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MC Fireside Chats - June 24th, 2026
24th June 2026 • MC Fireside Chats, an Outdoor Hospitality Podcast • Modern Campground LLC
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In the June 24, 2026, episode of MC Fireside Chats, host Brian Searl led a discussion on the adoption of artificial intelligence and technology in the outdoor hospitality industry. He kicked off the conversation by questioning why many campground owners gladly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on physical amenities, like miniature golf courses, but hesitate to invest minor amounts in high-ROI digital marketing or AI tools.

Matt Whitermore, Director at Unhitched Management and Climb Capital, explained that the push for technology is largely driven by economics. While legacy owners without mortgages can afford to coast on lower margins, new investors entering the space face high debt and must rely on technology to optimize revenue. Matt shared how he personally uses AI tools like Claude to build efficient, automated workflows that segment customer databases and personalize email marketing, tasks that previously required a massive amount of manual labor.

Adding to the conversation, Scott Lengel, Chairman and CEO of AdventureGenie, argued that consumer behavior is already forcing campgrounds to adapt. Modern RVers use AI to research destinations and negotiate prices, meaning owners must use the same tools just to keep up. Scott advised park owners to use platforms like ChatGPT as free consultants to analyze their websites and discover what guests actually want. He also highlighted how AdventureGenie sets itself apart from generic AI by offering highly personalized, RV-safe routing and tailored campground recommendations.

Craig Alsup, Owner of Askew’s Landing RV Campground, shared his real-world experience of turning around a 40-year-old, outdated park. By leveraging AI to generate phone scripts, create daily maintenance checklists, and analyze customer feedback, Craig saved countless hours of operational brainpower. This strategic use of smart technology and data optimization directly contributed to his park's massive success, taking them from just 108 Google reviews at 4.1 stars to nearly 1,300 reviews at a 4.88 rating.

Ultimately, the panel agreed that the industry is heading toward a tipping point. Matt and Craig emphasized that as younger generations seek out unique, nature-immersed experiences over traditional "parking lot" RV resorts, the parks that refuse to innovate their operations and optimize their digital presence will inevitably be left behind.

Transcripts

Brian Searl:

Welcome everybody to another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

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My name is Brian Searl with Insider

Perks, Modern Campground, and my dog

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here who is a lap dog and will not

leave me alone but loves the outdoors.

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So say hello to Riley.

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Excited to be back here

for another episode.

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It's our fourth week episode.

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We're going to talk about AI,

technology, all kinds of stuff like that.

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We got one of our recurring guests.

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It's summertime, Matt, like

everybody seems to be missing and

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out having fun except for, us.

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But welcome back.

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Matt's one of our recurring guests.

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I think

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maybe Cara will show up, but we'll see.

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She's supposed to be here today, but

then two of the people are traveling

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Mychele and Kurtis is busy too.

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And then excited to welcome

two of our special guests,

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Craig Alsup and Scott Lengel.

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Did I pronounce your guys's name right?

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It's really tiny on my little screen.

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Scott Lengel.

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I forgot an L, didn't I?

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All right.

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It's really small.

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You have no idea how tiny this

is on my phone because my studio

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is in the back of a running.

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But anyway, so we're going to have a

good conversation about AI, talk about

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a bunch of guys' companies, things

like that and some of the stuff that's

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happening in the world with technology.

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So let's just go around the room

and briefly introduce ourselves.

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Matt, you want to start?

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Matt Whitermore: Yes.

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Hey Brian.

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I'll be gone next month.

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I do have a family.

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We do go on vacation, so I'll,

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Brian Searl: not on Wednesdays.

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What day do you go on vacation, man?

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Matt Whitermore: Yes.

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So I am director at Unhitched

Management and Climb Capital.

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We are an operator and third-party manager

and investor in campgrounds, RV parks.

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And we are approaching 40, 40 assets

either under management or owned.

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We just closed on one in Branson,

Missouri as of yesterday.

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So that's exciting.

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New market for us and that

one should be a lot of fun.

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Excited to jump into AI.

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I I spend way too much time on

Claude code about 12 hours a day.

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Love, love to talk AI.

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Brian Searl: Which one did you, it's, I'm

assuming since it's closed, it's public,

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so you can say which one in Branson?

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Matt Whitermore: Yes.

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It is called Musicland Campground

in in Branson, Missouri.

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Brian Searl: I've been to the

KOA there a bunch of times.

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We used to do work for them

way, way back when I don't know,

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eight, nine, ten years ago.

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It's a good property, but yeah,

Branson's an interesting city,

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especially during Christmas time.

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Matt Whitermore: I've only

ever been for the conference.

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I gotta check it out for Christmas time,

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Brian Searl: the conference is

almost during Christmas time.

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Christmas in Branson starts in I

actually, I don't even think Christmas

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in Branson stops, but I think it actually

starts in like September or October.

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All right, Scott, introduce

yourself, please, sir.

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Scott Lengel: [inaudible]

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Brian Searl: we can't hear you, Scott.

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You look like you're muted.

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Scott Lengel: [inaudible]

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Brian Searl: Still nothing.

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All right, Craig, you want to go

while Scott figures out his mic?

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Craig Alsup: Yeah, hey.

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So I'm Craig Alsup.

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I own Askew's Landing RV Campground.

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We are a family campground in Central

Mississippi, right along Interstate 20.

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We're pretty close to the Vicksburg

National Battlefield and some of that sort

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of Civil War history, stuff like that.

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So we get tons of guests come

through that are going to the parks

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and doing those types of things.

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So yeah, I do a little consulting

with other park owners here and

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there just around marketing and

systems and things like that.

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Some of the stuff that I've learned

over the last few years of turning

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around a really old campground.

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Because that's where I

started out in this world.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Welcome to the show, Craig.

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Appreciate you being here.

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Looking forward to hearing

what you got going on.

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Scott, you got your mic going?

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Scott Lengel: Yeah, can you hear me now?

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Testing one, two, three.

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Brian Searl: We gotcha.

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Scott Lengel: Hey guys, how you all doing?

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So yeah, I'm Scott Lengel, the

CEO and founder of a company

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called AdventureGenie, which is

an AI-based trip planning tool,

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application, system, website that

caters to the RVer, the camper,

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the traveler even the road warrior.

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And we started a few years ago

after I had a quite a long career

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in the technology industry.

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I spent a couple of decades with a little

firm out in Seattle called Microsoft.

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And then me and my wife retired,

started traveling the world.

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COVID happened, started RVing,

and the rest is history.

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Brian Searl: Never heard of Microsoft.

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I've heard of Macro Hard

that Elon is starting, but I

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haven't heard of Microsoft.

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Welcome, Scott.

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Appreciate you being here.

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Excited to jump into more

about what AdventureGenie does.

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So typically I'll ask and start the

show to our recurring guests, like

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just Matt this week, but something

that's come across your desk.

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But I want to kick off

something first, Matt.

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And I want to just talk a little

bit about the adoption curve

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of some of this technology.

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So we, we have these shows

once a month, obviously.

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I do my Outwired podcast.

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I'm big into AI.

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Matt, we've covered your journey

and how you're getting big into AI.

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Obviously I'm sure Scott is, we'll

find out how much Craig is, right?

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But one of the things that interests me in

this industry is, and you've always heard

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this narrative long before AI, right?

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Is that campgrounds are further

behind in technology than hotels

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is the common theme, right?

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And I talked to a guy yesterday who does

like flooring or something like that.

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And he was like, the flooring industry

is so far behind the campground industry.

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And I thought we were behind, but then

I come into campgrounds and I see this.

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And so I want to talk a little

bit about this adoption curve

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and get you gentlemen's thoughts

on some of this stuff because it

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confounds me, to be honest with you.

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And I know that, and I know that people

take time to change, and I know people

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take time to adopt new technology.

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The speed at which AI is moving is

obviously a whole different animal.

