The latest MC Fireside Chats episode was broadcast live from the OHI booth during the OHCE Conference 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky. Brian Searl, Founder & CEO of Insider Perks and Modern Campground, hosted the chat. The episode brought together a powerful panel of industry leaders and campground owners who shared their personal paths into the sector, discussed the current state of outdoor hospitality, and offered key takeaways from the conference.

The panel included Terry Munoz, of Campground Consulting Group, Erica Edmonds from New Book, Mike Harrison, Chief Operating Officer at CRR Hospitality, Greg Emmert with Vireo Outdoor Hospitality Consulting, and campground owners Angee Cozik, and Patrick McCormick from Happy Acres Campground. They were later joined by David Basler, Chief Strategy Officer and SVP of Government Affairs at OHI.

Angee Cozik, reflecting on her past conference attendance, noted a shift from being a "wide-eyed and excited" first-time owner to now being able to spot the "new people," while noting the constant presence of great information and networking. Greg Emmert emphasized that the conference's enduring strength is the people and the ability to share knowledge, finding the energy of in-person discussions irreplaceable. Mike Harrison highlighted the record attendance and vendors, viewing the conference through four roles—attendee, manager, vendor, and speaker—and was fulfilled by the shared passion and commitment to service among attendees and award winners. Erica Edmonds expressed inspiration from the passion of the young professionals and their potential for innovation, stating she couldn't miss a conference as it's a step in pushing the industry forward. Terry Munoz, an industry veteran, concurred, noting the vital, irreplaceable networking and the constant need to reinvent oneself. David Basler reported that OHI is seeing growth in every single metric, including members and trade show size, and shared that the prospective owners' workshop solidified attendees' resolve to be in the industry.

A major takeaway for Angee Cozik was the surprising consensus from a panel that AI is "not ready yet," suggesting its development in the campground industry hasn't reached full potential. Mike Harrison, however, strongly disagreed, referencing his company's work with Insider Perks to roll out the Rigsby and Campy chatbot nearly four years ago. He cited the debut of the first-ever reservation AI agent that prevents missed calls and offers 2:00 AM booking, along with AI's essential role in modern SEO and generative search. Mike asserted that companies not using AI will already be falling behind. Cozik clarified that the panelists didn't forbid AI use but suggested not jumping in "feet first".

When asked about current trends in rates, Greg Emmert noted that he sees both the hesitancy of smaller operators (who fear losing guests) and the practice of charging high rates due to pandemic-driven demand. He cautioned that while high demand allowed rate increases, the camping public is now feeling squeezed due to inflation, potentially shrinking the pool of affordable parks. Mike Harrison refined the discussion by suggesting the focus should be on RevPAS (Revenue Per Available Site), not just ADR (Average Daily Rate), noting that every property's demand will dictate the correct price. He shared that his company realized they were leaving a considerable rate on the table at one property and is implementing a strategy to raise its ADR by $25, which could yield $2 million. Angee Cozik confirmed that the advice on not being scared to raise prices was a key takeaway that both she and Patrick McCormick are bringing back to their business.

The panel also shared their most interesting conference conversations and their "origin stories" in the industry. Patrick McCormick’s most memorable moment was being stopped by a subscriber of his YouTube channel, Travels with Delaney, which reminded him of the greatness of the RV camping community and its inviting nature. Terry Munoz’s highlight was speaking with a client ready to break ground after receiving permits, which brought back his passion for developing a blank slate and creating places for family memories. Erica Edmonds was moved by a conversation with a girl named Lauren affected by Hurricane Helene, praising the OHI Foundation for "swoop[ing] in" to give hope and relief. Mike Harrison’s interesting conversation was a non-business-related discussion with Eric Stumberg about travel, which he noted naturally highlights the value of networking and human connection. Greg Emmert expressed astonishment at the OHI team's hard work, seeing them constantly getting feedback and taking notes from attendees.

The panel also shared their personal journey, revealing a wide range of entry points into the outdoor hospitality industry.

Terry Munoz started his career in 1988 as a college student, initially taking a part-time job as a "Ranger" with Thousand Trails. His passion for elevating other people fueled his growth from that entry-level position into property management and development within the industry. Mike Harrison's journey had two distinct phases: it began in 1987 in food and beverage, which led to a 25-year career in the hotel business, driven by a passion for service. His second start in outdoor hospitality came as a result of being laid off during COVID, an event he refers to as a "misfortune comes fortune" moment that led to a great new opportunity.

Greg Emmert's entry into the industry was sparked by his father, who, suffering from "armchair quarterbacking," decided to purchase a campground. This "trial by fire" experience provided immense learning and is what keeps Greg in the industry today. Angee Cozik and her husband entered the business as a retirement plan after selling their body shops. Their first year was tough, but things improved significantly after meeting Patrick McCormick and investing heavily in their park. Patrick McCormick had a 35-year career in the hotel business before becoming a business teacher. He began RVing in 2005 and launched his YouTube channel, Travels with Delaney, in 2017. He connected with Angee Cozik via Instagram and was eventually promoted to manager of Happy Acres Campground, completing a "full circle" back into hospitality. Finally, Erica Edmonds transitioned from managing a grocery store during the pandemic to the outdoor hospitality industry, where she found an adventure that she loves.

Terry Munoz asked Erica Edmonds for ideas to boost OHI Foundation fundraising. Edmonds suggested increasing visibility by engaging young professionals to challenge attendees to donate and by showcasing the Foundation's impact through videos and interviews. David Basler announced that the next conference will be in Fort Worth, Texas.

Welcome everybody to another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

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My name's Brian Searl with Insider

Perks and Modern Campground.

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We are live here at the OHCE Conference

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Louisville, sorry, Louisville, Kentucky.

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We've been taught how to pronounce

the city many times, and obviously

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it didn't stick in my brain yet.

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We're excited here to talk with

you about all the things that

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are going on at this conference.

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We've had several days of

really exciting education.

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We've been in the expo hall,

it's wrapping up right now.

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You can see that behind me.

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All kinds of really good things,

education sessions and stuff like that.

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So we're here talking to a couple guests.

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We're gonna get their thoughts,

opinions, everything's gonna go live

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just like we normally do at the shows.

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So we're gonna go around here.

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We can start with Terry.

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You guys just wanna

introduce yourselves briefly?

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Terry Munoz: Yeah.

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Yes.

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Terry Munoz, Campground Consulting Group.

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I've been in the industry 37 years.

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Erica Edmonds: My name's Erica Edmonds.

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I work for Store World New Book, and

I've been in the industry six years.

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Mike Harrison: Mike Harrison Chief

Operating Officer at CRR Hospitality.

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Greg Emmert: Hi, Greg Emmert with

Vireo Outdoor Hospitality Consulting.

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Founder and principal consultant.

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Angela Cozik : I am Angee Cozik and I own

Happy Acres Campground in Angola, Indiana.

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Patrick McCormick: Hi, I am Patrick

McCormick and I'm the manager of Happy

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Acres Campground in Angola, Indiana.

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Brian Searl: Alright, thank

you guys all for being here.

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I appreciate it.

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We're gonna have a little bit of a

struggle maybe hearing each other

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on each side of each end, so just

try to talk as loud as you can.

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It wasn't really optimal to do the

thing on the couch, like that's

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the worst furniture you could ever

ask for a they weren't planning

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on it for me to be clear, but.

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So we're sitting here, we're

gonna have a good conversation.

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Really excited about that.

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So let's just start with like maybe

you're, is this your first year here?

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You, have you been here before?

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Okay.

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Second year here.

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So you were last year in Oklahoma City?

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Angela Cozik : No, I

was here three years ago

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Brian Searl: years ago.

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Angela Cozik : Three years ago.

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. Brian Searl: What city?

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Testing your memory.

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Angela Cozik : Kansas City.

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There you go.

