Disclaimer: This is another post about the nonprofit I work with called CISV. You can learn more about it at http://www.cisv.org. I felt it necessary to write a follow-up to my first post about the Summer Camp Committee’s idea of changing the name to Step Up. I got a lot of responses (thank you!) but I don’t think I was clear enough. Here in this post I will try again.
The aspect that is easiest to chat about and dissect is the name change. As part of Motion 5 for AIM 2012 (Mtn05-AIM12-ISU New Summer Camp Name), the International Summer Camp Committee proposes that the name of the Summer Camp program be changed to Step Up.
The name Step Up does not sound like what it is: a leadership and personal development camp experience for youth from around the world.
The committee says that it means “a step up from Village” or when talking to a student “step it up” i.e. improve, try harder.
If you’re telling kids to step up, you are telling them they aren’t doing a good job in the first place. I’ve seen plenty of kids who come prepared when they arrive at Summer Camp (notably the Scandinavians). Young people learn a lot from the experience when they have been trained in what to expect when they arrive. These prepared kids are doing a great job, they don’t need to ‘step it up.’
I would’ve hated to be told to “step it up” when I was 15. There isn’t a motivational phrase that will speak to all young people.
It doesn’t need to be super difficult to explain CISV. I cannot and will not resign to the idea that it is “too hard.” Why not make it easier? Let’s pick a name that clearly indicates what happens during the Summer Camp program.
The committee doesn’t want to call it a camp because they would prefer people to think of it as “an experience, a Programme, a path, an action. A change in the life” (Max, ISU Chair). This makes perfect sense. I guess to me, in my life experience, camp is all of these things but maybe that word doesn’t translate into other languages with all of that meaning behind it.
After reading your comments and hearing from members of the ISU Committee, I still don’t love the name but now I understand more of the reasoning behind it. I still propose we work to find another name. Is there something in another language that would work better?
Bottom Line: ‘Step Up’ is less clear than ‘Summer Camp.’
I disagree. Step Up is a heck of a lot clearer than Summer Camp! I have been to hundreds of Summer Camps. It means nothing other than it is in the summer, which is not always the case in CISV. At least when I hear Step up, I think of going somewhere and the opportunity to improve and that is what a Step Up looks to do, improve!
Thanks for your thoughts Frank. I’m glad that the ISU (you and others) have voiced opinions publicly.
I love the idea of improving, and I really respect the goals of the Summer Camp Committee in their proposal, but I think Step Up is so unclear.
I know CISV isn’t necessarily easy to explain, but I don’t think that’s a good argument for disregarding whether our programs are difficult to explain. (That comment was made in response to your earlier post, but it wasn’t addressed.) I understand that an inspiring name can do just that, inspire, but I think that is far more effective (and perhaps only effective) when people understand immediately what you’re trying to convey. For example, the Shepard Fairey poster with Barack Obama’s picture and the word “hope.” Yes, “hope” meant whatever it meant to the viewer (and is sort of meaningless without context), but Obama’s platform and symbolism were very well-known to the audience, and nearly every person who saw the poster had the framework to provide context and understand the goals of the poster. I just don’t think the same can be said for Step Up, especially if you’re not already a long-term CISVer.
Summer camp, to me, does mean something – I imagine Salute Your Shorts on Nickelodeon, or the camp from The Parent Trap. Lots of activities, games, pranks, friendships formed, and being outside. (And bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.) These things generally are part of CISV’s Summer Camps. They don’t say what makes our camps unique, but I think they give non-CISVers a framework with which to understand the basics. I do love the idea of saying what makes us different in the name, though!
P.S. Are there Summer Camps that aren’t held in the summer? I know there are some held in January in the southern hemisphere, but it’s summer there…
Beautiful example w Shephard Fairey Alex! Thanks for your thoughts!
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