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MC Fireside Chats - October 22nd, 2025
22nd October 2025 • MC Fireside Chats, an Outdoor Hospitality Podcast • Modern Campground LLC
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In the recent episode of MC Fireside Chats, hosted by Brian Searl, the theme was "Marketing, AI, and Technology" within the outdoor hospitality industry. This discussion included recurring guests Greg Emmert, Founder and Principal at Vireo Outdoor Consulting, and Matt Whitermore, Director of Market Expansion at Climb Capital and Unhitched Management, along with special guest Brent Parker, CEO of OpenCampground.

The core concept that emerged was that technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), should be "invisible" to the guest to be most effective. The guests agreed that AI's best use is as a "force multiplier" that enhances the overall human experience in outdoor hospitality.

The panel first explored the application of AI in operational aspects. Matt Whitermore shared his initial skepticism regarding AI phone systems but acknowledged their significant value in reliably ensuring calls are answered, particularly during off-hours or in remote locations. The consensus was that technology's paramount function is to streamline the booking process, thereby allowing guests to disconnect and enjoy their stay faster once they arrive.

Data analysis and personalization were identified as another crucial area where AI could be leveraged. Brent Parker confirmed that AI-driven analysis of customer data could generate tailored reports for park owners and facilitate highly personalized guest service. The panelists contemplated a future where AI could recommend the perfect campsite to a guest, going beyond a simple list of options by factoring in preferences for seclusion or specific amenities.

The conversation then shifted to the future of how guests will discover and book their stays, and the likely impact of personalized AI agents on website traffic, brand loyalty, and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). Host Brian Searl proposed that company websites might soon simplify, potentially evolving into basic APIs that feed inventory directly to AI systems, enabling a truly seamless booking experience. Brent Parker echoed this sentiment, suggesting that platforms like OpenCampground are moving toward a state where users can verbally "speak" a request—such as to build a custom housekeeping or maintenance feature—and have the AI automatically create it.

Finally, the group addressed the difficulties of technology adoption among older generations in the workforce. Matt Whitermore emphasized that while AI is unlikely to fully replace human workers, those who successfully embrace and master AI tools will be capable of performing the job functions of multiple people. He cautioned that a failure to adopt this new technology will ultimately lead to obsolescence. Greg Emmert added a balancing perspective, noting that job functions requiring an undeniable physical presence, such as property due diligence, still have a considerable "runway" before they become susceptible to automation.

Transcripts

Brian Searl:

Welcome everybody to another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

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My name is Brian Searl with Insider

Perks and Modern Campground and a

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bunch of other places, apparently.

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I need signs for everything, I think,

and then I'll just have somebody

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who's my sign changer and changes the

signs randomly throughout the show.

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That would be maybe two

intrusive and I don't know.

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Anyway, something came to my head.

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I probably should just stop talking now.

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But welcome to another

episode of MC Fireside Chats.

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We've got a couple of

recurring guests here.

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We've got Greg Emmert founder

and principal at Vireo.

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What is like you're the

principal, like school principal

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or just you're the owner or.

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Greg Emmert: Yes, Yeah.

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No, no, I'm.

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Brian Searl: Is that

without the principal?

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Greg Emmert: It's more

like school principal.

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Yeah.

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But it's really strange when I have to

paddle someone 'cause I'm a team of one,

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and that's, you know what, that's a.

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Let's go into another conversation.

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Brian Searl: That's, yeah, we

probably should because I don't think.

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Greg Emmert: Weird direction now

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Brian Searl: anymore.

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This is 2025.

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I don't think.

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Greg Emmert: Yeah, it's.

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Changing gears.

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Brian Searl: And I thought I

started the show awkward, but

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thanks for rescuing me, Greg.

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I appreciate that.

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Greg Emmert: You're welcome.

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Anytime.

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Brian Searl: Matt, welcome recurring

guest, Matt Whitermore from a new

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company since we've last seen him.

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Matt, welcome.

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You wanna introduce yourself briefly?

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Matt Whitermore: Yes, sir.

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Thank you Brian.

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Good to see you Greg.

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Good to see you, Brent.

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I am, as of about a hundred days

ago, I am director of market

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expansion in parallel roles at Climb

Capital and Unhitched Management.

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So helping grow the management portfolio

as well as the investment portfolio of RV

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parks and campgrounds across the country.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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I'm excited for you man.

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So talk a little bit about, like

briefly and I'll give everybody else

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a chance to introduce themselves.

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So don't take too long 'cause we'll

come back to you and talk about the

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things, but a little bit about kind of

your history in the industry because

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you've been a voice of presence.

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You had the podcast that you were

doing for, was it Good Morning

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Outdoors for a while that, whenever.

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Screw them, they canceled a good show.

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But so you've been involved with

a lot of different things, right?

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So do give us a brief history of Matt.

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Matt Whitermore: Yeah.

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Really appreciate the

opportunity to share.

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So I am in, based in Syracuse, New York.

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I have always been in commercial

real estate, finance and investments.

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In some facet I would say I'm

no longer in that industry.

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I try to preach that we are not

in the real estate industry.

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'cause I think that's an attitude

that's pretty prevalent in our

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industry, especially with newcomers.

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But I'm a part owner in three

campgrounds, in RV parks in the Northeast.

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I've done some consulting in the space.

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And always been a big fan of

Unhitched and Climb Capital and Rob

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Preston, and been in touch with him

and had the opportunity to join.

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So bounced around a little bit.

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Fell in love with the industry after

falling into it accidentally, almost five

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years ago and haven't looked back since.

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It's a great industry and it's a pleasure

to show up every day and work, work

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in the outdoor hospitality industry.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Thanks for being here, man, and

giving us a little bit of your time.

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My pleasure.

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Greg, I didn't give you a chance

to introduce yourself properly.

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Go ahead.

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Greg Emmert: I think you did it right.

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You did a nice job.

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Yeah.

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Founder and principal, whatever

the principal might be at

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Vireo outdoor consulting firm.

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Helping folks grow and scale and purchase

and as Brian would say, do all the

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things outdoor hospitality related.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Thanks for being here again,

Greg, and then our special

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Greg Emmert: Thanks for having me.

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Brian Searl: Brent Parker,

please introduce yourself, sir.

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Brent Parker: Sure.

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That.

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Brian Searl: Last, but not least.

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Brent Parker: For sure.

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Yeah.

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So my name is Brent Parker.

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I'm the CEO of OpenCampground.

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And my kind of journey

with OpenCampground.

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Oh, so first off, OpenCampground

is a reservation management

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software enterprise software for

medium to large enterprise parks.

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Whether it's campgrounds, RV

parks marinas, equestrian,

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we provide that software.

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My background is from the

property management payment space.

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Brian Searl: Okay.

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Brent Parker: So I was a general manager

for a company called MRI software.

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They provide software for commercial

and residential property managers.

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So I was able to build out that

space on the payment side on

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building products that were designed

similar to campground owners.

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To optimize their operations.

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And then, more so on a personal side,

I think I'm just a serial entrepreneur.

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I just finished a book called the the

Secret Power of Inversion Thinking.

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Brian Searl: Okay.

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Brent Parker: It's essentially

designed for startups to avoid

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failure by thinking backwards.

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So it helps you analyze

things before it happens.

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And so you can see, instead of

looking at the success, you say

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wait a minute, how could this fail?

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And so we look at every single aspect of a

business to determine how could something

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fail and then you form a planner on that.

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Brian Searl: Yeah.

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That's one of the biggest, I think,

I would say strengths that I've

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seen myself have in my company

is and it sounds arrogant when

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it comes out of my mouth, right?

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But I feel like I'm always 20

steps ahead of most people.

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And I don't mean literally

like I'm smarter than people.

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I mean that I have planned for whatever

path is going to happen, I think.

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And obviously there's always paths.

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You're like, oh, I didn't think of that.

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That sucks.

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But I've always thought about if

this happens, I'm gonna do this.

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If this happens, I'm gonna do this.

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If this happens, I'm gonna do this.

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And then I calculate the risk,

reward, benefit based on all of that.

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So that's really good advice for

entrepreneurs and people to hear.

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I think so.

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Brent Parker: Yeah.

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Definitely.

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Brian Searl: I'm glad you wrote that book.

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Where can they find that book?

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Brent Parker: It's just

on Barnes and Noble.

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So I have a Barnes and Noble version

and then also a eBook version.

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I'll be more than happy to send it to you.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, please drop it

in the, drop it in the chat here.

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The, not the private chat, but the,

if you drop it in the, maybe you

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can you guys see the chat on the

right hand side on your views or no?

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Brent Parker: Yes, I can see it.

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Brian Searl: If you drop it in

the public chat, it'll go to the

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platforms that support it too,

so everybody can comment on it.

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Some of it, Facebook doesn't let

it go to groups, but you drop it in

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there, everybody can see it, and if

not, we'll share it on the screen.

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Cool.

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All right.

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Thank you for being here.

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I'm excited to, to dive more into

what OpenCampground does and all

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that stuff later in the show.

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I think how we typically start the show.

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So we're talking mostly about AI

and marketing and technology on this

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kind of episode this week that we

have the fourth week of every month.

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Is there anything that has

come across your guys' desk?

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Probably more to Greg and Matt

since we took see each other.

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We haven't seen Matt yet, but we

will see each other once a month.

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Is there anything that's come across

your guys' desk that you feel is worthy

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of discussion in those kind of domains?

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Greg Emmert: Matt, you go ahead.

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Matt Whitermore: I wouldn't necessarily

call myself an AI expert or a marketing

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expert, although I've been learning a lot.

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I think it's a really interesting thread

to pull on for our industry because at

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least the way I look at our industry is

it's anti-technology, it's anti, right.

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We're looking for that human connection.

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We're looking to foster conversations

around the campfire, people

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putting their cell phones away.

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And, we're obviously using technology

and it would be foolish to not embrace it

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and to try and stay on the cutting edge.

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But when I think about marketing and

technology and AI, there's almost a

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desire to make it invisible, right?

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It's a force multiplier.

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But I personally don't think I want to

lead with technology in my campgrounds.

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I wanna make the booking process as easy

as possible, as streamlined as possible.

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I wanna make the store purchase.

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Yeah.

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Like hook up the iPad, do the self-service

retail, keep the store open 24/7

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and give everyone a code to get in.

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But other than those few things,

I am striving to find ways to use

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technology, but almost make it

invisible to the guest in a lot of ways.

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Does that make sense?

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Brian Searl: That's the

way it should be, right?

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That's, so that's, we've done, it's

I never self promote myself, but

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what we're doing at Insider Perks

is like a, we're pivoting into

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operations, into figuring out how we

can utilize technology in that way.

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So we went from like marketing and then

we were doing AI and we're still doing

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AI obviously, and marketing, but we're

also doing more of that consulting

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piece of how do we take technology

and weave it in with AI into the

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operational aspect of the campgrounds.

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And you're right, that starts

with just chat and calls.

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I still remember to this day, the first

e we announced our ChatBot in:

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I had a comment on LinkedIn and somebody

said, I don't wanna talk to AI more.

