Welcome to MarComm Camp

Do you have a favorite childhood camp experience? My “favorite” memory from my first camp experience was not being able to go to sleep due to an insect’s incessant buzzing. I was afraid if I went to sleep it would go inside my ear. There was also the time I discovered I didn’t like s’mores or tents or outhouses or the burning and swollen eyes I got from sitting around a campfire. Yep, you guessed it. I don’t have a childhood camping memory that makes me smile. 

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I received a new perspective. From the temperature-regulated environment to the alliteration of the cabin names, there was nothing annoying about MarComm Camp. 

Created by MarComm for MarComm, campus marketing and communications practitioners, and eventually all brand ambassadors, MarComm Camp is a series of sessions to gain and share insights, MarComm best practices, and alignment on the brand.

Introduced shortly after the announcement of DU’s brand refresh and using a train-the-trainer model, MarComm Camp’s head counselor, Shira Good, planned a day for the MarComm division, to equip staff to help facilitate future opportunities for campus partners to delve into the nuances of the new guidelines and messaging. 

”I have fond memories of camp and recall it being a place where people came together, explored and learned together, and created something new,” Shira said. “Launching the brand and getting aligned within that framework takes work, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun in the process!”

From the moment you walk into the room to check in, you hear a camp soundtrack—songs that will undoubtedly remind participants of wilderness experiences—receive a name tag and beads for decorating, and get assigned a counselor and cabin. From the “Click-Through Cave” to the “Voiceover Villa,” all the cabins come equipped with buckets of snacks, red and white checkered tablecloths, and a multitude of color-coded supplies.

Though the session is scheduled for six hours, the time goes by fast. Imagine being in an environment with like-minded individuals full of positive energy where the limits of your creativity are removed. One where you have a chance to engage all your senses to learn and share. And, you’re having fun! That’s just a taste of what the MarComm experience is all about.

In our most recent session with campus partners, there was a chance for each person to workshop a project with their colleagues and each cabin had the opportunity to create their own. 

At the end of the day, it was easy to see that the DU brand is in good hands. Throughout the session, collaboration and creative energy remained high and yielded new possibilities for social media campaigns and videos as well as digital and print ads. There were even ideas for a comic strip and a scavenger hunt!

Though I don’t have childhood camp memories worth repeating, the experience at MarComm Camp allowed me to help solidify campus partnerships, engage in professional development, and get some amazing insight into how we might see the brand show up in the coming months and years. Perhaps now when someone asks me about my camping experiences, MarComm Camp will be my first thought.