Hello iD Nation,

This email was just sent to one of our client services reps.  Roque received this email yesterday and sent it to me.  I love, love, love hearing stories like this.  We often hear that students at our summer camps learn more in a week with us than they do at a year in school.  The below email pretty much sums it up:

_______________________________________________________

From: Susan (Last Name Withheld)
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:29 AM
To: roque@internaldrive.com
Subject: ID Tech Camp experience 2009

My son, Andrew, attended ID Tech Camp C++/Java class at the University of Michigan in the summer of 2009.  This year, Andrew is in the 10th grade and attends our high school’s math/science program.  One of his classes this year is Java 1 and he is scheduled to take Java 2 next year.  I would like to share with you the progress Andrew has made this year because of the education he received at your camp.

The instruction he received at your camp in one week was the equivalent to about half a year of his Java 1 class.  His computer teacher would like him to work aggressively through the remaining modules so he can complete Java 1 and 2 this year.  I would like to commend you on your dedicated and talented instructors that provide such an excellent education.

Sue (Last Name Withheld)

_______________________________________________________

Sue, thanks for writing to us!  It is great to see that Andrew had such a positive experience at our summer camp for teenagers.  He is now on the fast track.

Best,

Pete

For Immediate Release

San Francisco, February 9, 2010

As a featured guest at the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Pre-G-20 Forum this past fall, Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt was asked what type of training young people should pursue to gain the skills necessary to work in the tech sector of the future.  Not surprisingly, he wants kids and teens to learn programming.  But the idea that surprised many in the room?  He thought playing video games had value too.

“The game world is good training for a career in tech,” said Schmidt.  “It teaches players to build a network, to use interactive skills and thinking.”

Schmidt’s words may come as a shock to those of us who weren’t born with a laptop or a smart phone in our hands.  His comments directly contradict what popular culture has been telling us for years; that video game playing is only for entertainment value and doesn’t lead to any long term benefits.  We think of gamers as chip-eating, soda-drinking couch potatoes destined to work minimum wage temp jobs for the rest of their lives.  We haven’t connected the dots…that gaming can actually be a valuable stepping stone leading to better results for surgeons, athletes, computer scientists and engineers.  An AP Article covered a study from Beth Israel Medical Center with the title “Surgeons may err less by playing video games:  Three hours a week decreased mistakes by 37 percent, study finds.”

“It’s refreshing to hear somebody like Eric Schmidt address the topic,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, President and CEO of iD Tech Camps, the nation’s largest youth summer technology program.  “We’ve been preaching that same sentiment for years and have actually seen the positive effects that programming and video game design can have on students.”

The summer camp uses gaming as a vehicle to build critical thinking skills.  Students work with gaming titles like Unreal Tournament^® 3 and Half-Life^® 2, along with the 3D modeling package Maya^®, and game development software from Multimedia Fusion 2 Developer ^®.

“Our students want to learn how to create video games—to learn game development skills.  But that’s the head fake.  Along the way, they gain problem-solving skills and teambuilding skills which are absolutely vital in the tech field.” said Ingram-Cauchi.

Are the days behind us where kids and teens are treated as outcasts for having a keen interest in video games?  Probably not.  But Mom and Dad can now rest a little easier after spending $50 on a video game.  It just might be an investment.  And who knows, it might lead to fulfilling the dream of attending Stanford, UCLA or MIT.  Or even getting that lucrative dream job.  Eric, you still hiring?

###

Written by Ryan Barone

iD Nation,

Last week I received in the mail a box of candy from a student.  I was moved by the hand-written card, the thoughtfulness of the gift, but also the reminder that what we do (run summer computer camps for kids) changes lives, one student at a time.

Braden attended our Villanova University location and took a course that is now titled Adventures in Programming – a course that is fun and great for summer learning.  He really excelled and he has a very, very bright future.

Braden – I personally want to thank you for the card and the candy.  I really love the card.  Your grammar and spelling and penmanship are really, really top notch.  And the picture of the computer that you drew is really cool too.  Thanks for taking the time to write me.  You made my day.  And my week.  And I am so glad you enjoyed our summer camp!

Thank you!

Pete

PS, the i in “iD” and T in “Tech” fell off the bottom part of the card, but that makes it even cooler!

On the heels of the 2009 summer camp season, our team huddled together in our office in Silicon Valley and we hit on a major theme moving forward.  2009 was a tough year for many companies–and this was true for lots of camps out there–computer camps, sports camps, any type of summer camp, really.  We fared better than most.  Some camps are no longer standing.  We’re still standing–and we might say, thriving.  And we’re appreciative.

