The MC Fireside Chats episode on September 24th, 2025, hosted by Brian Searl, dedicated its discussion to the rapidly evolving intersection of Marketing, AI, and Technology within the Outdoor Hospitality and Recreation Industry. Brian Searl, upon his return from Ireland, welcomed an expert panel including recurring guests Mychele Bisson (CEO of Bison Peak Ventures), Kurtis Wilkins (RJourney), Cara Csizmadia (President of the Canadian Camping and RV Association, CCRVA), and Greg Emmert (Founder & Principal Consultant at Vireo), along with special guests Wesley van der Plight (EasySecure, The Netherlands) and Ari Smith (FatRat.AI & Balanced Farm Glamping).

The conversation began with updates, with Mychele Bisson sharing that Bison Peak Ventures had experienced a successful year and was in the process of closing its Alaska park for the season. The focus quickly shifted to automation when Kurtis Wilkins detailed RJourney’s emphasis on robotics, specifically for cost-saving tasks like large-area cleaning in clubhouses and utilizing automated lawnmowers, noting the strong demand that has led to sold-out production lines for these systems. Brian Searl reinforced this point by sharing the example of Figure's Project Go Big, which is deploying humanoid robots in residential units for chores like laundry and meal preparation, highlighting the swift acceleration of these technologies.

Ari Smith, whose background includes AI and computer science at MIT, confirmed the accelerating pace of production for these technologies, attributing it to massive investment. He connected his technical expertise to his luxury, off-grid eco-resort, Balanced Farm, which he and his wife built. Ari explained that they are leveraging various forms of automation, including a GPS-routed snowblower, and critically, a private LLM (Large Language Model) for localized intelligence. He stressed that maintaining a private model is essential for providing a personalized guest experience while ensuring data sovereignty and protecting customer information. Kurtis Wilkins validated this strategy, confirming that RJourney also utilizes a private model to protect their extensive customer data and business practices from competitors.

The discussion then turned to the challenge of industry adoption, with consultant Greg Emmert noting that AI changes "everything" in his recommendations, but the key obstacle is overcoming the resistance of "mom-and-pop" operators. He compared the struggle to the early days of teaching people about the internet and proposed introducing AI as a "gateway drug," suggesting simple uses like using the tool to "polish that email" to improve guest communication quality. Brian Searl countered that focusing on this entry point can be dangerous, suggesting that operators may miss the fundamental shift where AI agents will increasingly digest information directly, potentially making traditional concerns about website headlines and branding irrelevant.

Cara Csizmadia reinforced the urgent need for adaptation by highlighting a significant demographic shift in guests, noting that her 15-year-old son defaults to using Chat GPT with a voice interface to find campground information, completely bypassing Google. She stressed that current campground owners, many of whom have been successful by "doing things the same way," must recognize that the younger generation they need to attract has fundamentally different technological expectations. This led the panel to discuss the need for diversification and specialization, with Wesley van der Plight mentioning a successful Dutch park that caters specifically to a niche market: "girlfriend groups," offering tailored amenities like hot tubs and wine.

Bringing a European technology focus, Wesley van der Plight explained that smaller, independent parks in the Netherlands are often more innovative than larger chains, driven by competitive pressure. His company, EasySecure, developed the Ultimate Guest Journey solution to streamline the guest experience with seamless access control. This system connects to different software via APIs, allowing guests to check in and use a mobile key to open their mobile home, or even use facial recognition (with a dynamic QR code alternative) to enter the swimming pool. This high-tech approach means front desk staff only have to check in a small percentage of guests, enabling them to focus on being a "host again and not an administrative desk clerk."

The panelists agreed that this technology enables hyper-specialization and allows operators to cater to diametrically opposed customers. Ari Smith argued that an efficient, AI-driven backend allows operators to deliver high-touch service and economies of scale while still serving guests who want to completely "disconnect." He shared a personal example of an isolated Irish treehouse stay that successfully combined nature with smart home technology, such as automated retractable blinds, demonstrating the seamless blend of both.

In their concluding remarks, the panel emphasized that the convergence of aging demographics, rising guest expectations, and rapidly commoditized technology is creating an inflection point in outdoor hospitality. Kurtis Wilkins reiterated that the high-end luxury camping and glamping experiences, like those provided by Ari, are driving expectations upward across the entire industry. Ari Smith concluded by warning that the majority of operators who resist this change will either "fall by the wayside or get gobbled up," urging everyone to constantly look for opportunities to disrupt themselves.

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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I'm excited to welcome you back

for another episode of our podcast.

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Today is week four.

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I'm back after two weeks off.

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I don't haven't had a chance to watch the

episodes that happen while I'm was gone.

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I assume that our guest host Zach

Stoltenberg for the first week and

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Rafael from Blue Water for last week,

obviously did a much better job than me.

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The bar's like super, I don't

even know how far I can lean

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down right to be better than me.

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But so I'm assuming all those things

went really well while I was gone.

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Different topics every week, but

excited to be back from Ireland.

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I got my new gear on, like my

new hat that I bought in Ireland.

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It's the first time I've ever gone

on a trip that I can remember.

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And I was asking my girlfriend where I

actually came home with like new clothing.

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I like these hats.

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So I've always been looking

for this style of hat.

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And I finally found like a

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knits them in Donegal Island.

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And so I bought one of those.

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But, so this is my new kind

of I'm rebranding myself.

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What do you think, Cara?

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You've known me for a while.

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Does it look good?

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Cara Csizmadia: Yeah.

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Brian Searl: It, it can't look

worse than what it was without it.

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So I again, low bar.

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So.

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intro: A small improvement.

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Yeah.

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Brian Searl: So anyway

super excited to be back.

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Today is our episode.

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We're gonna talk about marketing,

AI, all those kinds of things.

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So we have a couple

recurring guests on here.

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We have Mychele Bisson.

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Is it Bisson?

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I like, I wanna pronounce it that way.

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It's Bisson, right?

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Mychele Bisson: It's Bisson.

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If you're gonna be French,

it's Bisson, but it's Bisson.

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Brian Searl: I was closer

to France like last week.

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Does that count?

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No, probably not.

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It's just a

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Mychele Bisson: it's actually

from Montreal, I think.

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So my husband's from Montreal.

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Brian Searl: Okay, so French Canadian.

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All right, gotcha.

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Mychele Bisson: Yeah.

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Still French, yeah.

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Brian Searl: So I really have no excuse.

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All right.

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Mychele is here.

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Welcome back.

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Excited to have you as a recurring guest.

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Kurtis Wilkins is here too.

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We're gonna go around the room and

introduce ourselves in a second.

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Csizmadia for the president

of CCRVA and Greg Emmert

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founder and principal at Vireo.

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Good Campground consultant

and all that kind of stuff.

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And then we have two of our special guests

here Wesley and Ari Smith from FatRat.AI,

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but also from a glamping

business too, right?

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So we're gonna talk about all kinds of

things, some interesting crossovers today.

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So do we wanna just go around the room and

briefly, guys, you can introduce yourself.

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Who would like to start?

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I can call in names if I need to,

but I figured you guys would just

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Wesley van der Plight:

I can start, no problem.

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So I only put my name Wesley because,

I can put it fully, but that's Wesley

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van der Plight, which is quite Dutch.

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I'm in the Netherlands right now,

I'm also from the Netherlands.

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Yeah, I'm working in the hospitality

technology industry for seven years and

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the past five years at EaseySecure and I'm

an expert in access control, guest journey

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experts in holiday parks in Europe.

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And we came up with the ID,

the ultimate guest journey.

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So that's I'm hoping to tell

you a bit more about and have

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some discussions about that.

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Brian Searl: You for sure will.

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Absolutely.

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We'll definitely gonna get into that.

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Who's next?

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Ari Smith: I'll go.

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I'm Ari Smith.

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I actually live right south of Montreal.

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You're just talking about.

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I live in the Northeast

Kingdom in Vermont.

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I my, my background is in I studied math

and computer science at MIT and started

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a company outta their entrepreneurship

division, sold it to subsidiary

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Microsoft, where I went to go work for

two and a half years in the telco group.

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But I also gotta work on AI

for the first time in my life.

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And just decided that's where

I wanted to live my life.

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Built an AI strategic consulting firm.

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And then once I, met my wife I basically

became obsessed with hospitality.

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She's an expert in hospitality and builds

like luxury, like off-grid eco resorts.

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And we merged our passions.

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I love like AI and smart tech.

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And she loves things that are beautiful

and that make people feel happy.

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And she infected me with

her passion for that.

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And so that's actually what

we're doing here in Vermont.

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We bought about 543 acres and we're just

building her vision with all my nerdiness.

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Brian Searl: Nice.

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That sounds really awesome.

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Congratulations.

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I'm excited to explore a little

bit more of that with you.

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Who wants to go first from our recurring

guest now that we've established

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our guests of the alpha in the room?

