How to plan staff arrival day at camp
Staff arrival day sets the tone for the summer. Done well, every counselor is met, checked in, fed and settled by dinner. Done badly, someone waits three hours at the airport while the office calls around. The difference is almost all in the two weeks before.
Two weeks before: know who is coming, and how
- Every arrival, in one list. Name, date, time, how they're arriving (driving, bus, train, plane), flight or bus number, and where they need picking up.
- Group arrivals into pickup runs. Cluster flights by airport and time, and decide how long a driver will wait before a second run.
- Name a pickup team. Who drives, which vehicle, which airport or station. Give each driver the list of people they're meeting, with photos.
- Share the plan with staff. Where to go after landing, what the driver will be wearing or holding, and a phone number that will actually be answered.
The day before
- Re-confirm flights. Delays and missed connections show up here first.
- Print a roster. Even with a phone app, a paper list at check-in survives dead batteries and weak signal.
- Set up check-in. One table or station, a clear sign, and someone who can answer housing questions.
- Plan the first evening. A meal, a short welcome, and an early night. Save the long sessions for tomorrow.
On the day
- Track arrivals live. Drivers mark people as picked up; check-in marks them as arrived. The director should be able to see who's still on the way without phoning anyone.
- Check-in in under a minute. Name ticked off, cabin or housing assigned, key or bedding handed over, welcome pack.
- Late or lost. Give staff one way to say "my flight is delayed" or "I'm here and can't find the driver", and make sure someone is watching it.
- Safety from the start. Before the first night, everyone knows the emergency signal and where to go.
International staff
Staff traveling from abroad often arrive tired, after long journeys and time zone changes, sometimes without a working phone. Plan for it: meet them in the arrivals hall rather than outside, tell them the local time and the camp's address before they fly, and give them a way to reach you on Wi-Fi. Our international staff travel guide covers the weeks before they fly.
After arrival day
Write down what went wrong while it's fresh: which airport runs were too tight, who couldn't be reached, what questions everyone asked. Next year's plan starts there. And when the summer ends, plan departures with the same care: who leaves when, who needs a ride, and who has to be at the airport by 6am.