MC Fireside Chats – November 23rd, 2022

[00:00:00] 

Brian: Welcome everybody to another episode of MC Fireside Chats. My name is Brian Searl with Insider Perks. Here with my dog Riley, who is a lap dog and can’t get out [00:01:00] of the spotlight for whatever reason. So she’s here today with me. I’m sitting outside, I’m back in Canada. Super excited to be back from the KOA Conference, the RBEC Conference, O H C E the IAAPA Conference.

It was really kind of action packed. Two weeks here, but outside. It’s beautiful. It’s sunny. Yes, it’s cold. Yes, there’s snow there. But you know, super excited to just be outside as we all are. We work in this. Industry and wanna spend out as much time out here as we can. So we’ve got a couple special guests missing a bunch of people this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, as well as CCRVC is having their annual board meetings.

So that pull pulled away, Cara one of my co-host and a few other people. But super excited to have Phil back. He is alive, he is here. He apparently does other things besides being on the show, which shocked me to be frank. But we’re super excited to have Phil back to talk about the RV industry, the RV d a convention, things like that.

We’ve got Susan Carpenter back from the RV Women’s Alliance, she’s gonna talk to us about some cool awards and some other things have been happening with amazing female leaders in the industry. And we’ve got Peggy and Andy Stabler, who are full-time RVers Right, who are gonna talk a little about some of their journeys and things that are going on.

[00:02:00] So I don’t know where we wanna start. Phil you take the lead, you decide. 

Phil: Well, sure. Thanks Brian. And it’s great to be back on the show after kind of a busy travel schedule this fall as the industry’s kind of getting back into Some of its travel patterns and norms with some of the industry events.

We’re just coming off our annual convention for RV dealers that we had in Las Vegas, Nevada a couple weeks ago. And had really good attendance. We were up 16% over 2021. We were really pleased to welcome back a lot of our Canadian friends who found it a little difficult to travel last year. It was an interesting conference because, you know, it, while the market is softening and certainly there’s been a lot of attention paid to that, people were in a pretty good mood.

They, you know, realizing that you know, the last quarter of 2021 was gonna be very difficult to match year over year for shipment figures and sales figures. So we’re kind of adjusting to a normalized inventory environment and you know, people are looking [00:03:00] to go back to basics customer service, customer follow up, and of course, You know, we did pump about 2 million new RVs into the bloodstream over the last five years.

So those are gonna be need you know, need service and aftermarket support and certainly dealers are gearing up for that. So we were very pleased with the turnout and, you know, the mood of the industry is good. You know, the manufacturers are kind of adjusting production to the retail demand and you know, we’ll sell through some of the inventory that is on dealers lots right now through the show season in the US and in Canada.

And, you know, we’ll see how we hit the ground in late winter, early spring as dealers start to, to reorder. 

Brian: Will you talk a little bit about that, just from an economic perspective? Because we have a lot of camera and owners who watch the show maybe aren’t as familiar with the RV industry and how inventory works.

And I think, you know, coming off the KOA convention, the AR convention, and just listening to the owners and some of the sessions that were going on, I think there is a valid concern about the [00:04:00] economy overall from a standpoint of softening in 2023. But I don’t think that’s going to be impacted at all by the number of shipments specifically.

And then you and I had that conversation about how, like, we feel Camping is a resilient market regardless. 

Phil: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, some of the research, the forward looking research that KOA and others are doing shows that Camping is really never been more popular. And so, while shipments and sales may slow down somewhat you know, Campground registration, advanced registration is very strong you know, during the last big recession.

While, you know, the RV industry was down 40, 50% in shipments and sales you know, the Campground occupancy rates barely budged because Camping is a, an affordable way for people to vacation. And now with all these new buyers we’ve brought in during the, you know, the pandemic kind of bubble that we’ve had it should be a very, very good year for campgrounds.

And, you know, I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but I mean there’s a lot of [00:05:00] people taking notice of the Campground sector. There’s more private equity money coming in. People who are INV involved in real estate investments are looking at Campground expansion. And even the public lands agencies are looking at modernizing and maybe even expand.

Campgrounds on state parks and even county owned property. So, you know, it’s a really exciting time to be a Campground owner, I would think. And I think occupancy rates are really going to be strong moving into next year. 

Brian: Yeah, I a hundred percent agree with you. I mean, I think there’s probably a breaking point for every industry, but I don’t think we’re anywhere close to that yet.

And that’s kind of what we were hearing at AR and KOA too. I mean, we’ve been, again, the last recession, the data points we have to pick from is 2008, and we did very well through that. And even attending iopa, which for those of you who don’t know, is the international, I always forget what it is, but it’s where all the theme park operators buy their rides and they have 4,000 vendors.

And it’s a super cool show in Orlando every year. But even talking to some of those, [00:06:00] It’s the same sediment in the attractions industry that people will still want to be entertained. They still will want to go on vacation and Camping allows them the ability to adjust that to either do closer to home or again, maybe stay in a state park or a BLM lander, which is not what private campgrounds wanna hear.

I know. But Camping is Camping, right. And I’m not saying they’re all gonna do that, but yeah, I think there’s definitely an upbeat sentiment to that. How do you feel, Peggy and Andy, you guys are full-time RVs. Tell us a little bit about your story. 

Peggy: Well, we started full-time RVing back in October of 2017.

So we’ve been doing it about five years. And one of the reasons we started is 

Andy: I had worked for a, the Veterans Administration Hospital and there was things going on there that I just needed to get outta that system. And travel nursing had a big draw for me. And we knew then we were gonna do the travel nursing.

We wanted to have our own stuff sleep in our own bed. Our own kitchen, everything. And so we just saw that the full-time RV was gonna be the best way to go. So [00:07:00] we made the investment, personal investment and equipment was we, you know, got an appropriate size truck and a pretty good, pretty comfortable grand design fifth wheel.

And we did that and really we’re a couple years, yeah, we did that for three years. And then couple years ago we upgraded, downgraded, whatever, swapped into a motor coach . And so 

Brian: Peggy says you didn’t downgrade for sure. She says 

Peggy: it was, it’s a big 

upgrade to a class A motor. 