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Mychele Bisson: I'll go,

my name's Mychele Bisson.

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I'm the CEO of Bison Peak Ventures.

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We actually own campgrounds

from Alaska down to Florida.

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We jumped from luxury resort builds

into campgrounds a few years ago

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and actually fell in love with the

space and the people that visit them.

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We're always looking for new ways to get

new guests in and find new ways to run

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them more efficiently and streamlined.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Welcome.

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Thanks for being here.

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As always, Kurtis.

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Mychele Bisson: Yeah.

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Kurtis Wilkins : My name's Kurtis Wilkins.

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I'm with RJourney, and like Mychele,

we own campgrounds from Washington

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to Florida, California to Maine.

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We've avoided Alaska, but I'm interested

to hear from Mychele about Alaska.

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And we're a management company and I lead

our data science teams at acquisitions.

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Brian Searl: Don't tell him Mychele

he's probably gonna then get into

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Alaska and try to take it over and

it'll be a war and it'll be just, yeah.

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Don't give away your secrets,

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Cara.

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Cara Csizmadia: Thanks.

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Yeah, Cara Csizmadia president of the

Canadian Camping in RV Association.

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A former campground owner.

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I spent 15 years prior to

working on the association side.

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I owned a 200 site campground

just near Calgary, Alberta.

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I'm based near there still, but the

association's head office in Toronto area.

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So I get to kinda travel all

over Canada and often down

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south into the states as well.

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Nowadays supporting roughly 2000 privately

owned campgrounds across the country

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who are members of the association.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Thank you for being here as always.

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And last but not least, Greg,

listening to the Rain last and least.

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Greg, should we explain listening to the

rain or just let people leave hanging

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since that was before the show started.

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Probably just leave him hanging.

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Greg Emmert: I think you

can leave 'em hanging.

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What else do you need to say?

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Listening to the rain is just awesome.

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Brian Searl: Yeah.

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Greg Emmert: So yeah, hopefully there's

not too much background noise from me.

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I am founder and principal

consultant at Vireo.

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That's my consulting firm that I

started a little over a year ago.

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I've been in consulting

now for a few years.

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After I got out of the hospitality

industry like Cara, I used to be

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a park owner, so I did that for

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When you sell your job, you

need a new job, hence is the

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consulting work was born.

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So happy to be back on again

and yeah, thanks for having me.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, appreciate

you being here, Greg.

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Like I think the first thing we

typically start these shows off

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for is like to our recurring guests

Mychele and Greg and Cara and Kurtis.

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What is something that's come

across your desk in the last

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month since we've been together?

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Obviously the world of

AI moves super fast.

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We have a couple things that we can talk

about later that have come out, but is

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there anything that has really struck you

guys that needs to be paid attention to?

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And it could, doesn't

have to be ai, right?

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It could be marketing,

campgrounds, anything like that.

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Mychele Bisson: We actually had a

great year this year across the board

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we actually were up quite a bit.

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We just held the last the end of the

Sturgis American Road trip tour at one

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of our campgrounds, which was amazing.

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Had live music and concerts going on.

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So it was probably three

days of pure chaos.

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But everybody was great.

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It was amazing.

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We didn't have any issues.

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Brian Searl: And you're saying

about the biker rally, right?

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That goes the motorcycle rally?

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Yeah.

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Mychele Bisson: Yeah.

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It was a lot of fun.

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It was a lot of fun.

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It was great.

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Did a big bike competition.

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And then next week we actually

head up to Alaska to close

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down our park for the season.

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Brian Searl: See that Kurtis, you can

only run Alaska for a couple months.

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It's a bad, it's a terrible idea.

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Stay away from Alaska.

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Kurtis Wilkins : It's the same operating

season as Maine is what I've heard.

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Mychele Bisson: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It's pretty similar.

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But we do, because of where we're

located with it being a bucket list

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item, we do a massive influx of people

during the season while we're open.

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Yeah.

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It's just beautiful up there.

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Anyway, going through Canada, it's

just that entire trek is amazing.

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So

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Brian Searl: I've actually

never been to Alaska.

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I, surprisingly, I've never been

to Alaska like I've been to almost,

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I think I've been to every other

state in the United States, except.

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Mychele Bisson: You're gonna

have to come visit Brian.

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Brian Searl: I'm trying to

get it into my schedule.

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I had to go to Ireland and get a hat so I

could look cool when I went other places.

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Now I've got that checked off the

bucket list, so now I can actually

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go out into public more, I think.

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Mychele Bisson: Let me know when

you're ready 'cause we're in

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Valdez and we'd love to have you.

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Brian Searl: Alright Kurtis, Greg, Cara,

anything that's new on across your desk?

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Kurtis Wilkins : Robotics is actually

the thing that has been coming on our

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radar and it's been coming across my desk

for the last, it's been coming across

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my desk for the last 180 days, really.

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But like when you talk about

incorporating simple systems, right?

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Like we're not talking about

replacement of our bar staff.

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They have those robots.

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I don't know if I'm a believer that,

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but like just simple robots that

like, that mop and that do like

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large cleaning areas for like your

clubhouses and things that we don't

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realize we spend a lot of time doing.

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And that's coming to the forefront.

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And then also, I don't know how many

of you guys are, watch your lawnmowers,

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but lawnmowers are expensive.

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And there's been a lot of progress

made in that sector as well.

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Brian Searl: Lawnmowers are

expensive, but also people who mow

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lawns with lawnmowers are expensive.

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Cara Csizmadia: Agreed.

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Kurtis Wilkins : Yeah.

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Brian Searl: It's interesting.

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I was reading actually, Jessica,

you can share my screen real quick

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since we're talking about this.

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One of the tabs up at the top there,

it's called yeah, your screen.

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Sorry.

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Where is it, At the top?

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It's the, no, it's one of the

tabs right in front of you.

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It's project Go Big.

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So just hit share tab on the bottom.

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Jessica's been off for two weeks.

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She needs a little bit of, so do

I need to get back into the thing.

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It's called the project Go Big.

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So just scroll down and look for it.

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I should probably close like 70%

of my tabs so that she has an

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easier job of finding the things.

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Ari Smith: I've been seeing a lot of that

robotic stuff too, Kurtis, like that's

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a super interesting topic, by the way.

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Brian Searl: Yeah.

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So this is what we're,

this came across my desk.

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I'm gonna share this on one

of our podcasts or our other

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podcast Outwired later.

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We're gonna talk about some

of the employment issues and

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things that may or may not come.

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Yeah, just go back to the restream tab.

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And then this is project

go big from from figure.

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And Sorry Jessica,

you're struggling today.

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You're making me look bad.

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I'm kidding.

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I look my like on myself.

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So yeah, but you're right.

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Like a lot of these robotic companies,

like figure one X and these are very

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easily seen on YouTube videos, if you guys

want to go look and see what the future

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and how fast these things are progressing.

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But if you scroll down, this is a new

thing they released about seven days ago.

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You can go down and yeah, you can

play on that video and just see like

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they're partnering with a residential

company, Brookfield, that any of you

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in real estate probably have heard of.

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I think they own a hundred thousand.

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Yeah, they say a hundred thousand

residential units worldwide.

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And they're actually gonna,

they're putting these things

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like, these are not simulations,

these are not AI generated videos.

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These are like robots that are both

training in Brookfield's residential

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units and also using software from like

companies like Nvidia and stuff to learn

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how to operate washers and go to the

fridge and make meals and pack laundry

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and fold clothes and all the things.

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So this is, yeah, this is something

that like, I know you weren't getting

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this deep into it, probably Kurtis,

maybe you were, but like this is coming

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really fast and the only bottleneck here.

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Just like the only bottleneck

with AI software is compute

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and GPUs and data centers.

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The only bottleneck here is how fast

can you get 'em off the manufacturing

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line, which right now is not as fast

as we would hope, I think, but is

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quickly gonna scale up quite a bit.

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Kurtis Wilkins : Last I talked

to them, they told me I couldn't

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get anything for six months.

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But that's, and that's because they

sold out their entire production

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line for the next year, and so

they had to go build a brand new

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plant just to fill the next round.

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Brian Searl: You talked to figure

or someone at another company?

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Kurtis Wilkins : No figure.

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Brian Searl: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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These are gonna be like these I think

it's some point I was reading and I

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have it verified for the show later.

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You can stop sharing for now.

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Jessica.

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I have verified for the show later.

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Somebody told me there was like a thousand

robots a day they're putting in, which

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is not a lot when you think about the

economy, but like still it's quite a

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number of people who, for people who have

never seen these videos and have never

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delved into this, like somebody who's

like me, a geek with no life, right?

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Who watches this stuff like it's

really surprising to see like

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how far these things have come

and how ready they are to go.

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Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

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Ari Smith: Yeah, I have a lot of

thoughts, but I'll try to keep 'em

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brief because I could monologue forever.