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Brian Searl: Kansas City.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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So what are the differences and

takeaways you have maybe from

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Louis or from Kansas City to today?

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First conference, the second conference.

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Angela Cozik : Kansas City was

my first campground conference,

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first year owning a campground.

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So I was very wide-eyed and excited.

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And actually a couple people

actually called me out and

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was like, yeah, you're new.

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We can tell.

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So I think this year I'm probably

calling out the new people.

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Saying, yep, you're new.

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I could tell, but I, that's

probably the biggest difference.

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Still a lot of great information

and it's fun meeting new people and

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getting their take on what's going on.

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Brian Searl: What's the most

interesting thing that you've learned

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here at OHCE so far, this year?

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Angela Cozik : This year?

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Honestly, the very first panel

when all five or six guys that were

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up there said AI's not ready yet.

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Brian Searl: Okay.

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Angela Cozik : Because it seems like it's

really being pushed and pushed, but all

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of the, I mean, I think those guys are,

that's higher pay grade than me, so they

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probably know what they're talking about.

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So that was a little shocking to me that

they were just like, yeah it's coming.

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It's just not quite ready.

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I think they just meant that

the the development of it in the

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campground industry isn't, hasn't

reached its full potential yet.

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So it, it, don't jump in, feet first and.

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Brian Searl: This might be.

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Angela Cozik : That's how I can.

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Brian Searl: Back and forth.

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Mike, you want to take that?

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Mike Harrison, CRR Hospitality,

Award winner for AI innovation.

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Mike Harrison: It wasn't

for AI innovation.

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Brian Searl: Partially for AI innovation.

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Mike Harrison: Some of it was yes.

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Brian Searl: Partially.

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I'm just saying you could

weigh in on the topic.

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Mike Harrison: Absolutely.

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Supplier of the year.

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Thank you.

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So I've got a little bit

of a different perspective.

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We've been working with Insider

Perks and rolled out Rigsby,

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Campy for Insider Perks, almost

four years ago at this point.

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Was a chat bot and not a Verizon chat bot

where you're like, speak with an agent.

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Rigsby's hard to break.

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And then just a.

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A couple months ago, we rolled out

the first ever reservation AI agent.

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You can make a reservation at 2:00

AM you'll never get a busy signal.

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You won't miss a call.

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And that's just, the first glimmer.

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We're also working with Insider Perks

on several other AI innovations that

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are coming, but not just some of

those other things, but in general,

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the SEO that, Insider Perks and we're

doing is, generative and, using,

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the entire search structure has

changed with Google and the paid ads.

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And I disagree strongly because if you're

not using AI, you're gonna already be

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falling behind in the search, number one.

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And number two is, while there's

going to be evolution and continued

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innovation of AI, there's an absolute

use cases, all over the place in the

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industry we have for our company.

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What part of our leadership

strategy session in January is

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an AI mandate for our company.

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And how can we make sure that we

utilize AI in whatever ways they are.

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Right now, we're using 'em for competitive

shops, so instead of, taking those

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hours to call the competitors and look

at the rates and, et cetera, et cetera.

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Insider Perks is going to soon

roll out the version of that.

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Brian Searl: You're

putting words in my mouth.

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Mike Harrison: I don't know.

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So the, so I feel, and I don't mean any

disrespect the statement such as AI is not

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ready, means you're gonna be left behind.

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Yeah,

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Angela Cozik : I shocked.

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I've shocked and I heard

that come from them and they

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didn't say, don't use any AI.

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That's definitely not,

so don't let me misspeak.

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I just, I don't know.

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I was just shocked when I heard it and

all of them said it but they definitely

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said that there are applications where

it's useful and you should be using it.

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And so anyway.

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Brian Searl: I don't

think anybody's wrong.

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I think we all have our own

opinions, AI's, so new AI's

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moving really fast, right?

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So there's a room for

all kinds of opinions.

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The intention wasn't to say

you're wrong, he's right.

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Anything like that.

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It was just to say, there's different

perspectives and we all need to stay

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on top of it one way or another.

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Greg, what's the one thing that

you've learned here at OHCE that.

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Greg Emmert: Oh, the one thing

I've learned is that this thing

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continues to deliver every year.

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It might be bigger, it might be

smaller, but having come for the

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last, my first one was in 94, and I've

been coming on and off since then.

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Every year I'm reminded that the

strength of the conferences and

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its size is it's this right here.

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It's the people around you.

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They're our most precious resource.

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To get into a room with people in your

industry and be able to share that

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knowledge and have the conversations.

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Yeah, you can do a Google meet or a Zoom

call, but it's just, it's not the same.

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The energy's not the same.

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The feedback typically isn't the same.

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So yeah, if there's anything,

it's just, I'm always

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re-energized when I come to these.

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It's nice to see that it's ongoing and

there's still so many people here not

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just buying in, but putting in like

everyone here, even if they're not a

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speaker, if they're just an attendee,

they're putting something into the

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conference, there's nobody here that's

not a contributor at some point.

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Brian Searl: Same question to you, Mike.

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Mike Harrison: I've got

two perspectives on it.

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I think, one is, when we first

started coming, we were coming as an

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attendee, as an owner, and then we

started coming as a manager, and then

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we started coming as a vendor, and

then I started coming as a speaker.

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And so we do all four of those roles now.

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And so we use a different

lens in each version of that.

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And so it's interesting to see

how, you can view the value of the

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conference in each one of those lenses.

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And I find value in all of them.

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I think one of the things that we had

heard consistently is there was a bit

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of reticence about this conference.

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What is it gonna be?

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This is the second year since OHI

separated from the state associations and

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how's it gonna be and are people gonna go?

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And it's exceeded our expectations.

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The attendance I've heard, I don't know

if it's confirmed, is record attendance.

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It's certainly record vendors.

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And we're excited for that.

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I think the other part, which,

really is just fulfilling is, to

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see the passion around the industry.

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And you look at the various

service awards, whether it was

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Jim Button, or Rob Shooter.

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There are so many, good people in

this industry and, they all have

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the same mission, which is service.

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And whether it's helping another

campground, another owner education

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, gov, advocacy for the government.

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It's just impressive to see, the continued

contributions from all the folks.

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Brian Searl: Erica?

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Erica Edmonds: I think one thing

that just continues to inspire me and

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excite me about this conference is the

passion of the young professionals.

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We had an event last night and

there's so much passion in that room.

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There's so much potential innovation in

that room and to see those individuals

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communicating and hanging out and

networking and coming up with ideas and

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contributing to the industry to push

it forward, it continues to inspire me.

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And I, I don't think that I could

ever miss a conference because I would

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feel like I was missing a step in the

process of pushing the industry forward.

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And yeah it's incredibly exciting

and I'm thankful to be a part of it.

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Mike Harrison: So since Terry

qualified for young professional.

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Erica Edmonds: Terry is a

young professional plus.

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Terry Munoz: Hey, I'm a young

professional at heart and I was

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the OG of the young professionals.

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I was that property manager

attending this show back in the day

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for Thousand Trails when I first

started back in the early nineties.

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Greg, when I saw, the late

great David oh my gosh.

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Oh, I remember, I forget.

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I've known Dave Berg this morning.

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I worked with Dave for a long time.

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And that, that was special for

Rob to receive that award because

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they were such good friends.

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I worked with him on the board, but

David Gordon, who was what, who I was

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thinking of, he was on stage, right?

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He's talking and I was like, oh, what's

this thing called ARVC back then?

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And I quickly learned that there's

a lot to get from these shows.

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You can't replace the networking

that you, you have at this show.

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We have to constantly reinvent ourselves.

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We can't keep doing the same

old thing over and over again.

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And you come here and you get, like

you guys said, you get reenergized

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and you have that passion for the

industry and that's just reinforced

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when you come here and find other

people that have that same passion.