Andy: Well, yes, there were concessions.

You know, the fifth wheel had more living space, less storage. The Class A, we have so much more storage, but probably a. Or 50 or square feet, less living space, but it’s still pretty comfortable. Yeah. 

Brian: Well, and you just drive to Florida and then you can live outside, right? Or something like during the winters?

Yeah. Florida, Texas. 

Andy: Yeah. Well, we did that last October. We did go down to Florida for a while. And we have reservations now for Arizona [00:08:00] for, you know, for for Tucson. Yeah, Tucson. So that’s gonna be January and. . 

Brian: That’s nice. Three weeks ago I would’ve told you like, go to Florida. Always. And then I went to AR and sat through a hurricane and I was promised sunshine with all the AR marketing.

I’m not saying it’s a’s fault, but it was, you know, I was expect sunshine and I had to sit through a hurricane. So, but other than that which is ending now, Florida is, yeah. Just it’s part of that freedom, right? That, that you get to be able to travel wherever you want. You can’t pick up your hotel 

and move 

Well, yeah. Now that he’s retired from the travel nursing, because we had to travel we based it on the jobs. You know, you go out there and look and see what’s open at different places. So we did Arizona, 

Andy: couple Midwest Texas a couple times. And so now we have more flexible Mexico. 

Brian: How long have you been doing this?

The traveling nurse? 

Andy: It was five years. Just a little over five years. We just, we started that October, 2017. 

Brian: So can I ask you and just because like we’ve only got four people on the show, I’m trying to stretch it out for [00:09:00] time a little bit, but I am curious, right? Cause my girlfriend’s a respiratory therapist too.

How did what you did, or cha or traveled or how you, like, how did that impact with Covid? Did you change where you were going? Did you change what you were doing, what jobs you would accept? Was there more available? 

Andy: Yeah it presented a lot more challenges. There were a lot of campgrounds that were closed.

 Or the ones that chose to remain open, there were no facilities. So they stipulated, when you booked you had to be police self-contained. . And so that made it kind of challenging. Also, the availability of campgrounds was a job I had to turn down in Nebraska because there was only one, and it was a good size Campground.

They had no, no available spots, so I had to make some compromises on what hospital I wanted to work to. So we ended up going to Western Nebraska and I did my 13 week assignment there. 

Brian: And you feel like, which actually, go ahead. I’m sorry. GoAhead. No, go ahead. We were just on a delay. I thought 

Andy: you were done.

Sorry, go ahead. Well, the Campground that we stayed at in Nebraska was an old koa, and it was [00:10:00] purchased years ago by an individual, and she’s doing a remarkable job of keeping it going. So 

Peggy: a solo owner of the female, one person owns it, and she has, she turned it around. It had been empty for years.

Phil: Years. Well, go ahead and shout her 

Brian: out if you want. I mean, give her the credit. She’s due. 

Phil: If you 

Susan: want Captain, captain Critters, country, Campground, 

Peggy: and Scott’s Bluff, Nebraska, and her name is Sue and I can’t think of, I can’t remember her last name right 

Andy: now. 

Brian: That’s awesome. You’ll notice that Sue is a good name for strong female women in the industry.

Okay. 

Andy: Okay. Yeah.

Susan: it’s the name. It’s all the name. Let’s talk 

Brian: 

Let’s do, that’s actually a good segue. Let’s talk about, Susan, if we wanna swap to you, you it’s been a couple months since you’ve been on the show too, but talk about some of these awards you gave to some of these strong women who probably are not all named Sue, 

Phil: if you wanna 

Susan: No, but they’re still amazing women, just the same.

So, the [00:11:00] IRV Women’s Alliance, one of the first things when we you. Launched it as we wanted new, some kind of education symposium where, you know, we had awards recognizing women in the industry and men in the industry and companies they’re that are either they trailblazed or they’re making a difference.

And so back in about a month ago, six weeks ago, we had our first symposium in Chicago where, you know, we brought in Purdue University and some speakers and did some really great leadership training. And then we had an awards ceremony. And one of the awards was the Trailblazer Award for Lifetime Achievement.

And that went to Debbie, I always mess up her name, forte. . 

Phil: That’s right. Bruno Forte. 

Susan: Bruna Forte. I knew Bill. Get it. So little dealer, little prices. And Debbie has really been a trailblazer in our industry. She has the Campground, she’s, she now is a part of the campers in company. But [00:12:00] amazing woman.

And she really has trail bleeds, a lot of roads for women in this industry. And then we had our Leaders of Tomorrow Award, and this was somebody recognized that is younger or just starting in the RV industry. And you know, we recognized her as for tomorrow. And that went to Alyssa Cox at Forest River.

And then we had a champion of women awards. So one would be an individual and one was a company. And that is basically somebody, or a company that is. Something to champion women within their company, their culture. The individual who won it was Kim Gregory out of Coachnet, and that’s outta Texas.

And the other one was Winnebago Industries and how those awards, we had an award committee. There were quite a few nominations for these awards. And then you know, that awards committee did a very deep dive into you know, all the different criteria, did they meet it and all that kind of stuff.

So we were [00:13:00] really excited to do that for the first time this year. And it was received very well and we’ll be doing it again next year. 

Brian: What do you think sets your awards apart other than trying to recognize more female? Right. I mean, what do you think sets apart your awards from, cause I feel like everybody’s doing awards now, and I know yours aren’t the same.

So can you just kind of give us a better, 

Susan: but different? No, I think ours is different because it’s not really focused on any particular segment of the industry. All you have to do is be involved in the industry. So it’s not just a dealer or, you know, a OEM or a Campground or, you know, a distributor or anything like that.

It’s not very focused, you know, so it’s anybody working within the industry, which cashs a pretty wide net. And that’s really kind of what R B W A is bringing their whole industry as a whole together. And you. Bringing women to the front of the line basically. [00:14:00] And we have men that’s involved in it too.

So we had a couple men also that were nominated for the champion of women, and they didn’t win because they didn’t deserve it. They just, there was somebody that obviously deserved it a little bit more, and so she won it. But they were great contenders as well. 