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But I'm just curious of your

thoughts as to why that happens.

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And here's what triggered

this conversation for me.

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I was looking at Mark Koep's Facebook

group the other day, and someone,

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I don't even remember his name,

but you can go find the post if

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you really want to know who it is.

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posted about I'm getting quotes for a

new miniature golf course at my property.

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And stay with me, I promise I'm

going to loop back around, right?

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And he said, and in the comments they

were like, we've gotten quotes from

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people who will build this miniature

golf course from $15 to $20,000 a hole.

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And a nine-hole golf course he wanted

to run was $175,000 is what he was

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quoted by a couple companies to

build this thing at his campground.

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And so I went and did

the math with AI, right?

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And I said, if you have, let's

say a seasonal campground that's

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100 sites, you're 70% occupied.

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You look at your 12 to 16 weekends over

the summer where you're probably that

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high occupied and then midweek and then

you, that ends up being like, and then

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you throw in like 2,000 extra people

randomly who might just hit you weekends.

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If every single person who stayed

with you, every single one of them

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played miniature golf for three

to four dollars a hole, or three

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to four dollars a round, right?

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It would take him nine years to break even

on building that miniature golf course.

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So this is what sparked

the conversation for me.

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I'm like, obviously not

all owners are like that.

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He probably has his reasons for

doing miniature golf, right?

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Not saying that he's

wrong for his campground.

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But it makes me wonder why people

are willing to strongly consider

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miniature golf courses for 175,000

or even 125 or 100 or 75,000.

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But we can't get them to spend $100

a month, $200 a month, $300 a month

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on Facebook ads or Google ads or

marketing or let alone AI, right?

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So I'm curious, Matt, what's

your take on that first?

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Do you mind sharing?

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Just off the cuff?

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Matt Whitermore: Yeah, to address

the the miniature golf piece of it,

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really interesting conversation in

that yeah, the ROI maybe doesn't sound

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that appealing, but maybe there's

an idea that it's going to drive

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occupancy or it's going to drive ADR.

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It's an amenity that's going to

lift, things that are not right

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in the ROI of selling golf itself.

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But, it's so funny.

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We I've been diving deep into a marketing

project, a couple different marketing

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projects conversion tracking, which

is a whole new world for us, right?

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We went crazy with paid ads, but we didn't

really understand how, what the ROAS was.

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We didn't really have the metrics

and the analytics to tie that in.

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So it's, that's a world that

I'm so deep into right now

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that we spent a bunch of money.

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This is before my time, but, years

ago, spending a ton of money on

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Facebook ads, paid ads, Google ads

without really measuring anything.

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And then that, that became untenable

and we just shut everything off.

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And we haven't really been running

Facebook ads or Google ads or

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anything for quite a bit of time.

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We've been surviving as the, most

of the operators that you describe

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of word of mouth, repeat customers,

occupancy is fine, ADR is fine.

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We don't need it.

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And we're, I think we're experiencing

the ups and downs of the transient

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market that's, documented in

all the different publications.

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And we're realizing that

we need to perform, right?

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We there's no excuse not to manage

revenue and make the properties

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perform to the best of their ability.

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We have all the tools, we

have all the efficiencies.

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We're figuring it out.

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I'm learning it as I go.

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But that's, there's no excuse

to not have the knowledge

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anymore, to not have the tools.

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Everything's at our fingertips.

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And that's what it makes me think of

is that, with all these advancements

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in technology and you've, it's

not even just about AI, right?

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It's, one of my, one of my focuses has

been, and as I've become a little bit

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more knowledgeable in this world of

technology and coding a little bit,

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it's, AI isn't always the answer.

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It's often not the answer.

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A script or an automation or n8n or

just more efficiently integrating some

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systems is a lot of times the answer.

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But AI, if you're not if you're

not advanced in that world,

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AI will help you get to that

non-AI answer that much faster.

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And that's what I'm trying to

adopt and live by these days.

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Brian Searl: So two things there, right?

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I want to play devil's advocate, right?

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Number one is,

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I think unless there, unless and until,

and maybe this, hopefully this is just

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a dip and everything comes back and the

industry will be great in the second half

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because gas prices are falling and we'll

be fine in:

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Doesn't matter what I believe or

what I think is going to happen,

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but hopefully that's what happens.

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But I'm on the, I'm on the same kind of

pages you, I think, and I don't want to

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put words in your mouth, but this is what

I heard, is to agree if you want, right?

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Is that there needs to be an impetus

for adoption of the technology.

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There needs to be a reason for you

to go out and say, I need Google

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ads, I need Facebook ads, I need

marketing, I need a new website,

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I need AI, I need whatever it is.

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And if that impetus isn't there, because

let's just pretend we're in an industry

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that's been almost completely full and

recession-proof since:

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never had anything bad happen to it

then the impetus hasn't been there.

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Is that generally the first part

of what you're saying, Matt?

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Matt Whitermore: Yeah, and that's, the

way I think about the industry is that

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was, the impetus really has in some

ways nothing to do with technology.

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It has to do with the economics of private

equity coming into the space, right?

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I tell new investors this all the time

that you may feel like you're getting a

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smoking deal on a campground investment,

oh great, it's a 10% cap rate or whatever,

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and you're going to get seller financing.

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But you're resetting the basis

of that investment, right?

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Mom and pop might be into that

campground for $500,000 total basis.

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They built it themselves.

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They've been at it for 40 years.

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They've never had a mortgage on it.

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Now you're paying $2

million for that campground.

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They could get by on low ADRs,

mediocre occupancy, no marketing

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because they don't have to pay a

mortgage that's $10,000 a month.

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You do, probably.

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And right you might feel like

you're getting a smoking deal on

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a, on this great new investment

opportunity of outdoor hospitality.

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But I try to caution people that you're

putting yourself in a box financially

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where you have to crush it and you have to

perform to the best of your ability just

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to stay alive in a lot of ways, which I

think people don't realize a lot of time.

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Brian Searl: But that's still

the same impetus, right?

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You get in the box through your own will,

whether or you're not, you're getting into

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the box when you are, you're into it now.

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And then the impetus is,

oh shit, I'm in a box.

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Matt Whitermore: Yeah.

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Yep.

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And then you have to leverage

the technology to become more

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efficient and to hit your mark.

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That's the way I look at it.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, or find

somebody who can help you with it.

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And that's the same going back to I

took paper reservations and I want

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to do online reservations, right?

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It's all the things, it's not

just AI and marketing, right?

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It's the impetus of all that

stuff, which lends itself mostly to

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technology, but it's always that thing.

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But then there's the other flip side of

it is the miniature golf course is the,

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how do, and do you see this changing?

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Because I texted this to a

couple people yesterday and they

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both said the same thing to me.

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And I won't name them, right?

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But they both said the same thing to me.

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They said, yeah, basically the

industry hasn't changed in 15 years.

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And I looked back on it and I've been

in this industry since:

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15 years, 16 years almost.

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And I realized they're right.

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What we've done in the industry, just

picking on me because I know me, right?

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With marketing and technology and

AI and all the things now, we've

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pushed a couple people forward, a

couple large groups, a couple, right?

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But the overall, by and large, he's right.

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The industry hasn't changed.

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So then the other question is how

do we get the industry to not change

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fully, because they don't need to.

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A lot of what they do is correct.

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Like you said, there might be

reasons to add miniature golf that

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drive occupancy or whatever else.

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But how do we get them to calculate the

actual ROI on things, to look at the

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purchases theyre making and then have a

simultaneous understanding of maybe if

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I run Facebook ads and I do conversion

tracking like you're talking about,

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and that's going to give me a 10x ROI,

whereas the miniature golf will only

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give me a two.

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Because I think I could go to a

conference and I feel like drop hundreds

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of thousands of dollars on a cabin,

tens of thousands of dollars on gem

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mining, a hundred thousand dollars on

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miniature golf, and they'll

just walk right by all the,

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most of the digital people.