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And you build on that and you

make some lifelong relationships.

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Like we heard this morning those guys

up on stage that were receiving awards.

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Rob called out people that I've

worked with that are no longer here

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with us and, but we're pioneers.

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Definitely pioneers in this

industry and got OHI in this

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conference to where it's today.

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And it is.

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I did here, I did check record attendance.

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Record vendors, record attendance.

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That's amazing.

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Brian Searl: Alright, I'm gonna

try something new on this show.

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We've never done it before and I haven't

prepped the guest for this, but Erica,

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runs her own podcast, which is great.

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What's the name of your podcast, Erica?

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Erica Edmonds: It's the

Talk S'more podcast.

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Brian Searl: Okay, so I've been

doing these lives at OHI and KOA

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and I always try to come up with

interesting, unique questions.

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How about I have you ask each of these

people one a question that you wanna

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know, that you think would be great.

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Erica Edmonds: Oh wow.

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Okay.

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In, in my podcast, we focus

on the personal story of each

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individual working in the industry.

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And I'm always curious where everyone got

their start or got their inspirational

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moment of, this is where I wanna be,

this is what I wanna continue to do

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and I wanna help build this industry.

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Terry, start with you.

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Terry Munoz: Oh my gosh.

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That's where I got my start.

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I was a college student.

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I was looking for a part-time

job, and I started at a RV park.

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As what was called a Ranger

with Thousand Trails.

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I didn't know what that meant.

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I just saw it saw, I heard it was

a security guard position, and I

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started in May of 88, what holiday

is the end of May Memorial Weekend.

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I quickly found out that I wasn't just

a security guard, I was checking people

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in, I was greeting people, I was going

out and patrolling and making sure they

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weren't speeding and not parking on

the grass and doing all those things.

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And, I then I was off of

promotions along the way.

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And next thing I'm a property

manager at a campground.

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After I graduated school, college

and I guess it stuck 37 years later.

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And yeah and I guess what drove me to

do it was the love people because I

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got into training and I would train our

customer experience program and I would

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I love to elevate other people and see

them grow, and that's my passion too.

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It really has been a rewarding

experience over the years.

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Mike Harrison: I have two origin

stories, one is similar to Terry.

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My first hospitality job was back in 1987.

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I was a bus boy at Chili's and just

grew up in the food and beverage world.

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And then I was about

to fail outta college.

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I didn't know what I wanted to do

and so my friend was going on the

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Disney World College program and I'm

like, oh, I have to declare a major.

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And I'm like, I don't know what I

worked in restaurants, for seven years.

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And back then it was no

such thing as hospitality.

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It was restaurant and

travel administration.

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And so I declared a major, went to

the Disney World College program,

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and then studied in Europe and fell

into the hotel business for 25 years.

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And just, I loved the with passionate

around service, which I love

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just, I would love being a waiter.

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And that translated to just

the service for the customer.

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And then the second origin

story is an outdoor hospitality.

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And I'm not ashamed to admit, I was

laid off during COVID and through

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misfortune comes fortune and it's the

best thing that ever happened to me.

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The hotel business was obliterated,

obviously during COVID and they

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laid off 60% of the corporate team.

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I was the high priced remote

guy and I had to look for the

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next, position during COVID.

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And I looked in the hotel business.

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I was looking in residential and

senior living and asset management,

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and fell into a position was asset

management plus Phoenix in my job search.

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I didn't wanna travel as much,

which has completely failed.

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And so I met with the ownership group.

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They had one property, Verde Rancher

RV Resort, and really fell into a great

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opportunity, to form and build a company.

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With the ownership group that we're with.

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Outdoor hospitality has continued to

fulfill my zhuzh, for, spirit to serve,

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the people, the associates, the industry.

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And have really the best,

journey of my life and my career

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because of the misfortune.

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So

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Greg Emmert: I, I have learned on enough

of these podcasts not to follow Mike.

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You give the best answers

to everything, dude.

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That's an awesome, no, that's

an awesome journey though.

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But like mine, I have a

single origin story, right?

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I don't have a two pointer, but.

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It probably starts well back

before we bought our campground.

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'cause we were, I was fortunate enough

to have parents that loved the outdoors.

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So we camped, they, they grew up

camping in a tent with no floor.

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It was basically a tarp.

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They were dirt baggers.

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They worked their way up.

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By the time I'm about eight years old, we

have an RV and we're traveling that way.

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But then a disease bit, my dad,

and don't worry, it's not serious.

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It is called armchair quarterbacking.

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So like we did it long enough

and he was like, this'll be easy.

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We should, I don't want

to be a machinist anymore.

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Let's, I'm gonna buy a campground

and we're all gonna work together.

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And we thought, yeah, this would be great.

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And for anybody out there that's ever

done that, I feel you're paying it.

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If you haven't, but you

think that's a good idea.

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The treadmill's going

at 25, when you get on.

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There's no, you can't slow it down.

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So be ready.

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'cause it was about, I dunno, 12 hours

into our first day on opening day.

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And we were like, oh God, we're

not, we have, oh, this is, being on

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the other side of the counter is a

completely different, but it was the

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best because it was trial by fire.

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Like we were dropped into it.

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You don't have a choice.

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You gotta learn, adapt, bro.

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And 26 years later we sold the park.

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But it was a heck of a journey at that

time with the amount of stuff that I

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learned, can't trade it for anything.

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It's why I'm still in the industry.

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I could have run away when we

sold our park, but it's great.

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And the people in it are great.

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It's really hard to be.

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Angela Cozik : I have a similar story.

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I actually did not start

out in hospitality at all.

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My husband and I owned body shops, so

when you've wrecked your car, we fixed it.

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And.

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We ended up selling all of our shops

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I don't even know.

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And thought it would be a good idea as

a retirement plan to buy a campground.

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And the first year I cried a lot.

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Yeah, I cried a lot and I was

like, why am I doing this?

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Because I didn't have to do this.

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But then I met Patrick

and things got better.

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Learn, learned what I needed to learn,

and second year I didn't cry as much.

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And this year was absolutely amazing.

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So that's my story.

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That's.

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That's,

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we bought a very campground

that needed a lot of love.

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Let's just say that.

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Actually, I don't wanna

say any bad words here.

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Yeah, it needed a lot of love.

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And the first year there's a

lot of campsites he never used

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and I didn't understand why.

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So the first year on Memorial Day, I

am like, we're filling this thing up.

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It was bad idea.

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The power was failing everywhere we had.

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I was running back and forth.

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I was, I had to go beg all of the campers

to please only run one air conditioner.

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And it was so bad.

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That was, that is the worst single

worst day of my campground career

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was that first Memorial Day.

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I will never forget it,

but I learned a lot.

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And then the next week we got the

excavator out and started digging

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because we were doing new power.

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. Yeah.

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Oh my gosh.

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$120,000 a year.

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What'd we do?

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$470?

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$470.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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so I cannot take all the credit.

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I will.

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No.

382

Patrick McCormick: My journey started

35 years ago in hospitality, but it

383

was the hotel restaurant business

right out of Purdue and ran hotels.

384

And then, I don't know, at some point

I took a teaching job and taught

385

business and marketing courses for 28

years at Ivy Tech Community College.

386

Just retired this summer.

387

But in '05 we bought our

first camper, me and my wife.

388

'cause we wanted a way

to travel with our dog.

389

And that's how we got into RVing.

390

In 2017, I started a YouTube

channel, Travels with Delaney,

391

which we've had now for eight years.

392

And three years ago, I reached out to

Angee to say, Hey we'd like to do these

393

little events for our subscribers.

394

Could we host one at your park,

which was 10 minutes from our house.

395

My wife was tired of me scheduling

camp outs a thousand miles away

396

and the long travel to do 'em.

397

And so our relationship started

with a single Instagram message.

