Vertical Playpen

Clint McCarthy (Associate Professor of Outdoor Education, SUNY Adirondack) chats with Chris Damboise about lessons learned as a younger professional, what students can expect when joining the SUNY program and the impact SUNY Adirondack aims to have in their community.

Brett Johnson, the new owner of Ipswich Town Football Club, joins Phil to discuss why connecting with the supporters matters, qualities of good leadership that are important to him and how empowering your staff makes all the difference. In 2005, Mr. Johnson founded and is the CEO of Benevolent Capital ( www.benevolentcapital.com ), a family office with investments in professional sports teams, rea...

Mike Cardus joins Phil to discuss how Experiential Education informs his work in Organizational Development, how the front loading of activities needs to be adapted when working with corporate audiences and how having hundreds of hula hoops at home can affect how your job is perceived by others. Mike has focused expertise in team building, managerial-leadership, and organization development. Frequ...

Phil joins Phil to discuss qualities that he admires in leaders, why Soccer is truly the "beautiful game" and how it models leadership and life lessons. Phil is the co-host of the How Soccer Explains Leadership podcast and you can find it anywhere podcasts are found as well as their website - howsoccerexplainsleadership.com

Jan Keck joins Phil to discuss how he was introduced to the world of Experiential Learning, what he has learned over the last year about virtual facilitation and how to ask deep and meaningful questions. Learn more about Jan - jankeck.com

In this episode aimed answering your questions, Phil read out some of the podcast reviews and answered the following questions; - Is there room for introverts in facilitation? - How do you stay genuine in a "performancy" profession? - What is your favorite icebreaker question? - Best closing to a single day program? - Most under-appreciated facilitator skill? - What's something you are bad at and...

In this episode, guests David Christian PhD (Assistant Professor of Counselor Education, University of Arkansas) and Danny McCarty PhD (Assistant Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of South Alabama) discuss; - Adventure Therapy - Adlerian Theory - Their article - "Using an Adventure Therapy Activity to Assess the Adlerian Lifestyle." Links to the article and more can be fou...

This was a live audience episode recorded for the 2021 Virtual BOOST (Best of out-of-school time) Conference. Phil was joined by High 5 Trainer Rich Keegan, Justin McGlamery who is founder and Chief Locus Focuser for Focus Your Locus Teambuilding Training and Development and also Chris Ortiz, the Program Director for the Team Development Center at Shaver's Creek and is an instructor for the Recrea...

This week's guest, Andrew Alexander King, is a surfer, climber and mountaineer who is currently attempting to be the 1st African American to summit the highest mountain and highest volcano on each continent, 14 in total. We discuss how adventure became a part of his life, his thoughts on being a role model and mentor to younger climbers and surfers and what people can do to improve diversity in th...

After both presenting at a conference on 2 different topics Phil and Lisa had this unplanned conversation all about adapting your current activities and the benefits of not revealing too much information when facilitating.

Beth Wonson, Author of Mastering Feedback: Everything You've Never Been Told About Giving Feedback, discusses with our guest host, Lisa Hunt, all about how to give feedback, how to receive feedback and strategies that both work and also don't work. Learn more about Navigating Challenging Dialogue here: ncdsolution.com

In this episode the Training Team (Chris, Lisa, Rich and Phil) discuss common heard terms in the Challenge Course industry and share their views on their appropriateness.  This episode is supported by Atomik Climbing Holds - atomikclimbingholds.com

Vishwas Parchure, Director of the Experiential Leadership Institute in Pune India, discusses with Phil his first experiences with working in the outdoors, his thoughts on conditioning, conduct and consciousness and answers the question; can facilitation be taught? Watch his Ewald and Hahn Address from the 2020 International AEE conference -   You can learn more about Vishwas and the work of the Ex...

Romy Alexandra joins Phil to discuss her introduction to the world of Experiential Learning and then shares clear explanations of both the Experiential Learning Cycle and the Experiential Learning Styles.  You can get in touch and follow Romy at the following; LinkedIn - Romy Alexandra Instagram - @trainingbyromy FB - Romy Alexandra: Experiential Learning Trainer Email - info@romy-alexandra.com

The Training team (Chris, Lisa, Rich and Phil) talk about the different forms of documentation Challenge Course professionals should be aware of, including; - Local Operating Procedures (LOPs) - Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - Inspection Reports - Challenge Course Portfolios This episode is supported by Sticker Mule - stickermule.com

Rachel Hailey of Rachel Hailey & Associates Consulting joins us on the podcast to talk about her early experiences with the outdoors, the work she does consulting on DEI topics and her hope for future generations. Find more about Rachel here: rhaileyconsulting.com

Todd Brown (Director of Challenge Course Services, High 5) and Ian Doak (Assistant Director of Challenge Course Services, High 5) discuss with Phil the process of a new installation of a challenge course;  - What our program design process looks like - How to budget for a new program - How to find the perfect location - Training considerations when building a challenge course Learn more about our...

Phil chats with fellow facilitator and podcaster Leanne Hughes about how she began in facilitation, her advice for emerging professionals and how we describe the work we do; Facilitator vs Trainer vs Educator.  Find Leanne's podcast by searching First Time Facilitator and find more information about her work on her website: www.leannehughes.com    

Todd Brown (Director of Challenge Course Services, High 5) and Ian Doak (Assistant Director of Challenge Course Services, High 5) discuss with Phil the process of an inspection of your challenge course; how to prepare for the inspection, what to expect on the day, and some best practices/pitfalls our inspectors have seen. Learn more about our inspection services here: high5adventure.org/challenge-...

Phil is joined by his hometown connection Andrew Jillings to talk about his journey in experiential education, the benefits of both experience and certifications, and his winter reading list. Find out more about Hamilton College's Outdoor Leadership Program here: hamilton.edu/offices/adventure

When making your activity agenda it can be helpful to intentionally pick activities that can help you read your group. In this episode we explore what some of these activities are and their benefits. In order to better explore this concept, Phil calls up 8 of his facilitator friends to ask them what activities they use and why. These facilitators are: - Chris Damboise (Director of Training and Tea...

Bob Ryan (Director of Safety and Risk Management at Project Adventure) chats with Chris Damboise (Director of Training and Team Development at High 5) about his introduction to the adventure industry, his work with writing standards and his program recommendations based on his risk management experience.

Chris, Lisa and Phil talk about High 5's ACCT certification process including how to prepare, why you might want a certification, what the process looks like, and common pitfalls we see as examiners. Chris also introduces the concept of Education - Preparation - Illumination - Certification.  

In this episode, Phil and Jim are joined by Adam Ames (Type A) to discuss his experience being trained by Jim, the impact it had on him and the visual art piece that resulted from their experiences. Check out Type A's Team building (Align) here - typea.us/align    

Lisa and Phil discuss the concept of Risk Homeostasis Theory and how it presents itself in adventure programming and challenge course operations. Books referenced in this episode are: Target Risk by Gerald J. S. Wilde - download a free digital copy here: riskhomeostasis.org/links-to-target-risk The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande