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August 23rd, 2007 by: Pete
We’re now in our final day of the summer camp Staff Appreciation Raffle (SAP)! Can you believe is the last day of iD Computer Camps? As a reminder, we’d like to give a huge thank you to all the staff this summer who have done an amazing job running our awesome summer camp and making differences in the lives of our students. Working at camp is hard work. The hours are often long. Technical issues come up. You learn our curriculum, serve as a parent and mentor, play with and guide the students, deliver customized instruction–and you do it week in and week out with grace and a smile.
Remember, the Staff Appreciation program was put in place this year with one goal in mind: Great Camps = Happy Campers. Happy campers are created one day at a time, 1-on-1. You are integral to making iD the best it can be, and all of you deserve to win one of our Staff Raffle prizes.
Yesterday, we announced the winners of the
5 Megabyte Prize:
5 Nintendo Wii Systems. Please see my previous post to view the winners.
So, what about today?
The winners were chosen at random, by me, with several witnesses–our full time crew in the background .
5 Terabyte Prize: Round trip flight vouchers in the Continental U.S. Some flight restrictions/black out dates may apply. Note: iD will strictly follow all necessary tax, federal, and state guidelines.
And, the winners are…
And, please remember, this isn’t about winning a prize! This whole appreciation raffle is about rewarding and recognizing you, our summer staff crew, for running the best summer technology camps in the country. Without you, iD would not be.
We’ll be blogging throughout the fall, so be sure to continually check back at http://internaldrive.com/ for updated job postings, cool announcements, and everything that’s new with iD. FYI- We’ll be accepting summer job applications starting in December!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for a great summer!
Thanks for flying iD Air!
Be safe this fall. Look after each other. Remember, you personally impacted a lot of students–and the planet is a better place (and a lot more tech savvy) because of you!
Sincerely,
Pete and the Rest of Team iD
Special thanks: This is Ruth. Ruth managed the day to day of the SAP program. It was a lot of work. (Ruth, you were great to work with, and I thank you for helping me so much this summer). She kept the program fair, provided timely feedback to each camp, and instilled her spirit and internalDrive into the program. Thanks, Ruth! And, we also thank the Marketing team and RM team for their feedback in making sure the program materialized this year.
August 23rd, 2007
Posted in: CEO's Blog
August 22nd, 2007 by: Pete
We’re now in our 2nd day of the summer camp Staff Appreciation Raffle (SAP)! As I said yesterday, we’d like to give a huge thank you to all the staff this summer who have done an amazing job running camp and making differences in the lives of our students. Working at camp is hard word. The hours are often long. Technical issues come up. You learn our curriculum, serve as a parent and mentor, play with and guide the students, deliver customized instruction–and you do it week in and week out with grace and a smile.
Remember, the Staff Appreciation program was put in place this year with one goal in mind: Great Camps = Happy Campers. Happy campers are created one day at a time, 1-on-1. You are integral to making iD the best it can be, and all of you deserve to win one of our Staff Raffle prizes.
Yesterday, we announced the winners of the
5 Megabyte Prize:
5 Nintendo Wii Systems
So, what about today?
The winners were chosen at random, by me, with several witnesses–our full time crew in the background .
5 Gigabyte Prize:
Gift Card at Apple Store which can buy you Apple product such as an iPhone, 80 Gb iPod or Apple TV.
Note: iD will strictly follow all necessary tax, federal, and state guidelines.
And, the winners are…
Congratulations, all! Remember to check back here tomorrow for the next round of the SAP Raffle.
And, please remember, this isn’t about winning a prize! This whole appreciation raffle is about rewarding and recognizing you, our summer staff crew, for running the best summer technology camps in the country. Without you, iD would not be.
See ya tomorrow!
August 22nd, 2007
Posted in: CEO's Blog
August 21st, 2007 by: Pete
It’s time to start the Staff Appreciation Raffle! First off, we’d like to give a huge thank you to all the staff this summer who have done an amazing job running computer camp and making differences in the lives of our students. Working at camp is hard work. The hours are often long. Technical issues come up. You learn our curriculum, serve as a parent and mentor, play with and guide the students, deliver customized instruction–and you do it week in and week out with grace and a smile.
Remember, the Staff Appreciation program was put in place this year with one goal in mind: Great Summer Camps = Happy Campers. Happy campers are created one day at a time, 1-on-1. You are integral to making iD the best it can be, and all of you deserve to win one of our Staff Raffle prizes.
So, let’s get down to business, shall we?
Just to give you guys a reminder, here are the prizes:
5 Megabyte Prize:
Today we raffled off 5 Nintendo Wii Systems. The winners were chosen at random, by me, with 20 witnesses–our full time crew in the background (and three staff members who stopped by from UCLA–500 miles away–to try to “influence” the results. Sorry guys, nice try though!)
