The Tool Belt #2: How to Power Up Your Camp Office

This is the Tool Belt, the newsletter that helps camp directors work smarter, not harder.

We’re short, sweet, and a little bit sassy - the Sabrina Carpenter of newsletters.

Today’s estimated read time: 1 minute, 8 seconds

💥 How to Power Up Your Camp Office

Last week, we talked about a few products that can automate your busywork at camp.

But sometimes, off-the-shelf tools won’t get the job done - your problem is too specific.

What then?

Enter scripting: small pieces of code that do one thing well.

Now, I don’t expect camp directors to also be software engineers. But there are easy ways to get a bit of custom code for your camp operations (more on that below).

First, let’s talk about some good tasks for scripting.

Anything rote and predictable is going to be gold.

Here’s an example:

At my camp, we update the waitlists on our website every two weeks or so. The report we get from Campminder is a CSV, but our website needs HTML.

A director was spending several hours a month hand-writing the new list in HTML. I think there are better ways to spend our time!

So, I wrote some code that does this task for us. We put in the CSV and we get the HTML back in an instant. It took me an hour or two to do.

You may be saying, Great, I want to do this but I don’t know how to code. What now?

You have two main options:

1. Ask AI - tools like ChatGPT, Claude, v0, etc. can build not just scripts but also whole web apps for you. Check out resources like the Startup Ideas Podcast to get some inspiration.

2. Get a developer - writing a script is a great opportunity to use a platform like Upwork. Do some research, pick someone with good reviews, and make sure the project stays small.

I’m sure if you take stock of your camp office, you’ll think of some boring tasks you could automate.

Take a stab at creating a script, and let me know if I can be helpful.

🔦 Tool Spotlight: Campminder

Campminder is the OG camp management system. It’s powerful management tool delivers the task support that helps you make every summer stellar.

⛺️ Around the Campfire

Looking for a job at camp or to fill jobs at camp? Check out this hiring mega-thread on r/summercamp:

🤣 The LOL Lodge

Until next time,

Peter “Zip Line Legend” Elbaum