Dear Brant Lake Families,
Another great week in the books! Camp is now flying and every day there is action in and out of camp! Great instruction, fun games, full camp events, silly moments, hobbies, shows, and perfect lake days have become normal. (Somehow it still has not rained?!)
Sophs have been out on hikes (followed by ice cream, of course); Juniors and Inters As go to Six Flags this week; and Inters Bs through Senior Cs have all had special trips staying out of camp, returning with great memories and stories for you. Most importantly, we are a camp full of very happy, comfortable campers!
The most exciting events this week somehow are already Visiting Day followed by Song Contest on Sunday night! Please see below for a few important reminders and rules to help make this weekend fun and fair for everyone, followed by Richie G’s Musings.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Max
___
RICHIE G’S MUSINGS: Marketing or Performance: Which is more important?
Political figures, products, and public figures have all gained huge notoriety and “success” in recent years due to their social media acumen. Is this a good thing? Bad thing? Probably a bit of both, but I worry that experience, quality, depth and qualifications are being minimized.
In today’s world, both performance (or quality) and marketing are important, but I believe that in many aspects of our lives — including, but surely not solely, CAMP — marketing has become too important and the actual performance (or product) less so. To me, that is a shame.
In many (most?) cases, social media is the prime mover. Do we – be honest – care more about taking a hike or taking/sharing a picture of ourselves from the top? (Insert a million other examples.)
At BLC, we’ve long believed, “Be Great and They Will Come.” In recent years, we’ve come to realize that being great (or working hard to be great) is not enough if you don’t take pictures of it, talk about it, use social media to amplify it, etc.
I think there is some correlation when we talk with our BLC leadership team and Key Staff about the difference between being honest and having integrity. Of course, there is a great overlap — but to me, honesty speaks to intent (did you genuinely mean what you said at the time you said it?), whereas integrity is more about the action of doing what you said you would do (did you then follow-through on what you said and finish the job or succeed at the mission?).
In the camp world, the importance of websites, the catchy videos, taglines, and professional photography, amplified by various social media outlets (seemingly expanding rapidly), has dimmed what the differences between camps actually are. Any camp can look good. Any camp (or ChatGPT) can write about powerful philosophies. I wish this wasn’t the case, but it is.
At BLC, we will continue to place most of our energy on “walking the walk,” while also making strides to improve our efforts at “talking the talk.”
Please feel free to share your thoughts.
Best,
Richie G.
Another great week in the books! Camp is now flying and every day there is action in and out of camp! Great instruction, fun games, full camp events, silly moments, hobbies, shows, and perfect lake days have become normal. (Somehow it still has not rained?!)
Sophs have been out on hikes (followed by ice cream, of course); Juniors and Inters As go to Six Flags this week; and Inters Bs through Senior Cs have all had special trips staying out of camp, returning with great memories and stories for you. Most importantly, we are a camp full of very happy, comfortable campers!
The most exciting events this week somehow are already Visiting Day followed by Song Contest on Sunday night! Please see below for a few important reminders and rules to help make this weekend fun and fair for everyone, followed by Richie G’s Musings.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Max
___
RICHIE G’S MUSINGS: Marketing or Performance: Which is more important?
Political figures, products, and public figures have all gained huge notoriety and “success” in recent years due to their social media acumen. Is this a good thing? Bad thing? Probably a bit of both, but I worry that experience, quality, depth and qualifications are being minimized.
In today’s world, both performance (or quality) and marketing are important, but I believe that in many aspects of our lives — including, but surely not solely, CAMP — marketing has become too important and the actual performance (or product) less so. To me, that is a shame.
In many (most?) cases, social media is the prime mover. Do we – be honest – care more about taking a hike or taking/sharing a picture of ourselves from the top? (Insert a million other examples.)
At BLC, we’ve long believed, “Be Great and They Will Come.” In recent years, we’ve come to realize that being great (or working hard to be great) is not enough if you don’t take pictures of it, talk about it, use social media to amplify it, etc.
I think there is some correlation when we talk with our BLC leadership team and Key Staff about the difference between being honest and having integrity. Of course, there is a great overlap — but to me, honesty speaks to intent (did you genuinely mean what you said at the time you said it?), whereas integrity is more about the action of doing what you said you would do (did you then follow-through on what you said and finish the job or succeed at the mission?).
In the camp world, the importance of websites, the catchy videos, taglines, and professional photography, amplified by various social media outlets (seemingly expanding rapidly), has dimmed what the differences between camps actually are. Any camp can look good. Any camp (or ChatGPT) can write about powerful philosophies. I wish this wasn’t the case, but it is.
At BLC, we will continue to place most of our energy on “walking the walk,” while also making strides to improve our efforts at “talking the talk.”
Please feel free to share your thoughts.
Best,
Richie G.