We made a little money.  We tightened the belt while still running amazing camps.  But we still had this feeling that we wanted to take our company to a whole new space.  We thought, “We worked hard to survive the Great Recession, so how can we thrive in 2010?  What are we going to do differently to take it to another level?”

One of our initiatives?  POSITIVELY OUTRAGEOUS SERVICE.  Southwest Airlines is one of my favorite companies…and we already have a bit of a whacky culture anyways.  So, we stole the POS acronym from them.  (Full disclosure.)  But I cannot expect my staff to provide POS if I don’t live it myself.  Today, I made Cuban coffee for the team and went around the office with a cart.

That's me, serving my Client Service manager.

We don’t want to feel good about what we’re doing.  We want to feel great about it.  Most of our moms, dads, campers and staff know that we have a passion for service, but we always think we can do better.  In this case, I think my team was excited about the fact that I would go out of my way to make them coffee, and serve it to them personally.  They didn’t ask for it, and didn’t expect it.  And that’s the basis for how we define POS.

It looks staged, but they truly loved the coffee.

OK, back to POS.  Here are some things we already do.  We’ve been doing things this way since iD was born.  It’s just part of our DNA:

• We don’t have a phone tree.  When you call us up, our benchmark is to pick up the phone within 3 rings.
• I personally don’t have an office.  I sit with the client services group.  It keeps me in the know, and close to our clients.  It allows me to listen, and to act fast.
• When a client emails us, I expect the email to get answered the same day. Max 24 hours.
• Out at camp, we expect personalized diplomas from our staff.
• We expect our summer staff to assist with luggage for our overnight campers.
• We expect our technology instruction to be energetic, informative, and unlike anything the students have done before.

These are simple examples of some of our current expectations–and things we do very well already.

So, where do we want to go this year?  Here’s what Positively Outrageous Service means to us:

• We know we want to routinely perform “the unexpected.”  (Think delivering coffee at 3 PM on a random afternoon!)
• We want people to talk about our organization and our brand.  (The CEO of iD made coffee and carted it around!)
• We don’t want to pre-define POS in concrete terms.  It limits our creativity.  (What will I come up with next?)
• We do, however, want to illustrate samples of POS for our internal departments and summer staff, so individuals can visualize what the possibilities are.
• We want our employees to feel empowered to deliver POS–to take some risks and have fun along the way.  (It was fun today.  It gave people a reason to laugh.)
• POS can come in many forms, but the bottom line is to thrill the client in new and unexpected ways.  (It is OK to thrill your employees too!)  Sometimes it might cost a few dollars to make a client happy.  But it is not about money.  Is is about going the extra mile on behalf of the client or camper–and not treating them like another number or commodity.

POS, to us, is something that comes to our team naturally.  It doesn’t bend us in unnatural ways.  We can only deliver POS if we already have a strong culture of service–and if all the people in the company “get it.”  So, be careful who you hire!  We have an awesome foundation already.  The team has to want it, and understand it.  And be smart enough, and sensitive enough, to deliver it.

I am meeting with my client service group weekly to ask each individual how they have delivered POS.  I want to see the proof.  I want the stories.  And I want people to talk about us.  This attitude extends out to our summer camps as well.  The spirit of service is partly why we survived 2009, and will thrive even more in 2010.  A lot of companies talk about great customer service.  Most of it is blah blah blah, right.  Truly, few companies get it.  We do.

And, if you have any doubts about POS, please remember this.  You can always call Captain Curry.  The Captain heads up our Client Services group.  Really.  Don’t believe me?  Give us a call.  We’ll pick up in 3 rings or less.  If we don’t, I owe you a coffee!

Hope to see you out at camp!

Sincerely,

Pete I-C

Captain Curry delivers POS

Dear iD Nation,

I want to personally welcome you to the iD Family.  To our returning families, I know you’ve been looking forward to our 2010 launch.  Yesterday we started taking registrations at 8 AM, and the phones were ringing busily all day.  That’s a good sign!  We had  a banner year in 2009, so we think 2010 will be even better.

