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.
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.
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:And then everybody's gonna have their own
different version of OpenCampground that
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:works perfectly for them at their park.
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:Brent Parker: And you, it's funny,
Brian, you hit the nail on the head.
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:That's exactly what we envision
OpenCampground being, is that you can just
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:come in and build your own experience.
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:If you want a housekeeping tool, if you
want a maintenance tool or a portal or
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:whatever you want, just use the prompt.
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:We'll create it for you.
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:And there's no cost to that, right?
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:That's, I think that's the modern
way of, instead of having, 10,
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:15 engineers just typing away and
making new features, let the user
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:determine what features they want.
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:Brian Searl: Yeah.
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:And they'll be able to just
speak it into existence.
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:And that's been like.
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:And I almost take I don't want to, I
don't really mean this, but you see
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:all the people who are like, forever,
I don't need to adopt a computers.
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:I don't need to embrace technology.
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:Maybe they were right.
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:'cause now they can just talk to it.
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:Like ever since the Dawn
of computers, right?
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:You've had to learn PCs or learn Macs.
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:If you wanted to learn
Photoshop, you had to learn that.
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:If you wanted to learn CRMs,
you had to learn HubSpot.
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:What do I do with a spreadsheet?
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:I gotta learn Excel.
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:Now you just talk.
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:Not yet.
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:It's getting there.
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:You're gonna just talk to everything,
make me a spreadsheet, do this, do that.
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:You're not gonna have any
learning curve anymore.
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:So it's gonna open the door to all
kinds of creative use cases for people.
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:And this idea that it no longer do,
you have to spend 20 to 40 to 80 to
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:a hundred hours taking a course and
learning something and getting certified.
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:And I think that's great
for humanity long term.
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:It might be terrible for
software companies, what else
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:is come across our desk guys?
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:I'm happy to jump in if you
want me to, but Go ahead, Greg.
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:Greg Emmert: I, so this, it's not
necessarily what came across my
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:desk, but just what I came back from.
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:I just spent a couple hours with
TJM and from Campsite 360 he's
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:right up the street from me here.
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: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.
:
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Thanks guys.
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Really appreciate it.
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See you later.
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Greg Emmert: Bye-bye.