During camp and in the weeks after, the team kept a shared log of every conversation with a possible future partner: the person’s name and contact, where the conversation happened, and notes that whoever had it signed. By the end of July it held more than a dozen entries.
Some, by role:
The incident commander, a National Guard colonel retiring in August, asked to join the 2027 planning team and to serve again as an ICS volunteer. At the showcase he introduced a National Guard general who was also ready to engage. Both suggested Camp Rilea as a future host site, and the suggestion went up through the Guard’s own after-action process.
The planning chief, a wildfire prevention and policy manager at ODF, wants to plan and volunteer again.
A county disaster management planner who volunteered in ICS wants to join the planning team.
An EMT and firefighter who volunteered in the medical tent wants to join the planning team.
The chief deputy state fire marshal wants the state fire marshal’s office involved.
The site host’s training director said the center looked forward to hosting again, and its corporate PIO asked the team to keep her informed.
A fire district battalion chief who ran the fire booth, the Paxton/Patterson lab team and a county sheriff’s office instructor, whose office runs a search-and-rescue academy at the same time of year, all want to return or do more.
A SkillsUSA board member wants to connect the national student organization to the camp and to career-connected learning across Oregon.
A builder-village educator with a nonprofit of his own, and an education sponsor administrator, offered to help.
How to use the log:
Start it on day one and share it with everyone who talks to guests.
Record the offer, not just the name, and who had the conversation.
Assign one person to follow up within a month.
Thank people before they leave. On the camp’s last day, a leader went to find the host’s training staff to thank them, and it was in that conversation that the training director said the center looked forward to hosting again.
Turn offers into seats. Next year’s planning team, ICS roles and activity leads can come straight from this list.
Put funders on a calendar. The PGE Foundation’s competitive grants open in November and close in January, and a report due before the end of December keeps the camp eligible. The team set a reminder to call in October.