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The Efficient Office: Strategies & Tips to Streamline Your Workday

Practical tips for individuals who do administrative tasks for your organization. From answering the phone, emails or general camper/donor relations, we’ll look at some tips to increase your efficiency and create a better experience for those you work with and yourself!

Miriam has worked for Joy El for 12 ½ years, working many administrative roles from bookkeeping, to office assistant, donor relations and fundraising, and coordinating guest groups. She is married to David and has a daughter Katie, who just graduated from Lancaster Bible College with a degree in communications (she also works for Joy El!). Miriam is a worship leader and serves as deacon with her husband at their church in Maugansville, MD. She also has a great passion for the Angel Tree program and coordinates those campers each summer.

Print’s Powerful Performance: Facts, Tips & Trends for Effective Print

With more ways to communicate than ever before, why is it so hard to get our message heard? We will answer that question in three parts – Facts, Tips and Trends. This workshop will touch on some principles of communication, share surprising statistics, and offer specific advice on how your camping ministry can communicate effectively in print.

Tim Beach has been working at Register Graphics since he was 12 because that is what you do in a family business! Amy said “I do” 35 years ago and they have 3 grown children. His point of surrender was at Bethany Camp in junior high. He enjoys leading worship, leading a small group, golf, pickleball, cycling and being active in as much as possible.

Camp AI: Revolutionizing Marketing and Operations with ChatGPT:

Discover how to maximize AI, including ChatGPT, to enhance your camp's marketing and operations. Learn practical strategies for engaging campers, streamlining administration, and personalizing communication. This session offers actionable insights to propel your camp towards greater success through innovative technology.

Jon is the Executive Director of River Valley Ranch, a camp and conference center in Manchester, MD. He has a B.A. from Towson University and an M.A. from Wheaton College. Jon worked as a Community Organizer in low-income neighborhoods outside Chicago before becoming Director of RVR. He served for 10 years on the Maryland State Board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is currently on the board of Curium Outreach, which serves the poor in Nogales, Mexico. He has presented at ACA Tri-State and CCCA National conferences. Jon enjoys gardening, playing chess, running with his dog Sadie, and climbing the leaderboard on his Peloton. Jon and his wife Courtney have two children, Anna and Aidan.

Preparing for an Unwanted Guest

What do you do if you have an unwanted guest on your camp property? What if you receive a call that a noncustodial parent is headed your way? Using case studies from other camps, this session will help you prepare for and respond to these types of situations.

Guest Services

Guest Services & Hospitality are often the unsung heroes in creating a great experience for your campers and guests. Learn tips and tricks you can (and should not) use to enhance every guest/camper encounter, resulting in five-star reviews.

How Safe & Secure is Your Camp?

Nationally recognized safety expert Rick Capozzi, Founder of Survival Mindset Co., will guide you through conducting a Risk Vulnerability Assessment for your camp. This session will also cover cost- effective measures to make your camp, staff, and campers safer and more secure.

For the past 20 years, Rick Capozzi has held various roles in Christian camping, including cabin counselor, consultant, and board chair. He is a popular speaker at CCCA Nationals and Sectionals. As the President of Way Truth Life Radio, Rick has overseen its growth from four to eight frequencies, expanding coverage across much of central Pennsylvania.

In addition to his work with the radio network, Rick is an international speaker, consultant, and founder of three businesses: CapozziGroup, Survival Mindset Co., and The National Safety Network. He also serves as an adjunct professor and learning strategist at Penn State.

Camp Nursing: Practices and Protocols

I will be sharing what we utilize here at Miracle Mountain Ranch and then hearing from other camps about what they use and how to efficiently and effectively deal with patient care, volunteers, paperwork, parents and any other points of concern you bring. Bring your paperwork, view that of other camps, and share your concerns and even funny stories about camp nursing.

Jenni has been serving as the Director of Nursing at Miracle Mountain for 6 years.  She and her team of volunteers have developed their program and walked through many changes over the years to deal with the ever changing needs of their clientele.

Forest Management Assistance For You

A presentation on basic forest management that encompasses sustainable harvesting practices to provide continuous future capital gains. In addition information on State and Federal Resources, highlighting the Pennsylvania Service Forester Program as a resource for landowners will be provided.

Michael Doucette, Service Forester for the Bureau of Forestry. A graduate of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry majoring in Forest Resources Management and the SUNY ESF Ranger School majoring in Forest Technology. Prior positions includes the PA Department of Agriculture and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

Maintenance Tour

We will tour the facilities and utilities side of Laurelville. Including water tower, waste water plant, and pool. We will also tour the maintenance building which has been rebuilt after a fire in February 2022.

Robby has worked at Laurelville for the past 13 years. Since 2016, he has led the Maintenance department and helps keep Laurelville running day to day. Robby and his wife Kelly have four children ages 4-13 and live off site in Scottdale, PA.