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By the way energy is probably a bigger

model, those other things, but you,

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the points are definitely valid.

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And our supply chain is got a whole

bunch of other issues with it relative

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to our manufacturing capability.

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But like the reality is however

fast we think things are

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going, they're happening fast.

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There was just a conference at

Stanford and Google like two weeks

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ago and like the production is not

just they're not just ramping up, like

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they're coming online with this stuff.

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And when you look at all the different

initiatives like Stargate, like what

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the government's doing with Nvidia,

now, what's happening with like fabs

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and intel it's going to be much,

it's gonna come much faster than

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pretty much every public estimate.

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And if you listen to some of the folks

that are like working in this industry

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they'll tell you it's even faster still.

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So it's, we're gonna have these.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, the

data's clearly there, right?

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Like you can come at this from, as

most people do, outside of the AI

321

industry, not knowing even 5% of what

I do or you do Ari or anybody else like

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Kurtis who casually even researches

this stuff for their business.

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You can come at it from that aspect,

but if you look at all of these dollars,

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hundreds of billions of dollars, I think

it's almost up to a trillion this year.

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And data centers, I think was the

latest number I read commitments

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of $500 billion for Stargate.

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And then there's the new a hundred

billion dollar Nvidia partnership

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with OpenAI the other day, and like

just hundreds of billions of dollars.

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These companies are all

quarterly companies.

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They have to report to their

stockholders once every three months.

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Do you think they're spending this much

money for something that's gonna be in

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existence five or 10 years from now?

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This is coming quick.

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Ari Smith: Yeah.

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Not only is it coming quick, but because

there's so many unknowns with the guards.

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This, it normally would say, okay,

let's be a little more careful.

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But because we're in this

like game theoretics.

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Prisoner's dilemma type

situation with China.

339

Like we're just racing forward with

it's past a trillion by the way.

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It's already it's wild.

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And even when you factor in the UAE

stuff that has been going on, it is.

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Brian Searl: Oh yeah.

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Globally.

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Yes.

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Globally.

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I think it was.

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Ari Smith: It's just shocking.

348

But the US is agreements with them.

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Like it's unbelievable.

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Like the pace at which we are

racing ahead with this stuff.

351

So yeah, every time I think I know where

things are, I'm already wrong by the

352

time I've finished that thought process.

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So it's, and it's always, yeah, for sure.

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Brian Searl: Everybody's wrong.

355

Anybody who tells you they knows

what's happening is complete, including

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me, is completely full of shit.

357

So talk to us.

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This is a good, maybe transition Ari,

to your, your glamping business that is

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your wife's passion that has affected

you, but also your obvious interest in

360

AI and robots and all things technology.

361

Like how are, like, first of all,

tell us a little bit about your

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glamping operation, but then second,

lead that into like, how do you think

363

about this as the owner of a glamping

operation and also someone who's deeply

364

involved and passionate about AI.

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Where are you thinking

about taking your business?

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Ari Smith: So first of all, we our

space is called a Balance Farm.

367

And it's, my wife's like new vision of

what, like she originally built this

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off-grid like luxury, like eco resort

in like Folly, Joshua Tree and Mojave

369

and that, property did really well

and got lots of awards and whatnot.

370

So she's okay, I wanna take that and

now do a bespoke version in Vermont.

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And I'll say to you, Mychele I had,

I've been challenging the idea that we

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can only operate outside of the snow.

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We get five feet of snow up here

because we're on the top of the hill.

374

So it's even worse for us.

375

But we are going to

operate right through that.

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We got electric snowmobiles

and all kinds of wacky stuff.

377

We're gonna see, this will be our first

year trying to like, maintain, operate

378

because it's beautiful here, but it's hard

when you've got so much snow and cold.

379

Yeah, we're gonna see how that goes.

380

And I might be back to you later yeah.

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Should I listen to you?

382

That was, we're trying to put together

like basically a winter version of

383

what an off-grid like eco resort can

be and the role of automation, AI,

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computer vision language models, voice

interfaces, and just generalized robotics.

385

It couldn't be, there couldn't

be more ways to apply it.

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Like the, when you talk about those

the lawnmowers we were talking about,

387

like we have a modified like snowblower

that we, my engineer and I, we bolted

388

onto a system that has a GPS like

route engine that we put into it.

389

And so it can go and snow blow our

mile and a half driveway because

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we're really off grid and we've been

playing with these tools because it's

391

all becoming commoditized and there's

like incredible open source kits.

392

You don't have to have a huge

manufacturing operation or like a

393

lot of specialized capabilities.

394

You just have to have

a real passion for it.

395

And I guess, some basic, be

helpful to know something about

396

electrical engineering and robotics

design and systems programming.

397

But the point is, it's becoming so

commoditized and so available that

398

we're going to see, like what we're

doing here is pretty cutting edge

399

probably for the next three months.

400

Like we have a private LLM that,

is using our computer vision.

401

So it keeps all the data like locally

and is like recognizing guests and

402

can unlock doors and all that stuff.

403

We already seen that I custom

built is going to, there's like

404

toolkits that are coming out for

that to make it so much simpler.

405

And that goes across the board.

406

So we see, and we're using robotics

here fairly extensively, but it's all

407

because it's becoming commoditized.

408

I am, I can tell you with certitude

that this is gonna be the next two years

409

every operator, if they're not like

transforming themselves, not just with

410

AI and voice systems, but with robotics,

they're just killing like their margin.

411

There's so much money to be saved.

412

I don't have the numbers

up in front of me.

413

Anything in front of me.

414

So the camera, but I don't have

the numbers off the top of my head,

415

but we saw insane cost savings,

like I'm talking about energy.

416

And this was using AI to analyze energy

patterns, water usage monitoring septic.

417

Like we tried to integrate it everywhere

and this is gonna be some come something

418

where you don't even have to be like a

DIY hobbyist, nerd like me, you could,

419

you'll be able to buy systems to do this

for you with very little work inside

420

of a year and a half, I would say.

421

Brian Searl: That's the

transition point, right?

422

So I've been obsessed with this stuff,

like even just at my house, the smart

423

homes, the Google assistants, the,

home assistant to open source, right?

424

Setting up all this stuff.

425

But previously, like you're talking

about, you had to have a technology

426

background in some capacity, or at least a

willingness to figure all this stuff out.

427

But because it required mapping,

it required hooking things up, it

428

required ZigBee and Z-Wave and all

the right knowing all this stuff.

429

And that's where this turning point is

now with AI and robots, we're coming

430

into this era, like almost right now

with AI, with software AI, right?

431

Where like you're talking about,

it's gonna be plug and play.

432

I, I think I read OpenAI and Anthropic

or training agents that are specific to

433

like HubSpot or stuff like that, right?

434

Ari Smith: Yeah.

435

Brian Searl: Where you can just hire a

HubSpot CRM expert and it will come in

436

and we'll know everything about HubSpot.

437

And it will do whatever you want it to do.

438

And its only purpose is HubSpot.

439

Ari Smith: There is an interesting thing

on this point, which is why I actually,

440

let's mention the private LLM, right?

441

I do think that I just never use

like public like LM infrastructure

442

unless I'm building buildup for

clients that, you integrate with them.

443

But, and for.

444

Brian Searl: Sorry, for clarity,

for the people who are watching

445

LLM, Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini.

446

Ari Smith: Yeah.

447

There's large language models and

the kinds you buy say like Chat GPT,

448

Gemini, whatever, those, you can buy

access to their compute, but there's

449

also open source variance that you can

run locally if you know how to do that.

450

And it just, the only difference

is, you're a bit behind the, so

451

state of the art, but you have

complete privatization of your data.

452

So data sovereignty is key.

453

And one of the things that Hillary

mentioned to me my wife's Hillary she

454

mentioned to me about the industry.

455

Is that the customer

data is like sacrosanct.

456

And so the idea of log shipping that

information to a third party, like

457

I thought, oh, I bet this is going

to be a major point of contention.

458

And if it isn't, it's gonna be

disappointing in the way that everybody

459

gave away their data to Google and

now they're doing it to OpenAI.

460

I'm hoping that our industry, I

now call, say, all ours, though I'm

461

part of the hospitality industry,

not just building dirty stuff

462

where it's, I'm married into it.

463

I'm hoping that our industry

treats customer data much more

464

carefully than virtually every other

industry that I've encountered.

465

And I can tell you when you do this.

466

It's not just a matter of

protecting customer data.

467

There are incredible advantages

when you have data localized.

468

So I think at least for a bigger

operator like Mychele you have a sounds

469

like quite a substantial operation.

470

I could see this making

sense economically for you.

471

But even for smaller operators, the

price point, this is a non-linear

472

scenario, so the price point's going

to become really attractive even for

473

individual operators, I think very

soon to have localized intelligence.

