Find full show notes and links at Fantastic, frank, feedback from families and staff.
There are not many industries out there like ours…for many reasons!
One of the primary ones is the focus that we all share on relationship building. Whether it’s between campers, staff and campers, staff and staff or admin and staff, building cohesive and strong relationships may as well be the theme of every day at camp.
The relationships that our camps have with their families are unique and wonderful, too. Yes, families are our clients and any business out there can say, “We treat our clients as families”, but we know that when it comes to camp, we’re not just a service provider to those families, we’re partners in raising their children.
Part of that “partnership” is showing families that we value their opinion and perspective when it comes to working with your camp.
Now, hopefully, you’ve got some sort of feedback mechanism for your parents, (if you don’t, get in touch, we can help with that!). Surveys, calling families, soliciting online reviews are all good, but those can seem very surface level or even transactional. To up the level of trust, intentionality and intimacy with your families, it may be time to think about focus groups.
A focus group is one of the best ways to get the real and emotion-driven feedback that you could never get from a digital survey. As well, spending that face-time with some of your most valued families is one of the best ways to build trust in your camp. When you show your families that you want to truly understand their perspective, you show them that you are committed to them and their child.
Focus groups can also be a valuable tool to use with your staff. If you want to introduce change, brainstorm new program ideas or just see things from their perspective, a focus group can build trust and group buy-in among your team.
What should you ask in a focus group? Where should you do it? Who should you ask to attend? All great questions! To answer them, Travis, Dan and Gab are on the case! Tune in to hear about the strategies and intentions that you should think about when planning your next focus group.
What kinds of questions would you ask in a parent focus group? Let us know in the comments!
Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director
Travis: Custom inside joke stickers (check out the Youtube video of this episode to see Seth’s!)
Dan: 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace
Gab: Getting your camp dog vertified as a therapy dog or emotional support animal. Parents will love it!
Your Hosts:
Travis Allison, Summer Camp Consultant - CampHacker.TV, Founder at Go Camp Pro
Gabrielle Raill, Camp Director - Camp Ouareau
Dan Weir, Sr. Director - Youth Development, Summer Camp, & Strategic Initiatives - YMCA of Long Island
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PS: Something special, for those of you who read to the end of the show notes:
Go Camp Pro’s “Find Your Karen” exercise - An essential guide for finding (and keeping) the exact, right families for your summer camp.
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