Each year as spring approaches thousands of camp professionals make their way to the Atlantic City Convention Center for the American Camp Association’s (ACA) Tri-State Conference. This year the Beber full-time staff went out a day early to spend some time working with the Association of Independent Jewish Camps (AIJC), a group of ten camps from across the country that share values and views on Jewish summer camp and are committed to ongoing growth and development.  

The AIJC has had a few group Skype calls, and interacted digitally, but this was my first time meeting some of the other AIJC members in person. The other camps in attendance included our sister camp B’nai B’rith Perlman Camp, as well as Camps Airy and Louise out of Maryland. In true camp style we started out the afternoon with some icebreakers and getting to know you games led by Michael Wax. This instantly got us all off on the right foot and created a positive atmosphere. We then transitioned into some interesting discussions with a few special guests. Abbie Weisberg and Jennifer Gendel of Keshet talked about inclusion at camp and the amazing opportunities camps can provide for campers with special needs. Yftah Kaluski, a security specialist with Aii LLC, talked about security at summer camps and best practices.

This was my fourth Tri-State conference, but for the first time I was presenting which made the experience a new one. Tuesday morning I presented “Social Media 2.0 – Creating a Social Media Strategy for Your Camp” to around 150 other camp professionals in charge of social media. In addition to leading a session myself, Becky presented on the importance of cultivating a positive relationship between camps and parents, Marc presented on using design thinking to fundraise for camps, and Joel presented on Judaic programming. All in all it was a great opportunity for us to share what we’ve been doing at Beber with the greater camping industry. It was an honor for us to be selected and recognized as presenters. In addition to our sessions, there were over 150 other sessions happening over the course of the week.

One of the highlights of the conference was the vendor hall. For those of you who have been to the Wisconsin State Fair, the vendor hall is similar to the products pavilion. However instead of a Shamwows or high-powered blenders; vendors are selling gaga pits, music equipment, aqua jumps and so much more! Not only is this a great time to see what new things are on the market, but it’s also a great time for us to connect with current partners. We got to spend time talking to the staff at CampMinder, CampMeds, Everything Summer Camp and many others.

The conference concluded with a special keynote speech from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Although she never attended summer camp herself, Hillary touched on having a daughter who went away to summer camps and the impact that it has had on her life. Clinton also talked about the important role our children play in the future of our society. She touched on the importance of creating positive environments that protect our children, but also exposing them to experiences that will help them grow. Camps are unique because they provide not only a change in scenery but also a comforting place where campers feel at home. I think Hillary said it best, “Camps are the safe havens from storms that blow across all of our lives”.

Overall, our trip to Atlantic City was a very productive and successful one. We started new relationships, deepened existing relationships and learned some useful information and activities to bring to camp this summer!