474

And when you do that, you can start

providing unbelievably personalized

475

experience for customers without

fear that you're just training

476

OpenAI's models or whatever.

477

Kurtis Wilkins : And Ari, that, that's

actually exactly what our company did.

478

We have.

479

Hundreds of thousands of customers, right?

480

And how do we protect that information and

make sure that we're not giving that away?

481

As much as we wanna trust Google,

like they already have it.

482

I didn't realize that.

483

Brian Searl: I don't wanna trust Google.

484

Kurtis Wilkins : But anyway.

485

But the point is like you're

feeding in your business

486

practices and it's learned that.

487

And what happens?

488

So like Mychele and I we're friendly

competitors, but we're still competitors.

489

And Mychele if she was feeding all

of her data and the last thing she

490

wants is Kurtis to go in and be like,

oh, how do Bison Peaks doing this.

491

Mychele Bisson: Yeah.

492

Kurtis Wilkins : And that's, we moved

immediately to a panel and then maintain.

493

It's been fun.

494

Ari Smith: I feel like somebody in your

position who doesn't, you clearly share

495

some of my interest in this stuff.

496

If you're not interested in this.

497

Like my wife's what are you

doing with the wires now?

498

What are you building out there?

499

Why is that what those fans so loud?

500

But if you love this stuff,

it couldn't be more fun.

501

And you're securing your customers

and giving them better experience.

502

Kurtis Wilkins : I thought you were gonna

go into running ESP 32 chips with cameras.

503

Ari Smith: I don't feel like

that would be accessible.

504

I think I gotta avoid artio and those

type of conversations, but it would be,

505

there's incredible things that you can do

like robotics and even like local vision

506

systems that will, are gonna change the

way that people understand this industry

507

and the way that customers experience it.

508

Wesley van der Plight: And that's,

I know in, in Europe, right?

509

Brian Searl: Like I think the key for

people here who are listening to this,

510

who aren't tech savvy is to understand

that the age of being able to deploy

511

this without an Ari who knows all the

things, or without a Kurtis who knows

512

all the things or without even a me,

is quickly coming to pass, right?

513

You're gonna need some of us for the

higher level stuff, but like the lower

514

level fruits is gonna be pretty easy

to deploy if you're willing to put your

515

head down and think about some things.

516

Ari Smith: Yeah.

517

Brian Searl: Greg, what do you think here?

518

Like how does this impact you who've

been doing, like you've been doing

519

consulting for a number of years now.

520

How does this change what you

recommend to clients, what they

521

do, how their efficiencies and

margins work, what they're building

522

for the future or not building?

523

Greg Emmert: That's a great

question and I'll tell you

524

what it changes is, everything.

525

But no, realistically though, it does,

and it's really hard because a lot of

526

my clients, while some are like smaller

groups that own maybe 10 or 20 parks,

527

some of them are mom and pop operations

just finished a master planning call

528

that's been ongoing for weeks now.

529

And if anybody out there knows

this industry and knows the mom

530

and pop operator, and this is not

a shot at mom and pop operators.

531

'cause I was one of those,

my parents were one of those.

532

We are slow to adapt and it

has been very challenging.

533

I actually had a call with somebody,

Brian, you're gonna love this.

534

I had a call with somebody last

week and they said, the AI,

535

so if I wanna use the AI,

like throwback to who was it?

536

George Bush.

537

That was like the Google right?

538

In one of the press

conferences way back when.

539

Brian Searl: Was it AL or A1 that the

540

Greg Emmert: It wasn't A1.

541

Yeah, that's, I still

feel that was a bit worse.

542

But yeah, it's just, it's trying to get

them to understand the fundamental shift

543

in how they're gonna access information.

544

It really, in a way feels like I'm

trying to teach people about the

545

internet back when it first came out.

546

And you, what do you mean?

547

I don't have to go to a library?

548

Everything at the library is

on the internet plus more.

549

That can't be right.

550

I'm just gonna go to the library.

551

So it's, we're stuck in that realm.

552

So it's really, it's been challenging, but

really enjoyable because I like to teach

553

and so it's been fun getting people that

will accept it slowly, just baby stepping

554

them into it to understand what they can

do, the efficiency they can bring to their

555

business, or the elevation in the quality

of the work, even if it's just using it.

556

I typically start with

guest communication.

557

Okay.

558

How do you do it now?

559

How do you write your communications?

560

Okay you know what?

561

Use it to polish that email.

562

And I know that's kinda I've

seen memes about this online.

563

If you're just using AI to polish

your email, you're still like

564

napping flint in the stone age.

565

Alright, maybe.

566

But for some people, that's

where I can get 'em to start.

567

If they can see it, then that's

that's the gateway drug, then

568

I can get 'em going from there.

569

But it's changed everything.

570

It's an entirely different process.

571

When I talk to a guest now top to

bottom, how I communicate with them,

572

how I talk to them about communicating

with their guests and looking at how

573

to be more efficient on a daily basis.

574

It has changed the entire process.

575

Brian Searl: I think that's part

of the danger though, right?

576

Is is it is changing everything.

577

And so for somebody like really

fast or any, like Kurtis or

578

anybody, like when you talk about

like, where do you start, right?

579

You have to almost segment that

thing like email and say because

580

when you tell somebody it's changing

everything, they just look at you

581

like a deer in headlights, right?

582

Greg Emmert: Yeah.

583

You can't communicate that, right?

584

Brian Searl: Yeah.

585

And so we're dealing this with even our

team that we're trying, we've been trying

586

to retrain our team for two and a half.

587

We've succeeded, right?

588

But new things and new

things compound, right?

589

And we were talking to them this

morning about we have clients who just,

590

who are big marketing teams, and I

don't know how big your marketing team

591

is, Kurtis, or your team is Mychele.

592

And I'm not saying any of you

two are doing this, right?

593

But like we have marketing teams who just

don't grasp the concept that websites

594

are not going to be the gateway anymore.

595

And so for all the five, six people

on marketing teams who have agonized

596

for so long over the headline and the

header and the placement and the video

597

and the colors and the call to action

and all the things it doesn't matter.

598

And I had to prove it

to my team this morning.

599

I went on there and I said, look,

here's this beautiful website.

600

They agonized all this stuff and

the old couple doing this, holding

601

champagne and all the things.

602

And then you go to t and say,

tell me about this place.

603

And that tagline is nowhere to be found.

604

None of the, all the

words are regurgitated.

605

They're all different.

606

Your brand message is gone,

so stop obsessing over it.

607

But you can't have that story because

that story then leads to five of those

608

six people don't need a job anymore.

609

Ari Smith: Can I just make

a quick comment on that?

610

So first, actually, first of all, Greg,

to what you're saying I think there is

611

something to be said for the fact that

there, the problem is people like me, it's

612

not the customer saying the ai, it has

to be simple enough that they shouldn't

613

have to know that's not the right way

to deal with my, my 10-year-old thinks

614

that the AI is just a thing she talks to.

615

It's it just natural to her.

616

Yeah.

617

Like my, my, my brother or my uncle

it's just, it's a thing they had

618

to get used to, or it required

training, understanding and there's

619

obviously there's that spectrum.

620

So I think that what will actually

happen if we look at historical like

621

trends in business and like just

the straightforward econometrics.

622

Enterprise is adopted first.

623

So they'll be head of the mom and

pops, but then they get infrastructure

624

and they spend actually let's stick

with Mychele just 'cause I heard you

625

the way you described your example.

626

So you would wanna take advantage of

the economic efficiencies and you'd

627

be at a scale where you can do that.

628

Then you implement these systems and then

a year later, because of the unbelievable

629

pace at which things are happening,

a much better system comes in place.

630

But your cost to rip

and replace is onerous.

631

So now the mom and pop has the

opportunity to jump ahead because

632

they can take a system that costs

1/10, that is five times as good.

633

And this is actually a problem businesses

faced more than mom pops because it's

634

going to be so easy for them to implement

and the price is gonna come down and they

635

don't have those same pressures to adapt.

636

So they'll be able to get the cutting

edge stuff when it's really cheap.

637

And businesses that needed to think

about that quarter or that, like

638

that public filing or whatever.

639

They have to adapt quickly, which actually

gives them, it's some sort of like how

640

South Korea was able to jump right to

fiber 'cause they didn't have like copper.

641

Like we have, billions

we still try to rip up.

642

The other thing I would say is this,

that even to those people, like obviously

643

AI is really wholesale transforming and

wiping out jobs across the board, but

644

even to marketers, if they're thinking

the right way, it's yeah, okay, SEO

645

is probably not gonna be great 'cause

agents we're already building agents

646

that just are doing the browsing for you.

647

So it's not like you, websites are not

gonna be your, the main entry point

648

when people are just like, televising

glasses, Hey, get me the data.

649

They're not gonna be scrolling

through a lot of stuff and just get

650

the exact information they want.