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Our whole goal is to do

what you just said, right?

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Get people outside.

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We want 'em disconnected more.

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And my rebuttal is well, the faster

you can get them to the reservation,

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the faster you can get them outside.

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More so yeah.

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But to your point, you're right.

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Like it, it has to be weaved in a way

where like you step into the cabin

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and the lights come on, because you

use AI and automations and smart

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homes and stuff like that to where you

can speak and the TV comes on, or it

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just knows that you want it, right.

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Without you pressing buttons to the

point where you can, like you said,

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the self checkouts and the even robots

delivering stuff is more of a visible

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aspect of it, but personalizing a guest

day before they arrive, just ways that

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you can allow a guest to have a better

experience without shoving a phone

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or a pad or something in their face.

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Matt Whitermore: Yeah, it's a

really interesting discussion.

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I, for example, I think I was, I'm

admitting I was probably wrong here.

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I had a immediate aversion

to the AI phone systems.

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Answering systems.

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And I was definitely wrong about that.

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And it took struggling through the

realities of being a campground owner

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and operator, having campgrounds

in really remote places where

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there's no cell phone service.

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And yeah, we have the park wifi, but

that's a challenge in and of itself to

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have really reliable wifi out in the

mountains in a heavily wooded environment.

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So I came around to it when I was

banging my head against the wall

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of we're not picking up the phone

enough because the manager has their

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cell phone on their hip, but they're

out in the woods with no service.

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And we played with the idea,

do we centralize phone systems?

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Do we, do we do a call center outsourced?

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Do we hire somebody just

to sit by the phone?

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And I came around to, wow, that AI phone

system is really smart and yeah, people

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are just calling to get the information.

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They're calling to get the

answer or make the booking.

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Yes, it would be wonderful if it

was a warm human voice, giving them

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that wonderful human connection.

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But that might not always be possible.

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So the next best thing is to just give

them what they want and what they're.

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Brian Searl: Yeah.

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And it depends on how

you implement it too.

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If you implement it as a UPS does.

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And their whole point is just to cut staff

and to make it as confusing as possible.

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And you can never get to a human.

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And it's really frustrating.

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That's what people don't like

about those phone systems.

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And that's what we've had for

the better part of 10, 15 years

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is the frustrating experience.

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Matt Whitermore: Exactly.

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Brian Searl: But if you implement

it in a way that under that, like as

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guest service is your number one focus

now I have an AI that can answer the

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phone call after hours when no one

else would answer the phone call.

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Or I have somebody who can answer

questions from guests when they're on

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property where it just wasn't possible.

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I didn't have enough staff before.

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But also to make the reservation,

like we've fully integrated with

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Campspot now to where you can make the

whole booking, you can get like the

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whole payment links where you don't.

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You can have a human if you want,

if they say human or if they say, is

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my package behind the desk from the

FedEx, the AI knows that it needs to

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transfer a call to somebody, right?

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And so we're never trying to take

the human equation out of it.

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We're just trying to provide better guest

service and whatever that balance is,

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and every human being will be different.

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If you start with a guest in mind with

everything that you do, you're gonna win.

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Matt Whitermore: Well Said.

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Brent Parker: Yeah.

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We on our side, it is interesting 'cause

we have the same kind of thought process

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met when it comes to using AI for

people that might be they're concerned

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about just AI in general and how does

it work, and do I have to learn this?

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Do I have to take a course and all these

things, all these concerns that they have.

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So I look at it as saying, okay, how can

we take AI and intertwine it into your

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day-to-day without you thinking about it.

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And really finding a way that you

don't look at it as a feature, but you

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just say, this is valuable to have.

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And it would be invaluable

to me if I didn't have it.

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So how I approach it is saying, we could

develop, and this is what my engineers

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are doing now, is developing reports

and analytics based on AI and based

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on the data that you already have.

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Brian Searl: Yep.

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Brent Parker: So that way it prompts

you and says, Hey, you know what?

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This report is available to you because

we've noticed this is the trends, this

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is what you're trying to develop, and

it already does it for you, versus you

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entering a prompt and saying, I want this,

but we are working on something like that.

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Where you could, let's say, Matt,

you have a park and you say,

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I need a very specific report.

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With these details, this KPI,

and this is what I wanna achieve.

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We think that could be solved with AI.

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Just a simple prompt, right?

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I want this report so

I can accomplish why.

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And that's generated by AI.

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And then now you have

a custom report, right?

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Or maybe you want a dashboard that has

5 or 10 KPIs that you wanna see on a

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daily basis that can be generated by AI.

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So giving, I think, older demographics,

tools that show value without

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having a very steep learning curve

is, I think where you need to go.

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I think sooner or later people

will have to adopt AI, whether we

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like it or not, sooner or later.

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And it's gonna be who has the best

ai, tools that's gonna win the game?

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I think.

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I think it's really, it's a matter

of making sure that it shows value.

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Not just features, right?

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Just that it has to show value.

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Brian Searl: It goes back

to being invisible, right?

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So what you're talking about is one

of the biggest benefits of AI, is

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the fact that there's so much data

out there that we can't touch and we

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can't analyze because there's just

not enough human beings on the planet.

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There was a study that they put out, I

think it was by Ohio State University,

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actually and I didn't get deep into

the study, but basically in one of the

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nuggets of the study was that there's

so many petabytes of data on research

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and science and biology just sitting

there on hard drives that, that we just

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don't have 10,000 or 20,000 human beings

to sit there and pour over that data.

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And so all that data is from research

and case studies and scientists and

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people who have done experiments

and then there's scientists who

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are like, I have a great idea.

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And they're repeating the same

experiment that failed because

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it's buried on a hard drive.

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That's where AI is gonna be super

powerful to unlock and it will like not

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pivoting away too much from our industry.

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But what you're saying too is, there

are so many park owners who have so

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much data at their fingertips, who stays

with me, when do they stay with me?

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What's my demographic?

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Where are they coming from?

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All the Google Analytics data,

all the, and they just don't even

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know the right question to ask.

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To start, just like people don't

know how to prompt or people don't

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know what to put in the box and

Chat GPT or whatever else, right?

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They don't know where to start.

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And so as going back to our like whole

weaving in our whole invisibility thing,

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as it becomes more proactive, you're

gonna see it get more helpful and the

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adoption curve of yes, we're, there

are 800 million weekly users of Chat

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GPT, it's going to still take time for

a certain segments of the population.

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Although there are like 90

year olds that I overhear at

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restaurants now talking about how

better search engine than Google.

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So I don't know if you can pin it

down to a narrow demographic, but

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there's going to be segments of

people who take a while to adopt that.

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But they're all already using AI.

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They're using AI on Facebook.

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They're using AI on TikTok.

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They'll be using AI on YouTube since

:

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Everywhere else, right?

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So like it's, you're gonna get

to the point where you don't

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even need to know software.

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Like you don't even I know this is

maybe too much of a rabbit hole, so I'll

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back myself out of it after I say this.

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But if you saw something come out a

few weeks ago, there was a product that

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Claude released called Imagine that

was only live for their $200 a month

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subscribers for I think five days.

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But there's still YouTube

videos online about it.

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It's called Claude Imagine.

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And it was basically a desktop that they

showed AI, not just coding, but literally

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building the entire operating system

on the fly as you clicked a button.

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So you set, you clicked a button that

uild me an email program from:

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And it built like an outlook, just

the shell of it with the inbox.

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And then when you went to go click

reply, it built the reply function in

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a couple seconds, and then when you

click send it built the sent function.

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That's the future of software.

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So people are gonna be able

to start with maybe a shell of

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OpenCampground, for example, right?

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And then they're gonna be,

say, they're gonna say I want a

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housekeeping feature that does this.

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And it'll just build it if you

allow that right on your platform.

359

:

And then everybody's gonna have their own

different version of OpenCampground that

360

:

works perfectly for them at their park.

361

:

Brent Parker: And you, it's funny,

Brian, you hit the nail on the head.

362

:

That's exactly what we envision

OpenCampground being, is that you can just

363

:

come in and build your own experience.

364

:

If you want a housekeeping tool, if you

want a maintenance tool or a portal or

365

:

whatever you want, just use the prompt.

366

:

We'll create it for you.

367

:

And there's no cost to that, right?

368

:

That's, I think that's the modern

way of, instead of having, 10,

369

:

15 engineers just typing away and

making new features, let the user

370

:

determine what features they want.

371

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

372

:

And they'll be able to just

speak it into existence.

373

:

And that's been like.

374

:

And I almost take I don't want to, I

don't really mean this, but you see

375

:

all the people who are like, forever,

I don't need to adopt a computers.

376

:

I don't need to embrace technology.

377

:

Maybe they were right.

378

:

'cause now they can just talk to it.

379

:

Like ever since the Dawn

of computers, right?

380

:

You've had to learn PCs or learn Macs.

381

:

If you wanted to learn

Photoshop, you had to learn that.

382

:

If you wanted to learn CRMs,

you had to learn HubSpot.

383

:

What do I do with a spreadsheet?

384

:

I gotta learn Excel.

385

:

Now you just talk.

386

:

Not yet.

387

:

It's getting there.

388

:

You're gonna just talk to everything,

make me a spreadsheet, do this, do that.

389

:

You're not gonna have any

learning curve anymore.

390

:

So it's gonna open the door to all

kinds of creative use cases for people.

391

:

And this idea that it no longer do,

you have to spend 20 to 40 to 80 to

392

:

a hundred hours taking a course and

learning something and getting certified.

393

:

And I think that's great

for humanity long term.

394

:

It might be terrible for

software companies, what else

395

:

is come across our desk guys?

396

:

I'm happy to jump in if you

want me to, but Go ahead, Greg.

397

:

Greg Emmert: I, so this, it's not

necessarily what came across my

398

:

desk, but just what I came back from.

399

:

I just spent a couple hours with

TJM and from Campsite 360 he's

400

:

right up the street from me here.

401

:

I live in Akron, he is in Cuyahoga Falls.

402

:

So we met for coffee that turned into

three hours of discussions around

403

:

the industry and where he's headed.

404

:

And I love connecting with him and

people like you, Brian and Matt, Brent.

405

:

It's why I'm looking forward to the

upcoming OHCE so much because it just

406

:

it's a great perspective expander, right?

407

:

I feel like my perspective

goes from the blinders to, it

408

:

just starts moving outward.

409

:

So it was a really good conversation

with him and everything they've been

410

:

doing and his travels and with their

product and where it's headed . Total

411

:

plug for TJ, I guess I just earned

my coffee, but yeah, that was it.

412

:

Had a really good time talking with him.

413

:

Looking forward to catching up

with him again at OHC and all four

414

:

of you guys too, I'm assuming.

415

:

Brent, are you gonna be there?

416

:

Are you gonna be at the conference?

417

:

Brent Parker: Yeah, I'm, we're gonna try.

418

:

Greg Emmert: Okay.

419

:

Brent Parker: That's coming up in two.