398

And in '22, I think it was, we

hosted an event and Angee and Kevin

399

said, Hey, let's work together.

400

We didn't really know what that

meant at the time, but, we started a

401

YouTube channel for the campground.

402

We started working together

on marketing last year.

403

Angee said, Hey, come to work for us.

404

I'm like, yeah, I'm not.

405

I got another year till I

can retire from the college.

406

So I was working two jobs simultaneously,

and then I retired this summer and at some

407

point Angee just promoted me to manager.

408

And so now I'm proud to say I,

I manage an amazing campground.

409

We have 91 sites and cabins in Northeast

Indiana, and we are the highest rated

410

Google Campground in the county now.

411

And it's because of Angee

and her husband Kevin.

412

They have put, I always tell guests

when they say, oh, this park is amazing.

413

I'm like, yeah, it was a dump.

414

Four years ago, Angee and Kevin put

over a million dollars in it, but I

415

always say I feel like I'm cheating them

when I say that because the stories I

416

hear from the first year about Angee

and Kevin shoveling stone by hand.

417

They have put blood, sweat,

and tears into this park.

418

And all I've done is come around

and tried to spread the word and

419

the, yeah, so that's my journey.

420

So I've went full circle from hotels

back into hospitality after a 28 year

421

career of teaching and I'm loving it.

422

It's great.

423

Brian Searl: All right, we're gonna

pass the mic all the way down.

424

We've been joined by the esteemed

David Basler, whose title gets

425

promoted, I feel like every two months.

426

So what's your current title?

427

You keep rising through

the ranks really fast, man.

428

David Basler: My, my current title?

429

Brian Searl: Yeah.

430

David Basler: Chief Strategy Officer

and SVP of Government Affairs.

431

Brian Searl: Steve keeps

adding something new, man.

432

David Basler: It does.

433

Brian Searl: Doing all the things.

434

David Basler: It does.

435

Brian Searl: So Erica, what

was the question for David?

436

David Basler: What was the question?

437

Sorry.

438

I'm late.

439

Erica Edmonds: What was your start in

the industry and what, was it inspired?

440

David Basler: My start in the

industry was, I was actually just

441

telling this story yesterday.

442

I came from Higher Ed.

443

I was working at the University of

Colorado Medical School, in marketing.

444

And at the time, ARVC needed

a director of marketing.

445

And long story short the commute to the RV

office was two miles from my house versus

446

an hour and a half to where I was working.

447

And I loved the outdoors.

448

I loved camping.

449

I was like, man, this could work.

450

And I had young kids at the time,

and so it it worked out great.

451

It was just a perfect fit at

the right time, basically.

452

And my inspirational moment I'm

gonna point back over to what

453

Patrick was just talking about,

these relationships that, that come.

454

What he just described to me

is the definition of what this

455

community, what this organization

and industry are all about.

456

You just, people in other industries

are cutthroat and competitive and it's

457

the exact opposite in this industry.

458

You could have a campgrounds that

are five miles apart from each

459

other and they want to be, they

want to see each other succeed.

460

So they are helping each other

out every chance they get rising.

461

Tide blazes, all boats.

462

If that's not inspirational,

I dunno, what is, you know.

463

Brian Searl: Give us an update on OHI.

464

How's the convention going?

465

Oh, okay.

466

You're right.

467

intro: Pass back.

468

I'll come back.

469

Erica Edmonds: Thank you all so much.

470

Completely inspiring just to

hear where everyone started.

471

And I start, I was managing an Aldi

grocery store in East Tennessee

472

at the height of the pandemic.

473

And I was looking around one day

after throwing truck, starting at

474

five 30 in the morning and thinking.

475

This is madness.

476

And I am miserable.

477

And my mom had worked in the industry

for a really long time and I was

478

having a conversation with her and

she was like, the outdoor hospitality

479

industry is doing great right now.

480

It's chaos, but it's a lot of fun.

481

And it's just send me your resume

and I'll pass it to my boss.

482

And you never know.

483

And I did.

484

And it was Ron Williams, who's now

with Blue Water and Robert Bose, who's

485

the VP of Travel Resorts of America.

486

They interviewed me at a small

campground in North Carolina and

487

gave me a tour and kind of told

me what everything was all about.

488

And I was like, this

sounds like an adventure.

489

This sounds like something fun.

490

I could meet people, be

out in the community.

491

Camping has always been something that

I've enjoyed as a child, so I just,

492

I jumped ship and never looked back.

493

And my first conference with OHCE was in

Kansas City and I never knew that there

494

would be any kind of space like this to

communicate and network and be around

495

others who loved what they were doing.

496

And my jaw was on the

floor the entire time.

497

And I had conversation after

conversation with individuals and after

498

every interaction, my first thought

was like, that's an amazing story.

499

And people, other people

need to hear that.

500

And the podcast eventually came

to be and the rest is history.

501

Mike Harrison: Yeah.

502

So something to do with hospitality.

503

Yeah.

504

But tell your husband's job.

505

'cause I think it's gonna a different job.

506

Erica Edmonds: Oh my goodness.

507

My fiance, soon to be husband, he is

a lighting designer, lighting director

508

and creative for a EW wrestling.

509

So he travels all around the country

and he does some amazing things.

510

He's brilliant and, I look up

to him so much and I'm done.

511

Don't make me cry.

512

Mike Harrison: But I wanna be, I get so

513

Erica Edmonds: he's the greatest.

514

Brian Searl: David, can you give us

an update on how OHI is going so far?

515

OHCE?

516

David Basler: I have a fun job.

517

That sounds really fun.

518

Terry Munoz: Yeah.

519

David Basler: Lighting director

for professional wrestling.

520

Kinda love it.

521

I love it.

522

Update on OHI.

523

Okay.

524

In Kansas City, we introduced

the new OHI brand last year,

525

earlier this year I should say.

526

We, introduced the start

of our new business model.

527

And that was a reset moment

for us as an association.

528

But thrilled to tell you that ever

since then, throughout the course of

529

the year, we've literally seen growth

in every single metric that we track.

530

We're growing in members we're

growing, as you see around you.

531

The biggest trade show we've had I don't

know the final numbers of attendees,

532

but it far exceeded last year and the

year before that, the year before that.

533

So I think growth, if I had to put

it into one word, which is great.

534

Brian Searl: What's the most interesting

conversation you've had at OHCE so far?

535

David Basler: We had brought back.

536

I can't remember when the last time

we did, I think it was three years

537

ago when we did the prospective

owners workshop in person the last

538

time we brought that back this year.

539

And so there were 50 participants of

the prospective owners workshop who

540

are, just getting into the industry.

541

And I've had a dozen or more conversations

with them about just in this short

542

window of time, how life changing, being

here, and not only going through the

543

workshop, but outside of the workshop,

having conversations with people like

544

on this panel and around, and how just

that has solidified their resolve and

545

their desire to be in this industry.

546

I think it also speaks to

what I said earlier too.

547

They just, they're excited to be part of

a, such an open and caring community, so.

548

Brian Searl: If I push you and say,

pick one that really stood out to you.

549

What's the one conversation

of anything in OHCE?

550

David Basler: I ate breakfast.

551

I ate breakfast yesterday

with a guy named Doug Grant.

552

I think it was yesterday.

553

It may have been two days ago.

554

Now the days are running together.

555

Doug Grant from Island Creek Campground

in William Wilmington, North Carolina.

556

He's getting it off the ground.

557

He's one of the, one of the prospective

owners and he was just over the moon,

558

excited the fact that dewitting and

the Carolinas Association had a booth

559

here and he could come and be part

of both communities at the same time.

560

I thought that was really cool.

561

Brian Searl: Nice.

562

Terry, same thing and most

interesting conversation.

563

Terry Munoz: Oh I'd have to be

with a client that just got his

564

permits and ready to break ground.

565

That's always exciting, right?

