On August 1, 2011, I packed up my car with my belongings and my dog and left Charlotte, NC and Mike D’Avria in my rearview mirror. After 40 years on the East Coast, it was time to take my talents to the Great Northwest and the YMCA of Greater Seattle.
In less than two years what had started out as an idea discussed over a couple of beverages at Dilworth Grill in Charlotte, — to create a website to share videos of camp songs and games — had turned into CampLeadership.org. We started to upload these videos to the site and quickly added podcasts and blog posts, and started attending camp conferences and leading summer camp trainings all along the east coast.
Some people have asked — since I left my position with the Charlotte YMCA — would moving 3,000 miles away cause CampLeadership.org to close up shop? To us, it seems like a silly question because although Mike and I were in the same city we did not see each other that often outside of our trainings (unless I was bored at work). We handled most of what we did through text messages, emails and phone conversations prior to connecting at an airport when we were off for another training event. It’s odd that even though we would fly out of the same airport, we didn’t travel to the airport together because Mike likes to get there on time while I like to wait until the absolute last second before the airplane’s door closes. (Editor’s note: Mike wrote this last sentence.)
We see my move to the west coast as an opportunity to connect with camp professionals that otherwise we would have missed. Change is a good thing and Mike and I agree that this change with CampLeadership.org is not an exit strategy, but more like an expansion strategy to connect with more camp professionals and share our knowledge and passion with camps across the country.
In fact, due to the change, we now have new titles. I was the Chief Visionary Officer and I am now Head of West Coast Operations. Mike used to be the Executive Editor, and now he is the Head of East Coast Operations.
Thanks for following along with us so far and we look forward to many more years of summer camp impact through CampLeadership.org
