“Nothing great in this world has ever been accomplished without passion.”

Meet Dave and Mike, Co-Founders of Camp Leadership. They realized there was a problem in the camping industry. Whether working for the Y, a private camp, or a camp associated with a church or town, there was an information void. 

So, Dave and Mike decided to bring something different to the camping world. Their website is an amazing resource for camp directors to learn new camp songs, games, ideas, and more. They didn’t create this website to make a million dollars; they created it because they love camp.

Think about a camp for a moment. What kind of people work there? What experience are they trying to create for their campers? Sometimes reading pages of data doesn’t help. Lyrics for a camp song are meaningless if I don’t know the tune; if it’s a participatory song, lyrics are meaningless if I don’t know the movements. (In fact, whether you’re in the camping world or not, start your day with any of these videos. It’ll make you smile.)

Camp Leadership is a site that grows to fill the community’s needs - and as fast as Dave and Mike can create it. It’s more than songs. There is an unbelievable video about bullying at camp. There is plenty of written advice too. Think of it as “curated” - people who are experts, who love what they do, are sifting through all the data out there and selecting the information and tools that people need.

Many people tell you they love what they do, but when someone can’t even hold back that natural grin when talking about their product’s benefits to other people… well, you can’t fake that. That type of selfless caring about creating a product to help your customers - that’s authenticity. And you can’t fake that either. 

People like Dave and Mike inspire me. They challenge me. Challenge me by serving as a role model; to ask myself am I doing the best I can to move my company forward. Group Story “headquarters” is definitely not a passion free zone - but we all need a booster shot every now and then. Do you have people in your life like Dave and Mike? You will be amazed how surrounding yourself with people like that can improve your own business. 

Dave, Mike, and Geoff at Owen’s Bagel & Deli in Charlotte. Excellent bagel sandwiches with Boar’s Head cold cuts (is there anything else a food obsessed deli would use?)

When a photo book is made, it should be made with passion and creativity. The photos and the stories are the only essential elements to creating a photo book. What would you say the next most important thing would be?

Backgrounds can make a book look like a work of art. Backgrounds can make the photos pop. Backgrounds can even help you express mood or personality within your book. We have a different approach. If one page looks good with an orange polka dotted background, and the next one needs a purple grunge effect background, they will be coordinated! We have professionally designed, one-of-a kind backgrounds that will look even better in your printed books than they do on the screen.

The four images below are examples of what we now offer in our application:

Stripes Sample 

Distressed Sample

Polka Dots Sample

We will be adding more backgrounds throughout July, so be on the lookout for new concepts such as paisley, grunge, and more!

Business owners spend a lot of time thinking about their business. Sometimes this causes them to become myopic and miss the big picture. That’s where the phrase, “Let’s look at this from 30,000 feet” comes from. Usually a company does this when they feel they’re getting too close to their business.

I think the view from 30,000 feet can be dangerous too.
Unless you change your seat.

Here’s a way to imagine it. You are on a plane flying from North Carolina to Florida headed to Miami. The plane hugs the coast. You’re thinking about Miami. Out the window, from 30,000 feet, you see an amazing coastline. You then stay focused on Miami and think that’s all that Florida has to offer.

But suppose you changed your seat on that flight? You just moved 15 feet to the right and took a seat on the opposite side of the plane. You wouldn’t see a coastline at all. And your understanding of Florida would be completely different.

Want a concrete example? Cristal champagne started to become THE champagne of the rap and hip hop community. Jay-Z carried it in his clubs and the community fully supported Cristal. When the President of the company was asked what he thought about the adoption of his product by this new community, he responded:

That’s a good question, but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.

Cristal, because of their view from their seat of the type of people who used their product, missed out on a huge opportunity to expand their market. Had they changed their seat, they would have gained a better understanding of the opportunities for their product.

So what’s the point?

I’m suggesting on your climb up to 30,000 feet to analyze your business, you ascend without a preconceived idea of your business. Take another seat. Move around the plane. That’s where the opportunities can be found.

It’s your plane.

You are the captain of this plane, with your hands on the controls. And the navigator, determining where it should go. And the flight attendant, making sure your customers are happy. But don’t forget to change your seat, it’s your plane. See what the view looks like from another perspective.

We like to say, “If you have a group, you have a Group Story”. One of the best examples of a group that I can think of is kids at a Summer Camp. As a camper, you know that your time at camp is like a completely different world, and so different from your day to day life. That week, those memories, should be with you forever. With Group Story, they can be. You can hear and see the voices of your friends in the stories and memories they share.

As a camp director, you want to offer kids and their parents a tangible way to extend the experience of camp. With Group Story’s low cost, high-quality photo books, as well as its collaborative nature, we are a very attractive option for camps and campers. Here is what we are creating for camps:

1. FREE set up of a customized webpage about your organization. (Sample image below.)

2. In every book that is ordered your organization receives two pages in the back of the book. Use it to tell the reader, and everyone they show the book to, what’s special about your camp. Your mission statement, accomplishments, things that make you special. Here’s your chance to tell your camps story.

3. Fundraising! Your organization receives 10%-20% of all the sales of the books to use as a source of revenue. 

4. A way for your campers to share their story for years to come - starting at only $12.99 for a professionally bound and printed book.

Camp Directors, 

Contact us at http://groupstory.com/camp

and let us help you create a memory that will last forever.

Thanks,

Geoff and George, Co-Founders

Our work day started before sunrise today. Well, one of us started working before sunrise. The other (not saying names) unofficially clocked in at 742AM …but who’s counting. It was the typical super busy day with extra emails, planning, and responsibility. At 1030AM we walked right by the pool at the resort in Palm Springs (70 degrees and sunny- old guys sipping pina coladas),  directly into a taxi to take us to the California Parks and Rec trade show. For hours we networked, created relationships and shared our passion of Group Story as we always do at trade shows. Because our company is so photo oriented, I will let photos tell the rest of the story.

Landed in Austin at 1130PM

HARD CODING LAYOUTS! (above and below)

Managing Bug Fixes at crunch time AHHHHHH!!!!!!! (below)

“Well, this used to be part of my Mac adapter” (below)

Hi at 429AM! (below)

Someone crashed at 430AM… (below)

It’s okay he gets a free pass. I admit it. He was the one that was awake before sunrise. I slept until 730AM. It all works itself out.

See everyone at SXSW 2010 at 9AM!

1. Determination

2. Innovation

3. Frugality

4. Experimentation

5. Eccentricity

6. Simplicity

7. Consumer-focused

8. Iconoclastic

9. Ambition

10. Focus

11. Opportunism

12. Flexibility

Great article:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2EJNwt/www.focus.com/fyi/small-business/12-characteristics-successful-internet-entrepreneurs/