Camp and character | Our Kids Member Report

Glen Herbert
Editor/Writer, Our Kids Media
July, 2021

“Overall, it’s been 35 summers or more at Camp Nominingue,” says director Grant McKenna. “So it’s a place I know pretty well.” McKenna said that during the camp director video, one of more than 130 that we’ve recently added to the website. The videos are little windows onto the world of camp, and—as in that one—are uniquely personal. Later in that video, McKenna says that when people come to camp for the first time, they have a lot of questions, concerns and fears, and “I would say [to them], every fear they have, every concern they have, they’re not alone. There are other campers, maybe who have been at camp for five years, who have the exact same worries. Who do I ask if I have a problem? Will I have a friend?”

These are the kinds of messages that really resonate with parents and campers, perhaps especially now, as we are all dipping our toes back into the group social experiences that we’ve been alienated from. The director's videos are powerful because they are so human, so honest. It’s one thing to read a list of activities, or session dates, and quite another to hear from someone who has made camp their life’s work. Just one person speaking to one person. Understandably, they’re proving a very popular aspect of each camp profile.

Back to business

The numbers are telling a great story, too. There has been a 44.62% year-over-year increase in camp related traffic on OurKids between June 1 to July 15. That’s a 39.40% increase compared to the same time period in 2019, which means that more parents are looking for camps not because of COVID, but in general, just because of what camp does, and what it can be in their children’s lives.

What we’re seeing, too, is that families are 27% more likely to visit a camp's specific program profile after landing on a category or topic page (ex: Traditional camps, Music camps or Virtual programs). That’s partially due to our recent change to emphasize sessions and programs, which I discussed in the May Insider, and also proving the concept behind the rejig—some families are looking for a specific camp, but many others are looking more generally, finding their options, searching on specific program types. Both styles of research are important, and the numbers tell the tale.