"Communication isn't what it once was!" Blaine Lam tweeted out this week, explaining why verbal communications are no longer a part of Borgess Run Camp.According to his facebook post, "we will now communicate with runners primarily with brochures, posters, signs, tweets, posts and pictures, but we're not above pointing people in certain directions when certain actions are desired," he said. "For instance, if someone crosses their legs and looks pained, our team leaders are instructed to point to the rest rooms."
Lam, once an "old school" communicator, said three things led to the demise of verbal communications at camp.
"First, no one was listening to me. That could just be a 'me' thing, but I don't want to test the theory.""Second, about half the campers are wearing ear buds, so talking was really an exercise in futility."
"Finally," Lam wrote in an email blast, "I guess this is one of the few places left where people don't want to be completely over-directed. That works for me."
As a fallback, Run Camp organizers have increased their reliance on signage, electronic devices and alternative forms of communication. Team leader signs, directional signs and mile markers have been a staple of camper directives for years. MapMyRun and GPS was added over time, along with colored bandanas to keep teams together. On the web site now are photos of team leaders and how to do core exercise.
Assigned to develop the strategic utilization to new tools, Camp Operations Manager Cheryl Pickett is come up with signs to, among other things "label bagels." Cheryl added, "I think people will like our 'step down' and 'look both ways' signs."Smoke signals have been abandoned for health reasons.
