Scenarios with Stakeholders - with Matt Wilfrid - Camp Ahead #10

Written By Matt Wilfrid

Future Scenario Planning for Summer Camps: Insights from Pearce Williams

Planning for the future of summer camp isn’t just about next year, it’s about imagining what camp could look like five, ten, even twenty summers from now. In this episode of Camp Ahead, Joe Richards is joined by Matt Wilfrid for a behind-the-scenes look at a large-scale stakeholder scenario planning event at Pearce Williams. They unpack how bringing community voices together sparked fresh ideas, tough conversations, and surprising clarity about what lies ahead. From role playing future possibilities to navigating challenging “what if” scenarios, this conversation is full of practical insights for camp leaders who want to plan with intention instead of reaction. If you’re curious about how to engage stakeholders, prepare for uncertainty, and build a stronger future for your camp, this is an episode worth tuning into. You’ll walk away with ideas you can bring back to your own planning table right away.

  • 02:09 Impressions and Reflections on the Event

  • 03:24 Planning and Execution of the Event

  • 06:56 Role Playing and Character Development

  • 17:23 Scenario Planning and Execution

  • 23:36 Day Overview and Participant Experience

  • 24:02 Simplifying the Day's Complexity

  • 24:14 Understanding Camp's Future Pathway

  • 25:23 Community Perceptions and Realities

  • 25:50 Introducing Negative Scenarios

  • 26:27 Sharing Challenges and Vulnerabilities

  • 28:41 Community Response and Creativity

  • 31:34 Balancing Love and Reality

  • 33:10 Intentional Planning and Stakeholder Involvement

  • 37:41 Future Scenario Playtesting

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Resources from This Episode:

Check out the bottom of this post for a HUGE list from Joe. Thanks Joe!

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Our Guest:

Matt Wilfrid, Executive Producer of Podcasting at Go Camp Pro

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Our Hosts:

Jess Elfring-Roberts - Executive Director, Episcopal Camps & Conference Centers

Joe Richards - Executive Director, Pearce Williams Summer Camp and Retreat Facility

KJ Williams - Camp Director, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp

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Sponsor:

A huge thanks to our sponsor for making this possible.

Whereabouts:

Your mission is campers. Ours is making their experience coordinated and connected.

Whereabouts is the only camper management system that keeps Parents, Admin, and Staff in sync in real time — so every camper’s day runs with confidence, clarity, and care. Check them out whereaboutsapp.io

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Resources from This Episode:

Strategic foresight for not-for-profit organisations - Mountain Moving Co

Key places to look

  • Jane McGonigal’s own site and courses

    • Her site links to the Coursera specialization “Ready, Set, Future: Introduction to Futures Thinking” and related courses on forecasting, simulations, and “urgent optimism,” which all include specific practice exercises and games you can adapt.coursera+1

    • The book Imaginable page (hosted via Institute for the Future and her site) highlights that the book is built around “thought experiments” and “future simulations,” many of which are described in talks and short articles online.janemcgonigal+1

  • Short articles outlining techniques

    • A Coursera blog piece summarizing her teaching lays out four concrete techniques for preparing for the unexpected, including “pre-feeling the future” and a specificity-training exercise you can use as a futures warm‑up.coursera

    • Reviews and summaries of Imaginable list recurring practice ideas such as joining or creating simulations, taking ten‑years‑into‑the‑future “trips,” doing one curiosity‑driven Google search a month, and journaling about scenarios. These can be lifted almost directly into prep activities.15minutebusinessbooks

Named activities you can adapt

  • Mental time travel / “memory of the future”

    • In recorded talks and keynotes, McGonigal guides audiences through imagining a specific day 10 years from now (what you see, hear, feel) and then using that “pre‑memory” to inform choices today. This is framed as imagination training that builds new neural pathways and increases “urgent optimism.”youtube+1

    • A related “social time travel” challenge invites people to do this future‑trip together around a shared time horizon (for example, “our community 10 years from now”) and then debrief how they might help in that future.iftfyoutube

  • First 5 Minutes of the Future

    • Interviews about Imaginable describe a game called “The First 5 Minutes of the Future,” where people imagine what they would do in the immediate moments after an “unthinkable” event, as a way to rehearse responses and reduce helplessness.jordanharbinger+1

    • This is well‑suited to short, scenario-based prompts at camp: present a disruption and ask youth to describe their first five minutes of action and helping others.

  • Signals, scenarios, and simulations

    • Articles and reviews emphasize three recurring practices: spotting “signals of change,” joining or running participatory simulations of possible futures, and journaling or debriefing about how participants felt and what roles they played.behavioralscientist+2

    • The Institute for the Future’s “Foresight Challenge: Re‑Imagine a Future” page gives a concrete example: a guided “mental time trip” to a meal 10 years in the future, followed by structured reflection questions you could mirror for camp activities.iftf

How to use this for camp prep:

  • Pull 1–2 short, vivid imagination drills (like the 10‑years‑ahead meal or “memory of the future”) as opening exercises before deeper futures projects.youtubeiftf

  • Use “first 5 minutes of the future” and signals‑spotting as recurring quick games: one focused on response, one on noticing weak signals around camp and in the news.jordanharbinger+1

  • For staff training, borrow the social time travel and “how could you be of help in the future?” prompts as reflective circles about campers, communities, and climate or tech change.behavioralscientistyoutube

If you share the age range and time blocks you have, it is possible to sketch out a few camp-ready activity scripts based directly on these practices.

  1. https://janemcgonigal.com/secrets/

  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKvMmtclUBA

  3. https://www.jordanharbinger.com/jane-mcgonigal-how-to-see-the-future-and-be-ready-for-anything/

  4. https://behavioralscientist.org/the-craft-of-forecasting-our-futures-a-conversation-with-jane-mcgonigal/

  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6YDek2jClc

  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4QMPhiF_as

  7. https://www.15minutebusinessbooks.com/blog/2022/05/09/imaginable-how-to-see-the-future-coming-and-feel-ready-for-anything-even-things-that-seem-impossible-today-by-jane-mcgonigal-here-are-my-six-lessons-and-takeaways/

  8. https://janemcgonigal.com/2021/12/17/imaginable-how-to-see-the-future-coming-and-feel-ready-for-anything-even-things-that-seem-impossible-today/

  9. https://www.iftf.org/imaginable

  10. https://blog.coursera.org/learn-four-techniques-to-help-you-prepare-for-the-unexpected/

  11. https://janemcgonigal.com

  12. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1045137290378789/posts/1140640844161766/

  13. https://www.apf.org/post/how-to-make-a-future-scenario-as-immersive-and-explorable-as-a-videogame

  14. https://www.iftf.org/insights/foresight-challenge-re-imagine-a-future/

  15. https://www.socialworkfutureslab.org/resources

Matt Wilfrid https://gocamp.pro/matt
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Future-Proofing with Resilience - with Travis Allison - Camp Ahead #9