651

But generative optimization is already

a thing where you're trying to, yeah,

652

figure out how do I make my site,

because it's indexed by these bots.

653

Make it appear to the agents

that are really the things that

654

are people's new entry points.

655

So there's.

656

For a lot of situations, especially in

this industry, which is probably one

657

of the most protected industries from

wholesale replacement because of the human

658

nature of like communication and empathy.

659

That even if you can get better

with an AI, you still want like a

660

biological entity to, to provide.

661

There is ways to adapt and to uplevel.

662

It's more a question.

663

I think this is to your point

Greg, it's like getting people

664

of all types to understand I

need to be thinking differently.

665

I can't just assume I'm gonna have my

skills and that those will take me like

666

I'm going to be obsolete me I've run an

AI company, I'm a solutions architect.

667

I designed these systems

that I'm talking about.

668

And they, I'm gonna be almost

completely, if not completely

669

irrelevant inside of three years.

670

So I have to adapt, so am I,

and that's nature of everything.

671

It's like constantly reinvent.

672

So it's a challenge we all face,

but it's an opportunity for the

673

people who are like thinking ahead.

674

Brian Searl: Yeah, so I'm not

saying like you go there, right?

675

I'm not saying like you go all

the way to I just don't all of

676

a sudden care about branding.

677

But you have to follow that, that

middle ground and start now and

678

think about how does AI read my site?

679

How does AI digest the information?

680

How does it summarize it?

681

How do I get the answer to as many

questions as I can, et cetera, et cetera.

682

And then eventually, as we know with

like humanoids, the reason humanoids

683

have fingers and toes and are six

feet tall is 'cause they can walk

684

through doors and use all the things

that exist in the world already.

685

The reason that AI agents use a

computer and a mouse and a keyboard

686

is because that's the easy way

to access all websites today.

687

Eventually everything's

a database and an API.

688

That's 20 years from now.

689

Ari Smith: That's definitely the future,

but also octopus robots, I believe

690

they'll be here after we get past.

691

Brian Searl: Eight arms.

692

I'm an eight chef in my kitchen.

693

That's what I want.

694

Wesley van der Plight: I think America

is a little bit different than the

695

European markets with the mom and

pops holiday parks, to be honest.

696

Because what we see in Europe, and

especially in the Netherlands, is that

697

that the smaller mom and pop that are

the bigger campsites in Netherlands,

698

but they are more innovative than the

big chains, to be honest, in Europe.

699

They trying new stuff.

700

They would like to keep up

ahead of the big chains.

701

And they were the first after

COVID to start with facial

702

recognition for the swimming pool.

703

What we do a lot seamless access

control, AI communication with the

704

guest so that the the girl at the

reception can be a host again and

705

not an administrative desk clerk.

706

And that's what we see in

Europe, that they are more

707

innovative than the big change.

708

I don't know, is that different

in Canada and in America?

709

Brian Searl: I think that's just

a lot of case by case, I think.

710

Cara Csizmadia: Yeah, I agree.

711

Yeah.

712

It's also a bit of a demographic issue.

713

Like Greg touched on, I think it

depends on the age of the owner.

714

And various other factors, how long

they've been in the business for

715

sometimes can impact some of those

decision making things and strategies.

716

I was just talking with my kid,

Ari mentioned his 10-year-old.

717

I, my kid is 15, asked me a question

about a campground and I was like,

718

I don't know the answer to that.

719

I know a lot about Canadian campgrounds,

but I don't know what if that one has a

720

pool or whatever off the top of my head.

721

So I said Google it instead.

722

He just pulled out his Chat GPT and

voice to, to his buddy on Chat GPT

723

asked him about this campground and he

got all this information handed to him.

724

He never opened Google once.

725

Whether it was true or not like

I think we need to be ready for,

726

my son is 15 now, but eventually.

727

He's gonna be he's out camp he's

going Camping this weekend with his

728

buddies, but eventually he's gonna

be the guy that's driving this stuff.

729

And he doesn't even care about Google or

any of this is so second nature to them.

730

And so there's that demographic

separation where you have campground

731

owners who have been doing things

the same way for a long time.

732

Brian Searl: Yeah.

733

Cara Csizmadia: And it's good for them.

734

And the, the campground's full, so

they're not worried about it now, but

735

eventually these, the 15 year olds are

gonna be the guys they need to capture.

736

And so getting ready for that is, I think

the big challenge for a lot of operators

737

here is like, how do you wrap your brain

around it and be prepared, given how

738

fast it's moving and be being prepared to

serve those clients that are coming in.

739

A handful of years, the whole

dynamic of all of this will be

740

that much farther ahead by then.

741

Wesley van der Plight: Yeah.

742

Most of the time they wait to

invest until their children are old

743

enough to take over the company.

744

But yeah, most of the time

they are a bit too late then.

745

Brian Searl: So walk us through some of

the things, Wesley, like your company

746

helps parks deploy this technology, right?

747

You said, yeah.

748

So walk us through some of the things

you've seen, because I'm excited

749

to see the difference of, what the

technology is available over there.

750

I think later, I'm trying to

think of the dates in my head.

751

There's so many conferences coming up.

752

End of October, I'm going to speak

on AI at a conference in Croatia, and

753

then I'm going to the set conference

after that in Montpellier, France.

754

So I'm interested, I'll talk to vendors

and all those kinds of things, but

755

I'm interested to hear the perspective

of the European market and what

756

you've been helping parks with.

757

Wesley van der Plight: Oh we

go there as well in France.

758

It's a huge fair.

759

It's great to be honest.

760

One of and.

761

Brian Searl: We'll have to have a drink.

762

We'll have a drink.

763

Wesley van der Plight: Yeah.

764

It's on, it's a good idea.

765

Yeah.

766

I think if France you can, I think

your hat will be fine over there.

767

Brian Searl: You think so?

768

It'll work?

769

Wesley van der Plight: Yeah.

770

Brian Searl: Yeah.

771

Wesley van der Plight: We'll

work, we'll get some wine.

772

Alright.

773

But EasySecure is a leading innovator

in access and identity management.

774

So we created the ultimate guest journey

and we worked together with different

775

software companies in the branch.

776

So we connect APIs basically.

777

Like Eric told us to make the

guest journey experience great.

778

We have a lot of data and we can send

this data to a company who makes apps and

779

can communicate with the guest with AI.

780

But we do the seamless extra journey.

781

So for example you book in a holiday

park before arrival, you get an email

782

or a text message or whatever your group

would like to receive for information.

783

You can fill in your number plate.

784

You make a selfie for facial

recognition in the app, and you

785

arrive, the barrier will open.

786

You will be checked in on the PMS system.

787

The host knows you are there.

788

You go to your mobile home.

789

You can open the mobile home with

a mobile key with QR or whatever

790

technology you would like to use.

791

So integrate in our platform

and no, then there is a problem.

792

The room is not clean yet, so you put

your luggage in and you go to the swimming

793

pool and you can enter the swimming

pool seamless with facial recognition.

794

And if you don't want to use

facial recognition, you can

795

use QR code, which is dynamic.

796

So it changed every time.

797

So we make the barrier higher for safety

because we had some campsites where

798

they have an inside pool, and then

the whole village was going to swim

799

over there when it was shady weather.

800

And now only the camp ground

people can swim there.

801

So that's basically what we do.

802

Brian Searl: It is interesting I mean

we, you talked about how there's a

803

perception from your side, I think, and

sometimes there's a perception depending

804

on the demographic, like Cara was

saying with how Europe is maybe moving a

805

little bit more faster with technology.

806

I think that's like true in other sectors

outside of what we're talking about too.

807

Like I know, like we're gonna, I

just said I was gonna go to Croatia.

808

I got, I was reading an article the other

day about how they're upgrading all the EU

809

border entry stations and Croatia is one

of the first ones on October 15th where

810

you're gonna go through and fingerprint

and have your picture taken for the

811

first time, if that's your, if you're

coming from outside the European Union.

812

And then just the, so the ease of

the border, the technology, the

813

facial recognition, like you don't,

I don't see that stuff anywhere so

814

far in Canada or the United States.

815

I'm not saying it doesn't exist,

but I haven't seen it like

816

there are kiosk in Canada, but.

817

Wesley van der Plight: I was

gonna totally GDPR proof.

818

Kurtis Wilkins : I wanted to

comment Wesley too on your

819

on your facial recognition.

820

That is an incredibly useful technology

in our sector because I cannot

821

tell you how much I want my front

desk staff to be able to go, Hi Mr.

822

Smith, thanks for coming back.

823

And it's because they have a picture

of them on their screen and they

824

know what his license plate is.

825

As he walks in, they'll be

prompted with that information.

826

Like we can make that experience there.

827

Like with the technology exists.

828

I'm more curious about how

you got everybody to like,

829

let you take a picture of 'em.

830

Wesley van der Plight: The, what

our vision is that the holiday is

831

not starting when you arrive at

the park you have to take them.