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Scott Lengel: I have an opinion on that.

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Brian Searl: Please share.

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I don't want to put Matt

on the spot just by Matt.

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Matt's probably I'm never

coming on the show again.

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Scott Lengel: I think you do it with data.

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And I've got to imagine that the outdoor

hospitality industry, which is more you

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guys than me, is a gold mine of data.

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You have decades of reservation data

and customer data and preferences.

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And I imagine you have a really good

insight as to what your clients,

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what your customers, what your

RVers, that's me, are looking for.

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And that is where AI can

be a huge differentiator.

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AI, now I'm not saying it's easy, and

I'm not saying that the mom and pop

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campground owner can do this on their own.

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But oh my god, the

technology absolutely exists.

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That's where AI thrives with these

large language models that y'all

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hear about and probably know about.

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And layering on these reasoning

engines on top of them and

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figuring out what do people like.

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And it's hard.

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Traditionally, this was a

software problem, a data science

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problem, a data warehouse problem

that was non-trivial to solve.

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But with the AI engines of today, I'm

not going to trivialize it and I'm not

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going to say it's simple, but if you're

looking for patterns and trends that were

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really hard to find in the past, it's

become unbelievably easy to do right now.

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So the technology is there.

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The baseline technology

is absolutely there.

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Finding out ways how to harness it.

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And the scary thing is, as Matt said,

he's already using Claude to write code.

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So these systems are now capable

of, used to be like self-healing.

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Now they're self-developing.

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And and it might be a little bit scary,

but, used under the right guidance

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and so forth, it really is all doable.

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Brian Searl: What do you think, Craig?

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Our only campground owner.

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Craig Alsup: Yeah.

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You guys aren't in the club,

but something like that.

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Yeah, I think that, speaking from my

specific experience with my park, when

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I bought into my park a few years ago

there was no online reservation system.

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There was no, added amenities that,

like we, there's a 50-acre fishing

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lake, but they weren't charging

people to come fishing for the day.

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They didn't have day, month, annual

passes for fishing or swimming or kayaking

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or, they didn't have kayaks to rent.

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So there were just so many sort of

low-hanging fruit things, right?

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That, yeah, for better or worse,

I see the owner like previous

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to me man, he was just tired.

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Like he'd just been doing

it for so many years, right?

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And so for him, like you said a minute

ago about just mortgages and stuff

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he didn't owe any money on the park.

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He was doing okay.

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He was getting, a little

pocket money, right?

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Like he, he was making enough

off of it that he I don't think

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he felt like he had to, right?

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And so then if we look at like trends, if

we look at the stats around campgrounds

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in the US, so many of them are owned by

people probably that fit that bill, right?

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They've owned the campground forever.

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They don't owe anything on it.

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They don't need to go out and learn AI.

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They don't need to add a bunch of, things

that are going to generate extra income.

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I feel like at least in the case

of many, they are just coasting on

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what they've always done, right?

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Brian Searl: Because their margins are

enough higher, is what you're saying.

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Craig Alsup: And their

margins are crazy, right?

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Like it's all profit.

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Like the guy the guy that owned my

campground, he had two staff that he was

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:

paying very little that basically just,

they got a site, and they got their site

353

:

free and they got a little pocket change.

354

:

But he wasn't spending

money on anything, right?

355

:

And then I come in and I'm

like, oh, we got to redo this.

356

:

We got to fix this.

357

:

We got to add this, right?

358

:

And some of that, man, I've had to

pull back on a little bit because, do

359

:

we need all of those different things?

360

:

And really start to look at

the ROI of things a little bit

361

:

closer than I was at first.

362

:

I think at first it was more of

shotgun blast, let's get this thing

363

:

way different than it was so that

we let the world know we're here.

364

:

But nevertheless, a little bit on that

and trying to be a little more strategic.

365

:

But man, yeah the use of AI they're a

group of people that are probably the

366

:

majority of campground owners in the US

at least they're never going to adopt AI.

367

:

And that just is what it is, right?

368

:

They're never going to run

Facebook ads, Google ads.

369

:

That just is what it is.

370

:

I think honestly we're talking to

the vast minority when were talking

371

:

about these things anyway right now.

372

:

And I don't honestly see that changing

until all the camp, until more and more

373

:

of the campgrounds change hands, right?

374

:

You read the book The

Tipping Point before?

375

:

Yeah, so I think until we reach the

tipping point in the industry where

376

:

it's you gotta do this stuff or, your

business is gonna tank basically.

377

:

Until we reach that point out of all the

parks within a 50-mile radius of me I am

378

:

probably the most advanced, have the most

revenue streams, most of the others are

379

:

right where my park was when I bought it.

380

:

Brian Searl: but like I think we

said, like the impetus then is,

381

:

it has to be economic, right?

382

:

And I don't think

383

:

we're, I don't think we're having

a crazy down year this year.

384

:

I think we're having a weird year, but

I don't think it's a crazy down year.

385

:

So we're not quite at that

impetus for most of those people

386

:

who have higher margins yet.

387

:

Probably not even close.

388

:

Craig Alsup: No I think they can accept

the ups and downs a lot better because

389

:

they don't have that, the mortgage,

they don't have the high output.

390

:

Brian Searl: Okay.

391

:

Fair.

392

:

All right.

393

:

Matt, any thoughts on that?

394

:

You unmuted, so I didn't

know if you had a thought.

395

:

Actually, I'm gonna ask Scott to jump in.

396

:

Matt Whitermore: Yeah, I was in a

meeting earlier today and somebody

397

:

asked me if they thought if the AI

hype was coming to an end, right?

398

:

If it was going to die down a little bit.

399

:

And I said to them, not a chance,

like we're just getting started here.

400

:

And it's, I think you summed it up

pretty well that the impetus is economic.

401

:

People have to evolve, adversity

causes people to evolve.

402

:

And I think that's the key here that

it was adversity for me that, that

403

:

sent me into a, two-year deep dive

into AI to learn it as fast as I could.

404

:

Because it was the threat of

loss of income becoming obsolete.

405

:

Just seeing that it was, it's an interest

level it's exciting to me, but more

406

:

so than that, it's fear of, I better

learn this or I'm not going to be able

407

:

to add value to an organization or feed

my family or all these things that,

408

:

it's, so I think it's pretty amazing.

409

:

And then you reach this point where

and don't get me wrong, this is not a

410

:

statement of I know more than anyone

else or whatever, I'm still learning.

411

:

And it's this big, complex,

scary, exciting thing.

412

:

And then you get to a point

and you realize it's just text.

413

:

AI agents are just text files.

414

:

Large language models,

it's just text, right?

415

:

It's prediction and it's models and

it's algorithms, but at the end of

416

:

the day it's literally just text.

417

:

And making text do interesting things,

adding some automation to some things

418

:

some instructions, some context.

419

:

Like it's huge and it's amazing

and it's incredible, but it's, once

420

:

you get to a certain point, you

realize like it's actually scary

421

:

how simple it is in a lot of ways.

422

:

I hope I don't overstate that, but that's

been something I've been reflecting on

423

:

the last few months that on one end it's

scary and huge and intimidating, and on

424

:

the other end it's it's actually basic.

425

:

Brian Searl: Yeah, I don't think, I think

you have to cross that threshold, right?

426

:

Like for me, I was on a, I think

it was last week on Fireside Chats,

427

:

Sandy Ellington was asking me like,

you're the guy I rely on to tell me

428

:

what's new in AI, what's the latest,

greatest thing you're working on.

429

:

And taking it in my head I'm not

really, I'm using AI to code, but

430

:

there's not really a fancy new feature

that I tried in Claude in the last

431

:

month that I can tell this woman

that is the fancy new thing, right?