And the winners are…
Congratulations to you five! Each of you will be mailed your Wii by Ruth, here in the main office.
We’ll be pulling winners for the next 3 days so check back to the blog daily to see if you’ve won. And, please remember, this isn’t about winning a prize! This whole appreciation raffle is about rewarding and recognizing you, our summer staff crew, for running the best summer technology camps in the country. Without you, iD would not be.
Have a great day!
-Big Pete
August 21st, 2007
Posted in: CEO's Blog
August 21st, 2007 by: Pete
This link was just sent to me. This is a cool Special Effects camp project! It is worth viewing. I love how the group worked independently, but also as a group, to come up with a cohesive, inspiring short. Nice work to the “crew” and their instructor!
Check out the movie on You Tube.
Have a great day!
August 21st, 2007
Posted in: CEO's Blog
August 20th, 2007 by: Pete
Our last two summer camps are in session this week: Columbia University, Stanford University and the UCLA iD Gaming Academy. It is a little astonishing to think that we were just preparing materials, conducting summer staff trainings, ramping up all camps, preparing gaming tournaments–just a few months ago. Now, of our 50 locations throughout the U.S., it is all coming to an end. But, for us, preparations for 2008 are already underway and we’ve got A LOT of work to do–that will never change. We’ve been logging away evaluations and feedback from parents, campers and staff–and we certainly are aiming high for the 2008 computer camp season. Many suggestions that have been made over the course of the summer are already in the queue. We’ll be launching our 2008 season on November 1, 2007. So, check back periodically to our website often. I’ll continue to blog through the fall and into the new year, so be sure to keep up with all the latest iD gossip. You’ll find topics like What’s New, Jobs & Careers in High-Tech, What it Takes, iD Tech Camps, iD Spain, iD Gaming Academy, iD OnSite, Corporate Partner Highlights, Crazy Photos, Staff Highlights, Press Releases…you get the iDea!
Did you know that in 2008 we’ll be celebrating iD’s 10th season? It all started here in our little mountain office in the hills
above Silicon Valley.
A lot has changed in 10 seasons. A lot hasn’t changed. We are indebted to our staff. No staff = no camps. We are indebted to our full time, year round employees, and handful of temps that help us organize, anticipate and execute the iD vision all year long. I am grateful to our loyal campers and parents. Without you, there would be no camp to staff. At the end of the day, we all report in to you, our clients. You are the “big boss.” We thank
you for giving us the opportunity to serve you!
Summer Staff Appreciation Raffle
Tomorrow, we’ll be announcing the staff raffle winners here on the blog at http://internaldrive.com/ so stay tuned!
Good luck!
-Big Pete
PS:
We had some crazy sun reflecting off a car today, it projected from 200 yards away, up through the 3rd story of our building. It came in right through the window behind me like a laser beam, and projected some cool images up on the wall. No special FX here. Nope! Just good old fashioned timing.
Can you find me? Mighty Mouse? Shreck?
August 20th, 2007
Posted in: CEO's Blog
August 14th, 2007 by: Pete
This is an email I just received from a student from our Spain Teen Study Abroad Program. His name has been changed for security purposes. I am so glad that he (John) took the time to write. I personally know that Spain can change your life–It changed mine. The country and experience can be magical. I am so glad John took the time to write so I can share his thoughts about the program with others!
Hello, my name is John. This summer, I was one of several teens to attend the internal drive-Spain program, and I just had to send an email to you to show my thanks and gratitude that this program exists. First of all, let me start off by saying, that I love to travel. Living where I do in a small southern town, its the only thing that keeps me sane is to get out and see the world, and I’ve been to many amazing places: America’s biggest cities, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Jamaica, and so on……..but nothing can compare to my experience this summer in Spain. I found the program link one day on google I think and signed up thinking that it was just gonna be a fun thing to do this summer. I came not expecting much and….well….I was blown away. Everything about the program was perfect. The people, the school, the living situations, the freedom, and our instructors Kevin and Kendra were awesome. At first I was a little nervous considering I was being thrust into an entire different world with people that I didn’t even know, but by the third day there, those people had become my best friends and the city of Cadiz felt more like my home than anything else. The vibrant background of the city of Cadiz was amazing, it was the perfect place to be set free and it really felt like for the first time that we were trusted with complete freedom to do whatever we wanted, which was nice. Mundolengua was a great place to go to class everyday and everyone there was absolutely great. Kevin and Kendra were a blast to be with and usually you would think that they were chaperons of sorts, but really they were just amazing people that were a lot of fun to hang out with and the program wouldn’t have been the same without them. The excursions and cultural experiences that were planned were all exciting and always grabbed and kept my attention. Cadiz was a wonderful spot for this program. My Spanish host family was also very nice and I even find myself missing them as well. My time in Spain felt like years, by the end of it