832

In the journey before arrival.

833

You totally do that for

sure, and you totally agree.

834

But we send them an email or a

WhatsApp message or whatever.

835

What we can do.

836

Please download the Camp Park app.

837

So there is a, an app of the Camp

Park itself, and there you have

838

all the information you need.

839

So without the app, you don't

have the whole yeah experience.

840

You have the chil, the children's

disco at what time is it?

841

You can order sandwiches,

but just everything.

842

Also upsell is great with this.

843

But you can also communicate.

844

And when somebody is downloading the app.

845

You can see in our platform

if the app is downloaded.

846

And if you are not, you did not

download it, you get a message again.

847

Or an AI can give him a call

and, Hey, you did not download

848

the app, do you need any help?

849

But if 80% is already downloaded, yeah.

850

And the numbers are higher, to be honest.

851

The season just quit in Europe.

852

But the most of the campsites,

it's 98% are downloading.

853

Yeah.

854

And yeah, if then the host only

needs four people to check in and

855

the rest just arrive and what a lot

of campsites do when they arrive at

856

their mobile home and they are happy,

everything is packed, they are relaxed.

857

Then somebody, a host is

coming by and ask them.

858

How is it?

859

They give them a bottle of wine and then

you have a different experience than

860

when you are in a line with 10 people.

861

And I had Astoria, I've become a

father last year and our first trip

862

we had to drive three hours and she

puked all over and it was a mess.

863

And yeah, if you then have to stand in

the line with a lot of people to get

864

a key, yeah, it's 2025 and I selling

a solution, which is much better.

865

So now the good thing is that campsite

also bought a system, but yeah, at

866

that moment I was not that happy.

867

Ari Smith: Yeah.

868

But Wesley, don't you find that so I

like, I, I spent a lot of time throughout

869

Europe and I always, my impression is,

like that the individual, like at the

870

individual adoption layer, like edge AI,

access control, smart, it's so hard to

871

even get like a breaker panel of circuit

breakers here that are like wifi control.

872

I have to wire 'em up with Shelly

devices and that stuff is, and even

873

like the DIN rail system, there's

so much better individual like

874

technology I think, or at least

adoption of that technology in Europe.

875

But at the enterprise level, it's yeah,

like there's no, like hyperscale cloud

876

really, or there's no like capital

intensity or like GPU infrastructure.

877

So it's like the enterprises I

think EU is like, they're killing

878

enterprise opportunities and AI

with GDPR and stuff like that.

879

But the indi but I've noticed this

exact it's just so odd that the flip is

880

highest return on the individual level.

881

They're almost always I know, I

agree with you Cara, that there is

882

demographic differences and whatnot.

883

Go to Four Simon in Germany find some

old hotel operators who are like pen

884

and paper, here's your key with a piece

of, but in general, I feel like Europe

885

is way ahead on the adoption curve, but

only individually, and that they're, I

886

can only imagine what it would be like

if they weren't being hamstrung by the

887

regulation, because I think it's, I think

it's a much bigger problem for operators.

888

So I think Wesley, your business has

great individual opportunity because

889

the enterprise is not addressing it in

a way that they might otherwise because

890

they can't, there's not even anybody to

address it because they're so restricted.

891

At least that's, that was my,

I'm just curious if that's

892

something that you found as well.

893

Wesley van der Plight:

I think I totally agree.

894

Brian Searl: Yeah, let me, lemme

throw this out here in as a

895

devil's advocate thing, right?

896

And this is pure speculation.

897

I have no data to back this up.

898

My data guy Scott, isn't even here.

899

But like pure speculation.

900

Do you think that the advancement of

some of this technology and some of the

901

practices that Europe has just in this

case, like other people have it right?

902

But Europe in this case, because we're

talking about that, has been helped

903

along in a much more quicker or expedient

way because of the more competition and

904

the need to compete for those people.

905

Because Germany is two hours from Paris

and you can go so many different countries

906

in so many different places and there's

so much more competition versus the

907

wide open US or the wide open Canada.

908

And because there's a huge demographic of

boomers over here who have, I think for a

909

long time not had high expectations of the

places that they were going to camp at?

910

Because they were, have always been

used to the, I just wanna pull in

911

and I wanna have my miniature golf

course and my pool for the grandkids,

912

and these are the things I expect.

913

And that feels like that expectation.

914

And we've talked about this a

little bit on Outwired Greg, right?

915

That feels like that expectation

is not moved for 50 years,

916

but now it's starting to move.

917

So do we think that's part of the

reason that maybe the US and Canada in

918

some aspects, not all, and demographic

based certainly, and location based,

919

is that part of the reason why.

920

Nobody wants to?

921

Greg Emmert: Yeah, I think so.

922

In some ways the, exactly what

you just described, right?

923

We're a bit stunted because that's all

that's been expected of us in some ways.

924

Brian Searl: You could fill

your park without, right?

925

Greg Emmert: Yep.

926

Yeah, absolutely.

927

Near a big enough population

center, there's still gonna be that

928

clump of people, that you

could probably draw from.

929

How big is your park?

930

How big is your market share?

931

It might change if, if you gotta

fill a thousand sites or something.

932

But for a small to medium sized operator,

you can stay stunted a little bit.

933

It doesn't mean that you're gonna

grow personally, that your business

934

is gonna grow in value, but you can

keep doing what you've always done.

935

And for a lot of operators,

that's good enough.

936

I'm not saying it should be by any means.

937

Please don't affect if you don't want.

938

Oh, right now.

939

Really?

940

Brian Searl: Oh, like a

lawnmower behind you or animal?

941

Greg Emmert: I got, no, I got

a jack wagon of a neighbor.

942

Nice to see you knucklehead.

943

Sorry.

944

Sorry.

945

I should probably be sitting inside.

946

Brian Searl: It's fine.

947

Greg Emmert: I think he figured

out I was on a podcast and

948

was like, watch me do this.

949

Sorry.

950

Anyway.

951

Ari Smith: First fist fight live

on MC Fireside Chats, Brian.

952

Brian Searl: Do we think that this

is starting to turn though, right?

953

'Cause we read these anecdotal

pieces of evidence that the

954

obviously needs studied more.

955

And again, I'm not the data guy.

956

I'm not here.

957

But do we feel like we have

these anecdotes of like the

958

boomers are aging, not aging

out, but also sadly passing away.

959

And there's more boomers that are aging

out or passing away than are coming into

960

the RV industry specifically, for example.

961

So this feels like this

shift has started to happen.

962

When does it begin to accelerate

to the point, either because of

963

economics or because the aging out

or because of whatever that park

964

owners, a majority of park owners

start to really feel like, oh shit.

965

Kurtis Wilkins : So I'd like to take that.

966

I think one is like Ari, like I

think groups like yourself, right?

967

Where you're building these hyper

specialized, hyper hospitality

968

you're like, okay, this is our focus.

969

This is our niche, this is our core.

970

And there are a lot of Americans that

are looking for that experience, right?

971

And I think that is growing.

972

I think it started.

973

I believe there is actually a

huge core Ari for your demographic

974

in that 45 to 55 range there.

975

Ari Smith: I think there will

be, or there getting there.

976

Kurtis Wilkins : But then as we

approach that younger group, I'm

977

seeing that shift as well, Brian.

978

And that's one of the things that

we're moving towards is, like I talk

979

about giving that hospitality approach.

980

One of the things that I immediately

called out Wesley's product is I have a

981

secondary use case here that accomplishes

how do I become more hospitable?

982

And so I believe that shift is happening.

983

I think it's happening faster and I

think that when we talk about AI, kinda

984

looping it back to the main subject,

like that's only accelerating it.

985

And so like our expectations of our

guests should be higher every year.

986

But I believe it's due mainly like

Ari producing that high level, that

987

high end luxury camping, glamping.

988

It really started 15 years ago, and it's

just picking up more and more momentum.

989

'cause it's that higher end hospitality

hotels, they saw that run from like

990

the early eighties all the way to now.

991

I look at the airline industry again.

992

Another great example

with Arab Emirates, right?

993

You can rent a bed and

a shower in an airplane,

994

Brian Searl: right?

995

We're again, we're talking

about like overseas, right?

996

Kurtis Wilkins : Yeah.

997

Brian Searl: We're not talking

about if you look at first class on

998

Delta, who's my loyal airline versus

first class on Emirates, right?

999

What in God's name are you

paying for upgrade for on Delta?

00:46:50,672 --> 00:46:51,572

Doesn't make any sense.

00:46:51,992 --> 00:46:54,482

Kurtis Wilkins : I think there's

campgrounds for all spectrums

00:46:54,482 --> 00:46:57,952

of consumers, but I think that

what we're seeing is the boomer

00:46:57,952 --> 00:46:59,782

generation, I shouldn't call 'em that.