566

When they you help someone in there

they're getting near the finish line.

567

Because being involved in my, I

didn't say earlier, but my career

568

advanced into development and there's

nothing like taking a blank slate

569

and creating something special.

570

I can tell you from experience, and

he's gonna experience this when he's

571

done with this project, is there

was nothing that I could compare to

572

driving through that property that I

developed on the ground up on Memorial

573

Weekend and seeing every site full and

seeing families enjoying themselves.

574

Seeing kids that are gonna have their

first marshmallow roast, make their

575

first s'more making memories, right?

576

That's what it's all about.

577

And so to help someone accomplish

that and have those conversations,

578

that's pretty amazing.

579

Erica Edmonds: Mine would probably

have to be a conversation that I had

580

yesterday, right over here, just a

couple feet away while the OHI Foundation

581

was having their silent auction.

582

I was there and met with a girl who was

deeply affected by the tragedy from Helene

583

in the Carolinas, and her name is Lauren.

584

And I apologize for not remembering

exactly where her campground was, but she

585

spoke to the fact about how the foundation

really swooped in and just gave them hope

586

and brought some relief and it was such a

beautiful story and she was so grateful.

587

We had the OHI silent auction going on

at the time, and there was a bunch of

588

people around and it was like a community

moment, which is what this is all about.

589

And I'm gonna cry again, but

it was absolutely incredible.

590

And that's just something that, this

industry has built and provides and I

591

just think that we're incredibly lucky

to have that as a part of what we do.

592

Mike Harrison: If we're using the term

interesting conversation, I think mine

593

was, I had dinner with the business

forum last night and had a 30 minute

594

conversation with Eric Stromberg and those

who know me know 30 minutes is 29 minutes

595

too long for a conversation for me.

596

And we were talking about just how he

got his start and how I got our start.

597

It had nothing to do with our jobs.

598

And, I found out he's a world traveler.

599

He is gonna Cameroon, it's his fourth

year in a row of kind of a world

600

travel journey with his family.

601

They had a medical situation

previously and they just

602

wanted to live life and then.

603

My son is mountain biking through South

Africa right now with his uncle for

604

two and a half weeks and just a really

nice, connection moment if you will.

605

But, it just highlights and I don't

mean to be braggadocious, we were

606

honored with the supplier of the year

award and he is one of our partners

607

with Tango Internet, preferred partners

and as Insider Perks and Campground

608

Consultants, many of the other folks.

609

And those relationships contribute

to, what we're able to do.

610

Without those people

we can't do what we do.

611

And business begets business, right?

612

They refer us.

613

So it's funny how a connection

conversation, which is unintentionally

614

nothing to do with business, ends

up being business just because of

615

the networking and the human part.

616

Anyway, he is going to Cameroon.

617

Greg Emmert: Once again,

that's really hard to top.

618

Cameroon.

619

Cameroon.

620

Brian Searl: Do you want to just

move seats to the end, Greg?

621

Greg Emmert: I may need to, I may need to

apart from this conversation right here,

622

of course, this one's interesting by far

have been the ones that I've had with

623

folks from OHI watching Jen and Renata

and Riley and some of the other people

624

at registration work, their tail ends off

to pull this thing together, but not in.

625

Mike Harrison: Mustaches.

626

Greg Emmert: In mustaches.

627

Yeah.

628

There were mullets and

mustaches have been added.

629

In fact, I can see re's is still, it

looks like some sort of a, like a slug

630

moth caterpillar crawling across her.

631

Mike Harrison: Lorax.

632

Greg Emmert: She's got the Lorax name tag.

633

Watching them work this in real time

okay, so first they put in months

634

and months of work to pull this off.

635

But seeing them in the hallway, they're

being stopped and getting feedback

636

and taking it and taking notes.

637

I saw Jen hanging outside of a session

when it was over, listening to feedback,

638

and I stopped and talked to her and

she's I have some of the best ideas.

639

She opened her phone and she's reading off

the things that she's, I assume that when

640

people were talking to her, she was like

just furiously texting and ignoring them.

641

She was listening.

642

That's something I need

to learn how to do.

643

She's listening, taking notes as

people are coming outta sessions.

644

And then we had a

conversation and it's great.

645

I, but I am astonished at the

amount of work and I don't know why.

646

I look at this thing and it,

I should be as, it's massive.

647

It, I can't, I don't know what

it takes to pull this off.

648

I would not want to do what they

do, but I'm so grateful for them and

649

for the hard work that they put in.

650

Not just before but during.

651

So that conversation I had with her where

she was telling me some of the feedback

652

that she had gotten from attendees.

653

And then some of her own ideas.

654

And then I gave her some ideas.

655

She started walking away immediately.

656

I dunno what that was about.

657

I think she might have been ideaed out.

658

I might have topped off

and overfilled the tank.

659

But that's, yeah, the, my conversation

with Jen in the hallway, it was awesome.

660

Angela Cozik : All right.

661

I have a couple.

662

So the first one was with you

and you don't even know it.

663

So it was during the very first

breakout session for the central

664

area of the country, and you said,

665

don't be scared to raise your prices.

666

And that's actually a conversation

that him and I are on the same page,

667

but my husband is on a different page.

668

So it was refreshing to

hear your take on it.

669

So that's definitely a takeaway that

both of us are leaving here with, and

670

we've already told my husband but anyway.

671

Yes.

672

Yes.

673

Greg Emmert: And coming back.

674

Angela Cozik : Correct.

675

Correct.

676

But actually that right before that

on the very first presentation, we sat

677

down with three people who are starting

a, a campground in Tennessee and it's

678

still being built, I believe they're

like in the, it's not even open yet.

679

And it was really cool because I could

see myself four years ago in them and

680

all the questions they were asking and

they were just curious about everything.

681

And I so feel like I am.

682

A negative expert still on

all of this campground stuff.

683

And so them asking me, I'm

like, why are you asking me?

684

I don't know.

685

But I do know.

686

And it was just a nice

conversation to have.

687

So I would say that was those

two, those are my favorite.

688

Greg Emmert: Also perspective.

689

Angela Cozik : Yeah.

690

Yes.

691

Greg Emmert: I remember that.

692

Or somebody asked me a question,

I was like, no, you're looking

693

for something, your know.

694

Angela Cozik : Yeah.

695

Not me.

696

Greg Emmert: Yeah.

697

Patrick McCormick: I hope this doesn't

come across self-serving or, but yesterday

698

my wife and I were walking around in

here and a person says, oh my God,

699

it's the Delaney's, which by the way

is not my name, but everybody assumes

700

'cause our channel's called Travels with

Delaney that our last name's Delaney.

701

It was actually our cocker spaniel

and we started the channel.

702

But I met Chuck and Chuck's I

have watched you for years and.

703

You help me and my wife get to

know our RV because we do a lot

704

of educational type content.

705

And what it reminded me of

was how great this community

706

is, the RV camping community.

707

He's thanking me and I'm

saying, no, thank you.

708

And we started getting into discussions

about our journey as RVers and how

709

we both started with small teardrops

and slowly working our way up.

710

I'm a little ahead of him 'cause I'm in a

35 foot fifth wheel and he's in an intech,

711

but having him stop me and say thank

you, and then to get into that discussion

712

about the RV lifestyle, camping, and

just how great, we were talking about,

713

I, and I've always said this, if you

stay at a hotel and you walk down the

714

hallway and you say hi to somebody, they

almost turn around and go the other way.

715

When you pull into a campground

within minutes, you have best

716

friends on your left and your

right people are so inviting.

717

And so I think that was the one.

718

There were so many conversations

we've had with different park owners.

719

I would say another one that struck me

was through this three days, it reminded

720

me that the struggles we have on a

daily basis that we think is just us.

721

It's not us.

722

We're all in this together.

