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Selling A Camp
Experience

Enticing children to attend camp requires an
extensive, year-round marketing plan.

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

1 / / 1 1 3 BERKLEY
144
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8M
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IL 25
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Centers, Inc.

Mark Shindler of Brody's "tries one on" his daughter Jennie.

B

wild it and they will come.
In the 1960s and early
'70s, all a camp had to do
was open its doors and
children — duffel bag in hand —
flocked to attend.
Today, the camping business
is not that easy.
Day camps, overnight camps,
sports camps, acting camps and
travel camps are a few of the
many summer opportunities for
children and teens.
In this business, standing out
in the crowd means hiring well-
rounded staff, offering innova-
tive programs and implementing
a year-round marketing strate-
gy. Area camp directors employ
a myriad of marketing tech-
niques to stay one step ahead of
the competition.
"To effectively sell camp, you
need to be in people's faces with
newsletters, reunions, winter
programs, videos and informal
meetings," said Harvey Finkel-
berg, the executive director of
Fresh Air Society. "You also need
to have state-of-the-art facilities

and programming. It's a fact of
life, you have to provide top-
notch facilities or kids will not
come. A camp cannot only offer
hiking and canoeing. Price, prod-
uct and customer responsiveness
are crucial."
Larry Stevens, the director of
Camp Walden, said he and part-
ner Tom Turie believe the best
form of marketing is providing
an outstanding product.
For Jack Schulman, staying
competitive means hiring com-
petent staff, keeping equipment
up-to-date and offering new out-
of-camp trips.
"The camp business is cycli-
cal," said Mr. Schulman, who di-
rected Camp Sea-Gull with his
brother Bill. "There are years
when we had waiting lists and
there were years when enroll-
ment was not great. Now, camps
compete with swim clubs, vaca-
tions, and week-long golf and
tennis camps."
Mr. Schulman said the biggest
change he has seen in his 21
years as director is children