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Craig Alsup, Owner of Askew’s Landing RV Campground, shared his real-world experience of turning around a 40-year-old, outdated park.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.
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
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:free and they got a little pocket change.
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:But he wasn't spending
money on anything, right?
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:And then I come in and I'm
like, oh, we got to redo this.
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:We got to fix this.
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:We got to add this, right?
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:And some of that, man, I've had to
pull back on a little bit because, do
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:we need all of those different things?
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:And really start to look at
the ROI of things a little bit
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:closer than I was at first.
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:I think at first it was more of
shotgun blast, let's get this thing
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:way different than it was so that
we let the world know we're here.
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:But nevertheless, a little bit on that
and trying to be a little more strategic.
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:But man, yeah the use of AI they're a
group of people that are probably the
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:majority of campground owners in the US
at least they're never going to adopt AI.
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:And that just is what it is, right?
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:They're never going to run
Facebook ads, Google ads.
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:That just is what it is.
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:I think honestly we're talking to
the vast minority when were talking
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:about these things anyway right now.
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:And I don't honestly see that changing
until all the camp, until more and more
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:of the campgrounds change hands, right?
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:You read the book The
Tipping Point before?
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:Yeah, so I think until we reach the
tipping point in the industry where
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:it's you gotta do this stuff or, your
business is gonna tank basically.
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: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
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:right where my park was when I bought it.
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:Brian Searl: but like I think we
said, like the impetus then is,
381
:it has to be economic, right?
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: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.
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:So we're not quite at that
impetus for most of those people
386
:who have higher margins yet.
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:Probably not even close.
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: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.
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:Brian Searl: Okay.
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:Fair.
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: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.