The RV Park Activity Director

The RV Parks are beginning to advertise for Activity Directors for the Winter 2010 season.

What do you need to have on your resume' to be considered for an Activities Director position?

Just because you have never directed activities at an RV Park does not mean you should not apply for the job.   Think of experiences you have had that will translate into activities.

Have you ever planned a kid's birthday party, supervised the games, planned the activities, organized the fun?

Have you ever planned a large dinner party, or been involved in Little League planning or coaching, PTA fundraisers, booster club fundraisers, chaperoned your kids band trips?

Think of all the planning that would go into these types of activities.  You would use the same skill sets to be in charge of activities at an RV Park.

Here are a few activities you could plan on organizing for almost any RV Park you would go into.

Breakfast - cooking and serving, either have everyone bring their own table settings, or charge enough in order to provide paper plates and cups (this is my personal choice.)

Potlucks - organizing the themes, distributing fliers, and setting up the event hall.

Bingo, dominoes, cards, poker, etc. . .is basically setting up a time frame, and providing a venue. . .other than needing someone to call Bingo, participants will pretty much take care of themselves.  Bring your own snacks and drinks will alleviate the need for you to deal with that aspect of game night.

Arts and Crafts - are a necessary part of activities.  If you have no talent in this area, find someone to assist you.

We will discuss these and many other issues as we go along.

Check back often. . .our next post will be step by step instructions on how to make a Magnolia Blossom out of  latex balloons.  It is a creative and inexpensive craft idea to have in your bag of tricks.

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Where do I start?

When you walk into your first RV Activities assignment, your first course of action should be scheduling. . .figure out the schedule. . .find a manager, an assistant manager, even one of the guests who return year after year. . .sit down with them and ask. . .what usually goes on. . .what type of activities have you done in the past?

If you are very fortunate, the previous activities director will have left a plan from the previous year for you to follow.  I was not so fortunate in my first assignment. . .however. . .a guest from the previous season told me what they had done, and I went with her plan. . .nothing wrong with that. . .you have to start somewhere.  

Listed below is the weekly schedule that we came up with for our park.  This is only used as an example.  Your circumstances may be totally different, and you should adapt accordingly.  

Saturday - Breakfast Buffet Style - charge per person

Sunday    - Ice Cream Social        - charge per scoop

Monday - Bingo - charge per card - all proceeds go back to the players

Tuesday - Pot Luck - everyone contributes - followed by Poker and Pokeno

Wednesday - Free Night - Activity Center opened for Game night

Thursday - Poker and Pokeno

Friday - Bingo - charge per card - all proceeds go back to the players

Our group would have loved to have Bingo three times per week. . .we chose to only have two nights. . .

This is the very simplified set weekly schedule. . .there were many, many other varied and sundry activities that were planned and scheduled at various other times during the week. . .we will discuss those later.

Please do not hesitate to comment or offer questions and ideas. . .

The RV Park Activities Center. . . or in other words. . .the Facilities

What do you look for as far as facilities for activities at a park?

As I am sure you have observed in your travels, RV parks have facilities as varied as a room with a few chairs, and a TV, all the way up to a commercial kitchen, and complete set up for rallies. . .

If this is your first activities position, you will want to research the facilities, and the easiest way to do this is online. . .simply go to the RV Park website. . .and see if they have any pictures posted of their Clubroom, or their Library, any game rooms they may have, etc.

Most really large parks have a list of the activities that are provided. 

 Research the list, and see how many of the activities are a fit for you. . .do you love to cook. . .if they serve breakfast every Saturday morning, as we do here, you will need to know how to prepare and cook for a crowd.

If crafting is listed as an activity, you will either need to have some crafting skills, or you will need to be very gifted at twisting arms, and getting others involved in teaching craft classes for you.

For your very first Activities Position, perhaps it would be best to start with a small park.  This would give you an opportunity to spend one on one time with the guests, and discover what they love doing, and design your activities program around their wishes.

Flexibility will be the key. . .when you arrive at a park. . 

.the facilities, and the budget will determine what you can make happen.

As we progress in our discussions, I will give you step by step pointers on activities, 

functions, and crafts that anyone would be able to bring together.

Hope this answers your question. . . feel free to comment, and to ask additional questions.