An obvious question many families are asking is “What’s New?”   I am going to cut and paste some content from our “What’s New” page on our website:

• Digital Catalog – Our summer camp catalog is now available.
• Registration is now live! – Register with our latest promotion and save $100 by 12-15-09.  And when you refer-a-friend, you now save $50 and your friend does too!
• New Locations – New prestigious university locations including the campuses of Harvard, Princeton, Adelphi, Bentley, the expansion of our Teen Academies nationally, and our expansion into Canada.
• New Courses at iD Tech Camps – Awesome new courses include iPhone® App Development, Digital Photography & Photoshop®, RPG Game Design & Graphic Arts Hybrid, Game Modding with titles including Warcraft® III, Starcraft®, Half-Life® 2 and more.  Go to courses and programs.
• Expansion of our Teen Academies – The  iD Programming Academy has expanded to MIT.  The intensive game development program, the iD Gaming Academy has expanded to Chicago and Seattle.  We’ve also launched the new iD Visual Arts Academy. The Teen Academies are for ages 13-18.
• iD 365 – Endless Summer – Upon registration at iD, you now get access to our monthly FREE online workshops, taught year round by live instructors.  More.
• Receive Continuing Education Units from Villanova University or Stanford Continuing Studies.  Details.
• The iD Guarantee – We average 6 students per instructor at iD Tech Camps.  If we exceed an  8:1 ratio, you get to return for a free week of camp at equal value.  It’s that simple!  It’s iD quality.  And it’s only at iD!  Note:  Not valid for Teen Academies. Get details.
• New Games – Hot new commercial gaming titles used in our gaming courses, gaming tournaments and Ultimate Gaming Weekends.
• Learn Valuable “Life Skills” – We’re building new life skills content for this year.  The curriculum will round out the summer experience. See the benefits of iD. We’ve also got fun new camp activities for students.
• Technology Isn’t Just for Boys – We’ve created more courses and modules that are be appealing to girls including Web Design & Flash® Animation, Graphic Design, Video Editing & Special Effects, Digital Photography & Photoshop and the new teen-only  iD Visual Arts Academy.
• Go Green – We continue our iD Greening initiative by promoting carpooling, reducing travel and energy consumption and establishing new outreach partnerships in the communities we serve.
• The Basement.  For Students Only! – Find out what the buzz is about.   Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.  Blogs.  Student Project Uploads.  Camp Photos.  iD 365.  And more.  Head down to the The Basement!

OK, I’m back.  As you can see, we’ve been a bit busy preparing for this launch.  You might expect that we kick back and take a few months off in the Fall, but nothing could be further from the truth.  We’ve got the hardest working crew in the summer camp industry.  We’ve had teams working round the clock to pull all the pieces together…working with new locations (including the expansion of our Teen Academies and a push into Canada), developing curriculum, developing back-end applications, signing contracts, overhauling our website, developing content, designing our camp brochure, working with new corporate partners, creating new courses, and so much more.

The launch is a big, big, team effort, and it is a sign of our company’s organization and dedication to providing the very best.

On behalf of all our employees, we want to welcome you to the new camp season.  We hope you’ll take a few minutes to look around our website.  And, as always, we’re just a phone call away.

Best,

Pete Ingram-Cauchi

CEO, iD Tech Camps

Most of our summer camp locations are in session this week, so let’s look at some photos! This week’s theme was “Products, Hardware and Software.” We looked through the many photos on http://www.internaldrive.com/photos and are pleased to announce this week’s photo-of-the-week winners. Thanks for taking the time to take great photos and portraying what our summer camps for kids and teens are truly like!

This summer day camp student shows off his camera skills at UCLA.

Ninja versus Ninja^TM at our UT Austin summer camp.

Web Design & Flash Animation with Wacom® Pen Tablets at Ohio State.

Game Modding with Warcraft® III at the Villanova Gaming Academy.

Camp activities include Apples to Apples at Rollins College.

Looking up from her Dell Computer at our Santa Clara summer camp.

Working with Adobe® Illustrator® CS4 at Sacred Heart University.

Outdoor summer camp activities at UC Irvine.

Vex® Robotics at our MIT summer camp.

Excited over his Spore^TM creature at our University of Washington camp.<-->

Summer camp is in full swing and it’s time to look at some more photos! This week’s theme was “University & Dorm Shots.” We looked through the many photos on http://www.internaldrive.com/photos and are pleased to announce this week’s photo-of-the-week winners. Thanks for taking the time to take great photos and for painting the picture of what our summer camps for kids and teens are truly like! Enjoy these photos!