all of us had felt like we’d been living there all our lives and we were definitely not excited to be leaving at all. By the time I was back in JFK airport in NYC I already felt like I didn’t belong here. The attitudes of Americans and the busy lifestyle that surrounds them seemed so alien and weird to me and I wondered to myself, “wow, is that how I really use to act…..” From the moment the eleven of us hugged good bye as we all went to separate gates to go home, I had to sit and watch as everyone left for I was the only one whose flight left the next day. One by one I felt like I was losing the most important people in my life, like everything that I had experienced was being ripped from me, but then a few hours later sitting alone for the first time in my hotel room I began to change my mind. This one program, had brought me so much: A better understanding of the Spanish culture and language, Closer to my dreams of becoming a professional move director, and because of it i now had so many new friends that were sprawled across America and I just sat there amazed that this one experience had changed my life forever. It has been ten days since I’ve been home and theres not one day that goes by that I don’t think about Spain. Every day I use myspace, facebook, email, and texting to talk to my new friends just as if they were still here beside me, and I feel proud and excited that I have great friends in New York, California, and many other states, and I’m actually in the works of planning a flight to Long Island, NY to stay up with my roommate from Spain. Spain has also inspired me to continue with trying to learn to speak Spanish and everyday for an hour I use audio CDs and workbooks so that I don’t let my new found knowledge leave me. Most of all though, the fact that I have my own homemade documentary to forever keep and remember Spain is beyond me. I’ve watched and re watched it to many times to remember and each time, it brings a huge smile to my face as a rush of memories come flooding back. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that, well, this program had completely changed my life, and I really felt obligated to find whoever was responsible for it and tell them that it was absolutely one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me in my lifetime. I’ve taken so much from it and might even do the program again just to be back in my home across the sea. So thank you, THANK YOU, so much for this chance and I throw my hat off to you, for one great program……..It really works!
To find out more about the Spain program, click here.
August 14th, 2007
Posted in: Locations
August 7th, 2007 by: Jimmy
Hello iD Nation!
Before we get started, I wanted to share with you the tragedy that happened this week in Minnesota. A major highway bridge spanning the Mississippi collapsed. Many of you, I’m sure, have already heard about the tragedy. As you know, we have a camp running at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. We are lucky to report that all of our campers reported to camp this week, and we feel very grateful for this. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families impacted, and the loved-ones lost.
The theme from the latest photo contest was “Landmarks, Signs, & Buildings.” Ruth scanned the shots you posted online and saw a ton of great, great shots. It was neat to see all of the great photos you posted. Thanks for getting creative. You really painted the picture for what a summer camp looks like on campus. The photos depict fun, the outdoors–and show us a lot of the beautiful architecture and landmarks on campus.
Congratulations to Rider University for this weeks top prize!
Riding Rider University
I also want to thank all of the below participants who took great shots last and this week. A note to Ben at Merrimack–you guys got some great shots. I’ve heard there aren’t a lot of landmarks at Merrimack. You proved them wrong!
OK, here are this weeks Runners Up (in no particular order):
Stanford University, iDGA
UNC Group Shot
UNC @ Kenan Memorial Stadium
University of Washington
University of Washington: It was him!
Merrimack College: On the Bridge
Tiger Woods Learning Center: That Way
UCLA
Making the Case at Case Western
UC San Diego: Teamwork
UC San Diego: Gravity
Nice Crocs, Kate! Stanford
Stanford: Hoover Tower
Seton Hall
Villanova University
Merrimack College: Statue of “That Guy”
Seton Hall: Thought Guys
University of Washington Totems
University of Minnesota, St. Paul: Ride ‘em Cowboy!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Pete
August 7th, 2007
Posted in: Summer Camps
August 1st, 2007 by: Pete
From Kendra, Manager of iD Tech Camps’ Documentary Filmmaking and Cultural Immersion Study Abroad Program in Spain:
Reminder: All photos of the Spain Program can be accessed by:
Students: Via the Student Corner
Parents: Logging in Via My Camp Account
Estimados Padres,
Today is Thursday here in Spain, the sun is shining, there is a nice breeze in the air, and the second and final Spain session for the summer is coming to a close. Since last I wrote we had a wonderful weekend here in Cadiz. On Saturday we met for a delicious tapas lunch.
Tapas are small plates of traditional Spanish food that are passed and shared amongst friends. We ate at a restaurant called La Perola that specializes in over 70 varieties of tapas. We sampled some paella, pollo, croquetas, huevos en béchamel, pescado, berenjena, musaka, patatas bravas, verduras, and more. After tasting a few bites of each one of the tapas we were all stuffed. Lucky for us, the rest of the afternoon on Saturday was free to take a siesta, relax, do some shopping, and go the beach. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening after a very busy and jam-packed week.