432

:

Because just like I think you articulated

in the beginning is that I'm using it

433

:

to code, do research, build functions

build polished databases, link systems

434

:

together, all that kind of stuff.

435

:

And that's AI, but that's also the same

AI, maybe a new model number, right?

436

:

But generally the same thing.

437

:

It's not a new feature or like we

went through this period I think of

438

:

two, three years where everybody was

like, oh, this killer new feature,

439

:

it can operate your computer, it

can do this, it can do whatever.

440

:

And now we're just in the

everybody build shit on top of it.

441

:

All right, so impetus

number one is economic.

442

:

Can impetus number two

be the consumer, Scott?

443

:

Can the consumer, through either being

forced to adopt AI, like on Google

444

:

and Apple and everything else, right?

445

:

Or through an expectation of I went

to a campground and they had AI chat

446

:

or an AI phone agent that answered

the phone call 24/7, why aren't you?

447

:

Can the consumer be a

driver of change too?

448

:

Scott Lengel: 100%.

449

:

And so I had the opportunity to give

the keynote presentation at a large OEM

450

:

dealer meeting, OEM manufacturer of RVs.

451

:

A large firm, you know their

name, but shall remain nameless.

452

:

And the topic that I gave it

on was the future of AI in

453

:

the RV industry, shockingly.

454

:

And the approach that I took, and I'm

getting back to the consumer side here,

455

:

the approach that I took was, so imagine

the audience were a couple of hundred, 300

456

:

dealers principals folks that sell RVs.

457

:

And the challenge that I put out to

them is that if you're not thinking

458

:

about AI, considering AI, leveraging

AI today, you're going to be behind

459

:

because, and maybe we put this in the

context of campground owners, because your

460

:

customers are absolutely using AI today.

461

:

And for the folks that are selling

RVs, I came in and said, let's

462

:

consider myself as a buyer of an RV.

463

:

And here are my specs, here's

what I'm interested in, here's

464

:

what I'm looking to pay.

465

:

Hey ChatGPT,

466

:

or model of the month that you want to

use, help me negotiate the best deal.

467

:

So as a consumer, I am

way ahead of the game.

468

:

The dealers used to have all the

cards, all the data, all the knowledge,

469

:

all the strategy and techniques.

470

:

But now as a consumer, I am suddenly

more powerful, knowledgeable, strategic

471

:

than they are if they're not using AI.

472

:

And literally what I did was I built two

competing chats, two competing agents.

473

:

And I said, let's consider me

as a consumer coming in as a

474

:

buyer, help me pitch the best

deal here, request the best deal.

475

:

Let me put on my seller hat, holy cow,

that's what just came in, let me develop

476

:

the best response, best answers to their

questions, and went back and forth.

477

:

So I would contend that I don't care

what industry or what business you're

478

:

in, but let's talk about the campground

industry since we're here, that if

479

:

you're a campground owner or a campground

conglomerate, that if you're not

480

:

leveraging AI in some way, and you don't

need to develop your own, there's plenty

481

:

of systems you could be leveraging.

482

:

If you're not, you're going

to be behind the game.

483

:

But Craig and I, when we were in

the green room talking a little

484

:

bit, he said that he was using AI

to check to see how his campground

485

:

was being portrayed and coming up.

486

:

So your customers, your clients absolutely

are using AI to get more insight.

487

:

By the way, we built an application

that does that allows the user to step a

488

:

level above all that, abstract themselves

from all this nonsense, personalize it.

489

:

Quick little plug, an example

of what we do with AI.

490

:

Customer comes into AdventureGenie and

says, hey, I'd like to take a six-week

491

:

trip from Bluffton, South Carolina to

the National Parks of the Southwest.

492

:

Through personalization, we know that

they have a certain type of rig, that

493

:

there's certain type of campgrounds

that they like to stay in with certain

494

:

amenities, and we know what they

like to see and do along the way.

495

:

And personalize, create that

custom itinerary for them.

496

:

And the same thing will happen in the

broader world, broader RV industry and

497

:

in the campground industry for sure.

498

:

The better that you can provide

customized itineraries, stays, and

499

:

so forth, the better off you are.

500

:

And by the way, one last point

on that, again, you guys have

501

:

a gold mine of information.

502

:

You know what your customers are looking

for, you know how they like to travel.

503

:

You might even know, oh, if you guys

have a network of campgrounds, oh,

504

:

they were coming from Jacksonville,

Florida, and then to Savannah, Georgia,

505

:

and then to Asheville, North Carolina.

506

:

There's a high degree of likelihood that

they're going to go to Nashville next

507

:

because they they have this particular

profile, demographics, and so forth.

508

:

So you start predicting stuff like

that, and oh my god, are you opening

509

:

up a whole new world of opportunities.

510

:

Brian Searl: All right,

so devil's advocate.

511

:

I'm a campground owner

listening to this show.

512

:

I just heard Scott and he articulated

everything really well, right?

513

:

Like from my side as an AI geek,

I'm like, yeah, I'm on board, right?

514

:

I believe you.

515

:

From the campground owner side, I'm

hearing you say my customers are using

516

:

AI.

517

:

Why do I care?

518

:

Scott Lengel: Because they are so

well informed and so armed with the

519

:

information that y'all have to be

prepared to respond to that as well.

520

:

And part of it is just

feeding the beast too.

521

:

The more that, where is this old AI in

the sky getting this information from?

522

:

It's out there.

523

:

The more that you put out on your own

websites and maybe even Meta and Google

524

:

and so forth, the more that you put out

there in a way that they're looking for

525

:

it, then the more likely you're going

to be coming up as recommendations or in

526

:

apps like ours, same way that we do it.

527

:

Brian Searl: But how does it

impact me as a campground owner?

528

:

And what I mean by that, let me try to ask

the question in a little more narrow way.

529

:

Like right now campers go to Google,

they, have for 20 years, right?

530

:

And they see my keyword rankings

and I put all this money into my SEO

531

:

and my website and everything else.

532

:

And I'm number one or

number two in my market.

533

:

And I'm pretty constantly full other

than maybe this year is a little

534

:

bit of a hiccup because of the

transient market we talked about.

535

:

And maybe I'm looking at that, maybe I'm

not, maybe I just think I have a down year

536

:

and it'll come back up and I'm looking out

the window and I'm seeing my park is full.

537

:

So everybody's telling me that AI

is important, that they're going to

538

:

now ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini or

AdventureGenie or whatever else, right?

539

:

But how does that change?

540

:

I'm still here.

541

:

I'm still fine.

542

:

Like, why do I need to

pay attention to this?

543

:

Or do I just need the impetus and

I have to wait for that impetus?

544

:

So what is that impetus?

545

:

When do I start having to

notice it is what I'm asking.

546

:

Scott Lengel: Yesterday.

547

:

Brian Searl: We say, right?

548

:

Like we're the geeks,

like we say that, right?

549

:

Scott Lengel: How about this?

550

:

I don't know, I'm riffing here a little

bit, but how about as a campground

551

:

owner, like Craig did, was go out

to ChatGPT and say, okay, I have a

552

:

campground in this geography, here

are the amenities that I'm offering.

553

:

What are people looking for?

554

:

What are RVers looking for that, that

fit this these particular criteria?

555

:

I think you can use AI.

556

:

Now this is where mom and pop

I think could do this today.

557

:

Go out to ChatGPT and say, help

me find the best campground

558

:

in Bluffton, South Carolina.

559

:

And if you're, and you own a

campground there and you're not

560

:

coming up, find out what's coming up.

561

:

What is being suggested

or come to AdventureGenie.

562

:

And you could get into a conversation.

563

:

Ask some follow-up questions.

564

:

Hey, why didn't my campground show up?

565

:

Hey, by the way, here's

my URL, here's my website.

566

:

Go and scrape my website and tell

me why you didn't recommend me.

