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What was truly fascinating , though , was that despite all these similarities , there were vast differences in the methods each camp used to accomplish these tasks . Beyond that , each camp had its own specific areas where it may have placed just a little more emphasis than the others . Camp Takajo had come up with some breakthroughs in the way it managed the camper transportation process . Laurel and Laurel South were particularly focused on their billing methodologies . Mataponi had spent a lot of time and energy thinking about the best way to manage its health center .
The truth is , the camps made my job easy . Every day , I would hang up with one camp that provided a smart idea , and then I ’ d call the other camps to ask them what they thought . My purpose was to find consensus and to continually add more efficiencies into each management process . Even though the suggestions were rarely mine , it was music to my ears when I ’ d hear voices on the other end of the phone exclaim , “ That ’ s a great idea !” That meant I would get to spend the next many hours doing what I loved : listening to some tunes while hammering away at my keyboard and watching an imagined concept turn real before my eyes .
To this day , each camp brings something unique and interesting to the table and further pushes the envelope by coming up with innovative ideas to manage a camp business .
Fast forward to August 2010 ,
and I ’ m in Paul ’ s office in our
Boulder , Colo . headquarters .
The phone rings , and it ’ s
Jamie Maxner from Camp Tel
Yehudah . We both say hello
and Jamie politely inquires ,
“ Hey guys , I ’ m just checking
to see where you are with the
staff application .”
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At CampMinder Camp 2 , back in January , Jamie attended the staff application session where we started to gather preliminary ideas about what a revamped staff application might look like . Tel Yehudah , like many other camps , had been using CampMinder ’ s original staff application , the first CampMinder feature ever developed and that had been in use since 2001 .
“ We started to design the layout , but the reality is that this is a huge project , and it most likely will not be ready in time for this hiring season ,” says Paul .
Jamie , affable as she always is , responds , “ OK , that ’ s great . Just wanted to check in .”
I interject , “ Jamie , while we have you on the phone , remind me : do you want to be able to ask different questions to different position types ? For example , nurses versus counselors ?”
“ We don ’ t care if a nurse can play basketball , but we don ’ t have a separate set of questions we ask nurses , “ says Jamie , ” Maybe we should ?” Jamie continues , “ We do ask different questions to new versus returning staff , though .”
Knowing that the reinvented staff application will handle both of these cases , I smile . “ You ’ re gonna like what we ’ re putting together here ,” I say .
“ Are you coming to CampMinder Camp ?“ asks Paul . “ We ’ re going to have the designs ready for a brainstorming session , and hopefully you can be there to tear them apart with everyone .”
“ Obviously , “ she replies .
We hang up , and now that Paul and I are thinking about the staff application again , we put our heads back into the project . Forty-five minutes later , scattered around Paul ’ s desk are printed screenshots of our current staff application with handwritten notes practically covering each page . We Skype with our user interface designer , Nicholai , and walk through the new mockups page-by-page with him , making sure we have addressed all the scribbles on the printed pages . We also cross-reference our notes from CampMinder Camp to make sure we haven ’ t missed anything .
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Over the ensuing weeks and months , Nicholai sends along his progress with the user interfaces and we make minor tweaks here and there . By Thanksgiving , we have a functional mockup of the entire staff application , and it ’ s ready to face the jury .
On January 27th , 2011 , the
first day of CampMinder
Camp 3 , we host a group
brainstorming session focused
specifically on confirming
our vision for the new staff
application . A room full of
people , including myself ,
Paul , Stuart ( our CTO ),
Frank ( Director of Client
Development ), and 40-or-so
of our clients sit together to
review and critique
our designs .
This brainstorming session goes down as my favorite CampMinder Camp session to date . It was intense . You ’ ll always hear me raving about the way camp professionals are “ the most collaborative competitors in business .” At least that ’ s the way Sarah Applebaum of Camp Thunderbird put it at the time . But there ’ s a limit to competitive collaboration , and that limit is the point at which “ I need it to work like this ” and “ I need it to work like that ” collide .
If there is one thing I have learned in my now 10-plus years of focusing almost all of my daily energy trying to make CampMinder work for just about every imaginable situation that may arise , it is : THIS AND THAT MUST NEVER COLLIDE !
It doesn ’ t take long for this and that to collide during this particular session .
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On the second page of the application , where the applicant indicates the positions he or she is interested in , a lively debate ensues . One population of camps wants the applicants to choose across a broad selection of positions , like “ Activity Specialist ” or “ General Counselor .” Another group is vying for very specific positions , such as “ Head of Basketball .”
Both groups have valid reasons for why they operate the way they do , and it ’ s our job to build a system that can accommodate the wide range of needs . We ’ re talking day camps , resident camps , two week / multi-session camps , full season traditional camps , so on and so forth .
We leave the session with a page-long list of suggested improvements to our mockups . This list provides us with plenty of food for thought . In the months leading up to the summer , we table the discussion to instead focus on the pressing matters that affect the upcoming camp season . In the back of our minds , however , we know that The Big Enchilada looms .
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It ’ s a beautiful July morning in Boulder , and camps nationwide are in-session and running smoothly . It ’ s time to tackle The Big Enchilada . There ’ s something creative and inspirational about the Boulder Creek . It ’ s our version of the peaceful camp waterfront . Paul and I decide to take advantage of the sunny day , and we walk and talk along the path beside |
the creek , creating a master plan as to how we are going to address this enormous project . We eventually get to the point where we have a fairly solid idea of what we think the new staff application has to do in order to accommodate everyone . Time to bring in the team . |