Camper Enrollment Report, April 6th (2015)

Figure 1: Camp enrollment by April 6th over the past 5 seasons

The increasing pace of camper registrations
Last season, some of our activities filled up in late April & early May. This summer we're seeing registrations coming in a bit sooner (see figure 1) than usual and a few classes already have limited space available.

Example:
    Session: Junior Week #1 (July 5 - 12)
    Activity: Ropes Course
    Availability: Only 3 spaces (out of 12 total) remain.

For a lot of customers, class availability isn't a big deal. However, a few parents care a lot about which activity their children can register for in our 2015 season.

If you're a parent who cares deeply about activity selection & availability please register soon. At PSR Camp our desire is to accommodate all requests but sometimes we will be unable to help you because the activity is full; in other words PSR Camp will not be overloading any activity this season.

What is an overload?
When a class is full (example: 12 spaces available & 12 campers registered) parents sometimes call to ask, complain, negotiate, or bully our administrators into adding another space for their camper. In the past we have asked our staff to work extra hard to allow these requests, but overloads can cause more problems for other campers in the activity and diminish their experience.

Example:
   Parent calls to complain that their camper ate lunch last in the cafeteria every day. The reason was because their camper was enrolled in an activity with an overload, and that class was always running behind schedule because it took more time for them to finish the prepared lessons each day.
 
In other words, we've been able to solve one parent's problem with activity availability, but potentially created a new problem with the parents of 12 other campers who are potentially annoyed about the meal dismissal schedule.

Customer Service
Camp exists in an interesting intersection because it's both a ministry and a business. It's our job to make all of customers happy while also making sure that the camp experience is preserved for everyone.

Every time a parent has a problem we can't solve; I really take it to heart as a personal failing. Not because they were upset or angry, but because I did not anticipate their request or maybe they had an expectation that we couldn't fulfill. Please remember that we'll always try to do our best to make sure your camper & family have a great experience on top of the mountain.

Looking forward to serving you this summer!

Jeremy Cruz
~PSR Camp