Brian: I really am a fan of awards that do that try to be inclusive of the whole industry because we’re all tied together as I think everybody from the show will agree.

The RV industry to the dealers and the manufacturers and the suppliers to the Campground. So the resorts to now glamping to everything, right. The associations and everybody. So it really is interesting to, to kind of let everybody participate in the same pool and see who the best of the best is, right?

Susan: Yeah. I mean, we focus, you know, a lot of empowerment and education and promotion, not promotion within your job of promotion of women in the industry out. There we promote a lot of them you know, out there showing what they do and what they can do. And so, you know, that’s a really great thing that we’re able to do that, you know, is separate from everything and just focusing on that [00:15:00] particular segment.

Brian: Is there a place in 2023 that you’d like to take the awards or expand them and do it? You know, now that you’ve had one year under your 

Phil: Belgium? Everybody loves 

Susan: Chicago, so it’s very centrally located. I know a lot of people are here in Elkhart, but you know, we’re not the easiest place to get to.

And we wanted, once again, be inclusive and not just say, Hey, it’s just for Elkhart. So Chicago was very well received, the hotel was very well received. So for the second year, we’re gonna have it in Chicago again, and we’re gonna try to stay away from the Canadian Thanksgiving. We kind of Oops on that one.

We had it during your Thanksgiving. Whoops. 

Andy: Well that’s, we’ll, next time 

Brian: we were talking with Phil, right before the show started, like AOA and AR and Iopa and R vda and they all overlap because this is the best time you work for the industry. So you can’t, it’s impossible. 

Susan: Can, it’s hard. It’s really hard.

You know, when somebody asks you, when’s the best time? It’s like, There is no best time. There’s just the time that’s available and you do the best you can. But after that I think we’ll [00:16:00] expand. But for now, I think because it’s so new, we’re gonna keep it in Chicago. It was well received. We had about 200 people attend, so That’s awesome.

Yeah, we’re really excited about it. 

Brian: And was it just, it was just awards or was it a No, 

Susan: we had Purdue, it was a day and a half, so we had big networking events and we also had Purdue University come in and teach two class of one for emerging leaders and one for current leaders on leadership and diversity, equity inclusion and what it looks like within your company and teaching that kind of stuff.

And then we had Commander Mary Kelly, she was a commander in the Navy and she spoke and she was amazing. I gotta admit. And you meet her she’s just like, Yeah. How do you wanna be introduced? She said, I don’t care. Whatever. You don’t get that many, you know, with speakers like that, you don’t get that very often.

She was just very herself. But she was a big hit too. So it was really, 

Brian: it usually leads to a good leader, right? As somebody who’s humble doesn’t need that 10 page bio read about them [00:17:00] before they take the stage. Yeah. So not to who does that. Right. But, 

Susan: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was a lot of fun and it was a good opportunity to network and everybody who attended are like, oh, I’m bringing more people next year.

So we’re really excited about that and what we’re able to accomplish for the very first time. It was quite the 

Brian: cat. Well, let’s keep awards going. Do we wanna, I mean, Phil, I saw that there were some pretty oppressive award winners at at your show there in Las Vegas. You wanna talk a little about that?

Phil: Right. Well, we gave out our highest honor. It’s called the James B. Summers Award. And it’s named after one of our past CEOs, somebody who held my position back in the eighties. And it’s our highest award. In fact, Debbie Bruna Forte, who Susan honored, is a past award recipient. So it’s the highest honor RV d a can give out.

And this year it went to Brian Wilkins of Wilkins, RV, and Brian. Grew up in the industry. He he just gave a wonderful speech about how [00:18:00] much the industry means to him. He’s built the dealership from a single location in upstate to New York. I think they have six locations now. They’re real force in RV retailing up in the New York area.

And, you know, Brian is also a past RV d a chairman of the board. And you know, you. Heard the industry talk about repair event cycle time and how we can get people who have a problem with their RV fixed and out the door in a much more timely manner. So repair event cycle time. And when Brian was chairman working with RVD of Canada as well, he really pushed this.

And you know, other subsequent chairman have and subsequent R V D A boards as well as the R V I A board have really taken this on. To move this initiative forward. And it’s somewhat now institutionalized in our strategic plan for both R V I A and RV d a. So, you know, Brian was a real leader in this effort and that award you know, recognized [00:19:00] him for that accomplishment as well as all the other things he’s done for the RV business.

He’s just a, he’s a really great guy and a really good businessman and it was well deserved. We also gave out our dealer satisfaction Index awards to a number of manufacturers, RV, d a surveys dealers every year, and asked them to rate their manufacturers’ performance in a number of categories. And so we honor the top performers in that area every year.

And so we were pleased to do that. And then our chairman of the board for 2022, Mike Pirro gave out a couple awards, one to Gary Ener. Who just retired from Cummins. He received it for his work in continuing the work in R E C T. He’s kind of a team leader in that. And then he also gave an award to Chris Andro, a dealer in Connecticut who’s a past RV d a chairman of the board and has done a lot of work within the industry.

So it was exciting. And then of course, RV Business does its top 50 dealer [00:20:00] awards recognizing dealers all across the country and in Canada, who, you know, go above and beyond in their community and also within the industry. So it was it was, we did, we gave out our share of awards. I can tell you that.

Susan: Don’t you do the 40 under 42? Yes, 

Phil: actually, yeah. Thanks for reminding me. RV Pro has has over the last two years done 40, under 40. So this is. People within the industry who are kind of up and comers. And so that, that was a really nice event they held during the convention as well. So thanks for reminding me about that.

I don’t wanna slight anybody in, anybody else who got an award. Congratulations. 

Brian: Bill has also just thought of you. He promises in his head, he just didn’t have enough time to say it out loud. But we would love, like, I would love to get more of these people involved in the show and highlight some of their accomplishments, even just if it’s an article on Modern Campground, right?

