Mario’s musings on the intersection of business and camp
Summer camp is a place of adventure, wonder, and growth. It also has one of the most interesting businesses models in the world. As a 18-summer camp veteran and a trained business strategist, summer camp has a very special place in my heart.
I dream of becoming a camp owner / director, helping make camp as impactful for today’s kids as camp was for me.
I began this blog in hopes of staying close with the summer camp industry while still practicing as a corporate management consultant. This blog remains a reservoir of my observations and opinions about all things camp.
Why am I positioned to opine on the camp industry? My perspectives on the intersection of camp and business are informed by attending / presenting at conferences, touring camp sites, and speaking with 75+ camp directors. Further, I spent my two years at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business + Graduate School of Education looking critically at what makes camp so powerful. Lastly, my time consulting with Bain & Company has given me a toolkit to analyze and improve some of the country’s best businesses, a skillset I’m excited to bring to the camp world!
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What power can an invested adult have on a child’s life? What doors does “belonging” unlock? How can we promote and support diverse spaces? These are questions that summer camp professionals are working to answer everyday.
In early 2022 I gave a speech — “What Camp Can Do” — as part of Stanford University Graduate School of Business‘ LOWkeynotes series (our version of a #tedtalk) articulating 1) the value of summer camp, 2) the importance of diversity, and 3) the crucial combination of both.
Give it a watch, and let me know your thoughts!
My tour along the Summer 2023 was a success… Round 2 coming up!
I presented a module title “Applying Staffing Best Practices from Corporate America To Camp” at WAIC annual, ACA National, and ACA Tri-State in 2023. The response was overwhelmingly strong and I was asked to give a second iteration at each of these conferences.
Last year’s presentation focused on staffing’s 5 core subthemes, highlighting 15 case studies from the corporate world and articulating their application to the camp.
This year, I’ll bring elements of game play in my discussion of 3 prerequisites for hiring seasonal staff, with 9 new best practices and case studies underneath.
See above for a sneak peak of my 2024 content, which will be published in its entirety following my Tri-State presentation.
ACA National presentation: 2/8 @ 10:30am
ACA Tri-state presentation: 3/13 @ 9:45am
This website is a living document
Here’s what you can expect from this website:
- Blog posts of my own original content
- Links to interesting ideas and articles
- Business and youth development musings
- Boasts about my recently improved archery skills
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“Camp… where strangers become friends and friendships last forever”
— Anonymous
The Camp Consultant 