420

:

Greg Emmert: Two and a half,

three weeks, something like that.

421

:

Brent Parker: November.

422

:

Okay.

423

:

Greg Emmert: Yeah.

424

:

Brian Searl: Yep.

425

:

Yeah, TJ's a great guy.

426

:

Like it's interesting and

he runs a great company too.

427

:

He has a great product.

428

:

I think it's interesting.

429

:

Greg Emmert: Absolutely.

430

:

Brian Searl: To think about how, as

we look at some of these vendors, how

431

:

what AI is going to become is going

to impact their product and service.

432

:

And it doesn't mean necessarily put

them outta business, but change.

433

:

The way that they create or the way or

the features that they have in their

434

:

product or things like that, right?

435

:

So if you look at 360 tours,

we're gonna just pick on this

436

:

because Greg brought it up.

437

:

So maybe you're gonna unearned

your coffee here in a second.

438

:

But, so if you look at 360 tours, we just

saw Chat GPT release a browser yesterday.

439

:

We'll play a video on that in a second

about Chat GPT Atlas where it can

440

:

basically use Agentech features to

navigate all the websites for you.

441

:

So you can give it a task, it can open up

tabs, it can do all the things for you.

442

:

You can come back to it 10

minutes later, it'll shop for you.

443

:

It'll do whatever you want, right?

444

:

Plan trips, et cetera.

445

:

In that world where you say, go research

me a camping trip and it knows your

446

:

Gmail and your calendar and all the

things we've talked about before, right?

447

:

Does it care about the

virtual tour on the website?

448

:

Does it look around and click?

449

:

Does it watch the little videos?

450

:

Maybe.

451

:

But I like, certainly

that's valuable data.

452

:

And again, I'm not saying that TJ's

in trouble, I'm just saying it's an

453

:

interesting question that businesses

like TJs should be asking and

454

:

thinking about where does this go?

455

:

How does this do it?

456

:

It's the same way we we've been telling

clients for a year and a half, much

457

:

to their screaming protest and some

leaving us that design doesn't matter

458

:

when an agent, like an agent doesn't

care what your colors and your call to

459

:

action are, that you're agonizing about

for 15 hours in a marketing meeting.

460

:

So nobody really wants to hear that.

461

:

But so that's where it's how does

that change how you do marketing

462

:

and how you reach people and how

you like, I don't know the answers

463

:

to all of these things, but they're

questions that need to be asked Now.

464

:

You don't have years.

465

:

You don't even have months.

466

:

Greg Emmert: Yeah.

467

:

Yeah.

468

:

And I, I think actually only speaking for

his product, but the data that it's able

469

:

to draw from the customer, what they where

they spend their time, what I'm not gonna.

470

:

I'm not gonna try to dive too far

into it 'cause it was a conversation

471

:

that was at length with TJ, but I'm

not gonna be able to do it justice.

472

:

But the data that he's able to draw

from the new products, and if you

473

:

guys are, if anybody's gonna be

at OHCE, stop by the Campsite 360.

474

:

Now I sound like I'm reffing him.

475

:

I'm not.

476

:

I just, I He's got a good product.

477

:

Brian Searl: How much vodka

good did he put in your coffee?

478

:

It might have been.

479

:

Greg Emmert: It was a lot of caffeine.

480

:

Lot of caffeine.

481

:

The data that he's able to draw, I

think is gonna be really sexy to the

482

:

agent, to the LLM because it gives it,

as Brian as you have taught me, right?

483

:

All, all of those extra points that

it can see when it looks at a site,

484

:

when it does this, okay, so it goes

out and says, book me a camping trip.

485

:

And it goes out and it looks at

maybe the it's if it's my personal

486

:

agent, which Brian, we're gonna have

those in what, like three weeks?

487

:

Not really, but really fast.

488

:

Brian Searl: You already have

one with all the memory and all

489

:

the things like not yours, but

490

:

Greg Emmert: Right.

491

:

Yeah.

492

:

But we'll all have, we'll all have agents

in what, a couple of years tops, max.

493

:

Brian Searl: Yeah, max two years.

494

:

Greg Emmert: Once you have that, to your

point, and this is for you two guys,

495

:

if you don't know, this is what happens

when you hang out with Brian too long.

496

:

You start repeating everything that

he says to you, you are gonna have,

497

:

there's gonna be no more , let's see.

498

:

I wanna go camping near

sleeping bare dunes.

499

:

So let me Google these

campgrounds and all that.

500

:

Oh, and it I know.

501

:

I don't need to look at, for

me, I'm talking about me.

502

:

No offense to anybody.

503

:

I don't want to camp at

a KOA or a Jellystone.

504

:

That's not my jam.

505

:

I'm still a tent camper.

506

:

I wanna camp out in the woods,

so I'm not gonna look at those.

507

:

The agent's gonna do the same thing

'cause it knows me and it's gonna

508

:

go down from, I wanna look at these

few parks to, Hey dude, here's the

509

:

camp site that you need to book.

510

:

This is the one.

511

:

It's yours.

512

:

Here it is.

513

:

This is the one.

514

:

And I know this because I know you

and I know all your preferences

515

:

and I know what you want.

516

:

A 360 tour makes it easier

for that agent to get to that.

517

:

So I don't know, I think there's a lot of

runway for those tours if they're built.

518

:

And it'll be interesting to see, to

your point, Brian, it'd be interesting

519

:

to see where the agents, where the AI

takes us in the very, very near future.

520

:

Because I really look forward to that.

521

:

'cause I, I do struggle.

522

:

Okay, let's make it personal now.

523

:

I totally struggle because we are tent

campers and we're not good at people

524

:

like we want to, we, if ideal world,

we backpack every time we go camping.

525

:

That's just not possible.

526

:

So we car camp a lot.

527

:

You have to deal with people when you

car camp, there are other people around.

528

:

I want that site.

529

:

I want the one with the most seclusion

with the, I can't wait for the

530

:

agent that just finds that for me.

531

:

Oh my gosh.

532

:

'cause right now that's tough because

most of the industry is built around,

533

:

come and stay 20 feet from your

neighbor and enjoy the bounce pillow

534

:

and pool and chocolate slip and slide.

535

:

And I'm like, oh my God, if I could get

I can't get far enough away from that.

536

:

Again.

537

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

538

:

Greg Emmert: Lots of my clients use these.

539

:

I love you guys.

540

:

Thank you.

541

:

I There's no problem

there's a market for that.

542

:

It's just not for me.

543

:

I'm speaking personally at this point

544

:

Brian Searl: .But

545

:

to your point like how does it

decide those things or questions

546

:

that every company should be

asking themselves to Brent?

547

:

Greg Emmert: Yeah.

548

:

Brian Searl: Have a plan for the future.

549

:

Like you can look at a

company as big as KOA, right?

550

:

KOA has got a well established

brand, great reputation.

551

:

Lots of locations have been here forever.

552

:

If you ask AI about camping, it's

probably gonna return something about

553

:

KOA in some form or context, right?

554

:

Depending on your question.

555

:

Greg Emmert: Yeah.

556

:

Brian Searl: And so in the future,

there's a very reasonable explanation

557

:

that something related to camping

will continue to surface KOA, but when

558

:

the agents are personal, even when

the agent is yours and it knows that

559

:

you like to stay at KOA, is there a

point where the AI is this is still a

560

:

better option for you, then the KOA.

561

:

You might be brand loyal.

562

:

You, as Greg, might be brand loyal,

just pretend putting on you, right?

563

:

But Greg you really don't know what

you're missing here, and I know

564

:

you better than you know yourself.

565

:

So then at that point, are

you gonna second guess the AI?

566

:

And I'm not saying this will

happen, I'm just saying this is

567

:

a question that KOA should be

asking, and maybe they already are.

568

:

They have a lot smart

people out there, right?

569

:

But a question they should be asking,

like, how does brand loyalty look

570

:

like in an era where everybody

gets what's perfect for them, or

571

:

as close to it as the AI can find?

572

:

Greg Emmert: And as a married man

who technically already has an

573

:

agent who second guesses himself all

the time, you do not question it.

574

:

You just do.

575

:

It's I, sorry.

576

:

Brian Searl: Remember the

simplest example of Google maps?

577

:

Like I, I still remember, when Google

Maps, maybe not first came out, but

578

:

when I was starting to use it all the

time, you used to second guess the

579

:

way Google was sending you on the map.

580

:

Greg Emmert: All the time.

581

:

Brian Searl: And every time

I did that, I would run into

582

:

a traffic jam for 30 minutes.

583

:

Fuck.

584

:

I thought I was smarter

than Google, but no.

585

:

So I, yeah.

586

:

Every way Google takes me,

this is just how I go now.

587

:

Greg Emmert: Yep.

588

:

Brian Searl: I know there's something

hidden that maybe it's not telling

589

:

me in a red line, but it's there.

590

:

Brent Parker: I think so,

when you think about AI and

591

:

figuring out like personas.

592

:

That those persona building and

kind of understanding to what, Greg

593

:

mentioned, like AI has to know, your

likes, your dislikes, your concerns.

594

:

So the typical, when you're

putting a business together and

595

:

you're trying to figure out what

your ideal customer persona is.

596

:

They have to know exactly what

your likes and dislikes are.

597

:

So I think, Brian, to your question,

if Greg always wants to do tent and

598

:

they said, okay, this one over here in

Tahoe is perfect for you, they'll know,

599

:

Hey, I might want to show you this one

because I understand that you might

600

:

be a little flexible in your persona.

601

:

Or you might be someone

that says, you know what?

602

:

Let me try something different

that I normally don't try.

603

:

So AI should know that, and then give

you some other options to say, here's

604

:

your main one, but perhaps here's two

or three that might, you might, yeah.

605

:

Brian Searl: Yep.

606

:

But then how often will people

just be like which one do

607

:

you think is best for me?

608

:

I already do that with AI.

609

:

Which one do you think is best?

610

:

I don't always listen to it, right?

611

:

But I'm curious to hear what its

unbiased opinion is of my own psychology.

612

:

Brent Parker: Yeah.

613

:

Brian Searl: And oftentimes

it gets it right.

614

:

Yeah.

615

:

It's just these are questions that

everybody's gotta start asking about their

616

:

software, their products, their brands,

the discovery, everything's and we're just

617

:

still people think this is moving fast.

618

:

This we're still like in the

bottom end of the exponential.

619

:

You wait a year and see how

fast, what's happening right now.

620

:

And I saw this statistic the other day.

621

:

92% of the first half of 2025's,

GDP in the United States was driven

622

:

by AI and data center spending.

623

:

Excluding that our GDP

would've been up 0.1%.

624

:

Nothing else is happening in the economy.

625

:

That's good.

626

:

Blanket statement, but from a spend

perspective, and GDP is, yeah.

627

:

Greg Emmert: Nothing's driving it, right?

628

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

629

:

GDP is an imperfect number.

630

:

There's all kinds of things that

that's not the best calculation we

631

:

should be using for the economy.

632

:

I know all that.