Technology Fun in the Sun at Arizona State University

Future Techies of the world at Southern Methodist University

Wild Computer Campers at Emory University

UC San Diego Campers Create High Tech Fun

UC Santa Cruz  Surf & Tech Camp- How’s that for a classroom

Ohio State University Video Game Summer Camp

Smith College Let the Gaming Begin

UNC- Chapel Hill Gearing up for Gaming Camp

Purdue University Technology Time for High Tech Campers

University of Virginia Computer Campers on the move to do something BIG

The Potpourri Tomball

As appeared in the The Potpourri Tomball June 2009
While peers play games, 6th grader creates them in summer camp
By Anna Schuman

Northpointe Intermediate student Gabe Shah is creating a 15-level multi-player Mario computer game in his iD Tech camp.

When Gabe Shah returns to school in August, his friends might tell stories of places they visited in the summer, of sites they’ve seen, of games they’ve played, but few can say they have done what the 11-year-old has.

The soon-to-be sixth grader at Northpointe Intermediate said he wishes he could spend all day every day at iD Tech Camp, held at the University of Houston. In just a few days, he has learned to create, and has completed, his very own 15-level, multiplayer “Mario” computer game.

An avid game player, Shah has had his sights set on becoming a game maker and working for Jagex Games, an independent game publisher and developer based in England. He, like many of his peers, was already familiar with playing games, but now he knows how to make them as well.

Creating games, he said, takes a lot of creativity. He was given few guidelines about the type of game to create, so most of it is straight from his imagination. Not only do he and his fellow campers leave at the end of the week knowing they were able to create something, they get to take their game home with them.

“It’d really be cool if my friends could play my game, and think it’s really cool, then they can ask where I got it and I can say I made it,” he said. “I’m the only one who can say they’ve made their own game.”

Students like Shah, ranging in age from 7 to 18, can participate in iD Tech’s gaming, film and programming camps nationwide. Some students travel across the country to go to the camps, others from across the world.

Anela Wenger, the camp director at U of H, said one of Shah’s fellow campers flew in from Japan for two weeks to participate in the camp in Houston. Wenger said she believes the popularity, though Houston is one of the smaller camps, is due to the program’s reputation.

“Some people might be skeptical to send their kids to a camp where they play video games all day,” she said. “Yeah, they do play games, but here they create the games.”

An educator by profession, Wenger said she is amazed by the focus the campers have when they start their projects. When they are doing other camp activities, indoors and outdoors, and even during lunch, campers ask if they can go back to work on their projects.

There’s more to what the campers learn than just how to program computers, design and create games, she said. They also learn great problem-solving skills through the medium of game creation.

Shah plans to return to the camp each year, taking different classes at different levels, learning everything he can, and hopes to one day be among the college and graduate students who teach the camp classes.

He said people might think of people who love computers as nerdy, but he wants people to remember how Bill Gates got his start, and said he and future campers might be among the next Albert Einsteins and Bill Gates’ of the world. Until then, he plans to spread the word about his favorite camp and the importance of computers to everyone.

“They always say reading, writing and math are what you need to know, but I think everyone should know computers these days,” he said. “Kids don’t have to love computers to come to this camp, but I bet they will when they leave.”
Share the Experience

iD Tech Camps run at the University of Houston through July 24. For more information or to reserve your spot, go to www.internalDrive.com.

A parent recently posed this question to me:

Dear Pete, I am looking for a comic design camp for my son this summer, 2009. Can you please direct us to somthing in the Pittsburgh or the Philadelphia area of PA. Thank you for your attention to our inquiry. My son attending ID-Tech camp in summer 2007 and loved this course but it does not appear to be offered as of late. Mom in distress…

We do not specifically offer a comic design camp, but we have introduced a couple new courses that might fit the bill this year.  Please check out our Create Your Own Adventures Course as well as our Graphic Arts Course–both are offered at most locations throughout the country, as well as at Carnegie Mellon University and Villanova University which are close to you.

Both courses offer some awesome content using some very relevant and fun platforms.

Hopefully this information helps.  We hope to see you out at our summer camp.

Best,

Pete

iD Nation,

We’re rounding the corner to Summer 2009.  Our camps are thriving right now, and interest is at an all-time high for our summer computer camps.  But what makes a camp unique?  What makes iD Tech Camps unique?  SImply put:  It’s people.  Check out a few of the cool photos from a few of the very cool and creative people that are responsible for bringing iD Tech Camps to you.

A company that celebrates its employees is a company that thrives.

From our team of Regional Managers, Client Services Representatives, Admin folks, Field Services, IT and Marketing…the best team in the camp business is counting down the days until summer.  We are ready for an amazing summer.  Climb aboard!

-Pete