567

:

You're going to be blown, if you

own a campground, you don't need

568

:

to be a technologist, you don't

need to be writing code for this.

569

:

Just have a conversation as if

you had the world's best advisor,

570

:

business advisor sitting at your side.

571

:

It's almost as if you have McKinsey

in your back pocket for free.

572

:

It's hello Mr.

573

:

Advisor, Mr.

574

:

or Mrs.

575

:

Advisor, can you tell me what I need to,

take a look at my camp at my website.

576

:

Go and scrape my website and tell me

what's good, what's bad, what's ugly.

577

:

What are the current trends

that people are looking for?

578

:

What am I missing?

579

:

Just go and have it analyze your website.

580

:

And then go and have it analyze your

campground under the covers as well.

581

:

I think there's lots of ways

that, campground owners can be

582

:

leveraging this technology today.

583

:

Brian Searl: Okay, and

584

:

talk us through what you did.

585

:

Talk us through what you did.

586

:

When you said you've done

this for your park, right?

587

:

Craig Alsup: Yeah.

588

:

Yeah.

589

:

So I was going to say, in, in some of the

marketing talks that I've done at the,

590

:

the conferences and stuff like that, I've

been at Branson the last couple of years.

591

:

One of the things that I

realized is, I talk about AI

592

:

and stuff like that with people.

593

:

But for so many parks, just when I

talk about optimizing your Google

594

:

business they're like, they just

look at me with a blank stare, right?

595

:

Talk about okay, yeah, what are you

doing to get your website listed in

596

:

various local directories like Chambers

of Commerce and stuff like that?

597

:

People a lot of times just look

at me with a blank stare, right?

598

:

And so I think that's such a big,

like there, there are more missing

599

:

pieces than just the AI piece, right?

600

:

But for me, the AI piece has been so

helpful for me to weed through the mess.

601

:

What you were saying, Scott, about

just analyze my website, point

602

:

out things to me that I should

improve and do better, right?

603

:

It's like using AI to take, to gather data

on what I should do in the real world.

604

:

I'm cutting so much time off

of everything I do, right?

605

:

Scripts for my store staff to

use when they answer the phone.

606

:

Even just I think that for me the

most, probably the most useful at

607

:

least current things that we're doing

with AI are those types of things

608

:

where we're using AI to cut to the

chase, to, figure out what's going

609

:

on and what we need to do differently

and then to do it in the real world.

610

:

Versus, just being stuck in doing the

same old things that we've always done.

611

:

So much of mine is just digging

into AI and going, hey, give

612

:

me some scripts for this.

613

:

Help me write help me get, put together

a list of things that my maintenance

614

:

guys need to be checking every day.

615

:

It's just I'm not having to use the brain

power for those things anymore so that I

616

:

have more time to pay attention to systems

and figuring out, new things to do.

617

:

I have time to think in my business

rather than just spend all my time

618

:

doing all these tasks and developing

all these things that the AI can do

619

:

far faster and probably better than me.

620

:

And so in, in a lot of ways that's

what I've used it for thus far.

621

:

Now I do have, like I have an AI

chat thing on my website that pushes

622

:

through to our regular phone system.

623

:

I have an AI system running in the

background that's emailing people

624

:

sending review requests and things

like that to boost up my reviews.

625

:

And to respond to reviews when they

come in through Google and Facebook

626

:

and all the different places.

627

:

And I think so much of it for me

has just been going like, okay,

628

:

how can I get more done faster?

629

:

And

630

:

how can I if Jay Abraham says it

like this, like a business that's

631

:

unexamined isn't worth owning.

632

:

Or a business that's

unoptimized isn't worth owning.

633

:

And that's my take on it is that I

don't know, I, I have no interest in

634

:

owning a business that just floats.

635

:

And so for me it's like an easier I'm

easy on the uptake as far as AI and

636

:

stuff because I'm like, hey man, it's

going to help me cut some hours off

637

:

the time it takes me to do things, and

it's going to help me to more quickly,

638

:

more effectively examine my business

and look for the nooks and crannies

639

:

of extra money that could come extra,

also just goodwill of our guests.

640

:

And if you want to, if you want to figure

out what people like or hate about your,

641

:

your park, go onto one of the AI systems,

give it your review link, for Google

642

:

or wherever, tell it to scrape all your

reviews and tell you, the 10 things that

643

:

people like the most about your park.

644

:

And then furthermore, ask it, how

should I double down on what I'm

645

:

currently doing that those people

are already saying that they love?

646

:

And the flip side of that is,

what are the things that people

647

:

don't like about my park?

648

:

And what are the best ways for me to

fix those the most, quickly, efficiently

649

:

cost effectively to make sure that

we turn those frowns upside down.

650

:

Brian Searl: Yeah.

651

:

Scott Lengel: And what's the,

and what's the white space?

652

:

What are the things you're

not even thinking about?

653

:

People aren't giving you reviews

on good, bad, or ugly today.

654

:

What are your opportunities to have

you leapfrog the competition that,

655

:

because again, the big brain in

the sky has figured out what others

656

:

are doing really well already.

657

:

Craig Alsup: Yeah.

658

:

using stuff like that and and

questioning, having these chats

659

:

back and forth with AI systems.

660

:

At least partly responsible for the

fact that we've taken our reviews

661

:

on Google from 108 total reviews

when I took over, it was a like

662

:

40-year-old park when I took over.

663

:

We had 108 Google reviews.

664

:

We were at like a 4.1

665

:

stars.

666

:

And we're at almost 4.9,

667

:

like I think we're like 4.88

668

:

or something now.

669

:

And we've got we're closing in on

:

670

:

And

671

:

Matt Whitermore: wow.

672

:

Craig Alsup: Complete turnaround on those.

673

:

And you look at all the parks around

me, actually I have painstakingly

674

:

through AI looked at all the reviews

for all the campgrounds in my

675

:

state, that I could find through AI.

676

:

And we are beating almost all of the

state parks that have been around

677

:

forever in number of reviews and ranking.

678

:

And we're beating I think all but maybe

two parks in my entire state as far

679

:

as number of reviews and then, ranking

we're up there as well in the top, top.

680

:

So

681

:

I think, if you don't care about the money

of it, at least care about the customers.

682

:

And if you care about your customers,

use AI to make your systems, to make

683

:

your park run perfectly, to figure

out what they love and what they

684

:

don't love, and make that better.

685

:

Brian Searl: Okay.

686

:

So the impetus is, maybe impetus

is economic, maybe consumer, but

687

:

we still I feel like we still

haven't closed the loop here yet.

688

:

I don't know what that tipping point is.

689

:

Like consumer mass adoption is one

thing, but the tipping point where the

690

:

campground owner notices it enough to

make action, I still think that just

691

:

lands back in the economic bucket.

692

:

Like

693

:

I think there's going to be some

campground owners like you, Craig, for

694

:

example, and Matt, like what you do

at Unhitched and private equity and

695

:

as management groups take over and

new owners come in who are using these

696

:

tools, that's going to be an impetus.

697

:

But I don't think the consumer

is going to be the mass adoption

698

:

impetus that we thought it was.

699

:

Like

700

:

you look at something like

email marketing, right?

701

:

This is a massive thing in campgrounds.

702

:

Everybody get on my email list.

703

:

I'll email all 5,000 people who

stayed with me for the last three

704

:

years and talk about the cabin that

I have available open this weekend.

705

:

Doesn't matter if they're in an RV

when they stayed with us and they

706

:

don't have any interest in a cabin,

I'm just going to blast my list and

707

:

blast my list and blast my list, right?

708

:

But that's changing.

709

:

Now we have Google who's announced AI

inbox and Google and Apple are both

710

:

going to summarize your emails for you.

711

:

And all of a sudden those emails that

you've worked on for hours and hours

712

:

agonizing over the design and the layout

and the buttons and all the action

713

:

and everything else aren't even going

to be read by the consumer anymore.