633

:

But just based on that number

92% is staggering number.

634

:

And we're, what they're doing now

is building these data centers.

635

:

So you've got still a little bit of time,

and by a little bit of time, six months,

636

:

like you have a little bit of time while

these data centers are being built.

637

:

But once the da the compute comes

online, then you're gonna see all

638

:

these data centers being used to solve

diseases and biology and physics.

639

:

And they've already got them that are

solving foundation level math problems,

640

:

frontier level math problems, sorry.

641

:

In winning gold medals that these

super complex competitions that

642

:

only 10 mathematicians in the world

could solve before Chat GPT and

643

:

Gemini just won another medal on

it, like I think a week or two ago.

644

:

And so once, like you,

they've basically solved math.

645

:

They're like 99% of the

way to solving math.

646

:

Once you solve math, you

solve everything in the world.

647

:

And all those data

centers are gonna start.

648

:

So you think it's moving fast now?

649

:

You wait six months.

650

:

You still have maybe a chance to get

in here and start to learn and play and

651

:

nobody says that we know where it's going.

652

:

I don't know where it's going in two

years, but I know you need to play

653

:

with it, touch it, feel it, and learn

how to prompt with it and talk to it.

654

:

And if you can do that and figure out

how to level up your skills, like I

655

:

think we're headed into a world, and

this isn't a year away, but like I

656

:

think you're headed into a world as

a, as an employee at wherever you

657

:

are, that you have to learn a skill.

658

:

And in 30 days it'll be outdated

and AI will do it better.

659

:

And you have to learn another skill, and

then it'll start to go to three weeks,

660

:

two weeks, one week and a day that you

have to, you're gonna have to, everybody

661

:

who wants to retain a job is going to

have to be a constant skill learner

662

:

or a Yeah, an orchestrator

of AI or whatever you do.

663

:

But you still have a

chance to be in on that.

664

:

We're gonna talk a little bit about

that on Outwired later today about

665

:

how to obtain some of those skills

and do all that kind of stuff.

666

:

What else we got guys?

667

:

Matt Whitermore: I was recently reading

an article about Expedia and Booking.com.

668

:

The integration with Chat GPT and

I wouldn't say I'm on the cutting

669

:

edge of this, catching up, but

really good follow on LinkedIn.

670

:

I don't know him personally, but

I've been enjoying following his

671

:

stuff as Brad Brewer, a company

called Agentic Hospitality.

672

:

So he should he should be on this show

'cause I think he'd be probably schooling

673

:

us all and and where this is all going,

but just super interesting, right?

674

:

I had a little taste of this, which

was eye-opening on my newsletter.

675

:

I noticed the first new

newsletter subscriptions that were

676

:

attributed to Chat GPT and Claude.

677

:

And that was like, mind blowing to me.

678

:

And that's not that cool.

679

:

I, as I said, I feel like I'm trying, I'm

like, I'm catching up in the world of AI.

680

:

I use it every day, but I'm just

scratching the surface of what's possible.

681

:

Brian Searl: I'm obsessed with it, man,

and I'm catching up with AI every day.

682

:

Matt Whitermore: It's crazy.

683

:

It's

684

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

685

:

Matt Whitermore: You can't you can't

really be on the cutting edge of it.

686

:

I guess you can, but it'd be a.

687

:

Brian Searl: Well in one narrow

field, you can't be all of it.

688

:

Matt Whitermore: I use it, I'm on Gamma

every day now, messing around, trying to

689

:

figure out how to create graphics 'cause

I don't have a design bone in my body.

690

:

And switched over from Chat GPT to Claude

to help, increase writing output and I

691

:

feel like I, it took me like two years.

692

:

Like I would, I was really resistant

to it and probably two years ago I

693

:

would, I would dabble with Chat GPT

on the free account and like, all

694

:

right, I'm gonna try and figure out

how to tackle this project with AI.

695

:

And I would spend two hours on it and

then just be like, this doesn't work.

696

:

Get fed up with it.

697

:

Yeah.

698

:

And it really took me like probably

clearing everything off my plate for two

699

:

weeks to just bang my head against that

wall and dive into prompt engineering

700

:

and try a bunch of different stuff.

701

:

And then it was honestly, it was

like two weeks and then it clicked

702

:

for me to at least learn about

prompt engineering and actually

703

:

have it be a tool in my tool belt.

704

:

And it's been, every month I dive

into some more prompt engineering

705

:

and watch some more YouTube videos.

706

:

And I feel like I'm gradually

increasing my my grasp on it.

707

:

Still total novice, but it's it's been

fun and it's super fun to think about all

708

:

these things of where it's going and you

know that, the next step is that first

709

:

campground booking that's attributed to,

to Chat GPT or, through your own chat bot.

710

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

711

:

Like we've had that.

712

:

Yeah.

713

:

But yeah, that, that's.

714

:

Matt Whitermore: Right.

715

:

Yeah.

716

:

Brian Searl: I think they're probably

existing, just like I know you're

717

:

talking about coming direct, right?

718

:

Direct from Chat GPT.

719

:

I think those have already

existed if you trace it.

720

:

Matt Whitermore: Oh, sure.

721

:

Yeah.

722

:

Brian Searl: Google Analytics.

723

:

Yeah.

724

:

Matt Whitermore: Yep.

725

:

Definitely.

726

:

Brian Searl: But yes, there's a couple

interesting things you mentioned.

727

:

I'll touch on the easy one first.

728

:

Like the learning thing.

729

:

There's a great course that we've

been going through and we've been

730

:

trying to teach our team this for two

years, but there's a great course that

731

:

Google came out with, or I guess a,

maybe a program called Google Skills.

732

:

That's pretty new.

733

:

And it's 50 bucks a month, I

think, or somehow, I don't know.

734

:

They keep saying it's free, but somehow

I ended up paying 50 bucks a month worth.

735

:

Anyway but it's a good, it's a it's a

prompt, the, one of the main courses

736

:

in there is like prompt engineering

and learning how to prompt, and so

737

:

they talk through the key elements

of the prompt and it's really easy

738

:

to understand and it's from people in

Google and they break it up like into

739

:

short videos and teach you everything.

740

:

So that's a good place to start there.

741

:

I think is Google skills.

742

:

Other than that, YouTube.

743

:

But you bring up an interesting

point too, like going back

744

:

to your Expedia Booking.com

745

:

thing.

746

:

I have told people for years

that OTAs are in trouble.

747

:

Because OTAs were primarily

built because Google sucked.

748

:

Like you search something in

Google, Google didn't understand

749

:

you the way AI does now.

750

:

And so then you had to go

to a site and click filters.

751

:

How many bedrooms do you want?

752

:

How many people are there?

753

:

Do you have young kids?

754

:

Can I bring pets to this?

755

:

And you had to check a bunch of

boxes and that's what the OTA served.

756

:

And then they began to aggregate

everything together for convenience

757

:

and all that stuff, right?

758

:

So the convenience aspect is still

there, but the big problem they were

759

:

solving no longer exists because

AI can understand everything you

760

:

want and for all the reasons that

we talked about personalization.

761

:

But where you're headed now is

like I would've told you, and I've

762

:

told clients on this on the call,

that I don't think AI itself is

763

:

ever going to prefer a Booking.com

764

:

or an Expedia.

765

:

I think AI will take you straight

to the source if it exists.

766

:

I think, I don't know, but my gut

instinct says AI will take you directly

767

:

to the campground website, right?

768

:

But it is interesting now that

you've got these big players

769

:

like Expedia and Booking.com

770

:

who are integrating and who

have thought about this.

771

:

And who know this and are now building

these integrations, campgrounds aren't

772

:

gonna build that kind of integration.

773

:

We're probably very unlikely to

see a campground reservation system

774

:

book an integration like that in

the next couple years for whatever,

775

:

like they all have different things

and different priorities, right?

776

:

Matt Whitermore: Yeah.

777

:

Brian Searl: So it'll

be interesting to see.

778

:

I think the model is that

Expedia and Booking.com

779

:

end up paying millions of dollars

in advertising to have their

780

:

little button surface or whatever

in Chat GPT to make the booking.

781

:

But I think, otherwise, it goes

straight to the consumer and like

782

:

the example I gave a year and a

half ago is with Delta Airlines.

783

:

I think like right now, Delta probably

spends millions of dollars a year on

784

:

pay-per-click advertising on Google.

785

:

And the people who click those ads for

Delta Airlines in whatever market they're

786

:

advertising on, often don't find what

they want because they need a flight that

787

:

leaves at six o'clock in the morning,

or they'll only sit in first class,

788

:

or it has to leave from this airport

at this time and connect in this city.

789

:

And so that $2 or $4 or $8 that

Delta's spending on that click

790

:

is completely wasted, right?

791

:

But where you're going is a direct

integration with Delta's API into the AI.

792

:

So the AI can search the inventory

and when, and the AI will know that

793

:

somebody, because of their schedule

and their calendar and Google and

794

:

everything, they know, they like to

leave at six o'clock in the morning.

795

:

They like to fly first class.

796

:

They only leave from this airport,

whatever else, and it will surface

797

:

Delta's inventory right in front of

you and say, I have this seat for

798

:

you that's available, do you want it?

799

:

And when you click that, Google will

pay a cost to acquire the customer,

800

:

which is a number in Google Ads.

801

:

Now that's typically if

you're doing really good, it's

802

:

like 20 to 30 bucks, right?

803

:

If you're doing terrible,

it's 125 bucks or whatever.

804

:

But, so they'll just pay, instead

of $4 $8 a click, they'll pay $35

805

:

for a 99% guaranteed customer.

806

:

That's where I think advertising

is going in the middle of Chat

807

:

GPT and AI and all that stuff.

808

:

But you're, so you're gonna

see these companies pay for

809

:

these millions of dollars.

810

:

I don't know how long they

can last doing that, though.

811

:

Probably a while.

812

:

Brent Parker: Brian you bring up a

good point of, and I've gone back

813

:

and forth on this as a software

provider is integrating to OTAs.

814

:

When the average consumer

wants to book directly.

815

:

But I know how convenient it is

for campground owners such as

816

:

yourself and Matt, where you could

say, Hey, I just need more guests.

817

:

I need more traffic to my

website, which OTAs provide.

818

:

But then there, the other side of that

is the guest sometimes doesn't wanna

819

:

pay those extra fees, and they want

that personal touch of going directly

820

:

to the I go back and forth on this,

I'm leaning more towards this future

821

:

state where these, Gen Zers, these

millennials, these folks that are using

822

:

chat, they're gonna start using that

for everything to search, to your point.

823

:

Let me, I think Greg mentioned,

you said earlier, using 360

824

:

views to look at that campground.

825

:

That looks cool.

826

:

Let me book it now, and they're done.

827

:

I think I even read that Google SEO is

down a little bit because people are

828

:

using Chat GPT between these other tools

to define what they're looking for.

829

:

So I, I think the future is where

people will do more direct bookings.

830

:

And now it's up to the campground

to say, how do I expose my my sites,

831

:

my spaces, my inventory to Chat GPT?

