Post
by Trishntek » Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:20 pm
K-mom, It is my understanding that we, as virgins AND sponsoring a theme camp are somewhat unique,,,, or masochistic,,,,, not sure which. But what surprised many of our camp guests was that we actually got placed and listed in the WWW.
It truly is elementary,,,,, just read EVERYTHING about theme camps and start planning now! Be flexible,,,, start small with a foundational theme which can be handled by just a few people. Something you can build upon,,,, or keep as-is. All we did was promote our plans, sought advice here on eplaya, met the deadlines and all requirements for placement which will be in April, and allowed plans to adapt as people come and go. Never assume anything, hope for the best and plan for the worst.
Fundamentally, the one question anyone taking this journey needs to ask themselves is, "Why do I want to have my own theme camp?" It is that motivation which will carry you through the tough times. I must tell you, we were our most discouraged the evening of opening Monday.
We had arrived Sunday afternoon and had beautiful weather to put up the shade structure. Things went as planned and being my design, was pleased by the end of the day. The biggest blow of the week hit Monday morning and did not cease until the rain hit late that afternoon. We found out very quickly the value of our WalMart tarps,,,,, worthless. There was only four of us and our camp mates who were supposed to arrive,,,,, didn't! We were in emergency mode most of the day just repairing and fortifying the tarps with rope, tape and anything else we could think might work.
Just before the rain came, one of our camp mates arrived with an unanticipated friend. The two of them helped us get ahead of the damage and make progress on setting up the rest of the camp. By the end of that day, we were absolutely out of gas. Trish and I were seriously discussing forgetting the whole idea and just enjoy BRC without our own theme camp.
Moments after that conversation, another camp mate arrives,,,, one of our heavy lifters,,,, I almost cried when I saw him! The gate was closed during the rainstorm and that is why he was late. Then I get the news that what we experienced will probably be the worst of the weather for the week. There were many other things I had planned to set up,,,, but the important things were in place,,,, we had spent two days to get it to the point of functionality.
At that moment,,,,, in my own mind,,,,,, I dug deep into my soul and asked myself, "Why are we doing this?" The answer was clear and it was time to quit working and start playing. All the other stuff was just fluff and in the end was not missed one bit. In the end, we learned a great deal and plan to do it again next year. Forgetting what did not work, focusing on what did work and make it better,,,, but most of all,,,,, have fun putting smiles on burners' faces.