Hey all! What a treat I’ve got for you guys this week!
A long standing tradition at iD Tech Camps is our staff’s creation of funny videos, usually spoofing popular music videos. This season, “Tik Tok”, by Ke$ha, was a popular target and below is my favorite rendition, made at our very own UCLA camp in California.
If you are interested in making this sort of thing yourself, take a look at our film camps! Not into film? We have camps where you can learn to program too!
We just completed our twelfth season of conducting summer youth technology camps across North America. At this point every year, we begin the evaluation process of how the past season went and we make plans for the following summer. We are always looking at how we can continue to provide the best educational program available. We take a look at our curriculum, our camp processes and our staffing needs among many other areas.
One area of our operation that does not get much of the spotlight is our Field Support division. Our Field Support team is truly the cog of the iD Tech Camps operational wheel. We might offer great curriculum and have the best instructional staff, but none of this would matter if our Field Support team was not working hard to ensure our 60 summer camps were setup and supplied this year.
Our Field Support team is responsible for all logistics of camp setup and supply management throughout the season. Take a moment to image what it takes to plan for separate operations that will be held in 60 different university locations in 25 states and two Canadian provinces! Each location is different in many ways. Our summer camp locations do not offer exactly the same set of courses nor do they have the same setup requirements. So, each location requires a unique logistical plan which must be evaluated and re-evaluated each year.
Technology summer camp logistics require an understanding of all operational aspects of our programs, which starts with identifying whether a program is our standard weeklong format or our intensive two-weeklong teen academies. From that point, logistics planning branches out to ask what courses will be offered at each location. Courses have different hardware and software needs, as well as different instructional supplies requirements. This last summer, we offered 20 different technology courses for the weeklong program and 10 different courses amongst our three different academies. The variations are numerous.
It takes a knowledgeable and experienced logistics team to pull this off year in and year out. iD Tech Camps is lucky to have such a strong team. The team has been headed by Nancy for the past six years. Dylan has headed up the warehouse operations for four years now. Luis has maintained warehouse operations with Dylan for the past 4 years as well. Each spring we bump up Field Support staff with great hires who supplement the team during the peak season months of spring and summer. This season we had Andy and David rounding out the team-both of whom have worked with us in the past. Together, they have created and run a tight operation that doesn’t miss a beat.
The warehouse team taking a moment for a pic (left-right: Andy, Luis, Dylan)
The universities supply the lab and dormitory space in which to operate our summer camps, but it is Field Support that ensures all materials are shipped, delivered and setup on time. That goes for every computer all the way down to ensuring there is enough sheets of paper to print student diplomas. The Field Support team begins packing up supplies as early as February. By the time they are ready to send out “Camp-in-a-Box” to a single location there are between 50 and 200 boxes containing all supplies needed (depending upon whether a camp runs 30 students per week or 250 students per week).
The pallets of boxes are shipped out of the warehouse looking smart and clean. At the end of each camp, the summer staff packs up remaining supplies and equipment to ship back to the warehouse. They repack and send it back in some of the same boxes in which they were shipped. After weeks of being on the camp site, those reused boxes do not always come back in the same pristine condition as when they were shipped out. Once the supplies are returned, they are unpacked, counted and returned to inventory stock in the warehouse.
Returned equipment and supplies from one of the smaller closed camps
Each fall and winter, the Field Support team inspects returned equipment to ensure all is in working order, returned to stock and ready for next summer. They stock new equipment and supplies ordered, and those provided by our many partners, as they arrive at the warehouse.
The Field Support team works year round to ensure our camps will be fully supplied and supported so our summer staff can focus their energies on teaching and making camp a fun experience for our students. The Field Support team does this all behind the scenes. The old adage is true that when the infrastructure is running well, you don’t think about. But, when it doesn’t run well it impacts the entire operation. Our Field Support staff is a solid team and we rely on them each and every year to get it done well. And, they do.
Howdy again! It’s (the other) Pete with another installment of iD’s 2010 summer in review. I’m still working on sharing all of the Nacho submissions (check out Part 1 for context!), so without further adieu, let’s jump right in!
There’s actually only one Nacho I want to highlight in this post – the Topps!
The assignment was to make a set of trading cards of the Staff for the Campers. The submissions were out of this world!
Stanford University
Stanford took the assignment to the EXTREME when they produced an entire Magic: The Gathering-like deck with over 60 different cards!
Vassar
Vassar shows their true colors with these incredible cards!
Bentley
Bentley shows off a full pack, complete with wrapper!
California Lutheran University
California Lutheran University creates an awesome game-like deck!
Hey All – it’s (the other) Pete reflecting on another amazing season at iD Tech! This is the moment that everyone gets to take a nice long breath before diving back in and finding new, exciting ways to make 2011 even better. Of course, iD Tech doesn’t really stop – iD 365 is active all year round and is an awesome way to keep the iD spirit alive while waiting for summer to finally reappear.
While all of the other folks at iD are catching up on their much needed beauty sleep (ahem… Josh!), I figured it was prime time to take over the blog and fill it with some of the incredible stuff that happened this summer across the world of iD. There’s so much to cram in that I’ll have several posts over the coming week covering Nachos, iDX and new games!
All of our camps are connected via an active online community in order to share ideas, stories, advice and concerns to help make every camp better. The more we share, the more we learn and the better everyone does their jobs. Luckily for me, there is an entire Forum based solely around Nachos, a staff incentive program that encourages staffers to go above and beyond in their work. This online gathering place gives me a window into the amazing job our staff does every day.
Anyway, here’s a breakdown of the some of the cooler Nacho submissions we had during the summer:
The Drill Sergeant
Rocky from Columbia starting his Nacho quest.
This training-only Nacho was given out for starting a random chant during lunch at one of the trainings. Matt (aka Rocky) from Columbia University (of whom I will mention a bunch of times) submitted this video of his table starting their 2010 Nacho hunt.
The Mad Hatter
Sacred Heart scores big with a Wacky Hat Day!
The gang at Sacred Heart University scored tons of Nachos this season. One of the first submissions was this shot from Wacky Hat Day, earning them the Mad Hatter.
Princeton rocks with this amazing Wacky Hat design!
Not to be outdone, Princeton had a Wacky Hat Day of their own with too many hats to post! This particular submission, however, really beamed of iD pride!
The Michael Cotter
iD Vassar shows some High-5 skills!
iD Vassar claimed a ton of Nachos this summer – one requiring the simple task of High-5′ing all of camp. Check it out!
The Scripps
One of my very favorite Nachos, we had a bunch of attempts from all over the country!
iD Vassar showing off their spelling skills.
UC Irvine spreading out on the pavement!
St. Mary's also had a little issue getting every camper in frame!
iD Gaming Academy at Stanford PWNS!
Columbia shows off a terrific height advantage!
You’ve Been Served
There was a bit of a Nacho rivalry this summer between St. Mary’s University and Purdue. One of the highlights of their battle for Nacho superiority was the attempt that each had to out “serve” one another on the dance floor. I’m not quite sure who won…?
Expertise: Photoshop, Illustrator & Graphic Design, Prairie Dogs, Corn, Driving Tractors, Moonwalking, and Guessing the Quantity of Random Objects in A Jar