832

:

Or do I have to use the

software to do that?

833

:

So it's, I think it's something

we'll have to figure out.

834

:

But.

835

:

Brian Searl: If I was you, I

would be building a natural

836

:

language, API at OpenCampground.

837

:

That's what I, and I've told

all the big players this.

838

:

Brent Parker: Yeah.

839

:

Brian Searl: I don't think

anybody's listening to me.

840

:

That's okay.

841

:

I'm not saying you should

listen to me, but you wait

842

:

and see natural language, API.

843

:

But what what, that's part of what

we're doing here too, like with.

844

:

And it's just natural.

845

:

Like I, I really, Greg knows me, right?

846

:

Like Matt, you don't know me as well.

847

:

Greg knows me.

848

:

Like I don't talk about

myself in self-promote, right?

849

:

It just it is one of those things.

850

:

But like we've built these chat bots

now that integrate directly with

851

:

Campspot that basically piggyback.

852

:

So you can talk to them and they do

check in and check out the display

853

:

photos of the sites in real time.

854

:

They'll descriptions,

they'll, check availability.

855

:

They'll give you dynamic pricing,

they'll send you pay now links.

856

:

You don't need any humans.

857

:

Newbook is coming next and

then we're moving through the

858

:

reservation systems, right?

859

:

To have all this stuff integrated.

860

:

But what we can do with that now that

we've built it is we can actually, there

861

:

isn't a system in place for this yet from

Chat GPT side, but we will be able to hook

862

:

that database, that process into Chat GPT.

863

:

So then you basically, even if Campspot

and Newbook and none of, and I'm, they

864

:

may, I'm not sliding them in any way,

but even if they don't move as fast as

865

:

we are, we can now offer campgrounds the

ability to hook something up that they

866

:

can make reservations directly in Chat

GPT with for Gemini or whatever else.

867

:

Because we built that path.

868

:

Brent Parker: Yep.

869

:

Brian Searl: So I don't

know how that looks.

870

:

I don't know how that plays.

871

:

I think eventually all

websites become APIs.

872

:

Like I, I think they do 'cause an agent

browsing a, with a mouse and a keyboard

873

:

is a terrible experience for an agent.

874

:

It's pretty slow.

875

:

'cause I think somebody brought up,

maybe that was on the call I was on

876

:

before that here, but yeah, like I think

you've just gotta think about the new

877

:

way consumers are discovering things.

878

:

They don't need to go to your website,

they just need you just need the booking.

879

:

Who cares where it comes from?

880

:

To your point, Brent who?

881

:

And I would say like I would've

advised, three years ago, four years

882

:

ago, I would've advised any company.

883

:

To say who, who is integrating

with, considering integrating

884

:

with Airbnb or hotels.com

885

:

or Booking.com

886

:

or whatever you're

integrating with, right?

887

:

There's probably better things you could

do for your software from a competitive

888

:

standpoint besides just doing that.

889

:

But now you can go to a cursor and you

can say, build me an integration with

890

:

a Airbnb's API, it could be ready in

I don't know, six hours so if you can

891

:

get to that point, then why not do it?

892

:

And you can check a box without tying

down 10 engineers for two months

893

:

or six months or whatever else.

894

:

It's like it could go either way.

895

:

Like they're gonna have a lot

of money to spend and power to

896

:

play in these booking engines.

897

:

So if they're, maybe they do win

for a while and if they do win,

898

:

then you might as well have your

inventory available through them.

899

:

Is that, yeah, I feel, I don't know.

900

:

Go ahead, Greg.

901

:

You were gonna say something?

902

:

Greg Emmert: I wasn't, no.

903

:

Brian Searl: You looked

like you, And then.

904

:

Greg Emmert: I was gonna go invisible.

905

:

I was gonna try to slide on it and

I can't, I don't have enough room.

906

:

Brian Searl: There's a wall there, man.

907

:

There's a wall there.

908

:

Greg Emmert: There's a wall.

909

:

I need to go to my, I need

to go my other direction.

910

:

Brent Parker: Just that

Homer Simpson meme, Greg.

911

:

The one that he, the bush.

912

:

Greg Emmert: Melting into the hedge.

913

:

Brent Parker: Yeah.

914

:

Greg Emmert: In the background.

915

:

Right on.

916

:

Brent Parker: Yeah.

917

:

Brian Searl: What else we got, guys?

918

:

That was good.

919

:

Yeah.

920

:

And it's just to close the loop

there too, like the Agentech

921

:

commerce is already there in, right?

922

:

Like you can buy through Shopify.

923

:

Yeah, you can.

924

:

No, you can buy through Etsy Now.

925

:

Shopify is coming.

926

:

Stripe has a partnership with OpenAI.

927

:

Walmart announced they're gonna

sell all their stuff on OpenAI.

928

:

This is, that's coming.

929

:

So like you're go, every, the

checkout is just gonna be seamless.

930

:

People are gonna grow to expect this.

931

:

So your fancy website still

matters for a little bit.

932

:

Yeah.

933

:

But even the boomers are, as we

discussed already, like all in on

934

:

Chat GPT, segments of the boomers.

935

:

It's not a.

936

:

Greg Emmert: Yep.

937

:

Brian Searl: It's not a, my audience.

938

:

It's not, you can't, you can no

longer say like you could with

939

:

social media for a while, that my

audience is baby boomers and so it

940

:

will take them 15 years to catch up.

941

:

That's not the case.

942

:

There are some boomers who won't

catch up, but there are some

943

:

Gen Xers who won't catch up too.

944

:

Greg Emmert: And it's not the same or

the case for every industry either.

945

:

Certain industries, you are gonna have

human eyes on your website, right?

946

:

They're gonna come to your site,

they're gonna see what you're about.

947

:

But to your point for how

much longer it probably starts

948

:

disappearing rather quickly.

949

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

950

:

Traffic does for sure.

951

:

Like your, yeah.

952

:

Your conversion should still go up.

953

:

Like the quality of traffic

you will get will be better.

954

:

So the percentage of people

who convert will be higher,

955

:

but the traffic will be lower.

956

:

But nobody wants to hear that.

957

:

Like you have so many of these

companies that are built with

958

:

these marketing managers.

959

:

In the helm of their CMO role.

960

:

That aren't really strategy people.

961

:

Now, there, that's not everybody.

962

:

There are a lot of good

Strat strategy people, right?

963

:

But we've been through a lot.

964

:

There's so many marketing managers

that sole function is just to, to

965

:

call the agency and say, do this.

966

:

And they don't have that

ability to see what's coming.

967

:

And they don't have the skillset

to adopt the new technology.

968

:

Like they're smart people.

969

:

I'm not saying that but their

skillset is managing, that

970

:

doesn't need to happen anymore.

971

:

All the meetings that you're sitting

in, all the strategies you're sitting in

972

:

talking about design and call to action,

and whether the button is rounded or

973

:

squared or whatever, it's all bullshit.

974

:

All your email marketing, like all your

email marketing is about to be summarized.

975

:

iPhone's already doing this on

the screen, even though Apple is

976

:

shitted AI, they're trying to do it.

977

:

Gmail's doing this at the top,

and eventually it'll be on the

978

:

summary of your notifications.

979

:

Here's the daily digest of

your emails you got today.

980

:

Even if you're lucky enough for

the AI to summarize the marketing

981

:

email you sent to 7,000 people

carelessly, that wasn't segmented.

982

:

Even if you magically get that

to happen, it's not gonna do it

983

:

in your brand tone and voice.

984

:

So what are you agonizing

about all this stuff for hours.

985

:

Like just the way things are changing

and we see this, we see clients

986

:

that are either like I will and

there it really is no middle ground.

987

:

I'm all in this with you Brian.

988

:

We're like, oh no, I'm going

all the way back over here.

989

:

Right there, there doesn't

seem to be a middle ground yet.

990

:

Matt Whitermore: You bring up a really

interesting point about segmentation

991

:

and it's really more of a question,

and I think this is probably in your

992

:

wheelhouse, Brian is right how can we

use AI to get to know our customers

993

:

better, to gather information as we

interact and do business with them in a

994

:

more, in a deeper and more efficient way

that can in turn allow us to segment our

995

:

marketing in a smarter and deeper way,

and then do more proactive marketing.

996

:

To then drive more revenue.

997

:

That's something I think about

that, it's on birthdays or, we

998

:

get a lot of repeat campers.

999

:

We have some, if you're ever,

Greg, you're a tent camper.

:

00:45:27,808 --> 00:45:30,148

If you ever find yourself in the

northeast, come check us out.

:

00:45:30,148 --> 00:45:34,648

'cause we get some really spectacular,

primitive hike tent sites that.

:

00:45:34,678 --> 00:45:35,278

Greg Emmert: Yes.

:

00:45:35,638 --> 00:45:38,048

Matt Whitermore: People, we have

families that book, the same

:

00:45:38,048 --> 00:45:40,358

site like eight weekends a year.

:

00:45:40,968 --> 00:45:44,008

And they literally, we've had

people try to book seasonal

:

00:45:44,128 --> 00:45:46,048

primitive tent camping sites for us.

:

00:45:46,048 --> 00:45:47,848

They want it every weekend.

:

00:45:48,088 --> 00:45:50,668

I'm like, sure it's gonna

be like 10 grand, but Sure.

:

00:45:51,718 --> 00:45:57,358

And like we're, we have the data, we have

the data of when they typically book those

:

00:45:57,358 --> 00:46:00,178

sites, what weekends they typically book.

:

00:46:00,418 --> 00:46:04,138

So I'm sure there's a way for

AI to like proactively send

:

00:46:04,138 --> 00:46:05,808

that email and here's your cart.

:

00:46:06,088 --> 00:46:08,803

Here's your cart already ready to go.

:

00:46:08,803 --> 00:46:09,268

Brian Searl: Ready to go.

:

00:46:09,268 --> 00:46:09,598

Yeah.

:

00:46:09,868 --> 00:46:14,828

Matt Whitermore: With bags of ice and

bundles of firewood and let's, get

:

00:46:14,828 --> 00:46:16,988

that booking ahead even further ahead.

:

00:46:16,988 --> 00:46:20,978

If they're booking it a year in advance,

maybe we can get even further in advance.

:

00:46:20,978 --> 00:46:22,508

And Right.

:

00:46:22,508 --> 00:46:27,468

Then the marketing campaigns of we're

always looking at booking windows and

:

00:46:27,468 --> 00:46:30,258

dynamic pricing and booking velocity.

:

00:46:30,823 --> 00:46:34,723

I'm sure people are already figuring out

a way to automate that in a way that it's

:

00:46:34,843 --> 00:46:39,373

looking ahead and reading your calendar,

sending promo codes automatically.

:

00:46:39,793 --> 00:46:43,333

Brian Searl: But yeah, Disney's done

really, Disney does true dynamic pricing.

:

00:46:43,333 --> 00:46:45,433

We don't have true dynamic

pricing in this industry.

:

00:46:45,433 --> 00:46:46,903

We have a bunch of

fields you can fill out.