Partnering with Local, Organic Farms

Find ways your camp can build relationships with local farms to purchase bulk produce or possibly even receive bulk produce donations as a non-profit. And beyond that, how to use the overabundance of summer produce in some easy camp recipes to provide your campers with nutritious locally sourced meals. Finally, as an organic farmer myself, I’ll touch on why as Christian camp kitchen staff you may want to consider making these relationships with organic rather than conventional produce farms.  

Bethany has helped out in Doubling Gap Center’s kitchen since 2015 as a kitchen helper. Her full time job for the last three years has been working as a Community Supported Agriculture Manager at Spiral Path Farm, a local organic produce farm, where her passion for organic agriculture continues to grow. Her husband is Justin Hinkle, one of Doubling Gap Center’s full-time cooks. Between her job, their love for gardening at their own home, and Justin’s culinary skills (And her developing ability to cook as well), they have the perfect opportunity to try out and develop new seasonally based recipes to enjoy ourselves and share with those we invite over to their home.

Philosophy of Games

Why do you play the games you play? Have you thought about developing a plan to ensure your campers have fun for the glory of God? This is a hands on, interactive workshop filled with lots of games.

Bill serves as the director of Woodcrest Retreat in Lancaster County. He was program director for many years at Camp Susque. He is a director for Character Building Ministries and contributes to their summer devotional books. His mission is to help people do their creative best for God’s glory.

Parenting Gen Z

This seminar on parenting to the next generation will provide practical tools and biblical insights for connecting with today's youth. With a focus on understanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha, this session empowers parents to foster meaningful relationships and guide young people in their faith journeys.

Ministering to Gen Z

This seminar on ministering to the next generation will provide practical tools and biblical insights for connecting with today's youth. With a focus on understanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha, these sessions empower leaders to foster meaningful relationships and guide young people in their faith journeys.

Micah Marshall is the Executive Director and founder of Refuge Youth Network. Refuge Youth Network is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in Altoona, PA. Refuge provides students guidance and social support through our after school and summer programming, at multiple campuses across Blair County. Micah has been working with teenagers full time for the last 15 years, 12 of those have been local here in Blair County with Refuge Youth Network. Refuge Youth Network has grown from one existing campus in Central PA, to multiple campuses as well as multiple staff under the leadership of Micah. His passion is to help a generation see the value that they have to the world. Micah is also a sought out speaker for youth camps, retreats, conferences and community events. Micah enjoys eating pizza, playing games, working out, enjoying life but mostly spending time with his wife Bethany and their dog Tank. He is also an instructor at Gorilla House Gym in Altoona.

Recruiting and Working with Maintenance Volunteers

This session will be an interactive session where we dive into the topic of recruiting and working with maintenance volunteers. We will be looking at different ideas on how to recruit effectively and efficiently, while sharing some best practices. In addition, we will explore and develop a basis for a recruiting strategy filled with different methods and ways to successfully recruit and retain maintenance volunteers.

Darryl Mellott presently serves as the Maintenance Coordinator at Joy El Camps and Retreats center in Greencastle PA.  Darryl has worked for different Fortune 500 companies and served in the US Army throughout his career.  His background and expertise is leading in areas of Program & Contract Management.  He brings knowledge in recruiting the right volunteers and working with them in the maintenance capacity.

Food Allergies and Other Kitchen Related Issues

I plan on opening the presentation discussing food allergies with plenty of interaction from everyone in the room, and if there is time left I would like to open the floor to discuss any other issues or concerns others have in their kitchens.

Mindy has been the Food Service Director at the Christian Retreat Center in East Waterford Pa for almost 10 years now. Outside of work she is fully involved in her family life and church activities, including working alongside my husband as a youth leader. Reading is a favorite pastime though and anything to do with crafting. She has a love of learning which is a blessing because she feels like she is constantly learning something new whether it’s for work or fun or even in the bible studies she takes part in.

Your Kitchen, Your Ministry

Working in the kitchen at camp is about more than just keeping campers and staff fed. The kitchen is a place of ministry as much as any other place on camp property and how you invest in your seasonal staff directly impacts your guests’ experiences. Come learn how mission statements, purpose statements, and service qualities can invest in your seasonal staff in a way that positively impacts your guests’ experience at camp.

Christy Preston is a homeschooling mother of four who apparently thrives on chaos. Her husband, Joseph, is the Director of WLD Ranch, a Christian camp in Fairview, PA. While Christy grew up at WLD Ranch when her father served as Director (1977-2017), she fulfilled her wildest dream of working there full-time when she and Joseph joined WLD Ranch’s staff in 2002. Christy currently uses her education degree homeschooling her children (2 graduated, 2 to go) and developing curriculum for a variety of WLD Ranch’s programs, as well as teaching youth at Fairview Bible Church. One of her passions is investing in the lives of others so that those individuals own their faith and take seriously their relationships with God.

Wisdom For A Younger Me

What I would tell younger me when I was launching into adult life and camp ministry. Wisdom and encouragement for young camp leaders from someone who has lived it for 35 years.

