2020 Mid States Chair Announced!

Greetings Camp People, 

I hope your summer/camp season is going or went well. I am Gordie Kaplan and I will be serving as your Conference Chair for the 2020 Mid States Camp Conference hosted by the American Camp Association, Illinois.  Mid States will again take place at Pheasant Run Resort, St Charles, Illinois, Monday, March 30th – Wednesday, April 1st, 2020. I was one of the founding members of the Mid States Camp Conference and I have been involved with every conference since 1993 in some leadership capacity.  I’m honored to be your chair for 2020. 

Like many camps, organizations, and events, we have had our successes and challenges.  However, we have always strived to follow the Mission Statement and Operating Principles, which you can read here. Over the past 27 conferences, our commitment to our mission has remained constant. We do make changes every year based on feedback from participants and trends in the camp field nationwide. Our priority is to make Mid States as impactful as possible to our attendees. 

Based on the 2019 Mid States Demographics Survey we learned 39% of the attendees were between the ages of 36-60+ while 57% were 22-35. 77% were employed year-round at their camps and/or agencies. We also discovered that 53% of attendees had been serving camp for between 5-20 years. We found that 58% of Mid States attendees work in day camps, 52% work in resident camps, and some work at both. Therefore, we are planning to continue to meet the needs of camp professionals at all levels, incorporating sessions for day camp professionals throughout the conference and offering plenty of professional development opportunities for executives, managers, and directors. 

Volunteer support and participation have always been outstanding during Mid States.  We are committed to increasing volunteer involvement from now through the conference.  Are you interested in helping us plan and prepare for Mid States? If so please email: gordiekaplan@acail.org.

Finally, for emerging details and new plans please check in with the Mid States website, acail.org/midstates, like our Facebook Page, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Gordie Kaplan
2020 Mid States Camp Conference Chair