:

00:46:47,593 --> 00:46:47,923

Matt Whitermore: Yeah, true.

:

00:46:47,923 --> 00:46:47,983

Brian Searl: Yeah.

:

00:46:49,193 --> 00:46:52,728

But to your point yeah I, I think the,

there's two pieces to that, right?

:

00:46:52,728 --> 00:46:56,058

There's the piece without AI that you've

been able to do for a while, which is

:

00:46:56,058 --> 00:46:58,788

just organizing your database, right?

:

00:46:58,788 --> 00:47:01,968

So using something like a CRM, like

we use HubSpot at our company, right?

:

00:47:01,998 --> 00:47:05,258

But and HubSpot has traditionally

been super expensive, but now they

:

00:47:05,258 --> 00:47:08,468

have starter plans that're like

20 bucks a month for the basics.

:

00:47:08,468 --> 00:47:09,908

And the CRM's always been free.

:

00:47:10,778 --> 00:47:14,948

And so just like you can't count on

your property management software to

:

00:47:15,068 --> 00:47:16,868

be that because they're not a CRM.

:

00:47:16,868 --> 00:47:18,668

It's like the old TV VCR combos.

:

00:47:19,053 --> 00:47:21,693

If any of you guys are old enough,

like I am to remember that they

:

00:47:21,693 --> 00:47:25,053

worked, but they didn't work as well

as a separate VCR and a separate TV.

:

00:47:25,393 --> 00:47:28,573

And so the, your PMS system

is not intended to be a CRM.

:

00:47:28,573 --> 00:47:31,093

It can function as that because it

gathers all the data and collates

:

00:47:31,093 --> 00:47:32,263

it in one place and whatever else.

:

00:47:32,313 --> 00:47:35,103

But like Campspot has a really nice

integration with HubSpot that pushes

:

00:47:35,133 --> 00:47:36,393

all that data over to HubSpot.

:

00:47:36,783 --> 00:47:39,843

I'm sure Newbook actually has a

little bit better of a CRM built

:

00:47:39,843 --> 00:47:41,493

in, but it's still not a HubSpot.

:

00:47:41,573 --> 00:47:44,573

And there are other good CRMs,

to be clear, I'm just giving one

:

00:47:44,573 --> 00:47:48,413

example, but organizing that data and

segmenting and collecting information

:

00:47:48,413 --> 00:47:52,223

on people like what is their birthday,

for example, where are they from?

:

00:47:52,223 --> 00:47:53,183

What state did they stay in?

:

00:47:53,183 --> 00:47:54,803

And your property management

system has a lot of that.

:

00:47:54,803 --> 00:47:59,743

But the extras of starting to prompt

your guests when they check in and saying

:

00:47:59,743 --> 00:48:02,713

Hey, we would like to personalize your

stay and make it a little bit better.

:

00:48:03,193 --> 00:48:04,423

This will help us do this.

:

00:48:04,423 --> 00:48:06,313

Here's five questions or 10 questions.

:

00:48:06,823 --> 00:48:08,113

Just answer whatever you want.

:

00:48:08,113 --> 00:48:09,193

We're not asking for your email.

:

00:48:09,193 --> 00:48:10,243

We're not trying to email market.

:

00:48:10,243 --> 00:48:12,283

You we're trying to make your stay better.

:

00:48:12,958 --> 00:48:15,838

Now or in the future, let me

ask these questions of you.

:

00:48:15,838 --> 00:48:16,528

What is your birthday?

:

00:48:16,528 --> 00:48:17,248

What is your, whatever?

:

00:48:17,458 --> 00:48:19,108

And some people will fill

it out, some people won't.

:

00:48:19,108 --> 00:48:22,528

But that's the first step is segmenting

and organizing that information.

:

00:48:22,528 --> 00:48:23,938

The more data you can collect, the better.

:

00:48:23,938 --> 00:48:27,748

So you have, if you do email marketing

and you track that, you can tie that

:

00:48:27,748 --> 00:48:32,548

visitor who click the email to what

they did on the website, what pages

:

00:48:32,548 --> 00:48:35,848

did they browse, and then if you do we

can get into all geeky stuff, right?

:

00:48:35,848 --> 00:48:39,028

But so segmenting all that stuff and

tracking it is the first place and

:

00:48:39,028 --> 00:48:43,018

organizing it, and then having AI

act on it as the second piece of it.

:

00:48:43,858 --> 00:48:45,628

But there's, even, there's

been plugins for years.

:

00:48:45,628 --> 00:48:52,448

Like we use a plugin called WP Fusion for

WordPress that links CRMs to WordPress.

:

00:48:52,988 --> 00:48:57,158

And then you can take the data that you

have available in a CRM for a customer,

:

00:48:57,548 --> 00:49:00,668

and you can, if they're logged into

the website or it knows who that person

:

00:49:00,668 --> 00:49:04,598

is, you can show or hide a coupon

on the sidebar of WordPress that's

:

00:49:04,598 --> 00:49:05,948

specifically only for that person.

:

00:49:05,948 --> 00:49:07,208

It doesn't show to anybody else, right?

:

00:49:08,163 --> 00:49:10,473

So there's all kinds of ways that

you can do that personalization, but

:

00:49:10,473 --> 00:49:13,473

then just taking the data and putting

it into AI and forecasting it out.

:

00:49:13,473 --> 00:49:13,713

Yeah.

:

00:49:13,763 --> 00:49:15,893

This is a big underserved

opportunity, right?

:

00:49:15,953 --> 00:49:18,863

Like a lot of the big reservation

Campspot specifically I'll call out,

:

00:49:18,863 --> 00:49:21,593

does a good job with sharing their

analytical data and stuff like that.

:

00:49:22,313 --> 00:49:23,303

And they do a great job.

:

00:49:23,333 --> 00:49:27,053

But even then, like we're gonna

put, I'm gonna put some significant

:

00:49:27,053 --> 00:49:30,893

capital into data from the

Modern Campground side in:

:

00:49:31,253 --> 00:49:34,733

And I think we can do some very

interesting stuff with AI to help the

:

00:49:34,733 --> 00:49:36,203

industry that we'll release publicly.

:

00:49:36,753 --> 00:49:38,163

We did MC Reports for a while.

:

00:49:38,163 --> 00:49:39,783

We put that on pause in:

:

00:49:39,813 --> 00:49:41,913

'cause Scott and I were pretty busy,

but we're gonna get back to that.

:

00:49:42,423 --> 00:49:45,543

But the amount of like just data we're

gonna collect and collate and release

:

00:49:45,543 --> 00:49:48,513

for the industry and be able to forecast,

I think is gonna be really interesting.

:

00:49:48,903 --> 00:49:52,173

And AI lets you do that to the level

we've never been able to do it before.

:

00:49:54,903 --> 00:50:01,118

Brent Parker: I think the question is now

Brian, like adoption of how do you get

:

00:50:01,118 --> 00:50:08,928

customers that are older, that aren't used

to using these types of tools adopting the

:

00:50:08,928 --> 00:50:12,318

philosophy of you should start using AI.

:

00:50:12,408 --> 00:50:16,098

You start, you should start using

these tools that we're giving

:

00:50:16,098 --> 00:50:17,538

you because they're so valuable.

:

00:50:18,088 --> 00:50:20,938

So I think it's just more of a question,

I think for the group because it's always,

:

00:50:20,938 --> 00:50:25,368

I think, a challenge for me to figure

out this adoption for people that aren't

:

00:50:25,368 --> 00:50:27,498

as tech savvy as what you want at that.

:

00:50:27,543 --> 00:50:30,848

When you think about that learning

curve at the bottom of that bell curve

:

00:50:31,308 --> 00:50:33,108

is I think a lot of our customers.

:

00:50:33,108 --> 00:50:34,218

Brian Searl: Why don't

you speak to that, Matt?

:

00:50:34,218 --> 00:50:37,758

'cause you said you went through your

struggles learning and adopting AI.

:

00:50:37,818 --> 00:50:38,958

How do you think, how do you see that?

:

00:50:41,638 --> 00:50:42,838

Matt Whitermore: It's a

really interesting question.

:

00:50:42,838 --> 00:50:48,048

I think as younger generations get

further into the workforce, I think

:

00:50:48,048 --> 00:50:50,118

it'll be a problem that solves itself.

:

00:50:50,568 --> 00:50:51,678

But I, I do write it.

:

00:50:51,678 --> 00:50:52,188

I think it's.

:

00:50:53,168 --> 00:50:58,238

I speak with some like marketing purists

and I get it right, copywriting, purists

:

00:50:58,268 --> 00:51:03,848

that get so offended by the thought of

AI helping somebody write something.

:

00:51:04,548 --> 00:51:06,018

But I think that's going away, right?

:

00:51:06,018 --> 00:51:11,768

I think it's not, there's always gonna

be the purists and I respect that.

:

00:51:12,078 --> 00:51:18,348

But one thing that I've really

tried to keep in mind, right?

:

00:51:18,348 --> 00:51:21,588

I think there's a lot of fear about AI.

:

00:51:21,678 --> 00:51:23,058

AI is gonna replace me.

:

00:51:23,058 --> 00:51:26,568

AI is gonna replace my

job function and my role.

:

00:51:27,258 --> 00:51:30,558

And I think there's some truth to

that, but I think it's way overblown.

:

00:51:30,558 --> 00:51:34,368

I think what's really more true,

this is an original thought to me,

:

00:51:34,368 --> 00:51:39,668

this is, following people in the

industry and who share their thoughts

:

00:51:39,668 --> 00:51:45,548

on AI, but it resonates is that

the people who adopt and embrace.

:

00:51:45,893 --> 00:51:51,923

And learn AI are gonna be able to do

the job functions of eight to 10 people.

:

00:51:52,433 --> 00:51:52,823

Brian Searl: For sure.

:

00:51:52,953 --> 00:51:55,773

Matt Whitermore: You're gonna

get indirectly replaced by AI.

:

00:51:55,773 --> 00:51:59,313

You're not, probably not gonna

get directly replaced by AI.

:

00:51:59,523 --> 00:52:05,253

You're gonna get a, your role is gonna

get absorbed by the person who does adopt.

:

00:52:05,403 --> 00:52:05,643

Brian Searl: Yeah.

:

00:52:05,643 --> 00:52:06,003

Oh yeah.

:

00:52:06,093 --> 00:52:06,603

I agree with that.

:

00:52:06,783 --> 00:52:06,993

Yeah.

:

00:52:07,173 --> 00:52:07,383

Yeah.

:

00:52:07,443 --> 00:52:11,873

Matt Whitermore: And you don't like, you

don't like, I primarily use it for content

:

00:52:11,873 --> 00:52:17,883

creation and writing and I still edit

everything that I write and still write.

:

00:52:17,883 --> 00:52:21,813

I give it a thousand word prompt

on what I want to create and

:

00:52:21,813 --> 00:52:25,743

then I tell it 10 different ways

how I hate what it came up with.

