WCS 2022 Feedback

[Karla "with a k"]

If you have any feedback on the 2022 WCS, leave it in this thread. Let's let the camp, board, volunteers, presenters and speakers know the things we like, the things they did well, the things we want to see again next year and also the things we think could be improved (with any necessary ideas on how to bring about those improvements).

Threads like this can turn into just negative comments, which doesn't accurately reflect the overall thoughts & feelings from the event, so please ensure your comment is carefully worded to provide helpful and not hurtful feedback. Also, if you are willing to volunteer your time / talents to bring about the change you suggest, please mention that too. It's one thing to ask more out of the voluteers who are doing the best they can, it's another to step up to the plate and bring about the change you seek.

[Karla "with a k"]

I'll start! I LOVED the signs this year. Not only are they functional, they are beautiful too!

[eatTHEcurry]

There were so many fun and interesting things going on there, but I have to give Jonathan who taught the sew an insulated water bottle class extra recognition. He was patient, interesting and really opened my eyes to the world of sewing. I was really surprised how satisfying that class was, and in the end its likely going to lead to a new hobby.

Cheers

[Karla "with a k"]

oooh, I thought of another. Those sinks & faucets on the outside of Mitchell for dishes are awesome! Unsure if this was a fellow attendee, the camp staff or what, but the Dawn dish soap and scrubby additions were greatly appreciated.

Was that the only place to fill up gallon jugs with water? Or is there another spot?

[Rich Kerhlikar]

Had a great time! Ben Piersma and Jason Guftason did a wonderful bushcraft seminar on Thursday!!

Axe Usage and Safety presentation was awesome and should be repeated yearly.

I enjoyed Andy Wrights foraging presentation and Nick Gordon’s presentation on Outfitting for a 40 below expedition.

I learned tons from Pete Brautigan on titanium steel properties and the Wood Stove Usage Design and Science by Don Kevilus. Wow. I loved the way he shows how to stack firewood in a wood stove.

A great time was had.

[Amy Hunter]

We had a fabulous time.

I only just now realized what Sydney & Jim did with the kids program. AMAZING! I'm hopeful that will continue & would be happy to help in the future. Like help teach knot tying, knife safety or fire building. Who sewed the patches on those bags??

I was very impressed with Emily Ford's presentation.

I didn't love that particular food truck, it seemed about the same quality as what the Y provided a few years back. They were much better with timing than last years food truck. There was a generator running for a long period of time & it annoyed some of my people.

Did I say we had a great time?

We met Robbie's mom & made some bootleg screenprints with her & some new friends.

We'll be back next year.

[Bruce K]

Some suggestions for next year:

* While I got an email confirmation from the YMCA when I registered, it would have been nice to get an email confirmation from the WCS itself. I kept wondering if I was in fact registered or not.
* Have some information when you first drive up. Specifically, give more directions on where to setup your tent and other details. Fortunately some kind people saw the blank look on my face and helped me out.
* Have announcements at the beginning of Friday in the morning. Waiting until Friday evening seems too late for most of the things that were discussed
* Ask other people if they want to volunteer to help

[Karla "with a k"]

I know there was a problem with camp staff and nametags, but I really missed nametags!

[Heavy Duty]

Some suggestions for next year:

* While I got an email confirmation from the YMCA when I registered, it would have been nice to get an email confirmation from the WCS itself. I kept wondering if I was in fact registered or not.
* Have some information when you first drive up. Specifically, give more directions on where to setup your tent and other details. Fortunately some kind people saw the blank look on my face and helped me out.
* Have announcements at the beginning of Friday in the morning. Waiting until Friday evening seems too late for most of the things that were discussed
* Ask other people if they want to volunteer to help

Thanks for your feedback.

The YMCA does the registration, they do not let us know who registers within their system unfortunately. I truly wish their system was better, you're not alone.
We can provide better instructions on site when pulling in, to new people, I could see this being confusing.
We are entertaining the possibility of Friday and Saturday YMCA provided breakfast. If that's the case we can get everyone in one area for morning announcements prior to classes starting.

[Bruce K]

Here's another suggestion. Since one of the purposes of the WCS is to build a sense of community, consider having informal break out sessions where people from a particular geographic region or state could gather and meet each other. For example, you could have a Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan gathering. Or maybe sub-divide this into smaller sections.

Similarly, you could have break-out sessions to meet other people with special interests. Perhaps a group of hammock folks, a group interested in hunting/fishing, another group that likes to make their own gear. These break-out sessions don't need to have highly-structured content or programming - just a chance to meet other people

[jamieS]

I really enjoyed my first WCS and learned a lot from the presenters! Like someone mentioned above, I marveled at the parallel kids events over the weekend -- lots of happy smiles and neat crafts from that group!

Now I understand the gear swap/sale better and I will definitely bring some gear to pass on to others at a good price next time...

Here's one idea: one of my favorite parts was the tent tour. I imagined what it would be like if each tenter (and even the hammock-ers) could have talked for 10 minutes about how they arrived at their set up. So maybe there could be individual "open houses" over the course of the weekend? Of course this would be optional andthey could decide what time they wanted to be available for a quick tour and questions.

Another idea might be a kind of informal event where experienced BWCA/wilderness travelers could be available to go over the trip plans, routes, gear lists, etc. of more novice travelers. In my idealized vision of this, there would be a dozen experienced trippers that could be available for informal chats over the course of a couple hours. I could also imagine another gathering of people looking to pair up with others in a future trip... or maybe do all of this in a single session.

But ultimately, I don't have a lot of feedback to make it better -- it was an impressively well organized and fun event!

Oh, one last thing... the Pines might not be an ideal place for hammocking during high winds. I noticed that those tall spindly trees really swayed in the mild winds we got (on Thursday night after midnight) and quite a few dead branches were hitting each other high up in the trees. If we were going to have adverse weather, I would have moved out of that grove!