58 CAMPING magazine • March/April 2014 whenever possible. Paintball may not advance a camp’s core mission of encouraging social responsibility and care for the environment, but a camp could emphasize its elements of teamwork and strategy. These skills are necessary for creating strong movements and action plans toward camp values such as environmental awareness and community. Sharing those mission connections with campers and their parents will make the trend appear more natural and garner a positive response. If, after thinking about and discussing this question, you are still unclear about the value of changing your program, ask yourself these three questions: 2. Do You Have an Edge? Popular trends change often, and it is impossible to keep up with all of them. Get on board with the trends that can be successful at your camp. Consider the paintball trend; hundreds of camps tried to take advantage of its popularity, but not all of them were successful. The most successful were those that had some sort of an edge over other camps. They either had appropriate land to use, were already invested in adventure activities, or found some other way to highlight paintballing and make it more than just another activity. Is your camp well-designed for the new trend, or would it be an awkward fit? For example, consider the increasing trend of including cafés on camp property. A camp considering adding a café might ask: Where will we put the new café? Do we have guests who would be particularly excited to see one? Do we have enough adult groups to make one worthwhile? Would adding a café make sense to our campers, or would it confuse them? 3. Can You Capitalize on It? Will the addition of this new trend be just another activity, just another idea, just another thing to get done? Or is your camp set up to be able to make the trend an important part of your identity? For example, would adding a big screen for movie nights be something you could turn into a tradition — an exciting and memorable piece of camp? Would it enhance the experience for campers? Would it provide additional opportunities to achieve your goals? Or would it be just another night activity that may or may not be remembered? Top Tips for Recognizing the Next Trend 1. Your clients are just starting to talk about it. If you’re hearing about it everywhere, the trend has already begun. But if you are just starting to get bits and pieces from various sources, you are likely at the beginning of this trend. This is where you need to decide whether to take the risk and capitalize on it or wait for further confirmation and chance coming in too late. In January, the move toward British entertainment was just starting to be noticed on a large scale as a rising teen trend. By the time of this publication, it will likely be part of mainstream teen culture (or will have faded completely, as trends can be quite fickle). 2. New avenues of use are popping up. Maybe it’s a new roller skating rink in the next suburb over, or a tea house taking over the same store-front that used to house a local coffee shop. Perhaps you are seeing an increase in organic food aisles at your local market. Is calligraphy now being offered as a community education course? Anytime there is an opportunity to participate in a new activity, behavior, or lifestyle, pay attention. This is a sign that a trend could be developing. 3. It’s related to an existing trend. Most of the time, trends aren’t truly original. They extend from existing movements and simply put a little spin on them, or go at them from a slightly different angle. Roller skates and record players became popular in teen culture around the same time as ‘80s-style clothing returned. As the coffee trend is fading (though still widely utilized and unlikely to completely disappear anytime soon), other hot beverage choices are replacing it. Teas like kombucha and mate are likely to grow in popularity as gourmet coffee sales go down. Though this isn’t always the case, trends tend to be closely linked and feed off each other.
ACA_MAR_APR_14
To see the actual publication please follow the link above