I never thought I’d be writing “silver lining” and Covid in the same title. Nearly two years since we learned the name of the virus, we are leaning into our third summer of operating with Covid (endemic rather than pandemic, we hope). Where is the silver lining, you ask?

Okay, here it is. As a seasonal business that really functions and works all year long (10 for 2!), we are MORE connected because of the tools Covid forced us to find using technology. Scoff at the word Zoom or Meet and simultaneously say, “Necessity is the mother of invention”.

My week is like a connect the dots painting (remember those?!) with Zooms and Meets. And, I love it.

Weekly I get the chance to connect with the most amazing people:

• Monday morning brings our team kick off meeting with our year-round admin team
• Monday Mark meets with Tim – together they are working on site and facilities
• Tuesday I Zoom individually with two of our administrative leaders and separately our social media consultant
• Wednesday we meet with an outside consultant and most industry-wide educational events seem to be scheduled on very large Zooms
• Thursday I catch up on all the new plans we’ve schemed up and meet with parents
• Friday we meet with, Nina, our Director of Residential Life

Monthly and Random

• We meet with 14 Runoia seasonal leaders,
• I Zoom with the Diversity Advisory Committee
• The Camp Runoia Alumnae Organization meets every few months
• The Belgrade business group, the Maine Camp Experience Group and the Maine Summer Camp group all throw in their board meetings, membership meetings and more.
• Conferences from San Diego to Denver to New England have allowed us to Zoom in and meet
• And how about those “stay connected to family and friends” Zooms
• Oh and the weekly 8 am dance party?
• And reading Harry Potter with a granddaughter (book four since the pandemic started)

And most importantly of all, I have the amazing opportunity to Zoom with families across the globe about camp and meet their daughters and connect about the Runoia experience.

So, yes, Covid has crushed us all in many ways. And interestingly enough, because there usually is a silver lining to every dark cloud, Covid has connected us more through Zoom, Google Meet and technology and an urgency to make connections. See you on a Zoom soon and counting the days to see you in person at Camp!

Love,

Aionur