714

:

They're going to be summarized, if

they're even summarized in the top

715

:

most important things the AI decides.

716

:

So then how does that change?

717

:

Like I feel like you're going to see

people blasting 5,000 people on their

718

:

email for the next 20 years and not still

having that impetus from the consumer to

719

:

recognize that nobody's opening my emails.

720

:

Does that make sense?

721

:

So that's why I'm saying maybe it's

not the impetus, the consumer is the

722

:

impetus, it's the economic downstream

of the consumers not opening my email

723

:

anymore, consumer doesn't have as much

brand recognition of me, will remember

724

:

me as much, and then I'm also not doing

enough to be showing up in ChatGPT, which

725

:

downstream leads to economic issues.

726

:

Matt Whitermore: yeah, we're jumping

into, you mentioned email marketing,

727

:

we're jumping into a big project

to revamp our email marketing.

728

:

And, after scoping it out, the real big

lift with AI is just much more efficient,

729

:

automated segmentation of the list.

730

:

And personalization of the marketing

message and content, right?

731

:

Do they have a pet?

732

:

Do they have kids?

733

:

Are they a prior customer?

734

:

What kind of rig do they have, right?

735

:

So we're essentially building a database

of all of our customers and everything

736

:

we know about them safely and securely.

737

:

And that becomes a knowledge base, right?

738

:

And then we plug Claude into it and

Claude helps us segment that and then

739

:

message to those different segments.

740

:

And it's nothing revolutionary, but

it's something that we wouldn't even

741

:

have dreamed of attempting to do two

years ago because, we don't have the

742

:

marketing staff to, to make that happen.

743

:

We're plugging in an Airtable

database with an n8n workflow with

744

:

Claude API with Klaviyo, and into

our, we use Newbook for booking.

745

:

So it's all this flow of

data which is, pretty amazing

746

:

because I'm, I'm 35 years old.

747

:

I grew up with a computer.

748

:

I've, in that respect, I'm expected

to be, tech native, but I've done

749

:

plenty of exporting a spreadsheet,

exporting a CSV from this system,

750

:

doing a little processing to

it, uploading it to this system.

751

:

And there's some leakage and, you're not

going to, you get busy with other things

752

:

and you're not going to always do that.

753

:

And that's like a, should

be a thing of the past.

754

:

And I think people have these big ideas

of building AI agents and AI employees

755

:

and it's no, it could just be a really

simple reasoning step that gets plugged

756

:

into a Zapier or a Make or an n8n with

a database and just connection, right?

757

:

Connection of systems, integration of

systems that two years ago, three years

758

:

ago would have been hours and hours of

import export processing spreadsheets

759

:

that you just don't need to do it anymore.

760

:

Brian Searl: Yeah, and the

database is the smart way to go.

761

:

It prevents the hallucinations

for the most part, right?

762

:

Because you're actually feeding it the

data versus asking it to come up with data

763

:

or find data or analyze whatever, right?

764

:

Like here's the data, use this data and

then tell me about my customer list or

765

:

what can you take away from it or where do

they come from or how far are they driving

766

:

or what all I know about them or when

do they stay or things like that, right?

767

:

I think it's interesting

is what I like to add.

768

:

Whenever I'm analyzing data because

sometimes there's a specific question

769

:

I want, but many times it's the

question that I don't know to ask.

770

:

And so if you ask a especially like

a perplexity computer or a Manus or

771

:

something like that can really dig

into these files on a long-term basis.

772

:

Claude's great, Claude code can do that.

773

:

I was talking about Claude

on the desktop, right?

774

:

But just really digging in there

and just saying, what's something

775

:

interesting that I might not have

known about this list of 2,000 campers?

776

:

Oh, really?

777

:

Scott Lengel: I think you go ahead.

778

:

Brian Searl: No, finish your thought

and then I have a question for you.

779

:

Scott Lengel: Yeah I think you

touched on something really important.

780

:

It's having your own data as well.

781

:

And that's where these AI workflows,

systems really become powerful because,

782

:

there's a massive amount of information

available now out in the large language

783

:

models and it's very generic and that

works great to solve the general problem.

784

:

But when you couple it like Matt's

doing and you mentioned there Brian

785

:

and Craig you probably are as well,

when you couple it with your own

786

:

custom data, your own databases, your

own client lists, your own, website

787

:

information, when you couple that

public LLM knowledge with your private

788

:

information, that's where magic happens

and you become unbelievably powerful.

789

:

Brian Searl: All right, so you're,

I have a question for you, Scott.

790

:

It's about AdventureGenie.

791

:

I'm going to give you

a hard question, okay?

792

:

Don't shoot the messenger.

793

:

I just, I'm curious of what

your thought is on this, right?

794

:

Yep.

795

:

So nobody really knows what

the future of AI is, where it

796

:

goes, where it ends up, right?

797

:

It probably never ends up

anywhere, it keeps progressing.

798

:

Scott Lengel: Yeah,

Claude knows, but go on.

799

:

Brian Searl: Claude fabled it and

then there was an export control.

800

:

But specific to AdventureGenie and

your business and trip planning, like

801

:

obviously there is still a tremendous

amount of use in the visual interface

802

:

of the trip planning piece, right?

803

:

Where do you see that going in the future?

804

:

Because it interests me I think we're

headed very quickly toward voice

805

:

being the interface for most things.

806

:

But there's still going to be a loop

that needs closed with some kind of

807

:

show me photos, whether that's on my

TV or a hologram device or my Meta

808

:

glasses or whatever it is, right?

809

:

But where do you see that interface going?

810

:

Because I'm not one that I

believe in the model and the

811

:

value I think of AdventureGenie.

812

:

I'm not sure they're going

to go to adventuregenie.com

813

:

forever.

814

:

What do you think?

815

:

Scott Lengel: Okay, great question.

816

:

I love provocative questions, by the way.

817

:

I'm going to rewind a little bit

because the question could also

818

:

be, why the heck would anyone use

AdventureGenie when they have ChatGPT?

819

:

And so I'm going to start there.

820

:

And really the difference is, it's

like going to Netflix or Amazon and

821

:

getting the same answer for everyone.

822

:

And if you go to ChatGPT, pick your

favorite tool, you go to ChatGPT today

823

:

and say, I want to take that trip from A

to B, it will not be customized for you.

824

:

It doesn't know your preferences.

825

:

It doesn't know very much about

campgrounds sadly right now.

826

:

So it really doesn't have a lot

of information about campgrounds.

827

:

And it's horrible at routing.

828

:

So a generic system like that

today is not going to suffice.

829

:

And that's why we built AdventureGenie.

830

:

It's highly customized, personalized,

RV-based safe routing, RV safe routing,

831

:

things to see and do along the way.

832

:

And we know a lot about campgrounds

and make a great match for you.

833

:

So we will say, Brian, in this location,

this particular campground with a 97%

834

:

likelihood, you're going to love it.

835

:

While Craig, that might not be your

cup of tea because you want something

836

:

more luxurious or less and so forth.

837

:

So that's the differentiating thing there.

838

:

Now to the question about the

interface, that is again where we shine.

839

:

You can use ChatGPT and you're not

going to get a nice little route and

840

:

you're not going to be able to zoom in

and you're not going to be able to zoom

841

:

into the campground level and even look

at the how you traverse your campground

842

:

or look at the individual sites.

843

:

So I don't think that

stuff ever goes away.

844

:

You can go back to TripTiks from

decades ago or the Roadtripper

845

:

paradigm, folks are very visual.

846

:

They want and we have not reached

that tipping point that I heard

847

:

about earlier, especially the largest

population I believe still, what's

848

:

the average age of a camper today?

849

:

When I look around my campgrounds,

I see a lot of gray hair still.