Because yes, they’re up in front of their peers, they get all these awards, which is great for the recognition, but I feel like there’s a deeper story sometimes that we can tell. [00:21:00] And so like, if your guys ever had suggestions, whether it’s this year’s winners, pass winners, whatever, I’d love to hear from, 

Susan: they all have something to give back to everybody else, their stories and what they’ve done.

Some are just inspirational, some great mentorships. Like Phil was saying about Brian, I mean, wow. Because I know that cycle time is huge right now. I mean, it’s, it’s a really big initiative and I hadn’t realized that Brian had started that. And what he started was pretty incredible. 

Phil: Yeah. You know, our incoming chairman, Nathan Hart from Walnut Ridge Family RV Center in southern Indiana.

He grew up in the Campground business and he’s got a great story. He and his dad bought a Campground in 1991, and he was a little kid and his brother, they worked in the Campground cutting, you know, grass and doing all this stuff. And then people were to ask them about their RV and could they help ’em fix it or move it or whatever.

And so they got the idea [00:22:00] of, Hey, why don’t we start selling RVs? And so they grown that business from a Campground to a very large, significant dealer in Indiana. And now he’s got other business partners. He’s got ca RVs, RV dealerships in Louisiana. And so it’s. Susan’s, right? I mean, there are so many great stories in the RV business because a lot of it is second, third, and now we’re getting into fourth generation people who’ve been involved with the industry.

And it’s once it gets in your bloodstream, once you start working in it, it’s really hard to give it up because, you know, what are we doing? We’re trying to provide people with a way to travel, spend time with their family and have fun. And you know, we’ve.

Not saying we don’t have our issues with support and things like that, cuz we do and we’re trying to work on those, but everybody does. A lot of people are you know, once they start in the business they find it hard to extricate themselves. 

Susan: Yeah. I I always leave once you’re there, once you’re in you, they’ll never let you [00:23:00] out.

I mean, and that’s not a bad thing cuz this industry’s pretty great. I mean, you know, you take Peggy and Andy there, you know, those are the people that, you know, make our business make or break it. Right. Their experience and everything else like that. You know, you talk about the market softening, you know, as Phil knows, I’ve been in the aftermarket for way too many years and I’d like to admit, but my paying job, but as the market softens a little bit on new unit sales, you know, back in oh 8, 0 9 when I had you know, I owned my company we stayed afloat very well just because what we did was replacement parts.

And I’m still in the replacement parts, just in a different company now. But that’s where people are starting to fix up we’ll wait a couple more years and we re replace this hatch or whatever. And what they don’t do if money’s tight, they don’t, they might not replace an air conditioner.

They may just open windows, you know, that type of thing might take a little bit more of a hit. But, you know, you [00:24:00] can’t listen to everything that the thing anyways. 

Brian: But it is interesting, like we would Oh, sorry. Go ahead Susan. I’m sorry. 

Andy: Well, I you to say, 

Peggy: you talking about the RV dealers, we had a really good experience with an RV dealer recently in Bernillo, New Mexico.

If I could give a shout out to Aloha RV in Be Leo, because we had to have our refrigerator replaced. I don’t know if there was a residential, the LG refrigerators, there was a lot of issues with them. Were a lot of RVs that had to have ’em replaced and They originally were gonna take it out through the windshield and well go ahead, we, 

Andy: the factory head.

Well, when we purchased the RV, the dealer said, you know, if you ever have refrigerator problems, you’re gonna want to get this extended warranty. So we did, because if it goes through the windshield, it’s gonna be minimum seven, $8,000. So I was like, all right, you sold us on that. We ended up taking this to the factory for some warranty work, and we mentioned that fact to the Coachman people, and [00:25:00] they said, oh, it’ll just go out through this particular window over here.

So we remember that. Also with the residential refrigerator, a lot of repair companies won’t come in knowing it’s an RV. Yeah. So when we booked with a company in Albuquerque, they didn’t ask, we didn’t tell ’em, you know, where we were living. We just gave ’em an address. The guy showed up. Didn’t say a word, reported back to his people.

And then his boss contacted us and said, well, had we known you were in an RV, we wouldn’t have come out. Yeah. So then I asked him why, and he said, well, there’s a risk of destroying trim work. Which in my mind thought, I thought that can happen in a sticks and bricks home too. And then he also mentioned the lack of space was that the tech didn’t complain about that at all.

So we talked back and forth a little bit and he agreed to finish the job cuz I kind of said, you, I think it would be good for you to finish what you started. And he agreed with that. Yeah. So we gave that repair company great reviews. They enforcement couldn’t fix it. [00:26:00] And we had a big back and forth with the manufacturer and yeah, this would take hours to explain.

Anyway, we kind of did some preliminary shopping. We went to some big box stores, fond refrigerator we wanted, and we made arrangements then with the Aloha RV. Told ’em what we’re gonna do. They thought they were gonna have to go through the windshield and said no, go right through here. They ended up having to take the doors off the fridge, got it out.

The new refrigerator was slightly smaller, same square footage, but physic outside dimensions were well within proportions to go in and out the window. So that was a great learning experience, great experience for both of us. I, the company and us, and 

Peggy: well, they worked us in, yeah, they knew, I mean, we had to order the refrigerator and have it delivered and, you know, we went to the, we just went, didn’t we go there?

We didn’t do my phone. We went there to get the appointment set up and everything. We found that it’s a lot better to show up in person, places that it is to try to do things over the phone. And so they yeah, they were, it was great. They did it [00:27:00] and it looked great. They put the window back in. We had no issues with the window.

Everything’s sealed up. 

Andy: They six people into forklift . 

Peggy: They had a reattached the new refrigerator to the back wall so it doesn’t bounce out down the road. It was a, it was quite a thing for anybody with a motor coach and they have to replace a refrigerator. It’s not a 

Andy: small thing at all. So we’re glad we got that extended warranty.

Brian: Is there a way, and I know we’ve had talked on the show before, right? And this is just an ignorant question from my standpoint, probably to fill into season to a certain extent, but is there a way that, well, I don’t know what I would really wanna ask. I guess I’m trying to ask you, basically saying Peggy and a, that this guy didn’t have RV training, right.