723

And I think that's what's great when you

bring people together like this you help

724

each other out and you realize like we

all have that same struggle of people

725

driving too fast through your park or

people leaving trash in the fire pit.

726

And those conversations reinforce that

we're doing the right things, we can

727

get better and we're in it together.

728

And I just really appreciate

that from this event.

729

It's been an amazing three days.

730

Brian Searl: One of the reasons that

I always ask about conversations is

731

that the networking, I think we'll all

agree here, the conversations we have

732

are some of the biggest, most powerful

takeaways at all these conferences.

733

So let's do another thing

that we've never done before.

734

We'll start with Patrick.

735

We'll work our way back.

736

Patrick, ask anyone here

by process of elimination.

737

So if Patrick asks David a

question, nobody else can ask

738

David a question, by process of

elimination, something you wanna

739

know from somebody else on the panel.

740

Anything you want.

741

Patrick McCormick: Ah, I'd love to ask

Angee, but I won't since I know her.

742

So I'm gonna ask Greg a question 'cause I

wanna follow up on the whole rate thing.

743

Angee and I are again, very aggressive

in yield management and using dynamic

744

pricing, but, what, in terms of what

you're seeing across the industry,

745

are you seeing rates actually being

pushed to where they should be?

746

Or are you seeing more like what

Kevin is, where it's like, Ooh,

747

I hate to raise rates on people

or I'm afraid people won't buy.

748

What are you seeing currently happening?

749

I know we're on the same page

of where we think it should be.

750

Greg Emmert: And thanks

for calling on me first.

751

' cause some of these people down here

would've asked me like a really hard

752

question, so this is a good one.

753

Thank you.

754

So I'm seeing, so yes to all, I would

say I see both, but then I'm seeing

755

a third thing happening that I think

could be, it not, could be, but

756

is problematic for some operators.

757

And Mike is, what time

is your session today?

758

Mike Harrison: 11:30.

759

Greg Emmert: 11:30 AM He's gonna,

I am, but a student, I would say

760

he is the master when it comes

to, to rate revenue management.

761

So we'll see if Mike agrees.

762

But I would say that two

things are happening.

763

You have the smaller, like single

park operators like I was, or

764

maybe like you guys are right?

765

You're mom and pop, you're we are

always hesitant to raise our rates.

766

I had a very similar dynamic to yours.

767

I, my, my mom and I were

like, look, we've, we went two

768

years without a rate increase.

769

I'm pretty sure we're losing money.

770

This is early on before we

had learned the business side.

771

And my dad would consistently say but

if we raise rates, everyone will leave.

772

They're all gonna leave 'cause

that other guy is cheaper.

773

And I'm like, have you been to

that other guy's campground?

774

It's got, so anyway, and that's

only one part of setting rates.

775

I don't wanna get into your

talk, but so that's one problem.

776

One, one issue, let's say.

777

Another one is that through the

pandemic there's this surge in camping

778

because everybody can go outside.

779

And I think people at a certain point

started to believe that they could

780

just charge anything they wanted.

781

And granted demand, I think,

drove that for a lot of them.

782

Because if your park is full day

after day, okay, supply demand

783

you can increase your rates,

you should increase your rates.

784

But there's also market data now

to show that the camping public is

785

really feeling squeezed because, so

we did all that at the same time that

786

wages weren't outpacing inflation.

787

And so yes, maybe the demand is there,

but we took the camping public and shrunk.

788

It was this really wide pool.

789

Sorry, Mike.

790

Now it's shrinking a bit, right?

791

It's fewer and fewer people are

able to afford certain parks.

792

Now does that drive other ones

to chase affordability Maybe.

793

But.

794

I don't know.

795

I guess to answer your

question it's yes to all.

796

And I see it, it's got

positives and negatives.

797

If you can get that higher ADR

consistently and you're full, that's

798

great because I'm certainly not advocating

for anyone to lower their rates or stay

799

artificially low to, to price yourself

for a certain subset of campers.

800

But at the same time, if affordability

is part of your core values and

801

that's part of your mission, okay.

802

You can also do things to,

to decompress rates, right?

803

Keep certain sites at a certain

price level, but then increase

804

offerings on other ones.

805

So you're capturing a wider,

you're casting a wider net, right?

806

So that when somebody comes in, they

don't see, oh, they've got a $50 site

807

and a $60 site, and that's the end of it.

808

Maybe it's $50, $60, $70,

$80, and then you've got

809

accommodation starting from there.

810

It decompresses the rates,

helps that a little bit.

811

I'm starting to realize that

I'm rambling and I should give

812

the microphone to somebody else,

but did I answer your question?

813

I don't even know if I answered.

814

Okay.

815

I answered the question.

816

So back now?

817

Brian Searl: No.

818

Now you gotta ask somebody.

819

Greg Emmert: Now I'm

gonna ask you a question?

820

Brian Searl: Yep.

821

Greg Emmert: Grade my performance.

822

Yeah.

823

Give them some actual, you gr, first grade

my performance, and then give them the

824

Grand Cuba rate and revenue management

without tipping your hand too much,

825

and we want people to show up to your

session so you don't wanna get mulled in.

826

Mike Harrison: So that's

a, that wasn't a question.

827

It, those are,

828

Greg Emmert: yes.

829

Yeah.

830

Mike Harrison: Okay.

831

Greg Emmert: That was all right.

832

Would you like me to

frame this question now?

833

Try.

834

I feel like I'm on jeopardy.

835

How did I perform in my response

to, I almost said Delaney, Patrick.

836

And then what would be your

take on the current situation

837

of rate and revenue management?

838

Industry wide.

839

10, 10,000 foot view.

840

Mike Harrison: Thank you

for the excellent question.

841

I would give you an A minus.

842

I think it was very good.

843

And the only reason I don't give you

an A is I just have a little bit, I

844

would add one more sentence onto it.

845

I think you, you answered the question

very well and I think the answer to

846

your question is, it depends, right?

847

And my answer to that would be

rev pass, not necessarily ADR.

848

And I don't know if you know what rev

pass is Revenue per available site.

849

And so every property is gonna have a

different answer to the rev pass question

850

and your customer, your demand and

your market will tell you what that is.

851

And one of the things, the second half

of our mission statement is to offer

852

accessible luxury value and fulfillment.

853

And does value mean cheap?

854

No value means the price that somebody's

willing to pay for your services.

855

And so what is the best value

that your campground can offer.

856

And so I would, suppose if

you wanna, use a supposition

857

that can you raise your rates?

858

It depends, right?

859

If you're at a 4.7,

860

which, and you'd mentioned you're

the highest, reputation management

861

driven property in the entire county,

then, without any other data, the

862

answer is yes, probably, right?

863

I'm a revenue management puba, however.

864

In my budget for one of my properties

865

as smart as we think we are.

866

And we've been leaving considerable rate

on our table at one of our properties,

867

and we have a strategy for next year

to raise that property's ADR by $25.

868

Total ADR, it'd be worth $2

million if it's successful.

869

And we realized that we weren't

following our own rules and we are

870

clearly the best property in the

county, but it's a ramp property.

871

It's new.

872

And we're going after business and

it just doesn't only mean it's gonna

873

drive occupancy and if we put our

rates up to where they should be are

874

we gonna lose any less occupancy?

875

Probably a little, if I lose a hundred

thousand dollars but I gain 1.9

876

million, what's the trade off?

877

So I think the answer to that

question is, it depends and you

878

focus on rev pass, and that'll help

you get the answer to that question.

879

I have a question for Terry.

880

I would love to understand and

know how you came up with the

881

concept and developed the retreat?

882

Terry Munoz: The concept to develop it.

883

I, I put boots on the ground and I

looked at this property that just

884

chased the, down to the water.

885

Ran down to the water, and it was a

challenge with topography as well as,

886

being in the city of Houston and having

permitting through that jurisdiction.

