Official 2013 Blog Launch

Dear Eternal CSL Community:

Nine months ago I wrote the last blog entry of Summer 2012 and fittingly we give birth to the coming summer on this day exactly one month before CSL’s 86th summer officially kicks off.  We began the CSL Blog in my second summer as Program Director in 2010 and it has grown with each year – more posts, a wider variety of participation from both staff and campers, more use and integration of social media, higher quality/quantity images and video, more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly layout, etc.  During the six actual months the blog has existed (the two months of each summer), we have amassed an extraordinary amount of page views from the CSL community approaching 100,000.  This year we will aim even higher and it is realistic that on this day we could eclipse that barrier.

One of the biggest changes this year is that we are starting a bit earlier with the hope of generating even more buzz among campers, parents, and alumni as the summer approaches.  We will have a new feature article posted by 6:00 am (EDT) each day of the summer beginning with this one, coming from a variety of perspectives. 

This segue ways to another major addition to the blog for this summer – an alumni section.  Everyone physically leaves camp at some point but spiritually the connection is forever and it is our hope that we can serve the tens of thousands of alumni around the world by providing a space for substantial reflection and interaction all in the backdrop of what is happening in the present day at CSL. The quantity of content will increase dramatically in mid-June when the staff has taken residence at camp and then again on June 30th when the campers arrive.  As mentioned earlier, one major difference this year will be the alumni presence on the blog which will of course play a big role in determining the quality and quantity of content.  Here’s what you can expect to see:

• Daily updates from the Programming Office on the latest happenings including the ever-popular “Pictures with Pickus
• Daily perspectives from each of the five villages with frequent contributions from the CSL in Israel Trip
• Weekly Judaic content highlighting the parsha of the week and CSL’s Shabbat experience
• Links to photos and videos as they are uploaded to bring you visuals of all that is being written about
• Central access to all CSL content on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, etc.
• Regular updates on other elements of the CSL community from Hobbies to the Waterfront to Tiyulim trips out of camp to Color War 7
• The rotating banner pictures at the top of the blog home will change each day to reflect the highlights of the previous day
• The “archive” section includes all blog posts from the 2011 and 2012 summers 
• And of course as many perspective pieces from alumni as they are willing to share with all of us.

While there have a few voices of displeasure to CSL’s emergent media presence over the last couple of years in the scope of it being un-camplike, please know that these efforts are being made to be consistent with a central tenet of camp – bringing and keeping people together in a community that has no expiration date.  You can be 20 on Sugar Mountain.  It should also be pointed out that we believe our parents deserve a strong sense of what is happening at CSL and what it is all about.  I was a camper for eight summers and whenever I would come home and my parents would ask how camp was, I would just respond by saying “good”.  After all, it is too difficult to describe camp when experiencing it but we will do our best to paint that picture for the people who are ultimately responsible for us existing, the ones who entrust us with their children for 2-8 weeks each summer.

None of this would be possible without my favorite parts of camp – loyalty and dedication from its people.  The CSL community is truly eternal and special in ways very few other places are.  The people who are at camp now and those who have come before us share in common intensive devotion, which is fittingly how this blog is maintained.  Longtime staff member and current attorney Marc Field handles nearly all of the backend support and development of this blog and does so from a few thousand miles away in London, England.  Neil Pickus, entering his third summer at CSL, has once again been promoted now as the first ever Director of Media and Communications in our Programming Office; he will direct and coordinate all communications content this summer while continuing to take incredible photos and overseeing the Hobby Program. We have also hired a full-time videographer for the first time – Sam Piggot from the UK will be in his first summer at CSL and brings a ton of experience and talent with him. 

Below is the upcoming schedule for what you can expect to see as our featured perspective with each day, always on the blog by 6:00 am.  For those current campers and alumni who are interested in writing a piece, please submit to cslofficialmedia@gmail.com and we will get it uploaded.  Below are just the featured stories to expect over the next three or so weeks but it is realistic to expect more content on each of those days especially as alumni start to send along pieces.

Tomorrow – Aaron Cantor, Associate Director
June 1- Rhonda Korn, Assistant Director
June 2 - John Golden, Camp Director (21st Summer)
June 3 - Jamie Pearsen, Onondaga Unit Head
June 4 - Jesse Manning, Mohawk Unit Head
June 5 - A current CSL camper
June 6 - Joy Getnick
June 7 - Rachel Kosoff, Seneca Unit Head
June 8 - A current CSL camper
June 9 - Betsy Wahlquist, co-Founder of Tuscarora
June 10 - Josh Sham, Tuscarora Unit Head
June 11 - Max Krieger, Cayuga Unit Head
June 12 - A current CSL camper
June 13 - Josh Van Horn, Tiyulim Director
June 14 - Rob West, Co-Waterfront Director
June 15 - Sarah Kaufman, Assistant Program Director
June 16 - David Jevotovsky, Counselor
June 17 - First Alumni Day
June 18 - Elyssa Sham, Tuscarora Counselor
June 19 - Andy Powers, Tuscarora Counselor
June 20 - Gregg Houck, Operations Manager

This will be my 22nd summer at CSL and I am sometimes asked if it gets boring or old.  It hasn’t yet.  I spent a good amount of energy during my older camper and young staff years fighting against camp changing (and I’m sure there are plenty of alumni who can relate).  Then interestingly by the mid-2000’s, I was the one pushing for change.  Now in my fifth summer as Program Director, I suppose I have been behind many changes.  But it is still camp.  And some of the changes of the last decade or two may have been coldly-received and not all have worked out but camp is in a golden age.  Look no further than the highest enrollment figures we have ever had in both July and August this summer reflected by the first addition to the Dining Hall in several decades.  There are cosmetic changes and policy changes but ultimately Camp Seneca Lake is still Camp Seneca Lake and as long as everyone out there stays connected and keep it in their thoughts, it will forever remain Camp Seneca Lake.

Ari Baum, 1992-2013
Program Director
Assistant Director