850

:

And, those folks aren't, I did see one

guy wearing the Meta glasses the other

851

:

day, which was pretty cool, but generally

that's not where they are just yet.

852

:

Five years from now, Brian,

I'm probably with you.

853

:

Yeah, it's going to change drastically.

854

:

Will they ever want to, they do

want to get away from paper, 100%.

855

:

Nobody wants paper anymore.

856

:

But, if you get it on your phone or on

your tablet or in your glasses, now we're

857

:

talking something really compelling.

858

:

And I don't know, let's ask one

of the models what they say.

859

:

Brian Searl: to be clear, I'm

saying, I'm not saying AdventureGenie

860

:

can't have a place in your glasses.

861

:

I'm just saying adventuregenie.com

862

:

might not be

863

:

the answer.

864

:

Scott Lengel: Yeah.

865

:

Yes, absolutely.

866

:

100%.

867

:

And by the way, the inter, we provide both

a traditional interface, point, click, add

868

:

stop, search, we provide all that stuff.

869

:

But we also provide a

beautiful natural language.

870

:

Literally describe what you want to see

and do and how far you want to drive.

871

:

And you and then natural language

processing reasoning engines, all

872

:

of that stuff kicks into play.

873

:

Could I speak to it?

874

:

Here's the interesting thing about speech.

875

:

We don't have to build a single

thing into adventuregenie.com

876

:

or, we don't have a mobile app because

we don't believe we need a mobile app.

877

:

But if we had a mobile app, there's

nothing stopping the user from hitting

878

:

that little microphone button where

they should be typing and let the native

879

:

operating system or platform that they're

using and do the text to speech part.

880

:

Brian Searl: But you

could do it better, Scott.

881

:

Google sucks so bad at that.

882

:

It doesn't even understand

what I'm saying half the time.

883

:

Scott Lengel: You should try speaking in

Italian and see if it does a better job.

884

:

Brian Searl: I'm

885

:

an American.

886

:

I was like, I only got taught

one language in school.

887

:

Like I had Spanish in fourth grade.

888

:

I know how to say hola, that's about it.

889

:

Scott Lengel: Como esta usted.

890

:

Brian Searl: How are you?

891

:

Scott Lengel: Yeah.

892

:

It's interesting.

893

:

The, the interface models are, right.

894

:

Go ahead.

895

:

Brian Searl: No, I'm sorry.

896

:

I think we're just, might be

delayed on top of each other.

897

:

I think we are.

898

:

Scott Lengel: All good.

899

:

Yeah, the interfaces are going to be,

900

:

even better yet, why do I have to speak?

901

:

Why can't I just think

it and it happens, right?

902

:

We will get there.

903

:

Believe it or not, we will get there.

904

:

Brian Searl: That's what I

told CampSpot the other day.

905

:

I told somebody from CampSpot that

they announced their new feature, that

906

:

grid optimization drag and drop thing.

907

:

And I messaged somebody from CampSpot.

908

:

I was like, why do I have to use my mouse?

909

:

I just want to look at this thing and

think about where the grid could be.

910

:

Why don't you build that, man?

911

:

Yeah.

912

:

Or it's not too wild actually, because

the software should be able to, should

913

:

be able to predict it and figure it

out before you even have to think it.

914

:

So it's not really that it's going

to do, actually it is, it's going

915

:

to do the thinking for you and it's

going to predict what you want to do.

916

:

But that's not as cool

as Minority Report, man.

917

:

I want to stick my hand

out and move the grid.

918

:

That's what I want to do.

919

:

I don't know if I'll look as cool as

Tom Cruise ever, but one can hope.

920

:

Scott Lengel: Oh, the Minority Report.

921

:

I got you.

922

:

Yeah.

923

:

Brian Searl: All right.

924

:

Let's wrap up the show

with a couple of questions.

925

:

Matt, do you have any final

thoughts for Scott or Craig?

926

:

Matt Whitermore: Yeah, from Scott,

I'd love to hear, I think it's

927

:

a little bit of a buzzy topic

of discoverability through AI.

928

:

And I think it can be

sometimes overcomplicated.

929

:

So if you have any tips for for

campground owners on how to become

930

:

more discoverable in the AI age?

931

:

Scott Lengel: I'm going to give you

the simplest answer and probably

932

:

the best, be the best answer.

933

:

And that's go to, I'm just going to use

ChatGPT as an example, and say, how can I

934

:

become more discoverable as a campground?

935

:

You will be blown away by the response.

936

:

Matt Whitermore: Yeah.

937

:

Brian Searl: Do a bunch of hard

things that you don't want to do.

938

:

Matt Whitermore: Yeah.

939

:

Brian Searl: Basically.

940

:

And don't be afraid to yell at ChatGPT

because it's not a human consultant.

941

:

You can yell at it.

942

:

I went to ChatGPT the other day and

I said who has the best, I was on

943

:

the free version by accident, so I

think this is why it answered wrong.

944

:

I wasn't logged in.

945

:

But it's, I said who does the,

who has a report that can tell

946

:

me about campground pricing?

947

:

And it was like, nobody in the

industry has a campground pricing

948

:

report, but you can check KOA's

North American Camping Report.

949

:

I'm like, what are you talking about?

950

:

And I yelled at it in all caps.

951

:

And it was like, oh, in fact.

952

:

Matt Whitermore: Do you know who I am?

953

:

Brian Searl: Okay.

954

:

Scott, do you have a question for Craig or

955

:

Matt?

956

:

Scott Lengel: Yeah, actually

for both of you guys like

957

:

what are the next big trends?

958

:

What, what's the next big

thing in, in campgrounds?

959

:

Beyond miniature golf.

960

:

Matt Whitermore: We

might need another hour.

961

:

I'll go quickly and

give the floor to Craig.

962

:

But I sense a reckoning, honestly.

963

:

I think like most of these

campgrounds out there are built for

964

:

baby boomers that are aging out.

965

:

I don't think it's, I don't think

they are what the, millennial type

966

:

camper wants, the 20s, 30s, 40s.

967

:

I have a rooftop tent on my truck.

968

:

I want, and I'm not even

that outdoorsy, right?

969

:

But I want to go out and be in the woods.

970

:

I don't want to see

somebody else's camper.

971

:

Those are the things that I want.

972

:

I don't get excited about going to a

250-site RV resort that's a parking lot.

973

:

It's just not my thing.

974

:

I might be a little bit of a special

consumer in that, but I think a lot of

975

:

these resorts are going to have to get

reimagined in the next decade or so.

976

:

Brian Searl: Yeah, I don't think I, I

want to let Craig answer, but I don't

977

:

think that's a, I don't think that's

anything different than what I've been

978

:

saying that, Scott Bahr and I have been

saying that for a while, that we've

979

:

been building parking lots for 40 years.

980

:

And that's, that was part of my point of

miniature golf is yes, there might be a

981

:

theory behind raising occupancy, but so

many people have miniature golf courses.

982

:

So anyway, we won't, we're

not going to go back to that.

983

:

Go ahead, Craig.

984

:

Craig Alsup: Yeah, I think that

innovation is going to become more

985

:

and more necessary and less optional.

986

:

I think that as more of the parks get

purchased by people who are younger, more

987

:

hip to AI, more hip to systems who, like

you said earlier, have, they've got money

988

:

in, they got skin in the game, right?

989

:

And they got to pay that

mortgage every month, right?

990

:

I think that some parks are

going to get left behind in that.

991

:

And they're going to find their

occupancy starting to dwindle.

992

:

I think there's going to be

a reckoning in that, right?

993

:

They're going to start seeing occupancy

dwindle because the park down the

994

:

street that's absolutely killing it in,

social media and Google and chat and

995

:

all these different, things and that

have dialed in who their consumer is.

996

:

I think you're going to start to

see the people that want the true

997

:

kind of backwoods experience, right?

998

:

They're going to be able to

find that experience because

999

:

somebody's going to build a resort

that's exactly for them, right?

