The last two months have been quite busy around here. In April, shortly after my last post, I launched a free international virtual calligraphy camp called Kalli Camp Live. This was an EPIC event that involved 20 instructors from 7 countries who taught 33 classes LIVE on the Instagram platform. We had over 2100 registered campers from 82 countries!!
I was truly humbled by the response to this camp. I had the idea on a Sunday, opened registration on that Thursday, and by the next Monday we launched the camp kickoff. I have no idea how we accomplished such a huge feat in such a short time apart from the miraculous and supernatural gifting of our Heavenly Father.
Our instructors each provided printable handouts for their classes, and we provided over 100 pages of free printable worksheets for our campers! Talk about a treasure!! This event was life-changing for many people in many different ways, and maybe one day I will write it all out for you. I could fill an entire notebook with everything that went down that week and everything I learned.
The Power of Teamwork
The most valuable lesson learned for me was how much we can accomplish when we lay aside our differences and work together. Working with a team of instructors of such diversity was no small undertaking, and we represented 7 time zones and 3 languages. This was an intense blending of cultures, but regardless, we all rallied around the goal of providing a week of hope and joy to people around the world who were stuck at home during the great pandemic quarantine of 2020.
These instructors all committed to learning new things and getting out of their comfort zones in order to make the world a better place. And what happened as a result, was that several of them grew their businesses, some launched new businesses, we all made a bunch of new friends, and we learned a tremendous amount in both soft skills and technical skills. The world had a chance to see what can be done when love wins, and people the world over emailed me telling me how they had made new friends that they will keep for a lifetime.
Kalli Camp Academy Launched
One of the biggest things that happened as a result of this camp was that I decided to take the idea and community we created through Kalli Camp Live and expand it into a more sustainable and continual platform in the form of a virtual calligraphy school called Kalli Camp Academy.
The difference is that, instead of delivering classes during one intense week-long event filled with all-day-every-day live sessions, the academy offers pre-recorded HD videos that are available on-demand. This means that students can watch them any time of night or day, regardless of their time zone. With a community in 82 countries, this is a really important factor.
We offer one new class each week, but the classes for the whole month all roll into the classroom at the same time, so there is always something that will interest each individual. The classes offered are a variety, though all center around calligraphy and hand-lettering. There is a printable handout for each class, and the instructor is available to answer questions throughout the week.
Students are encouraged to be active in our private community forum where we initiate conversations each day and look to get to know each other more personally. We also like to share information about supplies and various calligraphy topics, and this is a great place to come have your calligraphy questions answered.
Enrollment is available on a monthly or an annual basis at a very low cost, and we are now open for enrollment! In fact, today is the very first day of class at the academy, and our students are already beginning to learn together on our first lesson. We hope that you will take a few moments to come check out the academy and see what we are all about.
We still have some exciting things in the works we haven’t announced yet, so be sure to follow @kallicampacademy on Instagram. Oh–and there is a giveaway launching tonight that will go through this week, so you’ll want to come enter that for your chance to win a free year of enrollment in the academy, along with some really amazing goodies.
