$2.50 U.S./$3.50 Canada The Independent Voice of the North ... · Cruise Inn (cruiseinns.com) is...

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INSIDE… Cruise Inn, Expedia Forge Online Partnership 3 ARVC, RVIA Educate Municipalities on PMRVs 3 Is Cooperation Between RV Parks on the Wane? 12 Campgrounds Preparing for Power-Hungry RVs 16 RVillage Builds Online Social Group for Parks 22 RV Golf Club Connects RVers and Golf Courses 24 Electrical upgrades, like those seen at Flying Flags RV Resort in California, can be easily handled in phases to manage costs. Photo by Jeff Crider. Woodall’s Campground Management 2901 E. Bristol St., Suite B Elkhart, IN 46514 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Milford, IN Permit No. 2 CAMPGROUNDMANAGEMENT $2.50 U.S./$3.50 Canada The Independent Voice of the North American Campground Business Vol. 45 No. 9 • September 2014 WOODALL’S Making the Right Connections Is It Time to Upgrade Your Campground’s Electrical System? Making the Right Connections Is It Time to Upgrade Your Campground’s Electrical System?

Transcript of $2.50 U.S./$3.50 Canada The Independent Voice of the North ... · Cruise Inn (cruiseinns.com) is...

Page 1: $2.50 U.S./$3.50 Canada The Independent Voice of the North ... · Cruise Inn (cruiseinns.com) is modeling its plan after the hotel industry, specifically the member networks of Lexington

INSIDE…Cruise Inn, Expedia Forge Online Partnership 3ARVC, RVIA Educate Municipalities on PMRVs 3Is Cooperation Between RV Parks on the Wane? 12Campgrounds Preparing for Power-Hungry RVs 16RVillage Builds Online Social Group for Parks 22RV Golf Club Connects RVers and Golf Courses 24Electrical upgrades, like those seen at Flying Flags RV Resort in California,can be easily handled in phases to manage costs. Photo by Jeff Crider.

Woodall’s Campground Management2901 E. Bristol St., Suite BElkhart, IN 46514

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDMilford, INPermit No. 2

CAMPGROUNDMANAGEMENT$2.50 U.S./$3.50 Canada The Independent Voice of the North American Campground Business Vol. 45 No. 9 • September 2014

WOODALL’S

Making the Right ConnectionsIs It Time to Upgrade Your Campground’s Electrical System?Making the Right ConnectionsIs It Time to Upgrade Your Campground’s Electrical System?

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September 2014 Vol. 45 No. 9

www.woodallscm.com

PUBLISHER’S CORNER By Sherman Goldenberg

Advertising:

Beverly Gardner, VicePresident, National Ad [email protected]: (574) 266-7980or (800) 831-1076 ext. 12

Ally Kollat, AccountExecutive, National Ad [email protected]: (574) 266-7980or (800) 831-1076 ext. 11

Wendy Thorne, AccountExecutive, National Ad [email protected] (574) 266-7980or (800) 831-1076 ext. 14

Art Direction:

Trina Nissley, Art [email protected]: (574) 266-7980

Owners, managers or marketing directors of privately held U.S. campgroundsmay receive a free subscription upon request to Woodall’s CampgroundManagement — one free subscription per campground. Others may purchasesubscriptions at these rates: $24.95 per year U.S. or $35.95 per year inCanada. Contact Trina Nissley at Woodall’s Campground Management, C/O Beverly Gardner & Associates Inc., 2901 E. Bristol St., Elkhart, IN 46514.Email: [email protected].

Woodall’s Campground Management is published monthly by G&G MediaGroup LLC at the above address.

Contact Information: Editorial

Sherman Goldenberg, Publisher:[email protected]: (574) 457-3370Mobile: (574) 457-6637Fax: (574) 457-8295

Justin Leighty, Editor:[email protected]: (574) 370-5052Fax: (574) 266-7984

Rick Kessler, Associate Editor:[email protected](734) 777-6830

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Publisher: Sherman GoldenbergEditorial Director: Bruce HampsonG& MED I A

GROUP

All general correspondence, circulation and display and classifiedsales inquiries may be directed to the following:Woodall’s Campground Management, C/O Beverly Gardner & Associates Inc.2901 E. Bristol St., Elkhart, IN 46514, Email: [email protected]

Much of the recreational vehicle industry was embroiled a yearago in a debate about trade shows and whether key industry con-stituencies could work together on some sort of a consolidated “In-dustry Week” format wherein most everyone affiliated with therecreational vehicle arena — dealers, suppliers, distributors, manu-facturers and, yes, even some in the campground sector — could per-haps hold their respective annual trade events with coordinated and,at times, overlapping schedules at one or two geographic locations.