Who actually helped you? Is that accurate? Right. 

Andy: Okay. Well, he was a 

Peggy: refrigerator repair man. 

Andy: Oh yeah. Because their business was based on residential. Yeah. And it’s a 

Peggy: residential refrigerator. 

Phil: Yeah. 

Brian: So are there, I mean, what percentage maybe feel like what can be done by somebody like this outside of the refrigerator and what has to go in for specialty?

Because I know there’s a shortage of people who can [00:28:00] work on this stuff. Right. It’s frustrating. 

Phil: Well, I mean, I think they’re in a, they’re in a larger coach that can handle a residential refrigerator. Most RVs, the vast majority of RVs have smaller ones. The college park, the reg the other types. RV refrigerators that are meant for RV and marine use.

So, but when you aren’t a larger coach and they do put those bigger ones in then you kind of get the stories that that we just heard. And I am glad you had a good experience with a loha RV there. They’re a great member into Mexico of B D A and you know, that’s certainly, you know, kind of get to the point of what we saw during the downturn was the most successful RV dealers that were able to weather that storm back 10 years ago were the ones that had full service.

Right. Susan? I mean, yeah. The people that have a commitment to not only just selling the unit, but also servicing what they sell. And and you know, that’s kind of where RV DA’s[00:29:00] bread and butter is, in fact, you know, To be an RV d a member, you’re supposed to have service facilities as well, so, And certainly, you know, there’s varying levels of that but the most successful dealers certainly are full service dealers that service and have parts parts department and all that as well. Yeah, 

Susan: because I, you know, like you said in the next couple years is something soft?

And I mean, think of all those RVs that are out there that need to be serviced. Oh, you know, and that’s what’s gonna be great. And, you know, Peggy and Andy, it’s so great to hear a nice story. Cause all you hear nowadays is, you know, the negative of everything, everything’s negative. And it’s just 

Brian: because it’s what’s right.

Like we all know that most people are probably happy. Those stories just don’t play well, which is why you on the, 

Andy: we had a good Outcome yesterday too. We had to have a mobile tech come out and repair our hot water heater and water pump. And he was actually the service lead service [00:30:00] guy at a RV dealership that’s probably a hundred yards from us.

And he came out went there and 

Peggy: asked him for a recommendation. 

Andy: A mobile tech. Yes. So this local RV dealership gave us his card and it was a great experience. And so we got everything done within in a couple hours. So shout out to this gentleman, the RV tech. He he was a rockstar 

Brian: too. Yeah. So who all comes to the, is it just dealers who come to the RV d a convention fill, or is it, are there separate conventions for manufacturers and suppliers or, I’m just, I’m ignorant right from this 

Phil: Well, R V D A, yeah.

We have it’s primarily dealers that are the, you know, the attendees. And then we have exhibitor, so we have an expo floor. It. Primarily services that dealers use in the back end. Everything from computer systems to marketing companies. There are some suppliers there. We do have a few rolling stock units on the floor.

But we all, you know, we encourage everybody to come to the convention because I really do believe that the suppliers get a lot out of it as [00:31:00] well when they attend some of the workshops that we do for the dealers on customer service, on managing the dealership. I mean, the more you know about your customer, the better you can serve them.

And I think we also do a specific vendor training. We allow that opportunity. There’s a lot of interest in that, especially you know, as RVs have become more complex over the years. There’s just there’s just a lot that goes into it. And So whether it’s you know, a computer system or new features and on some of the component parts towing systems, things like that we allow the vendors to do some actual training and right at the convention as well.

So it’s it’s grown quite a bit over the last few years. 

Susan: Yeah. And I think you get a lot of face time with the dealers, like you say, but you also have on your showroom floor for like the aftermarket, a lot of your distributors partake too. So for a supplier like myself, you know, not only are you talking to the dealers, but you’re also talking to your customer that’s distributing the [00:32:00] product as well.

It’s a really, it really is a good. I didn’t get 

Phil: out. 

Brian: I’m glad you said that about the inclusive, you know, anybody who’s welcome to come, Phil, because, you know, just like we talked about the awards, I think everything goes hand in hand. You know, for me, when I’m going I run a marketing agency. I run Modern Campground dot com, but you know, I want attend AR and I want to go to these educational sessions at KOA and AR and iopa and everywhere else because the more I know about finance and you know, what’s, why we’re having this show right now.

Right? The more I learn about parts and how a dealer works and it, the more I can help people who cross my paths and pass along information and it’s just, it interconnects the industry even. 

Susan: Yeah, you’re networking too. You know, it’s what I tell everybody. Networking is like, is your number one tool for anything to be successful in life is just to network, get to know other people what they do learn.

You know, there’s so much to learn out there. Like you said, Brian, I hope I never stop learning. There’s still things. Yeah. I’m just like, Know, 

Brian: but you’re not [00:33:00] wrong about networking. Like that’s the, like I’ll go, I spent two weeks in a Orlando, right? And this is not my favorite thing to do. I’m an outgoing person, but like, there’s other things I would do that stay up till two o’clock in the morning, drink and whiskey with people or, but those are the good conversations.

Those are the networking, those are the times you hear tips that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. And so I did that for two weeks straight and killed myself and went, you know, four hours of sleep. But it was great. And I met so many people. I had so many conversations and learned so many new things and met so many new people and like that’s we’ve had those conversations with some associations both in the States and in Canada too, about what does the future of conferences look like post covid.

And some of them will stay the same, but some of them are adjusting, like the glamping show cut down a little bit on their education, focus more on networking this year. And I think that’s one thing that you will never, ever replace regardless of what happens is that networking, 

Susan: it’s key. It really is.

Brian: It’s super, super critical. What else we have to talk about? We got about 20 minutes left to fill here, guys. What’s new? And [00:34:00] what were you up to this time for Phil? What’s happening 

Phil: this summer? Well, speaking of National Parks, took the family to Acadia, which was a beautiful place to be. It was interesting there to see that the campgrounds up there were full.

