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Dear ACA Membership,
Over the last year, the American Camp Association
(ACA) has defined a new vision: to have 20 million
children and youth attend camp and 20,000 participants
in ACA by the year 2020. The 2020
Vision. This
is a more definitive interpretation of “enriching
lives, changing the world.” It has been
rewarding to see the membership and volunteer
leadership embrace this ambitious goal. I had
a chance earlier this year at the ACA National
Conference in Nashville to share
my thoughts about our 2020 Vision, and as an association,
we have been working on a number of initiatives
that will contribute to reaching our goal.
You may follow my personal reflections on our
progress by visiting
my blog. This
is a new communication vehicle for me that I
started several months ago in an attempt to expand
my reach to more members. As we move forward,
you will find any number of communication vehicles
being used to keep you informed.
ACA has been on an exciting journey as a mature
organization rapidly approaching its 100th anniversary—an
organization that will be here for the next one
hundred years. Organizational cycles can be both
challenging and ripe with opportunity. Navigating
those waters is certainly not for the weak of
heart. We have had some wonderful successes,
and we have made a few missteps. Nonetheless,
we learn and continue to move forward as our
camp ancestors did in the past. It is in
our DNA.
The 2020 Vision represents the important and
necessary sea of change that will be needed in
order for the camp experience and ACA to achieve
relevance in the world at-large. No longer
will we be inwardly focused. This is clearly
evident by your National Board of Director's
decision to change the board membership to a
majority of public members. This is already being
implemented with the addition of three new public
board members—new members who not only
have a passion for the camp experience but bring
new ideas and expanded influence to our table.
Our technology has been vastly improved, enabling
us to manage more comprehensive data and to share
information among all of our twenty-five offices,
both national and local. In addition to
governance and technology, a task force is at
work analyzing our accreditation/education system
and developing recommendations that will improve
ACA's marketability with those camps not
currently accredited and our services to those
already a part of the ACA family.
That said, a great deal of progress has already
taken place; we have more than fifty new publications
in our ACA Bookstore, an e-Standards Course,
and e-Visitor Update Course. There are no fewer
than five staff and seven volunteers dedicated
to this education effort. A membership task force
developed new ways to attract more members at
a lesser cost—emphasizing the recruitment
of individuals new to the camp profession. Our
research has been in no fewer than seven juried
publications. We have formal working relationships
with thirteen organizations such as the Children
and Nature Network, Johns Hopkins Center for
Summer Learning, Pepperidge Farm and City Year,
and more. Those organizations recognize
the importance of the camp professional in the
development of children, youth, and families.
Also, I hope you agree that Camping
Magazine is
an exemplary publication. And, this year we had
an all-time high number of media impressions: 407,533,987.
There are additional changes that had to be
made in our operations involving the use of our
resources as we continue to seek efficacy while
meeting the ever-increasing demands of the technological
world, the public, and our membership. This
summer, I worked closely with an outside consultant
to analyze the skill sets needed by national
staff that would support the association's
efforts. We found that some changes in
personnel were necessary, and I have made the
difficult decision to eliminate some positions—redirecting
financial resources to new positions that support
our new technology and closely align with our
shared vision for the future.
I am excited about the future of camp, the
camp profession, and ACA. We have something
very special to offer children, youth, and their
families. I believe we are more relevant
today and will be more so in our next one hundred
years. We may be a one-hundred-year-old,
mature organization, but we are contemporary
and what we offer resonates with the public.
You will continue to hear more about our collective
efforts to provide that special experience called
camp to more campers and to reach out to families
and youth development professionals who would
benefit from our experience and knowledge through
our services and membership in ACA. I urge
you to participate in these discussions—and
to be a part of the continued development of
the future of the camp experience and ACA.
We are viable. We are visible. We
are credible.
Best regards,
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