About Eric Wittenberg

From “Staff Kid” to CMO (Camp Marketing Officer)

ELMWOOD DAY CAMP

Eric grew up at Elmwood Day Camp in White Plains, NY as a “staff kid”. From being a Counselor to Lifeguard, Athletics Director and CDL Trainer, Eric held almost every position possible. 

BACKYARD SPORTS

After graduating college he helped an Elmwood parent, Danny Bernstein start Backyard Sports, a youth sports club. Launching a sports business focused on values and athletics equally was a perfect bridge from the day camp world.

WOODMONT DAY CAMP

Following that, Eric helped Sam and Iisha Borek revitalize a Candy Mountain Day camp and re-launch it as Woodmont Day Camp. As the full-time Program Director, Eric saw how rewarding (and difficult) it was to create a new camp

M.S. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT & PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

With experience at legacy, take-over and start-up youth programs Eric went back to school to pursue an M.S. in Social Psychology of Sport at the University of Northern Colorado. During the second year of his masters work Eric had the opportunity to join a Positive Youth Development Research team at the University of Valencia, Spain.

CROSSFIT & PLAYWORKS

Armed with 2-years of research on theories of motivation for youth and adults to participate on sport, Eric went searching for labs to put theory into practice. Eric and Liza started CrossFit Potrero Hill in San Francisco. At the same time Eric was an Americorps Volunteer running Phys. Ed. classes and coaching through Playworks at an underserved elementary school in the Bayview.

BERKSHIRE SOCCER ACADEMY

A few years later Eric, his wife Liza and Dan Zenkel started the Berkshire Soccer Academy for Girls. The initial goal of Berky was to embrace the trend for short session specialty camps but also ensure a high-quality program on-and-off the field in a traditional camp setting. This from scratch innovation was a perfect challenge for Eric’s combined interests of motivation & influence and building summer camp communities.

CAMPER MACHINE OPERATIONS

After nearly 10 years of growing Berky, Eric had developed the strategic digital marketing skills required to run a modern small business and he transitioned out of full-time camping. Eric started Camper Machine Operations, an agency that uses technology and consulting to save camp operators time while enhancing the relationships that drive camp business.