I mean, they were full and you could not get a spot unless you had made a reservation at least six months in advance. Always been public and the private sites around Acadia were full. But no, you know, it, like I was telling you, I think the industry’s kind of getting back to some normal meetings.

Some state association, state RV association meetings were held. So I was at the Texas RV Association, Oklahoma RV Association, Florida RV Association meeting, as well as the the open house in Elkhart in late September. And so it was really good to, to see to see folks and the open house was well attended.

They they changed some things around this year, but but it was really interesting to see some of the new products coming [00:35:00] out at that show. And that has really become the big manufacturer showcase. And then they also have a a supplier vendor area at the Rbmh Hall of Fame now that they’ve put together.

So it’s you know, it’s a great opportunity for people to get together and and I know I saw you out there, Susan, so Yep. 

Susan: Yep. We’ve ran into each other. 

Brian: Well, let’s do this guys, since this is the last RV Industry outdoor rec show of the year, right? Cuz we’re gonna take off between Christmas and New Year’s.

I mean, if you guys really wanna come to a show, you can. But I’m not gonna be here . So let’s assume that this is the last one for the year. Let’s talk about, you know, tomorrow’s Thanksgiving for those of you in the United States, which is everybody except me, I think. Let’s talk about something and it can’t be cheeky.

I’m gonna put you guys on the spot, right? Let’s talk about something over the last year that you’re thankful for. Can be in the industry, can be a personal story, can be whatever you want. Just tell us a little story about it. What are you thankful for? Whoever wants to go first. . Wow. . Well, I mean, it’s Thanksgiving.

We should be [00:36:00] thankful, right? 

Andy: I think for us, we’re very thankful for the ability to well, speaking from a nurse for me, be able to help people in their health crisis disease. But we are also thankful for all the people that we met over the years and you know, sharing our knowledge through our experiences with RVs and and just helping out people in the RV world healthcare and also in our tribals we attend local churches and stuff.

And so we’re grateful to be able to share with the local people. And so I think it’s just been a wonderful opportunity. 

Peggy: We’re in contact with people we met years ago at a Campground and. Some of them, we get together with them at other times. Yeah. Some of them. We met a couple at a rally back in 2016 for I don’t even think they’re still out there for what they used to be called RV.

RV Dreams. RV Dreams. It was Howard and Linda Payne had done that, if you ever heard of them. They’re real big in that. But we met a couple there and we’re still in contact [00:37:00] with them. They did full-time RV for a while. Then they decided they wanted us have a place in Rockport, Texas. So they built a little cabin there and then they were traveling around and then ended up doing their winters in Rockport.

Then they said we’re done traveling. So then they built a little place in Arkansas, horseshoe Bend, Arkansas. So they are half the year and Horseshoe Bend and the other half the year down in Rockport. And it’s just, I don’t know that we have some friends in Arizona and New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Yeah, it’s just. We’re just thankful that for this life, having the opportunity to do this for so long, and now that he’s retired, we’re still doing it. We’re just changing it up a little bit. We can go where we want now instead of where we have to go. Yeah. But we like to go to the little towns we like to, and that’s what I’m grateful for.

We lost Vegas, New Mexico . 

Andy: Yeah. Yeah. We stayed at a state park there that. Cold, it snowed snow. It’s 

Brian: interesting, all those little [00:38:00] towns, right? Like I was Modern. Campground is actually headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, which is 20 minutes north of Columbus. And my badge at Iopa just said Dublin. So everybody thought I was from Ireland.

He’s 

Peggy: Irish. 

Brian: Irish. I mean, I am Irish, but I, like, once I talk you realize that I’m not but who happy to 

Phil: go, or Phil. Yeah, I’d just say, I’d just say thank you for your, you know, your former career, cuz I know from firsthand experience that is that’s a tough job. And and you know, I know a lot of people in healthcare with visiting Nurses Association do the RV thing and use RVs Certainly dealers are well aware of the activity that’s out there and try to support people on the road like you are, as, as much as they can. So thank you for that. I just, you know, we sent out a note to our members just thanking them for their support of our charitable arm, the RV Learning Center, [00:39:00] which we use for continuing education, not only at our convention and our in-person event, but we also have online courses for service advisors and parts personnel which we are gearing up for in 2023.

And we could not provide these courses at the very reasonable price of $150 for a five hour course if we didn’t have not only the financial support, but also the intellectual support. of our subject matter experts who help us put those courses together. And so, you know, we talk about service technician training a lot in our business, which is unbelievably important.

But you can have really highly trained techs. But if you’ve got service writers, advisors, and parts people who don’t know what they’re doing, don’t know how to schedule, don’t know how to really find out from the people what the problem with the unit is. You know, we get into this repair event, cycle time issue and, you know, something’s gotta give.

[00:40:00] So we’re trying to, through R V D A. Train those management type personnel at the dealership, those frontline folks to do a better job. And also it helps them, you know, grow in their career so that they are well equipped to handle what might come at them. Because it can be a highly tense situation when people are on vacation or getting ready to go on vacation and something’s not working with the RV.

And so, you know, this gives them the tools that to, you know, not only solve the problem, but also deal with the customers and lower the temperature of what can be a stressful situation for both the customer and the. 

Brian: I’m gonna piggyback off that a second and go next and just say it like, I’m just thankful in general for the people who just give to the industry as a whole, like selflessly, and not even just to the industry, but to people who are in need.

And some of that ties into the industry, right? Like we are, we were at KS convention, I was at KS Convention last week, and they do as they always have done for years and years. A [00:41:00] big thing on Care Camps used to be KOA Care camps now is just care camps. And just hearing, you know, they invite people up there to tell their stories about how camp changed their lives and just the people, I think they raised 2.4 million or something last year.

To send these kids with cancer to these camps and just it’s crazy. It’s so emotional when you see, like, it really puts into perspective like your whole life, right? Like the things that you complain about, the things that I would complain about on a daily basis are nothing compared to what it could be like if you had cancer or you had something else that was tragic in your life or a family member was suffering or something like that.