On Sunday after a free morning to sleep in, we took and excursion to the nearby city of El Puerto de Santa Maria. We rode the ferry across the bay to the neighboring city.
When we arrived, we took a brief tour through the historic town where we saw many of the old castillos and bodegas that have made the city famous.
The real reason for our trip, however, was to see an authentic Spanish bullfight. Andalucia is the province in Spain where bullfighting originated, and some of the best toreadors still remain in Southern Spain. The Corrida de Toros that we watched actually had three professional and famous bullfighters, and they put on quite the show. Although bullfighting today creates much debate here in Spain, it still is remains culturally significant.
It is viewed as a dance between the matador and the bull. The toreador demonstrates his control over the animal by doing very close and intricate passes with his cape. You often find yourself gasping as the matador gets so close to the bull’s sharp horns. After a series of passes the crowd will all yell “ole” to support the matador and then will burst into applause. After the final kill of the bull, if the matador did an exceptional performance he will be award a prize by the president of the corrida. If he does well he gets one bull ear, if he does an extraordinary performance he will get two ears, and if he is absolutely perfect and stunning he wins two ears and the tail. All three of the matadors we saw were spectacular and two of them each won two ears in one of their fights. It was one of the best corridas I have seen and all of the students enjoyed the experience.
The rest of this week we have been focusing on our Spanish and film classes. After with speaking with many of the students, they are all surprised about how much fun they are having in class while learning at the same time. In only two weeks their Spanish has improved tremendously – most importantly they are gaining the confidence to use their language skills.
The Spanish people are very friendly and accepting so this is the perfect environment to practice speaking. They are never judgmental if you happen to use the wrong word or verb tense, but rather they will help you learn.
Last night we had another fiesta at the school, but this time it was salsa dancing.
Everyone wore white and learned some great salsa moves from a professional dance instructor. They had a “musical chairs” style dance competition where the students paired up with a partner from another country (we have Spanish, Germans, French, Swiss, Austrian, and American students all studying at Mundo Lengua). Then they passed around a bottle while dancing. When the music stopped, if you had the bottle you were out. One of our students, Anders, and his Spanish dance partner were the winners and were crowned the salsa king and queen.
We were excited to see our students stay until the very last song of the party, dancing with all the international students.
In film and editing class the students have been working extremely diligently to polish and finalize their movies.
Each one of them has incorporated their own distinct personality and point of view in their final movie. They have set the tone with music and use voiceovers to tell their story. Mostly, the beautiful images from here in Spain create the ideal backdrop for the films. Kevin and I are proud of each one of them and look forward to our big screen debut tomorrow.
For me, this blog is has many bittersweet emotions. This will be my final blog from Spain with iD Tech Camps, as I am starting a new chapter in my life and moving to Europe. Over the past five years I have learned and grown so much through my work. I have been extraordinarily blessed to have the opportunity to combine my many passions, including travel and film, each summer season here in Spain. My Spanish accent is fantastic now! We have had over 100 students come through this program, and Kevin and I pride ourselves on not only teaching them Spanish and film, but also inspiring them to world cultures and travel. I love to hear from students one or more years after the program to learn about what they have gone onto accomplish in college and their lives. Many continue their studies in both Spanish and film, or just develop the spark and passion for learning more about the world through travel. I feel honored to have helped play a role in their personal growth and discovery.
What more can I say? This has been a fantastic summer – friendly Spanish people, beautiful sunny weather, delicious Spanish cuisine, and some amazing teens who have learned so much in such a short amount of time: the perfect teen study abroad program in Spain. As we spend our last weekend here in Spain before heading back to the hustle and bustle of American life, I know that we will all soak in every last minute.
If you need to reach us you can continue to email me, or call us on our Spanish mobile. We arrive back in New York at 3pm on Monday and once we clear customs you can reach us on Kevin’s toll free cell phone number. If you are picking up your student in New York you should wait for us downstairs in terminal 7. We will help all the students make their connecting flights as well.
Thank you all for reading and adios,
-Kendra
A quick note from Pete, CEO of iD Tech Camps:
Kendra, thank you for all you and Kevin have done over the summer in Spain, and I thank you and acknowledge your outstanding career at iD. We look forward to seeing you back in California shortly. We are, of course, happy that you and Jay will be traveling and living in Europe–but glad that we won’t be going with you. 
I am glad you noted, and understand, the impact you have had on our students and their families. The students will, no doubt, have memories to last a lifetime. The Spain program is unique and inspiring–and I am sure the students’ documentaries will say it all. But, it couldn’t have been done without you.
Safe travels!
-Pete
Reminder: All photos of the Spain Program can be accessed by:
Students: Via the Student Corner
Parents: Logging in Via My Camp Account
August 1st, 2007
Posted in: Locations