887

But I just envisioned a a property

that stepped its way down toward the

888

water because as we all know, when we

have a property we always look for that

889

destination location or something that

has a great presence in the market.

890

And water.

891

Being on water is typically

your number one amenity

892

followed by your swimming pool.

893

If you're, if you're not on

water your pool and your amenity

894

core, everybody goes to that.

895

But just building it around that and

tearing it down toward the property.

896

And then being creative with floodplain.

897

I know Greg said this in the

perspective owners workshop.

898

Just try to stay in Zone X, but my

comment is don't be afraid to explore.

899

Below that with creativity, right?

900

You, we can put things in the floodplain.

901

The code says we could

put RVs in the floodplain.

902

Now jurisdictionally, that's a

challenge, but that's what we did.

903

We utilized that property to its max with

the amount of floodplain that was there.

904

And a backstory to that property.

905

It was originally going to be large acre

home sites, but because of Hurricane

906

Harvey and the city building codes

changed because the city has jurisdiction

907

all around that wa, that body of water.

908

They could no longer do that.

909

So someone in the room said,

Hey, what about an RV Park?

910

Those are being built everywhere.

911

And someone said that's great.

912

We don't know anything about RV Park.

913

So I was lucky in that regard because

they found me and recruited me to do that.

914

But it was, again, a rewarding experience.

915

But to answer your question, just

being creative and creating that

916

that core area out of the floodplain

some properties surrounding it,

917

and just utilizing, maximizing that

property down toward the water.

918

Mike Harrison: Follow up?

919

Terry Munoz: What's that?

920

Mike Harrison: A follow up.

921

Terry Munoz: Oh, a follow up.

922

Mike Harrison: So while you're talking,

this wasn't originally part of my

923

question, but as Texas, released a

new law about submitting the FEMA plan

924

for any properties in her floodplain.

925

Considering about the retreat,

obviously what happened to Kerrville,

926

if you were building it today, would

you build it exactly the same way?

927

Terry Munoz: That's a great question.

928

And this came up actually in a session

yesterday that we had a breakout session.

929

It was actually a follow up to

the perspective owners workshop.

930

We had a a session and it did come up

because yes, there are some changes

931

and we have to be mindful of that.

932

And, jurisdictions are gonna be more

stringent even though there's some

933

guidelines that allow you to build, but it

depends on what that body of water does.

934

What are the characteristics of it?

935

Does it rise slowly or

is it a raging river?

936

And I think we need to address that

as we look because there's huge

937

opportunity to develop a floodplain.

938

But what does that floodplain look like?

939

I've managed a property under

my watch when I was a regional

940

manager for ELS that was on the

Colorado River in Columbus, Texas.

941

We had 24, 28, 36 hours notice of when the

Colorado River was gonna crest, and we had

942

88 sites down by the river that we knew,

Hey, it's time to go move picnic tables.

943

It's time to get people moved.

944

And we had a restroom in that section

that was built out of CMU block.

945

So it was designed to go underwater and

we could clean it up and open it back up.

946

But that over the years that I had that

property, it went underwater three or

947

four times, but we were able to recover.

948

So that would've be a case where you

could plan for that and ask for a variance

949

request or whatever you needed to be able

to build in that 100 year floodplains.

950

Oh my gosh.

951

You can put me on the spot.

952

I have, I've got nothing.

953

Let's see.

954

What can I ask?

955

Oh I wanna ask all of you, I'm big

in, into to fundraising, so I wanna

956

challenge all of you to come up with

ideas to help me in that regard.

957

But, Erica, how do you think the

foundation did with its fundraising

958

efforts at this year's conference, and

what do you think we could do to going

959

forward to help generate additional

interest in donating and helping to

960

support disaster relief and education?

961

Erica Edmonds: Yeah.

962

Thank you for that question and

it's a great question and the OHI

963

Foundation does a great job of being

present at these events and just

964

showcasing what they're all about.

965

We got the YP's involved this year

with the t-shirts with, you know how

966

to donate on the back of the t-shirt

from the event that we had last night.

967

And, if they selected to wear

one of those t-shirts 'cause

968

we had a select view number.

969

They were challenged to ask anyone on

the expo floor if they would like to

970

donate, and I think that's just, it's

getting the young professionals involved.

971

They wanna be involved, they

wanna be useful and they're a

972

hungry group of individuals.

973

And they're also looking for opportunities

to, to go and be boots on the ground.

974

They're looking for ways to give back

when natural disasters and things like

975

that happen to parks around the country.

976

And, so I think just visibility overall.

977

We wanna be out there, we wanna make a

mark, we wanna be seen and we want to

978

show the community what we're capable of

doing and what we're capable of providing.

979

And, fun videos and pictures and comments

and interviews and all that stuff.

980

It just creates that visibility

and helps, further extend

981

the arm of what we're doing.

982

And I think that if we keep that up,

our efforts won't come back void.

983

Yeah, of course.

984

Let's see.

985

David,

986

what do you see happening at next

year's conference in Texas with

987

OHI as far as the theme and how

everybody can get involved and what

988

you guys need headed into that event?

989

David Basler: The theme is

easy because Fort Worth just

990

makes its own theme, right?

991

We cowboy hat theme.

992

I imagine at some point there will be

some sort of mechanical bull of some, I

993

would guess, so if Fort Worth is gonna

be a fun community, fun town to, to go to

994

what was the second part of the question?

995

Erica Edmonds: What do you need how.

996

David Basler: Oh.

997

I think the number one thing you can do to

make the event great is go home and tell

998

all your friends how much fun you had at

this one, and how much you learned, and

999

how much you networked and all the things.

00:47:38,681 --> 00:47:40,801

And tell 'em why they

should come to Fort Worth.

00:47:41,191 --> 00:47:41,641

For sure.

00:47:41,911 --> 00:47:46,291

Be our voice out in the

community on social media.

00:47:46,291 --> 00:47:49,141

When you're talking face to

face, when you're at your state

00:47:49,231 --> 00:47:51,361

association, show, whatever.

00:47:51,511 --> 00:47:53,461

Tell 'em, Hey, you gotta be at OHCE.

00:47:53,911 --> 00:47:55,651

Yeah, thanks for asking.

00:47:56,181 --> 00:47:58,431

Angela, you haven't had

a question yet, right?

00:47:59,961 --> 00:48:03,811

What do you value most

about being a member of the

00:48:07,101 --> 00:48:08,881

OHI community?

00:48:10,036 --> 00:48:11,751

Angela Cozik : What do I value most?

00:48:11,801 --> 00:48:15,691

You guys do a lot of lobbying for

the campground industry, and I do

00:48:15,691 --> 00:48:19,191

appreciate that because obviously

as a small campground I have no pull

00:48:19,191 --> 00:48:21,841

or say so that is important to me.

00:48:22,286 --> 00:48:27,466

Indiana, the, our state of Indiana has

also done a lot in the state to lobby and

00:48:27,826 --> 00:48:30,436

create laws that help protect campgrounds.

00:48:30,436 --> 00:48:32,776

So I feel like that's

very important to me.

00:48:34,066 --> 00:48:36,466

But honestly, I enjoy

these kind of things.

00:48:36,496 --> 00:48:39,746

And in my previous industry we

used to do this kind of stuff,

00:48:39,746 --> 00:48:42,116

but it wasn't nearly as fun.

00:48:42,276 --> 00:48:43,506

We're like the fun industry.

00:48:43,506 --> 00:48:44,286

This is what we do.

00:48:44,336 --> 00:48:48,161

We, we f we come here and

figure out how to work hard at

00:48:48,251 --> 00:48:50,501

being more fun for our campers.

00:48:50,501 --> 00:48:52,541

So I appreciate that.

00:48:52,591 --> 00:48:53,911

I love the expo.

