We all have arrived in Denver safely. Leb got here a few days ago for planning meetings in preparation. We all started this morning at 9am with the start of the Association of Independent Camps Conference. What exactly is the AIC and the ACA? Just under 3000 camps across the country are members of the ACA, the association that accredits camps, represents us nationally and provides resources to our industry. The AIC is an affiliated group of ACA and is comprised of for-profit and non-for-profit camps that are independent, meaning they’re not a part of any agency or larger group. So for two days before the start of the ACA conference a few hundred people are meeting to discuss issues specifically focused towards independent camps.
For our opening general session we had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Foster Cline, one of the founders of the Love and Logic Institute. Dr. Cline is a child psychologist who has written many books and has 35 years of experience working with families and children. Following the opening session we had a few small group break-out sessions. Some of these sessions included camp crisis management, internet staff training and online marketing tools.
Our evening was capped off at the AIC awards dinner. At the Awards Dinner Leb was recognized for his efforts with the AIC. Leb is the outgoing AIC President and has focused significant efforts for the last two years to provide additional resources for camps all over the country. While Leb will appreciate having a little more free time, it’s obvious that camp directors across the country will miss his leadership.
Today wrapped up the AIC conference. We spent the morning in a session with Fred Miller who is an executive consultant that works with organizations and companied across the world. His session focused on the current economy and how camps can continue to grow in the changing world. We’ll follow up with more info from the conference as the ACA conference gets under way.