:

00:52:26,138 --> 00:52:29,103

But it's still so much, the

as like somebody who's just

:

00:52:29,103 --> 00:52:30,753

really dove into writing like.

:

00:52:31,068 --> 00:52:33,348

The hardest thing is sitting

down at the blank page.

:

00:52:33,548 --> 00:52:36,038

I get, I go for my

morning writing session.

:

00:52:36,038 --> 00:52:39,688

I used when, before that two week

period that I talked about of like

:

00:52:39,688 --> 00:52:41,458

really just going hard to learn it.

:

00:52:42,208 --> 00:52:45,928

I would wake up at 5:00 AM and I would

sit at my computer and try and write

:

00:52:45,928 --> 00:52:50,698

five tweets from 5- 7:00 AM and it

would take all two hours and I would

:

00:52:50,698 --> 00:52:54,238

be exhausted after that two hours.

:

00:52:54,238 --> 00:52:56,218

And then I was like, I

gotta find a better way.

:

00:52:56,488 --> 00:53:01,348

And that was when I spent that two weeks,

like going through all different prompts

:

00:53:01,348 --> 00:53:03,568

and prompt engineering and then it, right?

:

00:53:03,568 --> 00:53:05,698

It was, first it was like, it's not

gonna, it's not gonna write for me.

:

00:53:05,698 --> 00:53:06,418

It's gonna help me.

:

00:53:06,418 --> 00:53:12,148

I generate ideas and angles and

hooks and all the things that are

:

00:53:12,148 --> 00:53:15,008

gonna make my writing perform better.

:

00:53:15,458 --> 00:53:17,888

And then it was like, all

right, I've figured that out.

:

00:53:17,888 --> 00:53:23,408

Now I've got the, I solved the idea

generation thing and now it's migrated

:

00:53:23,468 --> 00:53:30,073

from just writing to, I've been

dabbling with this AI called Co-Founder.

:

00:53:30,823 --> 00:53:31,273

Brian Searl: Okay.

:

00:53:31,273 --> 00:53:33,253

Matt Whitermore: And

it's pretty interesting.

:

00:53:33,253 --> 00:53:36,128

It's through like a

commercial real estate group.

:

00:53:36,838 --> 00:53:40,558

Jake Heller, who puts out a lot of

really good content specifically

:

00:53:40,558 --> 00:53:41,668

for commercial real estate.

:

00:53:42,208 --> 00:53:50,138

But, hooking up Google Scripts to

the AI and hooking it up to my email.

:

00:53:50,138 --> 00:53:55,268

So now I can have an AI that

scrapes all my email for broker

:

00:53:55,268 --> 00:53:58,538

OMS and corrects the listings.

:

00:53:58,778 --> 00:54:01,628

It puts it into a street it or a sheet.

:

00:54:01,658 --> 00:54:06,848

It parses it, it collates it, and it

then even starts to dive in and tell

:

00:54:06,848 --> 00:54:08,818

me what it thinks about those deals.

:

00:54:08,878 --> 00:54:17,008

And I think about the CRM point that

like I, CRMs might be in trouble.

:

00:54:17,998 --> 00:54:18,358

Brian Searl: Oh yeah.

:

00:54:18,408 --> 00:54:20,958

Matt Whitermore: Because I

and I'm a HubSpot evangelist.

:

00:54:20,958 --> 00:54:24,468

I think it's an amazing company

and software and I love it.

:

00:54:25,098 --> 00:54:29,768

But do I need a CRM if the AI knows

everything I do, and eventually it's

:

00:54:29,768 --> 00:54:32,408

gonna know everybody who I talk to

on the phone, it's gonna read all my

:

00:54:32,408 --> 00:54:35,978

emails and tell me, it's gonna tell

me what campground I should buy.

:

00:54:36,338 --> 00:54:41,048

It's gonna have completely underwritten

the entire deal and done a, not to call

:

00:54:41,048 --> 00:54:45,118

you out, Greg, but it's gonna do the

equivalent of a $20,000 feasibility study.

:

00:54:45,488 --> 00:54:50,548

Like that's not so far fetched to

think that guy Jake, and put out like

:

00:54:50,548 --> 00:54:53,548

a mega prompt of a feasibility study.

:

00:54:54,028 --> 00:54:57,538

And obviously there's a human element

and intuition and I'm not saying

:

00:54:57,538 --> 00:54:59,008

you're, you'll be replaced by AI.

:

00:54:59,008 --> 00:54:59,938

I don't believe that.

:

00:55:00,328 --> 00:55:04,218

'Cause it's years of experience, but

over time you'll be able to download

:

00:55:04,218 --> 00:55:06,798

all of that years of experience to AI.

:

00:55:07,173 --> 00:55:11,553

And right, if you're doing feasibility

studies, you'll be able to do them at

:

00:55:11,583 --> 00:55:14,493

10 times the clip than you can do now.

:

00:55:14,493 --> 00:55:17,233

And I think it's it's pretty

fascinating to just look at,

:

00:55:17,263 --> 00:55:20,203

okay, what do I spend my days on?

:

00:55:20,443 --> 00:55:23,923

Let me track my time and see how I'm

investing and allocating my time.

:

00:55:23,923 --> 00:55:25,183

And then start to think about.

:

00:55:25,233 --> 00:55:25,473

Greg Emmert: Yep

:

00:55:26,473 --> 00:55:27,133

. Matt Whitermore: What can I automate?

:

00:55:27,343 --> 00:55:28,183

What can I do?

:

00:55:28,183 --> 00:55:29,683

10% of that with AI?

:

00:55:29,683 --> 00:55:31,423

Oh, okay, I mastered that 10%.

:

00:55:31,423 --> 00:55:33,253

Can I do 50% of it with AI?

:

00:55:33,853 --> 00:55:37,503

And then you're, you, it's a

cliche, and I don't, I don't wanna

:

00:55:37,503 --> 00:55:40,663

sound like a, I'm overselling it

or anything, but you'll almost get

:

00:55:40,663 --> 00:55:43,153

more than 24 hours in a day, right?

:

00:55:43,203 --> 00:55:43,653

Compared to.

:

00:55:43,863 --> 00:55:44,253

Brian Searl: Oh, yeah.

:

00:55:44,463 --> 00:55:44,733

Before.

:

00:55:44,733 --> 00:55:49,323

I still remember 20, like pre

COVID,:

:

00:55:49,848 --> 00:55:53,178

And I would wake up at 5:30 in the

morning and I would go work out,

:

00:55:53,178 --> 00:55:56,178

and then I would come back and

I would voice over two different

:

00:55:56,178 --> 00:55:59,028

podcasts that I had going on Spotify.

:

00:55:59,328 --> 00:56:02,478

And then I would sit down in front

of the camera and I'd film two videos

:

00:56:02,778 --> 00:56:04,218

and it would take me like five hours.

:

00:56:04,218 --> 00:56:07,038

And I'd, to your point Matt, like

I'd be tired at nine o'clock in the

:

00:56:07,038 --> 00:56:11,158

morning, but I did all that manually

and now I can do that automatically.

:

00:56:11,208 --> 00:56:12,698

And yeah, it's really

interesting where it's going.

:

00:56:12,698 --> 00:56:13,748

Did I answer your question, Brent?

:

00:56:13,748 --> 00:56:16,418

Were you talking more about

the consumer or business or.

:

00:56:17,078 --> 00:56:22,158

Brent Parker: Yeah I think the customer,

the owners of, these campgrounds and RV

:

00:56:22,178 --> 00:56:26,828

parks just trying to figure out, what's

the best way to get them to adopt new

:

00:56:26,828 --> 00:56:32,268

technology that breaks the mold of,

previous thought, the previous strategies.

:

00:56:32,268 --> 00:56:32,358

And

:

00:56:32,408 --> 00:56:33,998

Brian Searl: I think they're

gonna have to run into a problem.

:

00:56:34,478 --> 00:56:35,198

That's what I think.

:

00:56:35,648 --> 00:56:38,648

And it's even with our chats and calls,

we see the same thing with I would've

:

00:56:38,648 --> 00:56:41,728

told you I don't understand why you don't

want somebody answering your phone when

:

00:56:41,728 --> 00:56:43,138

nobody's answering your phone after hours.

:

00:56:43,138 --> 00:56:45,448

I would've told you that would've

been like a no brainer for people.

:

00:56:45,448 --> 00:56:47,098

And lots of people have signed up, right?

:

00:56:47,488 --> 00:56:50,188

But not to near the extent

that I would've expected.

:

00:56:51,058 --> 00:56:55,258

And so I think it's gonna take something

that make is a pain point for them.

:

00:56:55,888 --> 00:56:59,638

And whether that's revenue dropping

or camper nights going down, or the

:

00:56:59,638 --> 00:57:02,488

economy continuing to soften to the

point where they're like maybe this

:

00:57:02,488 --> 00:57:06,178

is a little bit more affordable, or I

need more revenue, or I need whatever.

:

00:57:07,058 --> 00:57:08,228

I think that's what it's gonna take.

:

00:57:08,318 --> 00:57:12,103

It's like a pain point that they

can clearly see that is gonna

:

00:57:12,103 --> 00:57:12,973

make them wanna adopt that.

:

00:57:12,973 --> 00:57:15,253

But yeah, we have to wrap up the show.

:

00:57:15,253 --> 00:57:16,453

I think we're over.

:

00:57:16,503 --> 00:57:18,933

Final thoughts Matt, you want to,

since you have to go, final thoughts

:

00:57:18,933 --> 00:57:21,093

and then where can they learn more

about Unhitched and Climb Capital?

:

00:57:21,753 --> 00:57:21,993

Matt Whitermore: Yeah.

:

00:57:21,993 --> 00:57:28,238

Final thoughts are, I gotta go learn

more about AI because 'cause there's

:

00:57:28,238 --> 00:57:29,888

so much more to do and so little time.

:

00:57:30,563 --> 00:57:33,083

So many more guests in demand to capture.

:

00:57:33,163 --> 00:57:36,513

Unhitched you can go to unhitchedmgmt.com.

:

00:57:36,943 --> 00:57:42,533

We are excited about the third party

management segment within the industry.

:

00:57:42,533 --> 00:57:44,753

We're seeing a lot of movement

on that side of the industry,

:

00:57:45,593 --> 00:57:46,763

growing that quickly.

:

00:57:47,633 --> 00:57:52,513

And Climb Capital is our investment

company that owns 16 parks.

:

00:57:52,513 --> 00:57:54,673

We currently third

party manage another 10.

:

00:57:55,403 --> 00:57:59,493

So if you're looking for tips or you've

had in the back of your mind third

:

00:57:59,493 --> 00:58:04,303

party management looking to, step

out of the day-to-day operations as a

:

00:58:04,303 --> 00:58:06,493

legacy owner, that's what we love to do.

:

00:58:06,493 --> 00:58:10,193

So you can go to like I

said, unhitchedmgmt.com

:

00:58:10,213 --> 00:58:12,433

and reach out and we'll we'll chat.

:

00:58:13,423 --> 00:58:13,753

Brian Searl: Awesome.