Matto loves Jesus, his family and adventure in God's creation. Matto is the coolest Matto that you will ever meet! Matto has been married to Jen for 21 years so obviously she at least thinks he is amazing. Matto has 8 kids, 2 dogs, 20 chickens, and seasonal pigs (bacon!) Matto grew up living and working at camp and has been in full time camp ministry for over 20 years. Sometimes Matto has good ideas but mostly has learned from a lot of mistakes. Matto is currently the Director of The Avodah Internship at Pine Valley Camp, a gap year discipleship program for 18-23 year olds.

The Program Development Cycle: Design, Implement, and Assess Programs

This seminar examines the process of program design from start to finish. Instead of simply choosing random activities to do at camp, the program development cycle helps to ensure you are intentionally designing program experiences, meeting camper needs, and accomplishing your camp's mission.

John Skaggs is the chair of the camping ministry major at Appalachian Bible College (www.abc.edu). He has served for over 25 years in camp ministry and loves using the outdoors to teach biblical truth and to point people to the Creator.

Ropes Courses and Regulations

This session will take a big-picture look at PA Code Chapter 139 “Amusement Rides and Attractions" and report on efforts to make changes to the regulatory scene surrounding summer camps’ Ropes Challenge Courses and Zip Lines in Pennsylvania.

Jason serves as SB2W Property Director, as well as High Adventure Director (Certified as a Qualified Instructor through the Professional Ropes Course Association). He is a graduate of Cedarville University and has been on staff at SB2W since 1999.

Great Meetings

Too many meetings are preceded or followed by more meetings to set the stage or clarify something that was set. Too many meetings end without clear decisions being made, so confusion runs rampant. In this session, I'll give a framework for four different kinds of key meetings that you should be having in your camp to increase communication, clarity, and productivity, as well as how to start and end your meetings and who should be running the meeting.

Organizational Transitions

Too often transition is handled poorly, and as a result takes a long time, results in less buy-in across the organization, and people struggle to move on. This is usually because the first emphasis is put on the new beginning - whatever the new thing is that's coming that is being shifted into. As well intentioned as this is, the new is the last place that we get to in healthy transition. In this session I will help you understand the three phases of healthy transition and how to navigate them well in your camp - whether it's a new hire, a new summer theme, or a camper registration method.

Zac started his career in camping when he got a job at Hume Lake Christian Camps in California. He worked a variety of jobs over the years there from program, to food service, to support service, to maintenance, finally ending up in the concessions department where during the summer he supervised a staff of 30-40 people in five different buildings. It was at Hume that his passion for team building, leadership, strategy, and team development really got a hold of him and led him to starting his own company in early 2020. These days Zac works with the leadership and teams of organizations across the United States in churches, construction, healthcare, financial institutions, and nonprofits. His goal is to help leaders create organizations in which none of their employees are going home miserable because that impacts their self-esteem, mental health, families, friends, and overall satisfaction in life.

Critical Mindsets of Extraordinary Camp Leaders

Explore the TFBO process, unraveling the direct connection between our thoughts and outcomes. Uncover practical strategies for fostering a healthy mindset, crucial for effective leadership in camp environments. Additionally, Arthur will guide you through dismantling limiting beliefs, those internal narratives hindering your leadership potential.

Elevating Your Family Camp Retreats

This workshop equips Christian camp leaders to elevate their family retreat programs. Learn strategies for speaker selection, fostering family unity through activities, and crafting valuable programs. Engage in peer-driven discussions on best practices and discover methods for providing ongoing family support post-retreat.

Arthur is an experienced speaker, trainer & certified life coach, with over a decade of experience working with parents, young adults and teens. He holds a master's degree in student and family ministry and sits on the board of directors of Camp Orchard Hill in northeastern Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Elizabeth live in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.

PA Camp Association and their Legislative Work

Via video link, “Z” will introduce the PA Camp Association and the work they are doing in Harrisburg on behalf of all camps in Pennsylvania. The information that will be shared will be related to DHS “Childcare Regulatory rewrites”, 15-passenger van use regulations, Dept of Ag regulations including challenge courses, minimum wage changes that impact summer camps, and other important camp- related issues. Information about PACA can be found at https://pacamps.org/

Chairman and founding member of Pennsylvania Camp Association (PACA) since 2005. Retired Camp Director with 25 years’ experience in NY and additional 28 years in PA at Camp Towanda. “Z” has been recognized by ACA regionally and nationally with various awards for camp and association leadership....most recently selected for the Legends of Camping by the NY/NJ section of ACA at the Tri State Camp Conference in March 2024. PACA is a membership organization, and its efforts benefit all camps in the Commonwealth. Such benefits come from PACA working with our Government Affairs firm, TRIAD STRATEGIES, who help us stay abreast of bills and laws affecting camps, as well as by way of educating PA legislators of the economic and cultural impacts that camps provide PA at large.