:

00:55:53,463 --> 00:55:57,833

And so these places that have been

getting by because they are the place

:

00:55:57,993 --> 00:56:02,333

that's closest or the place that's along

the highway that everybody's driving

:

00:56:02,333 --> 00:56:07,923

on or whatever, are going to start to

see an economic shift for themselves.

:

00:56:08,333 --> 00:56:10,833

And I think it's, I think

it's going to be interesting.

:

00:56:10,833 --> 00:56:14,413

I think it's a nothing

shifts until it has to.

:

00:56:14,473 --> 00:56:19,503

And I think we're going to get to a point

where there's enough new players in the

:

00:56:19,503 --> 00:56:27,903

game that are optimizing all these things

that the players that are, 70, 80% or

:

00:56:27,903 --> 00:56:32,213

whatever of the market right now are going

to have to shift or they're going to start

:

00:56:32,213 --> 00:56:35,663

seeing massive exodus from their parks.

:

00:56:36,353 --> 00:56:42,303

And hopefully we can be the ones that

take advantage of, in a good way, take

:

00:56:42,303 --> 00:56:44,303

advantage of that and benefit from that.

:

00:56:44,463 --> 00:56:49,033

And also just help to lift the

industry as a whole so that so that

:

00:56:49,193 --> 00:56:52,153

RVing camping continues to grow.

:

00:56:52,473 --> 00:56:55,393

And it doesn't have to be

an us versus them thing.

:

00:56:55,833 --> 00:57:00,243

But yeah, that's what I do when I

talk with people and speak at COA and

:

00:57:00,263 --> 00:57:01,743

different, different places and stuff.

:

00:57:01,743 --> 00:57:08,173

It's hey man, yeah I am using all

these systems and yeah, I'm figuring

:

00:57:08,173 --> 00:57:10,063

it out a little bit as I go.

:

00:57:10,383 --> 00:57:14,383

But at least I'm moving forward and

there's always somebody, there's always

:

00:57:14,383 --> 00:57:18,133

somebody that does it quite knows as

much as you know at any given moment.

:

00:57:18,133 --> 00:57:22,703

So man, hopefully we can all continue to

just share what we know and help other

:

00:57:22,703 --> 00:57:27,453

people along and we get there as an

industry together rather than having too

:

00:57:27,453 --> 00:57:29,963

many parks get left behind in the shuffle.

:

00:57:31,473 --> 00:57:31,623

Brian Searl: 100%.

:

00:57:32,123 --> 00:57:32,403

Said.

:

00:57:32,403 --> 00:57:34,783

I was going to say something else, but

that's a perfect way to end the show.

:

00:57:35,123 --> 00:57:38,308

Matt, final thoughts and where

can they find out more about

:

00:57:38,308 --> 00:57:39,063

Unhitched and Climb Capital?

:

00:57:40,223 --> 00:57:43,993

Matt Whitermore: Yes, you can

check us out at unhitchedmgmt.com.

:

00:57:44,243 --> 00:57:47,763

That's our our management

arm, climbcapital.com

:

00:57:47,813 --> 00:57:50,873

for our investment arm and unhitchedrv.com

:

00:57:51,463 --> 00:57:52,983

to see all our RV parks.

:

00:57:53,463 --> 00:57:54,853

And you can reach me on LinkedIn.

:

00:57:56,013 --> 00:57:56,993

Very active on there.

:

00:57:56,993 --> 00:57:59,013

So look me up, Matt Whitermore.

:

00:57:59,013 --> 00:57:59,623

Appreciate it, Brian.

:

00:58:00,263 --> 00:58:01,193

Brian Searl: Thanks for being here, Matt.

:

00:58:01,193 --> 00:58:02,993

Scott, final thoughts and where can

they find out more about AdventureGenie?

:

00:58:04,333 --> 00:58:05,643

Scott Lengel: Yeah thanks for having me.

:

00:58:05,683 --> 00:58:06,713

Good conversation.

:

00:58:06,853 --> 00:58:12,143

I love talking AI and I love talking

AI in different scenarios where you

:

00:58:12,143 --> 00:58:15,923

never thought you might be using it, a

few years ago when AI was just starting

:

00:58:15,923 --> 00:58:20,093

to become really popular, I don't

think the RV industry was probably was

:

00:58:20,093 --> 00:58:21,333

not at the forefront of their minds.

:

00:58:21,363 --> 00:58:23,243

So I'm glad to see it

happening everywhere.

:

00:58:23,553 --> 00:58:27,213

Go check out AdventureGenie

at adventuregenie.com.

:

00:58:27,273 --> 00:58:29,133

Go ahead and get your

seven-day free trial.

:

00:58:29,733 --> 00:58:31,143

Try it out, play with it.

:

00:58:31,403 --> 00:58:32,123

I think you'll love it.

:

00:58:32,293 --> 00:58:33,653

If not, let us know.

:

00:58:34,403 --> 00:58:36,763

Brian Searl: Is there actually

a jingle for AdventureGenie that

:

00:58:39,003 --> 00:58:39,103

you sing?

:

00:58:40,053 --> 00:58:40,703

Scott Lengel: I think you should.

:

00:58:40,703 --> 00:58:41,323

I think you should.

:

00:58:41,323 --> 00:58:43,023

If there's not, I think

it would be catchy.

:

00:58:43,633 --> 00:58:44,003

Brian Searl: Okay.

:

00:58:45,093 --> 00:58:45,983

It was good, man.

:

00:58:45,983 --> 00:58:49,363

I like, I'm a little, I'm a

little like 5% just teasing

:

00:58:49,363 --> 00:58:50,873

you, but 95% like it was cool.

:

00:58:50,953 --> 00:58:51,603

You did a good job.

:

00:58:52,453 --> 00:58:54,723

Scott Lengel: AdventureGenie,

our magic, your journey.

:

00:58:56,073 --> 00:58:57,483

Brian Searl: All right, Craig,

final thoughts and where can they

:

00:58:57,483 --> 00:58:58,503

learn about your park or campground?

:

00:58:59,353 --> 00:59:00,503

Craig Alsup: Yeah, hey check out

:

00:59:06,593 --> 00:59:07,343

askewslandingrv.com.

:

00:59:07,713 --> 00:59:09,853

And yeah, you can shoot me an

email at [email protected].

:

00:59:14,693 --> 00:59:18,683

And yeah, if I can help any park owner

that's listening figure out some of these

:

00:59:18,693 --> 00:59:23,973

Google stuff, AI stuff what to do next

with marketing systems I'd love to help.

:

00:59:24,373 --> 00:59:26,013

And yeah, reach out.

:

00:59:27,263 --> 00:59:27,533

Brian Searl: Awesome.

:

00:59:27,583 --> 00:59:29,743

Thank you guys for joining us for

another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

:

00:59:29,743 --> 00:59:31,463

If you're not sick and tired of

hearing from me, I will be live

:

00:59:31,463 --> 00:59:32,893

with Scott Bahr in about 55 minutes.

:

00:59:33,403 --> 00:59:35,653

We're going to talk about something

called Solarpunk and how you can

:

00:59:35,653 --> 00:59:37,293

design your campground toward that.

:

00:59:37,663 --> 00:59:40,713

And then maybe Kevin Costner's movie

Waterworld and personalizing your

:

00:59:40,713 --> 00:59:43,903

campground and the future of what we just

talked about a little bit more in depth.

:

00:59:44,253 --> 00:59:45,823

And then some data and

research and things like that.

:

00:59:45,823 --> 00:59:48,713

But if not, we will see you next week

on another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

:

00:59:48,713 --> 00:59:49,653

Thanks guys for joining us.

:

00:59:49,663 --> 00:59:50,213

Appreciate y'all.

:

00:59:51,843 --> 00:59:52,083

Craig Alsup: Thanks man.

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