Camp Chronicles - Issue #2

Happy Monday Friends, Chris Here! It was great getting everyone’s positive feedback from last week’s issue! Currently, I’m writing to you guys from 30,000 feet about to land in Austin, TX. Today Annemarie, Max, Simon, and I are moving in together for a few months.

This week we’ve got a number of updates in the community. From gigantic watermelons to pop-up coffee shops, I’ve highlighted everything below!

Who’s The Perpetrator?

Breaking News! Many of you know Nate Obrien, the financial and investing expert in the community. Well, Nate has a knack for growing giant fruits. He’s been doing this for years & competes in competitions. His go-to’s are pumpkins and watermelons. Fun fact, giant pumpkins can get upwards of 500 lbs in size.

This week while walking around his garden Nate noticed that someone or something had been eating away at his prized possession. Possibly the worst crime in camp history.

If you happen to have any connections to the NYPD, private investigators, or detectives please shoot us an email so we can get this matter resolved asap!

Janice’s Latest Entrepreneur Endeavors

Earlier this week Janice (@janice.journal) opened up a pop-up coffee shop at VERCI HQ in NYC.

To put things into perspective, that same morning I had ordered a latte from a Blue Bottle Coffee down the street for a whopping $8. Janice being the savvy businesswoman that she is decided to undercut the market with drinks starting as low as $3. What amazed me was Janice’s ability to simultaneously work her remote job at IBM while brewing up some of the best coffee in the city.

PS - She’s got an exam next week for her job so wish her luck!

My full review of Janice’s Coffee Shop can be found below:

Customer Service: 8.5/10
Reason: I understand that there was high demand for Janice’s coffee but I was a little disappointed with the ~10-minute wait time for my coffee. However, she did walk across the entire building to hand deliver my order which was a huge plus.

Product: 9/10
Reason: I ordered an iced caramel macchiato and being the ethical journalist that I am, I can really only speak about that one specific drink. It was top-tier, you could taste the richness of the Italian beans and perfectly sized square ice cubes, and you could really feel the love she poured into the drink.

Packaging/Branding: 7.5/10
Reason: It wasn’t a red solo cup but I’ll be honest at the same time it wasn’t anything too special. A very simple & clean design.

Pricing: 10/10
Reason: $3 Coffee in NYC? That’s the best deal you're gonna find anywhere in the city.

Wishing Eli The Best Of Luck

I met Eli Stone in the winter of 2021, he became my first internet friend. He showed me nothing but kindness, brought me into his world, and introduced me to other lovely humans like Max, Ryan, and Simon.

Throughout the time I’ve known Eli he’s been very open about his mental health. Being this open & vulnerable can be extremely difficult, it’s been a trait I really admire about Eli.

It takes a lot of self-awareness and courage to seek help. For the past few weeks Eli has been preparing to admit himself into a mental hospital and this week he did just that.

Eli, you’re an inspiration to all of us. We’re super proud of how far you’ve come and we’re sending you lots of love.

Camp Team Updates 🔥⛺️

Recording of the end of our all-hands meeting - September 1st, 2023

• During this week’s team meeting our discussion was primarily about the next steps for Base Camp. We’re planning on setting up a Notion/calendar that will act as a resource for attendees. Here you’ll be able to view other campers’ profiles, activities for the week, stores & restaurants in the area, etc. Please feel free to chip in ideas on what you’d like to see as well.
  
  We’re encouraging people to host things at Base Camp. If you’re attending in October and want to host a songwriting session, hike, meditation, or whatever else comes to mind, we’d absolutely love that. We’ll be reaching out to everyone in the next week or so to put things on the itinerary!

• We’re still having ongoing conversations on how we can make Creator Camp sustainable. Since the start, our goal has been to design experiences that allow creatives to flourish. I shared this last week but we really want to build a world & community that you all will cherish and want to hold on to for a long time.
  
  With all of our projects, Base Camp included, we have thinly broken even. Currently, our flagship event is funded entirely through sponsorships. One thing we often discuss is making sure CC events stay intimate (less than 100 people).
  
  As we grow and think about the future of CC, we want to find a more balanced approach or seek other avenues of revenue. We’re open to ideas & would love your guys input. We’re always seeking out new brand partners or people who might be interested in being involved with our events so if you know of any companies that seem aligned with the camp mission let us know 😁 
  

• Max, Simon, & Ryan all have their individual channels. But recently we’ve also been playing with the idea of starting CC YouTube channel to document the behind-the-scenes of building this community & the adventures we all go on together.
  
  We’re very inspired by channels like YesTheory and it’s cool how they had a shared channel where different individuals pop in as characters. At the moment it’s just an idea that’s very early in its inception but I’d appreciate any feedback on the topic. Also if we were to launch a channel what would you like to see from us?

Fun Little Things 🙌

• Happy Birthday to Kelsey Rodriguez who turned 24 on September 1st

  Go wish her a happy birthday right now!

• Natalie Lynn, Cameron Clayton, Tanner Ray, and Aaron Clemons all are moving to Austin TX as well!
  

• We started a Creator Camp running club through Strava. Last week our winner was Nate GL with 18.2 km - you can sign up and run with us here!
  

  Collectibles! We have ~20 extra hoodies from Camp 2.0 that we won’t be restocking. They’ve been sitting at my house for some time so we thought we’d put them out in the world along with a “more than content” poster featuring Needle Rock Lodge.

I actually really enjoy writing these so thank you to all who take the time to read these.

Much love guys,
Chris Duncan