So I guess I’m just thankful for other people who give to care camps for obviously kaa who supports it for all the other organizations I know the, in the RV industry that support it as well for and all those kinds of places. And not just care camps, but you know, to, to what Phil’s talking about to the people who help support training and the growth and the education and all the things that make our industry what it’s, that’s mine.

Susan: Wow. That’s a hard, those are hard ex to follow,[00:42:00] 

Mine’s. Mine’s. I could probably talk about it for a couple hours because, you know, through the trials and tribulation through your life is the older you get. And I think we’re all a little bit older. You become more and more thankful for even the littlest things. Right? As, as silly as it sounds, your health, your family, I mean, those are very important to me.

But like you guys said, this industry, I am, I’m very blessed and thankful to be part of this industry. I love this industry a lot, just like a lot of other people in this industry. I grew up in it. I was second generation. The third generation in my household said, no way. And they went and did other things.

I think, living with me and hearing all about it. But anyways this industry is. Unlike any other one. You know, I’ve worked in other industries as well as I was with RV, the RV side. But just to be able to be a part of such a large but yet [00:43:00] small family-like industry is pretty incredible. And anywhere from, you know, Peggy and Andy, the people that are actually in the coaches, to the people that build the coaches and the role I play in R B W A that I never really expected when we first started the organization was the different people I got to meet and so many different roles and such incredible inspirational people.

And I’m really thankful to be in that role to actually get to know these people and they’ve done nothing but enrich my life. 

Brian: I mean, I don’t think you did a pretty good job or pretty bad job following a season. That was pretty good. Ike was terrible, but I corrected myself quick enough. I 

Susan: No, not at all.

I mean, it’s fantastic. I mean, I, you know, I, Peggy and Andy, I, you know, you’re still doing it, so you must love it. [00:44:00] Yeah. 

Peggy: Yeah. We’ve how many coaches have we had? What are we at now? 

Andy: Well, let’s see. We start out with popup two travel trailers, two fifth Wheels and the Motor Coach. Yeah. 

Susan: the only one that went from the popup to trailer travel trailer to the fifth wheel to a tent.

Andy: No, that’s downsizing . That’s very much,

Brian: maybe they didn’t get lucky and couldn’t find somebody to replace their refrigerator. Yeah, they’re still Camping though. That’s the important part. They’re, that’s, 

Susan: Yeah, that’s right. Well, and that’s the thing I love Camping. I mean, I grew up on it and I grew up on RV, but you know, when I moved I just don’t have time.

But I still love the experience, so I don’t think I, I don’t really, I have a temp, but it’s not necessarily roughing it because, I mean, I have an airman that’s like super deep and, you know, end tables. Yeah. You know, so , we’re a 

Andy: little bit more of a 

Brian: glamping. [00:45:00] Yeah. I’m all for roughing it, but my body doesn’t agree as the years continue to stack up.

So. 

Susan: Exactly. I could get off the ground if I was sleeping in the ground. Those days are gone. 

Phil: I like, 

Brian: I probably have a couple more days of those, but it’s gonna be creaky. So yeah. My chiropractor will help with that. . It’s not good. So let’s 

Phil: do this. Go ahead. Sorry. I was just gonna say, I just found out over the weekend my brothers who live in Minnesota just went in and are shared the expense of buying one of these RV.

Ice houses. So it’s a RV in the summer. It’s a travel trailer in the summer and in the winter they can haul it out on Malac Lake in Minnesota and it’s, and ice fish out of it. Oh, I can wait to go visit them and see this thing in action. That’s so cool. Yeah. It’s a big, it’s a big sport and there’s a couple of Minnesota manufacturers who build ’em up there, so should be very interesting to check this 

Susan: thing [00:46:00] out.

Oh, Minnesota loves their ice fishing . 

Brian: I mean, so do we up here? I’ve never been like, I wanted to go, but I can’t, you can’t remember. He love sitting in a tiny two by two hut is like the thing to do. Like, I don’t know enough people in Canada yet. I just moved up here, so all my friends are down in the States.

But all that, how do you catch.

That’s a good question. Anybody, Phil will be able to answer that for us after he goes and hangs out with his family and Yeah, I 

Phil: guess those fish are pretty hungry under the ice. . 

Susan: Yeah. I don’t know. It’s kind of like hunting. Yeah. I grew up shooting a gun and stuff like that, but sitting in a deer stand all day waiting for deer to wander by, just, 

Andy: I’m too 

Brian: antsy for that.

Oh, it’s, no, I just, I’m going to the grocery store or a farmer’s market, right? Like I would yeah. 

Susan: We have the Amish around here big time, so I just would go to some Amish place and buy everything organically. [00:47:00] Yeah. 

Andy: And there’s some good restaurants in that area, . Yes, there is . All right, 

Brian: Let’s close out this show and say it’s also, again our last show for the year, right?

So what are you most looking forward to in the industry or personally to, if you wanna take it that direction, in 2023? 

Susan: Ooh. So I’m looking forward to it, to slow down a, you know, I mean, not the, you know what everybody’s talking about, but the last couple years your hair’s been on fire and it’s been so difficult and challenging to keep up with everything and you know, so I’m kind of looking forward to kind of getting back to more of that normal where, you know, you have a little bit more time to, to do what you need to do rather than what you have to do.

Yeah, 

Phil: I’m kind of in the same boat there. I’m really looking forward to the industry’s continued focus on working on that repair event, cycle time issue. I know Gary Hangar. Nathan Hart, my incoming chairman new chairman of the board the R V I [00:48:00] A folks, the people at the RV Technical Institute in Elkhart, which is training techs.

You know, everybody’s focused on it. And, you know, we’ve had a number of these initiatives, Susan, you know, over the years to try to do something. This time I think it’s really going to stick and move forward and I’m just really excited to see where we go on this, you know, continuous improvement to try to keep people on the road and get ’em in and out of service base quicker.

Brian: Be 

Andy: Andy, 

Brian: what are we 

Peggy: looking forward to in the new 

Phil: year? 

Andy: Well just continue to meet new people and and hang out someplace warm in the wintertime. Yeah. 

Peggy: And because he’s retired, we’re. But we are working on our own thing now as freelancers. 