00:48:53,971 --> 00:48:57,241

There, there's always new stuff

here that I didn't know existed

00:48:57,301 --> 00:49:02,011

and didn't know I must have, so

I always find stuff like that.

00:49:02,011 --> 00:49:07,166

But, and then just the long-term

relationships that, that you build.

00:49:07,226 --> 00:49:12,496

The, I'm still in contact with people that

I met the very first the time I was here.

00:49:12,556 --> 00:49:14,206

So I think that's really cool.

00:49:14,256 --> 00:49:20,436

I have a campground now that whenever

I travel down to Florida that I stop

00:49:20,436 --> 00:49:24,036

at because it's halfway for me and it's

somebody that I met that very first time.

00:49:24,316 --> 00:49:26,836

I think that those are the

things for me that are important.

00:49:27,086 --> 00:49:30,356

Mike Harrison: I just wanna offer a follow

up to what you had said and get on my high

00:49:30,356 --> 00:49:34,256

horse for a second, on behalf of David,

you had said we appreciate OHI lobbying,

00:49:34,476 --> 00:49:36,036

we're a little campground, what can we do?

00:49:36,426 --> 00:49:38,736

And so what I would offer

up is, that's a great point.

00:49:38,736 --> 00:49:39,606

You can do a lot.

00:49:39,966 --> 00:49:44,136

And OHI regularly lobbies on

the hill and we have a voice.

00:49:44,196 --> 00:49:48,476

And so they a lot of times will ask and

reach out to campgrounds and say, Hey,

00:49:48,476 --> 00:49:49,791

we need you to go speak to your senator.

00:49:50,411 --> 00:49:52,061

And they'll bring the

campgrounds with them.

00:49:52,181 --> 00:49:53,351

And that's made a difference.

00:49:53,351 --> 00:49:56,021

We've had some wins with the

Credit Card Competition Act and

00:49:56,021 --> 00:49:59,081

some of the other, bills that OHI

has been working on behalf of you.

00:49:59,381 --> 00:50:04,281

And so the little guy matters, Scott

from Sonoran Desert RV Park and, other,

00:50:04,331 --> 00:50:06,251

campground owners and managers have been.

00:50:06,581 --> 00:50:09,881

And so I just wanna offer that a

perspective is, on behalf of David and the

00:50:09,881 --> 00:50:14,381

organization, anybody can help and please,

participate when they ask for service.

00:50:14,721 --> 00:50:15,861

That's a way that we can help.

00:50:16,096 --> 00:50:16,816

Service the industry.

00:50:16,816 --> 00:50:19,731

To get on my high horse there, and

it wasn't in dispute there, but I

00:50:19,731 --> 00:50:20,961

think that's an important point.

00:50:22,401 --> 00:50:24,291

Brian Searl: Alright, so for everybody

who's watching at home, you can

00:50:24,291 --> 00:50:25,671

see we did this at a special time.

00:50:25,671 --> 00:50:27,411

We've got about two minutes maybe here.

00:50:27,411 --> 00:50:30,831

You can see everybody's packing up behind

us on the expo floor, but that's why

00:50:30,831 --> 00:50:32,031

we did our show a little bit earlier.

00:50:32,031 --> 00:50:33,711

So I just wanna rapid fire go around.

00:50:34,131 --> 00:50:37,311

Patrick and Angela, can you tell

us where we can, they can find more

00:50:37,311 --> 00:50:38,781

information about your campground.

00:50:39,281 --> 00:50:42,201

Patrick McCormick: You can go to

our website camphappyacres.com.

00:50:42,371 --> 00:50:46,151

You can also find us on

YouTube, Instagram, Facebook

00:50:46,361 --> 00:50:48,431

and TikTok at Camp happy Acres.

00:50:48,821 --> 00:50:49,691

Brian Searl: And how about the Delaney's?

00:50:49,811 --> 00:50:51,461

Patrick McCormick: Oh, yeah.

00:50:51,461 --> 00:50:52,331

Travels with Delaney.

00:50:52,331 --> 00:50:54,941

We're primarily on YouTube,

Travels with Delaney.

00:50:55,091 --> 00:50:56,561

We also have a podcast.

00:50:56,691 --> 00:50:59,391

Travels with Delaney, the

podcast, very creative title.

00:50:59,601 --> 00:51:01,761

And then we also are on

Facebook and Instagram.

00:51:02,331 --> 00:51:02,661

Brian Searl: Awesome.

00:51:02,661 --> 00:51:03,391

Greg, Vireo?

00:51:04,056 --> 00:51:04,356

Greg Emmert: Thank you.

00:51:04,356 --> 00:51:07,336

Yeah, you can find out more about

me and what I do for Outdoor

00:51:07,336 --> 00:51:09,656

Hospitality at growwithverio.com.

00:51:12,066 --> 00:51:17,196

Mike Harrison: You can find out

about CRR on www.crrhospitality.com

00:51:17,556 --> 00:51:22,586

or coming soon to the S'mores podcast

because allegedly or many different ways

00:51:22,586 --> 00:51:25,736

that we're happy to help him participate

in the industry or follow Sammy and

00:51:25,736 --> 00:51:28,166

Calvin on Instagram, which are dogs.

00:51:28,666 --> 00:51:31,156

Erica Edmonds: You can find out more

about the Talk S'more podcast and myself

00:51:31,156 --> 00:51:33,466

on our socials, Facebook and Instagram.

00:51:33,826 --> 00:51:36,916

And I would challenge all of

you to join me on my podcast.

00:51:36,946 --> 00:51:38,476

These conversations have been so great.

00:51:38,476 --> 00:51:40,006

I can't wait to talk

more with each of you.

00:51:40,416 --> 00:51:43,866

And thank you to my

sponsors OHI and New Book.

00:51:44,046 --> 00:51:45,606

And you can check out

their websites as well.

00:51:45,966 --> 00:51:46,786

newbook.cloud

00:51:46,806 --> 00:51:47,706

and OHI.org.

00:51:48,876 --> 00:51:49,386

Terry Munoz: Awesome.

00:51:49,806 --> 00:51:54,086

You can find out more about me and

the firm at campgroundconsulting.com.

00:51:54,981 --> 00:51:57,501

Look there for all your needs

for full service consulting,

00:51:57,501 --> 00:52:01,161

everything except management,

and that's when you look to Mike.

00:52:01,881 --> 00:52:05,481

But also I also do a lot of

certified pool operator training.

00:52:05,691 --> 00:52:06,961

I do a big class through OHI.

00:52:06,981 --> 00:52:07,581

Watch for that.

00:52:07,581 --> 00:52:08,511

That'll be announced.

00:52:08,811 --> 00:52:10,941

And love to get your folks

certified through that as well.

00:52:13,051 --> 00:52:16,341

David Basler: You can

connect with OHI at ohi.org

00:52:16,541 --> 00:52:18,381

and the marketplace on ohi.org.

00:52:18,401 --> 00:52:21,531

You can connect with all of our

supplier members through some

00:52:21,531 --> 00:52:23,271

of whom were here at the show.

00:52:23,601 --> 00:52:27,381

And obviously you can connect in person

at OHCE and OHI Connect and National

00:52:27,381 --> 00:52:29,421

School and all throughout the year.

00:52:30,141 --> 00:52:30,501

Brian Searl: Awesome.

00:52:30,501 --> 00:52:32,571

For everybody who's watching

at home, obviously you should

00:52:32,661 --> 00:52:34,081

be here with all of us.

00:52:34,671 --> 00:52:35,721

So come here next year.

00:52:35,721 --> 00:52:39,291

But thank you to David, Terry,

Erica, Mike, Greg, Angela, and

00:52:39,291 --> 00:52:42,081

Patrick for joining us on another

episode of MC Fireside Chats.

00:52:42,321 --> 00:52:43,461

We'll see you guys next week.

00:52:43,791 --> 00:52:44,076

Take care guys.