:

00:58:13,753 --> 00:58:14,473

Thanks for being here, man.

:

00:58:14,473 --> 00:58:15,823

I really appreciate your time, Greg.

:

00:58:15,823 --> 00:58:16,323

Matt Whitermore: Thank you.

:

00:58:16,323 --> 00:58:16,933

It's a pleasure.

:

00:58:18,488 --> 00:58:19,478

Greg Emmert: Great discussion today.

:

00:58:19,598 --> 00:58:20,408

Really enjoyed this.

:

00:58:20,408 --> 00:58:21,718

Enjoyed meeting Brent and Matt.

:

00:58:21,718 --> 00:58:24,088

Oh, Matt Is Matt just

pulled a Claude Reigns.

:

00:58:24,088 --> 00:58:24,538

He is.

:

00:58:24,628 --> 00:58:25,438

That was fast.

:

00:58:25,548 --> 00:58:26,748

Brian Searl: He said he

had to go in the chat.

:

00:58:26,748 --> 00:58:27,228

He had a meeting.

:

00:58:27,228 --> 00:58:28,308

That's why I let him to go first.

:

00:58:28,398 --> 00:58:29,448

Greg Emmert: Oh, I couldn't see the chat.

:

00:58:29,478 --> 00:58:30,108

Okay, I got you.

:

00:58:30,168 --> 00:58:31,098

Yeah, he, that was quick.

:

00:58:31,348 --> 00:58:32,698

No, really enjoyed meeting you guys.

:

00:58:32,758 --> 00:58:35,458

Brent, hopefully you'll make it

to OHCE would learn, love to learn

:

00:58:35,458 --> 00:58:37,618

more about OpenCampground and

what you guys are doing there.

:

00:58:38,098 --> 00:58:38,308

Brent Parker: Yeah.

:

00:58:38,308 --> 00:58:41,068

Greg Emmert: And to just to

push back against Matt a little

:

00:58:41,068 --> 00:58:43,348

bit, you can't replace this.

:

00:58:43,978 --> 00:58:44,368

You can't.

:

00:58:44,788 --> 00:58:45,418

Brent Parker: You're irreplaceable.

:

00:58:45,838 --> 00:58:50,588

Greg Emmert: You can't replace this, not

necessarily this, but the contents that.

:

00:58:51,398 --> 00:58:53,078

No it's certainly gonna be he's not wrong.

:

00:58:53,178 --> 00:58:55,078

Pretty soon GPT is gonna know.

:

00:58:55,268 --> 00:58:56,498

I use it all the time for my work.

:

00:58:56,498 --> 00:58:57,968

So it's learning everything that I know.

:

00:58:57,968 --> 00:59:00,098

Somebody else goes in and says,

oh, I want, I wonder what a

:

00:59:00,098 --> 00:59:01,238

feasibility study looks like.

:

00:59:01,418 --> 00:59:05,048

It's gonna draw from what it learned

from me in a billion other people, but.

:

00:59:05,313 --> 00:59:06,843

Working on some interesting stuff there.

:

00:59:06,843 --> 00:59:09,163

And that's also why I lean a little more.

:

00:59:09,233 --> 00:59:12,113

I think my due diligence end

is gonna go a long way for me.

:

00:59:12,143 --> 00:59:18,803

'cause until you can buy a robot, send

a robot to a property, teach that robot

:

00:59:18,803 --> 00:59:22,613

what to look for, I think I still gotta,

I gotta a good runway on that one.

:

00:59:22,643 --> 00:59:27,903

So if you wanna learn more about me and

what I do with Vireo, growwithvireo.com.

:

00:59:28,333 --> 00:59:31,603

If you don't like my website,

call Brian at Insider Perks.

:

00:59:31,603 --> 00:59:32,683

He designed it for me.

:

00:59:32,743 --> 00:59:33,763

I think it's beautiful.

:

00:59:33,763 --> 00:59:36,853

But if you have complaints,

just go directly to Brian and

:

00:59:36,853 --> 00:59:37,693

thanks for having me on, man.

:

00:59:37,723 --> 00:59:38,203

Appreciate it.

:

00:59:39,103 --> 00:59:39,433

Brian Searl: Thank you.

:

00:59:39,433 --> 00:59:41,413

Appreciate it Greg and

Brent, last but not least.

:

00:59:41,653 --> 00:59:42,313

Brent Parker: Yeah, same thing.

:

00:59:42,313 --> 00:59:43,723

I'll echo everything Greg said.

:

00:59:43,723 --> 00:59:44,443

Thanks for having me.

:

00:59:44,443 --> 00:59:45,103

I appreciate it.

:

00:59:45,103 --> 00:59:50,003

It's always good to have these discussions

of kind of forward thinking, right?

:

00:59:50,003 --> 00:59:52,933

We always tend to stay in the

moment and think, okay, how do

:

00:59:52,933 --> 00:59:54,373

I serve the customers today?

:

00:59:54,853 --> 00:59:59,173

But you always have to have an eye

out for, 10 years down the road.

:

00:59:59,758 --> 01:00:04,098

Now it's a year, two years down

the road, you're lucky technology

:

01:00:04,878 --> 01:00:06,708

is not gonna wait for you.

:

01:00:06,868 --> 01:00:08,453

Yeah, you have to keep up.

:

01:00:08,453 --> 01:00:11,363

So this is just a good reminder,

good discussion, reminder for

:

01:00:11,363 --> 01:00:14,813

me to say, Hey you may need to

make some tweaks that might be

:

01:00:14,813 --> 01:00:17,093

uncomfortable, but it's for the better.

:

01:00:17,263 --> 01:00:21,623

And, your customers will gain a lot

of value from it, and so just trying

:

01:00:21,623 --> 01:00:25,403

to find ways to show more value to

the customers I think is paramount.

:

01:00:25,643 --> 01:00:27,863

So no, this was a really good discussion.

:

01:00:29,033 --> 01:00:30,503

Brian Searl: Where can they

learn more about OpenCampground?

:

01:00:31,103 --> 01:00:31,283

Brent Parker: Yeah.

:

01:00:31,363 --> 01:00:32,533

opencampground.com,

:

01:00:32,923 --> 01:00:33,913

of course, is the website.

:

01:00:34,403 --> 01:00:38,143

We recently, went through a slight

change as far as, doing more

:

01:00:38,143 --> 01:00:41,093

enterprise, level features and benefits.

:

01:00:41,203 --> 01:00:42,893

So yeah, opencampground.com

:

01:00:42,913 --> 01:00:44,893

and if you ever need a demo

or anything like that, you can

:

01:00:44,893 --> 01:00:46,153

always feel free to contact us.

:

01:00:46,153 --> 01:00:46,873

We'll walk you through it.

:

01:00:47,573 --> 01:00:48,703

So yeah, we're excited.

:

01:00:49,993 --> 01:00:50,353

Brian Searl: All right, Brent.

:

01:00:50,383 --> 01:00:53,533

We'll definitely see you at OHCE

'cause you'll be there, right?

:

01:00:53,533 --> 01:00:54,673

You're promising us right now.

:

01:00:55,603 --> 01:00:56,233

Brent Parker: I'm gonna try.

:

01:00:56,623 --> 01:00:58,183

Brian Searl: No, that's not a promise.

:

01:00:58,183 --> 01:00:59,323

Brent Parker: I think my partners will.

:

01:00:59,433 --> 01:01:00,213

But I, yeah, we're gonna.

:

01:01:00,213 --> 01:01:02,313

Brian Searl: We need CEO, we need the CEO.

:

01:01:03,493 --> 01:01:04,903

You come and I'll get you a whiskey.

:

01:01:04,903 --> 01:01:05,833

Do you drink whiskey or no?

:

01:01:06,128 --> 01:01:06,688

You whiskey guys?

:

01:01:07,118 --> 01:01:11,243

Brent Parker: Yeah, I my, my wife just

bought me a Johnny Walker, Blue Label.

:

01:01:11,273 --> 01:01:12,653

It was our anniversary yesterday.

:

01:01:12,923 --> 01:01:13,373

Brian Searl: Oh, nice.

:

01:01:13,523 --> 01:01:14,213

Happy anniversary.

:

01:01:14,423 --> 01:01:14,603

Brent Parker: Yeah.

:

01:01:14,603 --> 01:01:15,383

28 years.

:

01:01:15,433 --> 01:01:16,233

Brian Searl: 28?

:

01:01:16,338 --> 01:01:16,628

Brent Parker: Yeah.

:

01:01:17,598 --> 01:01:18,368

Brian Searl: Congratulations.

:

01:01:18,443 --> 01:01:19,163

Greg Emmert: Congrats, man.

:

01:01:19,553 --> 01:01:20,063

Brent Parker: Yeah, thank you.

:

01:01:20,063 --> 01:01:20,453

Appreciate it.

:

01:01:20,633 --> 01:01:23,298

Brian Searl: I'll buy you a nice whiskey

and we'll talk about how OpenCampground

:

01:01:23,318 --> 01:01:26,408

can be really successful in the

future in a geeky way if you want.

:

01:01:26,888 --> 01:01:27,338

Brent Parker: Yeah.

:

01:01:27,368 --> 01:01:30,518

Brian Searl: Not that we need me, but I'll

give you some cool tips you ignore later.

:

01:01:30,938 --> 01:01:31,928

Brent Parker: No I love collaboration.

:

01:01:31,928 --> 01:01:32,288

I, I.

:

01:01:34,238 --> 01:01:34,568

Brian Searl: All right.

:

01:01:34,688 --> 01:01:38,018

Thank you guys, Brent, Greg, to Matt

who had to leave us a little bit early.

:

01:01:38,378 --> 01:01:38,888

I appreciate it.

:

01:01:38,888 --> 01:01:40,358

It's another good episode

of MC Fireside Chats.

:

01:01:40,358 --> 01:01:43,178

If you're not sick and tired of

hearing from me yet, in about an

:

01:01:43,178 --> 01:01:47,028

hour, maybe less, 53 minutes, I

will be on Outwired with Scott Bahr.

:

01:01:47,378 --> 01:01:50,493

We're gonna be talking about a couple

different topics today appealing to

:

01:01:50,493 --> 01:01:54,093

Gen X and or Gen Z, I think, and one

other topic that I can't remember.

:

01:01:54,453 --> 01:01:57,063

And then we're gonna talk about a little

bit of learning lessons and stuff on

:

01:01:57,063 --> 01:01:59,753

how to prepare yourself for the world

of AI, teach yourself some skills, stuff

:

01:01:59,753 --> 01:02:01,583

like that, and then the latest AI news.

:

01:02:01,583 --> 01:02:04,853

Other than that, we'll see you next week

on another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

:

01:02:04,853 --> 01:02:05,363

Thanks guys.

:

01:02:05,423 --> 01:02:05,963

Really appreciate it.

:

01:02:06,413 --> 01:02:06,578

See you later.

:

01:02:07,478 --> 01:02:07,718

Greg Emmert: Bye-bye.

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