The Chilmark Community Center was filled with people of all ages Friday evening, from campers to their grandparents, to hear former Disney CEO, Michael Eisner discuss his formative time as a child at summer camp.
The Chilmark Community Center was filled with people of all ages Friday evening, from campers to their grandparents, to hear former Disney CEO, Michael Eisner discuss his formative time as a child at summer camp.
“Camp teaches you what is important,” Mr. Eisner told the crowd.
Mr. Eisner’s book, CAMP: Life, Leadership, and Why You Never Stop Paddling was published 20 years ago, and has been reprinted this year. It is an ode to the powerful impact of summer camp and formative memories from his childhood.
Michael Eisner and Susan Andrien: talk at the CCC stressed the values children learn at summer camp.
Michael Eisner and Susan Andrien: talk at the CCC stressed the values children learn at summer camp.
Onstage, Mr. Eisner was in conversation with Chilmark Community Center camp director Susan Andrien. Both talked about the importance of summers spent with diverse groups of people, away from phones and outside in nature, and how that is more crucial today than ever.
The CCC’s programming runs from ages 3 to 14, and offers, “something for everybody” said Ms. Andrien.
Mr. Eisner noted the significance of the CCC’s own summer programs, while also speaking about his experiences during summers at Camp Keewaydin in Vermont. He emphasized how “camp teaches you the values that you carry for the rest of your life.”
Mr. Eisner said many of the leadership skills he utilized throughout his career were learned at Keewaydin. It was there, he observed, that he learned the value of working together toward a shared goal — a skill that, he explained, actually gave him a competitive advantage.
“The business I am in is a teamwork business, and it works especially well if the leader is collaborative,” Mr. Eisner said.
However, not all the stories were recalled fondly. Mr. Eisner spoke about “Saturday night boxing,” a rude awakening to a nonsensical tradition at Camp Keewaydin.
“They just put me in a ring. I was seven fighting a nine year old!” he said.
In the decades since, Keewaydin has changed with the times, he noted. Saturday night boxing is no longer condoned.
Through it all, however, camp has remained a place to build lifelong friendships and memories, Mr. Eisner said.
“It’s the first time in your life you have a modicum of independence and everything is [memorable.] You can’t remember the person you met three weeks ago, but you do remember the person who was in the bunk bed next to you 50 years ago,” he said.
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