Time to grow | Our Kids Member Report

Glen Herbert
Editor/Writer, Our Kids Media
October, 2020

At school kids learn what they know. At camp they learn who they are

To understate it entirely, it was a challenging year for the camp industry. Certainly, no one is going to forget 2020 anytime soon. When the country locked down, we went into immediate action, launching new tools to promote virtual camp programs: 22,144 families used our platform to search for virtual programs specifically. We actively encouraged families to leave their deposits in your hands (rather than asking for refunds for deferred sessions). Finally, we offered over $100,000 in direct relief to our members, in the form of member discounts and added promotions and products.

So, yes, it’s been quite a year. Through it all we’ve continued to deliver top-of-page search results for over 75,000 camp-related words and phrases. But as we look to 2021, we’re more confident and focused than ever, knowing the challenges that lay ahead.

As demand for camps and programs returns, parents’ first stop will be our platform, and we’re ready for them. We’ve spent the past six months aggressively developing our online presence and reach, making it easier for parents to build a complete summer itinerary for their kids. It’s not about building a camp, but planning the year. We’re reducing families’ hassle in browsing, choosing, and coordinating different programs for one or multiple kids.

We’ve also developed content to further deliver the value equation: why kids need camp, now more than ever before. The character hub is part of that, and the upcoming annual guide will continue the theme in print. There we’ll profile the work of our members, thanks to those who agreed to interviews earlier in the year, and those who filled out the character section of the control panel. We also use the guide to highlight what camp has meant to people of our moment, including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who, literally until her passing, could and often did sing her camp song.

For more, including in-depth descriptions of our new products and initiatives such as the booking calendar tool, see our annual member report.

Reminder: renew your membership on Oct. 28 to receive over $400 in discounts. For more details, visit your Our Kids booking form.

In other news

We’ve been working to bring character education and development forward on our platforms, and making it an important element of camp profiles, online and in print, something that we’ll be rolling out in the coming months. Please log in and include specific character traits to existing and new programs. While optional, these traits will further enhance your programs’ searchability. This will also be the theme of our upcoming magazine, and we’ll be including content from camps both online and in print. All content entered by the end of November will be considered for inclusion—either quoted directly, or mentioned—in the annual guide.
Over 30 new specialties and activities—music production, virtual reality, drone technology, health sciences, disc golf, and many more additions have been made to the control panel. These will build out the list of traditional activities while allowing camps to appear on more refined searches, including those specific to COVID-era programming. We’ve also revised the structure and grouping of the activity lists to enhance clarity. Please log in to update your “Specialty” and “Activity” information to make sure your camp doesn't miss out on promotion across our website.
COVID-19 section within your profile: If you haven’t already, share your COVID message with families on your profile. Add a description about how your camp is responding, highlighting key changes, and any available programming. You can also include a link to your main COVID-response page or portal.