Andy: Yeah, I’m a photographer and I do landscape nature and I’m also a certified 1 0 7 certified drone operator.

So we’re trying to grow that building and work on my stock photography and market to, [00:49:00] for instance, RV Parks that might need some advertisement. 

Peggy: And we’ve done some websites for two RV parks is all we’ve been able to do on our own so far. I write the content and he does the photos, so I’m hoping that in the new year we can maybe move forward with that a little more.

Brian: That’s awesome. I think from my perspective, like I’m really looking forward to like, and I can’t say this without talking about my own company, which I rarely do. I’m not a self-promotional type guy. Right. But I run Insider Perks, we do marketing for 400 campgrounds, you know, and one of the things I’m looking forward to is kind of this pivot that I’ve been trying to do for years that kind of got stalled with c and that’s pivoting more into a marketing tech security data like company that does more than, cuz people just kind of view marketing when you tell ’em you do marketing.

Oh, you post on social media? No. That’s not like, no . Yeah. But I’m really interested in how this industry is changing and part of that is brought on by, you know, c and the adoption of technology and, you know, even things as simple as Zoom, but also coming from [00:50:00] Iopa in Orlando and looking at some of the innovations there that yes, that show is attended by some Campground.

Yeah, but it is not traditionally even close to thought of as a show that Campground owners can go to get things and amenities and, you know, attractions for their properties. And so I, they sat down and I attended as press, right? And we sat down and we interviewed the incoming CEO of Iopa and we talked about outdoor hospitality and outdoor resorts and a little bit about RVing and things like that.

But just walking the show floor and thinking from, you know, my perspective of what are some of these vendors who aren’t targeting campgrounds, who could be and I’m excited to kind of work on some consulting and strategy and think about some of these things from a unique perspective that Campground owners can continue to adopt as technology becomes more of a solid firm ground that some of these parks adapt to.

There’s two things that really stick out in my mind. One was, there was this really cool vendor who had some of those lockers, like the Amazon lockers that you can open. With an app. And so we were talking, I was talking to him like he never thought about it before. I said, well, you know, obviously there’s this basic, you know, put it into the Campground store outside the store [00:51:00] and you can, you know, have people be able to place orders via an app and then they can open, you know, get a text message when it’s ready.

And so you can sell stuff from your store and put it in there. But one of the things that made this really unique is they can come in different sizes and they can also be refrigerated or heated. So you can put heated food, like pizza slices or you know, store restaurant food or bags of ice. And so these things can be ready and kept temperature controlled, even for late check-ins and checkouts and just all kinds of cool stuff like that, I think is, you know, that’s one of the things that really stuck out to me and hopefully he’ll be able to get him on the show and more involved in the industry.

And then there was a really cool company, I don’t know if you guys have seen this, these last mile robots that do delivery on college campuses and stuff like that. And there was a super cool company at Iopa that had one where you just stand right in front of it, press your thumb, it recognizes you and that’s all you need to do.

And then it will follow you, whoever that is. And so I told them, well, like you need to have these at campgrounds. And that’s a revenue source for owners who maybe can have an ability [00:52:00] for this robot to follow your own and carry all your stuff to the pool, your towels or stuff like that. Or firewood back from a store because they can’t carry it or ice or whatever it is.

And so this is, yeah, kind of a gimmick, but it’s a revenue generator, it’s an Instagrammable thing for your campgrounds to share. And they can carry 20 to 40 pounds and they’re super easy to operate in. I don’t know, just, yeah, I’m really interested in thinking outside the box and seeing where this industry’s gonna go.

Cause it’s gonna be super cool. 

Susan: Yeah, that’s a, that is cool. Order ice. And it can deliver to you too. I went to a bowling alley the other day and this robot, somebody ordered something, robot comes over and delivers it. And I’m like, wow. . 

Phil: Yeah. 

Brian: I mean, it’s changing really far. That is one of the use cases too.

The guy was, the lady was telling me, well, you know, we have hospitality, hotels that we work with where they’ll, the guy will follow, you know, some of the staff will have the robot follow him around and they’ll have some of the essentials, like toothbrushes and deodorants and things you might have forgotten.

They’ll sell it out of that. So, but yeah I’m really it’s like, I love [00:53:00] challenges. I’m a big T geek for anybody who knows me. So, I’m thrilled with the adoption of some of this stuff. I eat it up. I like it. All right. Any closing thoughts? We’ve got two minutes here before we wrap up the show.

Susan: Just thank you, Brian for everything. You do love this show. I think you do a great job doing this. You empower putting it together and inviting us to, to be a guest. I really enjoy being here. I appreciate 

Andy: that for 

Brian: us here. Yeah, thank you. What I do is nothing without Susan, Phil, and Peggy and Andy and all the other people who have appeared on this show for I was thinking about the other two and a half years.

I think it’s crazy. I’ve been doing this every week. Kara and I have. But yeah, it’s nothing without the guests who are sharing their stories, who are talking about these things. So I just kind of string it all together and I’m not even a pretty face, so I don’t really know what I do. I’m

Peggy: You rock in the sunglasses. 

Andy: Yeah. I mean, yeah. And where’s a four-legged CoStar, she’s thinks 

Susan: sleeping next to him. Oh. 

Andy: Oh, there we go.

[00:54:00] So that’s Riley. 

Brian: All right guys. Well, if there’s nothing else, I really appreciate you guys being here, especially the day before Thanksgiving. Again hope you guys all have a wonderful, amazing holiday with family, friends, watching football, drinking alcohol, whatever you guys are gonna do. Just having a yourself.

Don’t get up too early and go Black Friday shopping. Things are available online, so nobody’s planning any violent, bursting through lines, pushing people aside. Hopefully we can all have a peaceful, good holiday. And thank you guys again. I really appreciate y’all being here. And we’ll see you on the, I dunno, fourth week of January, I guess.

So. Yeah, see you next 

Phil: year. Yeah, have a Merry 

Brian: Christmas, happy New Years and all those kinds of things, so take care guys. I appreciate y’all. Thank you. 

Andy: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

[00:55:00]