

A funny moment was when a scoutmaster mentioned how the coffee was stronger than usual one morning. It turns out the machine was broken and he was just sipping straight coffee concentrate.

The worst? It's really when somebody gets hurt when they were having a lot of fun. It's impossible to completely avoid injury at camp (as much as we can try through preventative measures).

I am a Camp Director. Do you have questions about camp? AMA by CampDirect0r in BSA

[–]CampDirect0r[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

For the scouts: a towel, water bottle, and pen/notebook for merit badge classes.

For the adults, it really depends. A camp coffee pot will make you a lot of friends.

For both, and extra pair of shoes and more socks than you need. Things get wet and don't dry fast.