Keystone ACA Conference Update: SMA 2 Week Teen Summer Camp

This Jud Millar coming to you “live” from Day 2 at the American Camping Association (ACA) Keystone Conference.  This year the conference is once again being held at beautiful Bear Mountain Ski Resort and Conference center in Macungie, PA near Allentown, PA.  I attended this conference 2 years ago and had a fabulous experience and was looking forward to this year’s event with much anticipation.  So far I have not been disappointed, rather I’ve been impressed and motivated! 

I really like this Teen Summer Camp Conference because it is relatively small with about 200 people registered this year.  There are all different kinds of camps represented here included Day Camps, Overnight Teem Summer Camp, For-Profit Camps, Not For Profit Camps, YMCA Camps and Conference Centers, JCC Summer Camps and others.  Many of the summer camp professionals who attend this conference come with other members of their members of their camps.  I on the other hand came solo so being a smaller group was extremely helpful in meeting new people and making new friends.

One of the unique things about this conference is that all meals are included in the conference fee.  The reasons this is so awesome are as follows:

• The food is very high quality and I Love to Eat!
• The is so much culture that is created around food.
• Eating together as a group gives me the opportunity to meet new people and make camp connections.

So far I have attended the following education sessions:

Becoming a Better, Stonger Leader

• Dave Malter, ProfessorDave.Camp Education. Training. Consulting

36 Ways to “K.E.O.L.E.” – Keep ‘em or Lose ‘em! How to Keep Your Campers Coming Back to Camp

• Sam Bloom, Emma Kaufmann Camp

The Boomer/Millennial Thing (and How to Communicate Across the Generations)

• Nancy Shenker, Onswitch

So far I have been extremely impressed with quality of the content of these educational sessions as well as the relevance to camp.  In addition I have also been impressed with the professionalism of the presenters.  I’m excited for the upcoming educational sessions and the continued opportunity to network with other summer camp professionals.

Horseback Riding Teen Summer Camp

Overnight Teen Summer Camp

Horseback Riding Camp

2 Week Teen Summer Camp