2021 L.A. Camp Fair Update for Camp & Program Exhibitors

L.A. SummerCamps.com is a proud sponsor of the annual L.A. Camp Fair events which have taken place annually at UCLA, Cal State Northridge, in Calabasas, Los Feliz, San Diego, Santa Barbara and elsewhere in prior years.

Unfortunately, our in-person Camp Fairs were canceled last year due to COVID-19. While there is hope and optimism we can resume in-person Camp Fairs in 2021, it’s important to note the live event industry will likely be among the last to come back in the age of coronavirus.

We are preparing to host several in-person Camp Fairs in the spring. But even if we can't, we'll still be in good shape to help you meet thousands of L.A. families looking for a summer camp like yours with two virtual Camp Fair websites to help you get more kids in camp.

We don’t know the exact dates or locations yet for the upcoming Camp Fairs. What we do know is that participation in these events -- whether live, virtual, or both -- will be extremely limited since so many camps who signed up to participate last year transferred their registrations to this year's Camp Fairs in lieu of refunds when we had to cancel.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our plans, so you can plan your camp's participation accordingly. Please let us know if you have any questions. You can reserve your space at any or all of our camp fairs for just a single, $50 deposit by completing and submitting the form below.

In-Person and Virtual Camp Fair Events

In-person Camp Fairs

We recognize there's nothing like the thrill of getting out in front of hundreds, if not thousands of kids, parents, and family prospects and meeting them in person to showcase your camp.  If live events are allowed to  happen in 2021, we’ll organize at least three in-person Camp Fairs in a flash, likely at UCLA, in Calabasas, and Los Feliz. Fill out the form below to reserve your spot at any or all three of these Camp Fairs for a single $50 deposit.

Virtual Camp Fairs

If COVID-19 continues to be prohibit live events from happening, we will have virtual camp fairs instead.   We know the idea of a virtual event conjures up thoughts of boring remote classroom learning and online meetings you've probably had enough of by now. But don't let the term "virtual camp fair" turn you off because our virtual events are different.

VCampFair.com - Add  your camp for $299; the site is live all year

Last year when we were forced to cancel the Camp Fairs due to COVID-19, we pivoted to an online event in a flash. We built vCampFair.com, which is currently the number one ranked virtual camp fair website on Google for search terms such as "virtual camp fair" and related keywords.

This website operates more like a summer camp search engine and informational resource than an event-specific website. That's intentional, because we wanted it to stay live online 24/7 so families could find it anytime, rather than setting specific starting and ending dates and times, at which point the event would be over, and people would only have finite period of time to finding all the great participating camps. If they didn't attend the specific time frame, they'd miss out on finding a great camp.  This website  remains and a valuable resource for parents, will continue to stays live online 24/7, and was built last year when we pivoted from in-person camp fairs to online events  when the online camp fairs were canceled. Please Google "virutal camp fairs" and you'll see how highly ranked we are! You can add your camp to this site today for just $299 and will

You will be happy to know we just got a hold of an amazing, easy-to-use digital camp fair platform that rivals the in-person experience.

That means your virtual camp fair booth will have many of the same features and functions available at a live event.

You can interact with family prospects, live stream video, text and video chat, upload camp photos, videos and brochures for attendee viewing, capture leads, and so much more, all in real time from your booth, just like at a regular camp fair event.  Here's what a virtual booth looks like on vCampFair.com. Yours can also look like this, or any way you want because once you sign up you'll get an email from us where you'll be able to login to the site and design your booth just the way you want it.


Your Virtual Camp Fair "Booth" is Your Own Web Page on the Site

For the purposes of this email, and the site itself right now, your camp fair "booth" means your camp's own web page on vcampfair.com. Many of the participating camps requested the ability to manage their own information, just as they'd design their own in-person booth at the traditional camp fair. We're happy to oblige. Your booth/page is already the form of a template/layout you can use as a starting point. You just need to fill in the blanks. It even has a header photo and some text here and there we already put in place for you. You can add, subtract to, and manipulate your page as you see fit (with a few exceptions, detailed below). You just need to drag and drop pictures, videos, reviews, html and other elements on the page wherever you want them. You can also easily switch the header to a different photo or video if you don't like what we used.


Please don't be intimidated by the thought of designing your own page. No tech or web design experience is needed. It's easy with an intuitive interface. You will build your page with Weebly's website builder. It's very easy to use, but you can create very sophisticated and beautiful looking web pages with it. It might take you an hour or so to figure it out, but all it really takes is dragging the various elements from the left sidebar to the page editor on the right and working from there. You can add and delete text, images, video, maps -- literally anything you want. If  you have any questions or run into trouble, just let me know and I'll help you. The only real restriction is that you won't be able to publish your page to the live site on your own. I'll have to see and approve it beforehand, and might need to make a change or two before publishing. For the most part, though, I'm sure what you put together will be fine. So, when you are done designing and ready to publish, please email me to let me know, then I will publish your page/booth from here.


CRUCIAL Information Regarding Your Booth/Page on the Site


There is a search bar on every page of vcampfair.com. Entering search terms into the search bar (much like they would on Google) is the primary way people will find your camp on our site. Google. We will make sure your site is optimized for the search feature from our end, but please make sure all the text and descriptions on your page includes important keywords, phrases, and other points of emphasis about your program to help maximize the efficiency of the search results so people will find your program quickly. If you make sure to integrate into content on your page to match the same types of words you expect people type into the search bar, you will be in good shape.


RULES:
There are only two rules we request you follow:

1) No gross exaggerations, false information, subjective superlatives or exaggerated claims. Phrases such as "The best camp in the world" or attributing quotes and testimonials to others (unless they can be proven) will not be allowed.
2) Please DO NOT make ANY changes to the website footer. You will change the entire site if you do, and this will hurt our rising position in the Google search rankings.


Billing
If you chose Option #2 on your Camp Fair Makeup Preference Form, we will invoice you for the 50% discount for your participation on vcampfair.com. If you have not paid yet or still have an outstanding balance, we will invoice you for that soon as well.


How to Get Started Designing Your Camp Fair Booth (Page)

Within 24 hours you will receive an email from us with an invitation to click a link to get started. The link will take you to your dashboard and page to design your site. Remember not to change the website footer or use excessive superlatives or claims about your program. Don't forget to email us when you're ready to publish. If you need help, just let us know. 

Have fun! 

Eric Naftulin

Accordingly, if you want to reserve space in advance for in-person Camp Fairs, virtual Camp Fairs, or both, you can do so with a single $50 deposit (just $50 reserves your spot no matter how many Camp Fairs you choose to attend). We will apply your deposit to your overall Camp Fair fees, which we anticipate to range between $250 - $399 per booth depending on location, type of Camp Fair, and other details, which we expect to have by January. Please complete the form below and we will send you an invoice for $50 to reserve your Camp Fair space. Thanks!
, and we are also currently building a new virtual camp fair "companion site" to vCampFair.com which looks, feels, and functions just like an in person Camp Fair event.

The new site will be ready soon.

the real thing, where attendees can interact with you in real time just like at a traditional Camp Fair event.

but we're improving the digital Camp Fair experience even more for 2021.

One of these sites, vCampFair.com, is already the top-ranked site on Google for the search term, "Virtual Camp Fair." The other site will be competed soon, and we expect it to perform equally well on Google's first page.