Audrey Monke

Gold Arrow Camp

When we first started posting a

few low-resolution digital photos

back in 2000 , we had no idea how this seemingly

innocuous service would become a source of parent

complaints and camp director headaches a decade

later . We found ourselves lamenting to one another ,

“ Why did we ever start posting photos ?”

The same thing happened when we started with news . We ’ d write up a few stories , but it seemed like no matter how hard we tried , we could not make all of our parents happy .

We heard comments like , “ Clearly your photographer likes girls more than boys , since today there were seventy-two pictures of girls and only thirty-five pictures of boys .” We began feeling discouraged and drained by the effort we were putting into writing news stories and taking photos and uploading them .

How did we come to this realization ? Time after time at our camp presentations and during phone calls , parents gave us glowing testimonials about “ seeing the wonderful pictures every day .” They shared with their friends , as well as with families who were interested in sending their children to camp for the first time , how it made them feel so reassured and happy to see the photos .

Their enthusiasm about “ being able to see the fun at camp ” and “ spending hours browsing through all the photos ,”

really sunk in . We realized that the photos and news we post are the experience we offer our camp parents while their child is with us . No longer is it an afterthought or burden to determine who is going to take the pictures , how we would find the time to upload them , and what news we will post . Reevaluating our view of the importance of our news writing and photo uploading services made us change the way we approach them .

Now it ’ s our goal to really WOW our parents with our photos and news . We want to exceed our parents ’ expectations in this area as much as with their child ’ s overall camp experience , and so we are continually improving our photo service . Each year we reconsider how we take , sort , and upload our photos , as well as how we communicate news to parents . I want to share with you some tips that have helped us become more successful .

We realized

that the photos

and news we

post are the

experience we

offer our camp

parents while

their child is

with us .

Some tips for improving

your photo posting

SPEND MORE MONEY .

Posting quality photos of every camper is now one of our top strategic priorities . Some directors may question placing this much emphasis on photos , but I contend that the photos you post from camp have a profound impact on your parents ’ perceptions of your whole program . For most of them , it ’ s all they see , and it ’ s the only impression they have of your camp .

If you aren ’ t already committing a significant amount of time and money to your photo department , I suggest you allocate some of your marketing dollars there . Having a captive audience of camp parents view your photos , post them on their Facebook pages , and email them to their friends and family is one of the most effective ways for your current families to share your program with others . Thus , hiring a few more photographers and providing them with better equipment may be one of the wisest uses of your precious marketing dollars !

TAKE PICTURES OF EVERY

CAMPER . Why do you need all these photographers ? In analyzing our parents ’ feedback , one thing became crystal clear : It ’ s not enough to post beautiful pictures featuring smiling faces and adventures in the woods . Even the breath-taking sunset picture with the canoe silhouetted on the lake is not what parents want . THEY WANT TO SEE THEIR OWN KID . Period .

In a camp of any size , that presents a challenge . For us , that translated into increasing from one photographer back in 2000 to five in 2011 . But hiring enough photographers , we learned , was not quite enough . We had to start using

But a few years ago , we had a revelation that completely changed our approach to our camp photography and news services . Despite the inevitable criticism , we realized that providing top quality photos and news gives our parents a rewarding experience while their child is at camp .

This meant that more effort – not less – was necessary to make our photos and news a success .