Working sessions
Strategic sessions we call Camps
You already have what you need. Camps help you find it and put it to work. A few focused hours with your whole team in one room, and you leave with something you can use on Monday.
What is a camp?
You arrive stuck. You leave with a plan.
We ask the questions, your team does most of the talking, and what surfaces is usually something you already knew but had never said out loud.
It’s not a meeting with a better name. Nobody presents, there’s no deck, and most people are surprised by how fast a few hours goes.
Most of what you get happens in the room. Your team leaves with words and ideas it can start using that day. Then we go off and synthesize, and send back what you landed on in writing, in your words, along with a clear plan for what happens next. You don’t have to hire us for anything after that, although many organizations do.
Outfitted, not overwhelmed.
Camp index
The Camps we run most often
Camp Counseling
What you believe, and the messages that come from it.
Camp details
Lace up your boots
Every Camp runs the same way and answers a different question. Here’s what each one covers and what you take home.
Group 01
Everyone starts here
Meet with your counselors first. Nothing else works as well without it.
Subject
Core beliefs
Prerequisite
None
Principle
Discovery over invention
Snacks
Provided
Camp Counseling
Every organization has a true sentence about itself that nobody has written down yet. It usually surfaces about ninety minutes in, from someone who wasn’t sure why they’d been invited.
Most of that time is your team talking to each other, not to us. Camp Counseling produces your beliefs and key messages, in your words, on paper. Every other Camp builds on this one.
- Name what you truly believe
- Curate your key messages
- Get your team talking
- Go beyond the mission statement
- Turn jargon into bold statements
- Create a foundation everything builds on
Group 02
Foundation camps
Who you are and how you sound.
Subject
How you come across
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
Be recognizable
Snacks
Your favorites
Personality Camp
It’s hard to see yourself the way other people see you. Most teams reach for adjectives every other organization in their sector is already using, which is the same as having no personality at all.
We help you work through brand archetypes, name the traits that actually make you recognizable, then decide how those traits show up on your website, at a gala, and in a hard conversation.
- Name the traits that make you recognizable
- Sound like yourself instead of everyone else
- Bring humanity back to your communication
- See real world "before & after" examples
Subject
How you sound
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
Say what you mean
Snacks
Hot chocolate
Brand Voice Camp
By the time everyone touches your writing, it comes out technically accurate and completely forgettable. It doesn’t sound like anyone.
We help you find language your whole team can use while layering in their voice, from a grant application to the homepage to an AI prompt.
- Find language that sounds like you
- Cut the jargon without losing precision
- Create a playbook everyone can work from
- Define boundaries, not rules
Subject
One shared language
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
Same words, different jobs
Snacks
Variety packs
Alignment Camp
Your team agrees on the mission and describes it seven different ways. Development says one thing, programs says another, and the board has a third version they picked up somewhere.
Get everyone speaking the same language without flattening what makes each person good at their job.
- Get every department using the same words
- Personalize the message without changing it
- Find where your story has drifted
- Build real ownership instead of buy-in
Group 03
Project Camps
For when something is about to get built, launched, or rebuilt.
Subject
More than a website
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
Build with confidence
Snacks
Popcorn
Web Prep Camp
Most website projects start as a technology exercise and end as an expensive reorganization of the same confusion. The platform was never the problem.
Before you write an RFP or talk to a developer, decide what the site actually needs to do and who it needs to do it for.
- Write a real job description for your website
- Prioritize what matters most
- Go beyond tech trends
- Spend the budget on the right build
Subject
How it’s organized
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
Clear and concise
Snacks
Sweet and salty
Structure Camp
Your programs, services, and web pages made sense as they grew, but only to the people who work for you. Internal structure has a way of quietly becoming a navigation nightmare.
We reorganize around the reasons people showed up, so nobody has to learn your internal language to find what they need.
- Organize around what people came to do
- Name your programs so outsiders understand them
- Get a functional sitemap and navigation
- Let your audiences find their fit immediately
Subject
How people find you
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
Your map. Their path.
Snacks
Shareables
User Journey Camp
The people you serve don’t experience your organization the way your org chart does. They might find you mid-crisis, on a tiny screen, from a link somebody just texted them. Now what?
Map how someone finds you, what they’re feeling at different stages, and where you lose them.
- See your organization from the eyes of those you serve
- Map one audience from first contact to action
- Understand where people give up or get confused
- Decide what to fix first
Subject
Seeing it first
Prerequisite
Camp Counseling
Principle
React, don’t imagine
Snacks
Mix and match
Prototype Camp
Most ideas can’t be visualized through a written outline or quick sketch. A team can fret about how something should look or behave for a month and then agree in ten minutes once there’s something real to test.
Bring a real challenge, and we’ll build rough, working prototypes in the room while you watch.
- React to something instead of imagining it
- Iterate quickly to test different ideas
- Test an idea before you fund it
- Leave with a decision instead of a follow-up meeting
Create your own Camp
Most of our Camps started with a specific need. If you’re carrying a question that doesn’t fit neatly into any of the sessions above, tell us about it. We’ll either build a session around it or tell you if there’s a better approach, even if it’s not ours.
Camp is in session.
We’ll save you a marshmallow.
Tell us what you’re wrestling with. We’ll tell you which Camp fits, or that you don’t need one at all.