00:46:59,812 --> 00:47:01,042

We should really learn their real name.

00:47:01,092 --> 00:47:05,292

But their generation, they didn't

have the, that wasn't an option.

00:47:05,292 --> 00:47:07,872

Like a cool new thing for

them was 50 amp service.

00:47:08,517 --> 00:47:09,837

Yeah, that was luxury.

00:47:10,137 --> 00:47:12,797

Now it's no, I need a concrete pad.

00:47:12,797 --> 00:47:17,027

There better be a barbecue there and it

better be overlooking the lake with a 15

00:47:17,027 --> 00:47:19,007

foot drop and I better have beach access.

00:47:19,057 --> 00:47:23,157

That's luxury now and then, providing

like an even more extreme version of

00:47:23,157 --> 00:47:28,127

that, which is it's a cabin and and so

I think that piece is what's evolving.

00:47:28,127 --> 00:47:34,697

It's driving that upper end clientele,

which then drives that mid-range clientele

00:47:34,697 --> 00:47:39,527

up, which then brings up that lower

end clientele and that natural cycle.

00:47:40,127 --> 00:47:40,727

Brian Searl: And I think.

00:47:40,727 --> 00:47:42,767

Wesley van der Plight: Boomers

are also using more and more than

00:47:42,767 --> 00:47:44,927

mobile phone, so you get more data.

00:47:45,287 --> 00:47:49,962

So you can also do more

specific marketing on them.

00:47:51,802 --> 00:47:54,292

Ari Smith: But there is like an

acceleration point here, right?

00:47:54,292 --> 00:47:57,952

Like it comes, we see this

happen whenever, like economic

00:47:57,982 --> 00:48:00,082

and like demographic forces.

00:48:00,082 --> 00:48:01,762

Like when they converge

it's what's happening.

00:48:01,762 --> 00:48:01,852

Yeah.

00:48:01,852 --> 00:48:03,622

The boomers are aging out.

00:48:03,672 --> 00:48:08,002

But all like the next wave of travelers

they don't even, they wouldn't even think

00:48:08,572 --> 00:48:10,672

like what we're doing is so special.

00:48:10,672 --> 00:48:15,142

What we're literally trying to do here

is, I try to figure out ways to do what,

00:48:15,142 --> 00:48:17,872

like they do at Aman or Blackberry,

all the places that, like my wife and I

00:48:17,872 --> 00:48:21,412

will like, love to go say, what are they

doing there and how do we automate that

00:48:21,412 --> 00:48:23,332

so we aren't paying a staff of five.

00:48:23,422 --> 00:48:27,792

So we can have a system that

costs me electrons and do better.

00:48:27,852 --> 00:48:30,942

Like where it's, there's, it's

gonna be running 24/7, it's gonna be

00:48:30,942 --> 00:48:33,882

like looking at their social media

profiles of the guests if they can

00:48:33,882 --> 00:48:37,092

find them and try to figure out what

things like proactively that they're

00:48:37,092 --> 00:48:40,852

gonna be interested in this hyper

specialized approach we're taking here.

00:48:41,032 --> 00:48:43,402

And I have seen, again, I've

seen this more in Europe,

00:48:43,402 --> 00:48:45,102

but I can guarantee you that.

00:48:45,562 --> 00:48:49,732

The cutting edge, like DIY

stuff, like what I'm doing.

00:48:49,762 --> 00:48:53,452

It actually is happening in

two places more than anywhere.

00:48:53,482 --> 00:48:58,192

One is in America, but it's tinkers like

the, your average adopter in Europe is

00:48:58,192 --> 00:49:02,632

going to be ahead of the states, not

because they're more tech savvy, but

00:49:02,632 --> 00:49:05,782

because they're more service focused

and the expectation is so much higher.

00:49:05,782 --> 00:49:06,652

So they don't have a choice.

00:49:06,652 --> 00:49:09,502

It's like I have to big provide

better service and they think

00:49:09,502 --> 00:49:10,492

about their bottom line.

00:49:10,612 --> 00:49:11,677

Brian Searl: That's what

I mean, the competition.

00:49:11,737 --> 00:49:12,277

Ari Smith: Way to do it.

00:49:12,352 --> 00:49:13,132

It's exactly.

00:49:13,372 --> 00:49:15,117

Wesley van der Plight: Think there

more competition, I think Brian.

00:49:15,387 --> 00:49:15,677

Sure.

00:49:15,897 --> 00:49:16,187

Ari Smith: Yeah.

00:49:16,327 --> 00:49:19,442

You just have to look at it as a force

multiplier and you can now do the things

00:49:19,502 --> 00:49:23,762

that like the Ritz does, you can do it for

pennies and that's what, that's literally

00:49:23,762 --> 00:49:27,362

everything that you know, we try to do

and I know that everybody else is going

00:49:27,362 --> 00:49:31,442

to be trying to do, and those forces are

going to keep pushing us no matter what.

00:49:31,472 --> 00:49:36,062

So it's just making sure adopt like that

operator's yeah, I'm gonna do this versus

00:49:36,302 --> 00:49:38,432

try to resist or anything else like that.

00:49:38,942 --> 00:49:39,242

Kurtis Wilkins : Yeah.

00:49:40,967 --> 00:49:43,257

Brian Searl: When does the point shift

though, for and to be clear, like

00:49:43,257 --> 00:49:46,947

for if we go back to like boomers,

as Kurtis wants to call them, what do

00:49:46,947 --> 00:49:48,297

you know their real name Kurtis, or?

00:49:48,442 --> 00:49:49,222

Kurtis Wilkins : I actually don't.

00:49:49,272 --> 00:49:51,627

I should, but I refer to

that demographic as boomers.

00:49:53,007 --> 00:49:53,667

Greg Emmert: That's them, right?

00:49:53,667 --> 00:49:54,597

They're baby boomers.

00:49:54,932 --> 00:49:55,472

Brian Searl: I baby boomers.

00:49:55,532 --> 00:49:55,682

Yeah.

00:49:55,682 --> 00:49:58,892

We're not, I'm not criticizing the

group of baby boomers or boomers

00:49:58,892 --> 00:50:01,292

for what they're liking or what

they expect or what's changed.

00:50:01,292 --> 00:50:01,742

You're right.

00:50:02,067 --> 00:50:04,167

As you walk through the

progression of what they want.

00:50:04,587 --> 00:50:07,657

My question is more of as I'm a

Campground owner and I'm looking at

00:50:07,657 --> 00:50:11,317

these boomers as we're calling them

baby boomers, whatever else, right?

00:50:11,317 --> 00:50:16,297

As their expectations have been slow

step ups to a pool, to a barbecue, to

00:50:16,297 --> 00:50:21,667

patio furniture, to concrete pads, and

those have been not easy, but much easier

00:50:21,667 --> 00:50:24,787

lifts for current parks to adapt to.

00:50:25,177 --> 00:50:29,197

Whereas what we're take talking

about now is like a leap, right?

00:50:29,767 --> 00:50:33,787

That's like a complete rethinking

in some cases of operational aspects

00:50:33,787 --> 00:50:35,707

of 80% of how you've run a park.

00:50:36,562 --> 00:50:41,542

And I think that's where at what

point do the expectations either flip

00:50:41,842 --> 00:50:45,232

or do the boomers spread out so much

because of all the new parks that have

00:50:45,232 --> 00:50:48,102

been built and all the new, things

to the point where oh, I've gotta

00:50:48,102 --> 00:50:51,882

pay attention to another demographic

besides just the people who want what

00:50:51,882 --> 00:50:53,442

they've always wanted for 50 years.

00:50:54,582 --> 00:50:54,882

That's or.

00:50:54,882 --> 00:50:56,322

Wesley van der Plight:

Focused on different groups.

00:50:56,382 --> 00:50:57,282

That's what we sees in the Netherland.

00:50:58,332 --> 00:51:01,642

So when does it get In the Netherlands

we have one chain, which is great.

00:51:01,642 --> 00:51:04,512

They focus on girlfriend groups.

00:51:04,542 --> 00:51:06,492

I never heard about it, but it is great.

00:51:06,912 --> 00:51:10,392

So they have the, those hot tubs,

they bring wine and the park is

00:51:10,482 --> 00:51:13,322

always full with, yeah, with girls.

00:51:13,712 --> 00:51:16,802

And the park owner is single

still, so I don't know what he's

00:51:16,802 --> 00:51:18,402

doing, but it's a great concept.

00:51:19,902 --> 00:51:21,617

Ari Smith: Wait, this

is specialized just for.

00:51:25,427 --> 00:51:25,847

Cara Csizmadia: Yeah.

00:51:26,687 --> 00:51:27,557

The girls groups.

00:51:27,557 --> 00:51:28,067

I love it.

00:51:28,097 --> 00:51:32,467

All the bachelorette parties and

the birthday parties and all that.

