CONROE, Texas, Sept. 15, 2021 — Not even a hurricane could
keep record numbers of campground operators, vendors, and industry
officials from attending the Annual Meeting and Tradeshow of the
Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO).
Over 300 park operators, vendors, and industry officials are
attending the Annual Meeting and Tradeshow of the Texas Association
of Campground Owners, the largest in TACO’s history.
The two-day event began Tuesday at the Lone Star Convention
& Expo Center in Conroe, 40 miles north of Houston, just hours after
Tropical Storm Nicholas hit the Texas Gulf Coast as a Category One
hurricane.
“This is our biggest show ever in the 49-year year history of our
association,” said Brian Schaeffer, executive vice president and CEO
of TACO. “Only a handful of people couldn’t make it because of flight
cancellations related to the storm.”
Schaeffer said attendees include 192 park operators and staff
members and 115 vendors. He said the high attendance figures reflect
“an incredible amount of pent-up energy that really mirrors what’s
been happening in our industry overall during the pandemic.”
The annual meeting, its first during the pandemic, kicked off
Tuesday afternoon with a legislative update from Ron Hinkle, TACO’s
longtime legislative consultant and lobbyist and was followed by a
front desk management software seminar by Patrick Spellman of
Astra and a workshop highlighting top campground and workamper
insurance claims and risks by Chris Hipple of Levitt Recreation &
Hospitality Insurance.
Other presentations included a park model and glamping
roundtable with Dick Grymonprez of Athens/Champion Home
Builders; Jason Olson of Conestoga Wagon Company; Johnny
Salazar of Custom Built Log Cabin Design & Sales; Carol Stevens of
Leland Cabins; and Dennis Steinman of PlainsCraft Covered Wagons.
Meeting attendees enjoyed a late afternoon happy hour with
tradeshow vendors before sitting down for a Texas-style barbecue
dinner and TACO’s annual auction, which it uses to raise funds to
support the association’s government affairs program.
This year, however, funds were also needed to help TACO
recover from the loss of its tradeshow displays and tradeshow travel
trailer, which Schaeffer said were stolen just over two weeks ago.
TACO purchased new tradeshow supplies in preparation for this
week’s annual meeting and tradeshow, and rented a 12-foot enclosed
U-Haul trailer, which TACO President Randall Dally of Rayburn RV
Hideout in Brookeland towed to Conroe with his Ford F-350 truck.
“We got everything set up for the show on Monday,” Schaeffer
explained. “Then, on Tuesday, we discovered that both Randall’s truck
and the U-Haul trailer had been stolen. That’s twice in two-and-a-half
weeks!”
Tuesday’s auction raised more than $20,000, portions of which
will be used to cover the loss of TACO’s tradeshow supplies, travel
trailer and government affairs program.
Today’s activities include TACO’s annual tradeshow and
workshops on the “The Importance of Visuals” by Nichole Poisson of
KOA and “The Americans with Disabilities Act Now and in the Future”
by Kelly Jones of Great Escapes RV Resorts. The meeting will
conclude with a group dinner.
Based in Crowley, the Texas Association of Campground
Owners is the trade association that represents over 400 campground
and RV park operators throughout Texas. In addition to providing legal
and government affairs support, TACO markets campgrounds through
its printed campground directory, the RV Travel & Camping Guide to
Texas, and through its mobile friendly travel planning websites at
www.texascampgrounds.com and www.texascabinrentals.net, which
provide digital versions of the guide.