00:51:32,472 --> 00:51:35,977

My, my girlfriends and I would

absolutely go on a trip like that.

00:51:35,977 --> 00:51:36,577

For sure.

00:51:36,757 --> 00:51:37,477

No question.

00:51:37,987 --> 00:51:38,347

I love it.

00:51:38,347 --> 00:51:39,957

Brian Searl: Yeah, that's the

interesting piece of it though.

00:51:39,957 --> 00:51:42,897

And that requires we've also

talked about this on Outwired too.

00:51:43,327 --> 00:51:46,747

Is the idea that like, you don't need

to, just we have so many people we

00:51:46,747 --> 00:51:48,337

talk to from a marketing perspective.

00:51:48,337 --> 00:51:52,657

On my other, I don't wanna say hat 'cause

I do have another hat, but we talk about

00:51:52,657 --> 00:51:56,077

to them about Hey, you, most people come

in and they just wanna say, I need to

00:51:56,077 --> 00:51:57,927

fill up my park, I wanna target RVers.

00:51:58,642 --> 00:52:01,852

And they don't have a plan for, and if

you just sat down and figured out what

00:52:01,852 --> 00:52:05,392

your demographic was, what your area was,

who the people are already traveling to

00:52:05,392 --> 00:52:09,292

your area are, or that niche, if you're

near a city, if you can go after things

00:52:09,292 --> 00:52:14,277

like girlfriend groups or boy scouts or

church groups or whatever, if you sat down

00:52:14,277 --> 00:52:18,237

and really thought of that stuff, then

you wouldn't almost, maybe in some cases

00:52:18,237 --> 00:52:20,217

you wouldn't need to even touch RVers.

00:52:20,707 --> 00:52:22,957

Obviously girlfriend groups do

RV and stuff like that, right?

00:52:22,957 --> 00:52:24,267

But not the blanket group.

00:52:24,327 --> 00:52:28,527

You could fill a park of a hundred,

200 sites pretty easily if you

00:52:28,527 --> 00:52:32,577

just focused on the experience and

tailoring hot tub, wine stuff to

00:52:32,577 --> 00:52:33,657

the group that you're going after.

00:52:33,657 --> 00:52:36,717

Not just marketing to 'em, but providing

the experience that they will enjoy.

00:52:38,097 --> 00:52:39,027

Cara Csizmadia: Yeah, absolutely.

00:52:39,327 --> 00:52:39,417

Yeah.

00:52:39,417 --> 00:52:44,667

I think gone are the days of the

bare minimum kind of offerings,

00:52:45,237 --> 00:52:48,357

satisfying everybody, that

diversification is necessary.

00:52:48,627 --> 00:52:51,897

I will note, I know lots of

boomers, I think the majority

00:52:51,897 --> 00:52:53,247

of the one, the boomers I know.

00:52:53,517 --> 00:52:54,267

Brian Searl: What are their names?

00:52:54,367 --> 00:52:54,967

Cara Csizmadia: They're proud.

00:52:54,967 --> 00:52:55,652

Brian Searl: Sorry, i'm still

trying to figure this out.

00:52:56,642 --> 00:52:59,582

Cara Csizmadia: They would be, they're

proud that they're not, having these

00:52:59,582 --> 00:53:01,262

high expectations and stuff like that.

00:53:01,312 --> 00:53:05,202

They like the simplicity and those things,

those are qualities they're proud of.

00:53:05,202 --> 00:53:07,482

So I don't think we're

disparaging them at all.

00:53:07,792 --> 00:53:12,247

But, and I know my boomer

dad always is really?

00:53:12,247 --> 00:53:13,287

You need all this.

00:53:14,367 --> 00:53:15,087

It's just be simple.

00:53:15,547 --> 00:53:16,177

Yeah, I think.

00:53:17,567 --> 00:53:22,757

The diversification is valuable, but

it also then exposes that those other

00:53:22,757 --> 00:53:26,927

demographic groups who don't really know

that they want those things to great parks

00:53:26,927 --> 00:53:28,907

that are offering incredible experiences.

00:53:28,907 --> 00:53:29,387

And

00:53:29,437 --> 00:53:32,107

Brian Searl: Also, but you bring up a

good point too, is because like that,

00:53:32,107 --> 00:53:36,247

if you think about it as not just, I

want attract all the RVers, if you think

00:53:36,247 --> 00:53:39,127

about it, like there could be a park

that just wants to attract boomers.

00:53:39,847 --> 00:53:39,997

Cara Csizmadia: Yeah.

00:53:39,997 --> 00:53:41,167

Brian Searl: But you have to embrace that.

00:53:41,167 --> 00:53:43,117

And you have to say I'm

the disconnected park.

00:53:43,117 --> 00:53:46,687

I'm not the technology, I'm not the, and

there's an audience for that for sure.

00:53:46,927 --> 00:53:47,917

There's a huge number.

00:53:48,162 --> 00:53:48,282

Ari Smith: Actually.

00:53:48,282 --> 00:53:49,072

You can do both.

00:53:49,072 --> 00:53:50,392

I'll just tell you something quick.

00:53:50,392 --> 00:53:52,132

'cause it's so interesting

you just said that.

00:53:52,132 --> 00:53:52,972

I hadn't thought about it.

00:53:52,972 --> 00:53:56,542

But we have people, because,

we're in the middle of nowhere.

00:53:57,022 --> 00:53:58,732

It's two and a half miles

to my nearest neighbor.

00:53:58,732 --> 00:54:01,042

It's like just forest

every direction, right?

00:54:01,052 --> 00:54:05,237

I had to run my own fiber and

there's like nobody from miles

00:54:05,237 --> 00:54:06,347

that even knows what that is.

00:54:06,347 --> 00:54:08,567

Like they, my neighbor doesn't even

have a cell phone, like they're three

00:54:08,567 --> 00:54:10,517

miles down and road have a dairy farm.

00:54:10,697 --> 00:54:13,967

But the thing that I think is really

interesting is when you look at what

00:54:13,967 --> 00:54:17,327

you both said and see, they aren't

necessarily mutually exclusive.

00:54:17,477 --> 00:54:22,277

We had somebody come here just just four

days ago, and they explicitly were, they

00:54:22,277 --> 00:54:27,137

paid us to be able to just come and hike

and set up a tent and have no technology.

00:54:27,137 --> 00:54:28,187

That's not unique by the way.

00:54:28,187 --> 00:54:31,817

Like we get requests every week

for people to just come and

00:54:31,817 --> 00:54:34,097

disconnect and have that experience.

00:54:34,097 --> 00:54:38,697

We still use AI extensively for to make

sure that things are optimized for them.

00:54:38,697 --> 00:54:41,397

But it's not like they

don't even know it's there.

00:54:41,397 --> 00:54:46,637

Like the AI will tell our cleaner or like

our property manager say, Hey, this person

00:54:46,637 --> 00:54:50,867

is from here and we were able to discover

that they like this, so let's see if they

00:54:50,867 --> 00:54:55,397

want like maybe one of our guests, that

rep recommended Japanese shortbread and

00:54:55,397 --> 00:54:56,887

we made that and brought that to them.

00:54:56,957 --> 00:55:00,342

Like you, they don't have to

have access to the AI, or the

00:55:00,342 --> 00:55:01,842

technology to benefit from it.

00:55:01,842 --> 00:55:04,272

As an operator, you could still

benefit, but you can get both ends.

00:55:04,272 --> 00:55:06,822

Because we also have the people

who come and stay in our cabin

00:55:06,822 --> 00:55:08,082

and they're like, oh, it's cool.

00:55:08,082 --> 00:55:12,792

We can talk to the TV and say we'd

like the garbage to be, removed.

00:55:12,792 --> 00:55:16,902

Or if they could bring some firewood down

or you can get all ends of the spectrum

00:55:16,962 --> 00:55:20,592

depending upon how you set things up and

still benefit from the economies of scale.

00:55:20,592 --> 00:55:24,892

And I think that's what it it's like

how do you provide an AI driven backend

00:55:24,992 --> 00:55:29,042

without, or how do you provide, as the

operators for yourself a, an efficient

00:55:29,342 --> 00:55:33,482

optimized AI and technology first

backend, and then giving the customers

00:55:33,482 --> 00:55:35,552

the power to decide what level of.

00:55:35,557 --> 00:55:35,647

Brian Searl: Yes.

00:55:36,577 --> 00:55:40,207

Ari Smith: Information capability that

they want because it's, everybody can

00:55:40,207 --> 00:55:43,957

be served and you don't, you, I think

you have to use the technology hyper

00:55:43,957 --> 00:55:48,017

specialize to the customer, but maybe

you don't have to hyper specialize your

00:55:48,017 --> 00:55:51,527

operation, which could be expensive

and might be like a fad of sorts.

00:55:51,527 --> 00:55:54,227

So anyway it's something that is

interesting thing because I was