Man, oh man, it all sounded so good on paper, this kumbayaconcept in which the front-line trade associations would all pull together to ease the pressure on everyone’s personal calendars —especially vendors whose trade show agendas had begun to resem-

ble a game of “Whack-A-Mole.” But when all was said and done, it didn’t work, largely for somepretty practical reasons regarding venues and timing and, of course, politics — not that the wholeconversation ever got much traction in the campground sector.

So, on the brink of the 2014 show season, we’re again looking at a sequence of events on theRV side of the equation that resembles the industry’s traditional approach, with the 7th AnnualElkhart RV Open House slated for Sept. 16-18 in northern Indiana’s Elkhart County, the RVDA’s2014 RV Dealers International Convention/Expo set for Nov. 10-14 in Las Vegas and the RVIA’sNational RV Trade Show convening Dec. 2-4 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

Now, as I prepare to board a plane in early September for the Florida RV Trade Association’s(FRVTA) annual convention in Ft. Lauderdale and the Pennsylvania RV & Campground Associ-ation’s (PRVCA) Hershey Show shortly thereafter, we’re left with what appears to be an even biggergame of Whack-A-Mole on the campground industry side of the coin.

It’s sort of the opposite of a conjoined “Industry Week.” For one thing, we’ve now got three ofthe industry’s more significant events occurring at the exact same time in mid-November: TheRVDA Con/Expo, the KOA (Kampgrounds of America Inc.) Convention, Nov. 14-15 at the NorthCharleston Convention Center in Charleston, S.C.; and Leisure Systems Inc.’s Symposium & TradeShow, Nov. 10-13 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky. Add to that thefact that the RV manufacturers’ most pivotal trade show, RVIA’s Louisville Show, is being held at pre-cisely the same moment as the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds’ (ARVC) Outdoor Hospitality Conference & Expo, Dec. 2-5 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Vegas.

So, realizing that convention reservations are often made years in advance,here’s hoping thatindustry leaders can pick up their phones sometime and compare notes on their future trade showplans so that many of us won’t have to be in several places at once. WCM

Industry Trade Show Scheduling a Tough Problem

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The National Association of RV Parks& Campgrounds (ARVC) and the Recre-ation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA)are working together to try to educate mu-nicipalities across the U.S about the prop-erty-tax-exempt status of park model RVs,according to an announcement from ARVC.

The two organizations are also collabo-rating in an effort to identify states wherelegislation can be developed specifically to

exempt park mod-els from propertytaxes. Such legisla-tion became law inUtah last year, forexample.

“I personallytalk to Jeff Sims ofARVC nearly everyweek,” said MattWald, RVIA’sexecu-tive directorfor park model

RVs, adding that Dianne Farrell, RVIA’s vicepresident of government affairs, is also in reg-ular communication with Sims on parkmodel and other campground issues.

Park models are technically defined asrecreational vehicles according to the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Devel-opment (HUD), the American NationalStandards Institute (ANSI) A119.5 standardand a majority of states’ laws. This makesthem exempt from property taxes. But thedescriptions of park model RVs in the HUDcode are not as clear as they could be andnot every state clearly defines park modelsas a type of RV.

As a result, more often than not, local of-ficials have no idea what park models areand usually think they are a form of manu-facturing housing, which is not correct. Simsand Wald spend a considerable amount oftime on the phone each week with munici-palities across the country that questionwhether park models should be subject toproperty taxes. ARVC maintains that parkmodels should only be taxed as personalproperty.

In some cases,Sims said he pro-vides park opera-tors with talkingpoints and codesections they canshare with city offi-cials to clarify theirquestions aboutpark models. Inothers, Simsreaches out to cityofficials directly to inform them that parkmodels are a type of RV.

Sometimes, however, private park oper-ators bring problems on themselves whenthey fail to register their park models withtheir state’s department of motor vehicles(DMV). While they may think they are sav-ing money by avoiding the DMV registrationfee, the tactic can backfire on them later iflocal officials question whether their parkmodel is indeed a type of vehicle and theydo not have a DMV registration form toprove that it is.

Private park operators can also create

ARVC, RVIA Work To EducateMunicipalities on Park Model RVs

Cruise Inn Forging Online Partnership with Expedia

Woodall’s Campground Management. “It’sgoing to expose the outdoor hospitalityarena to a whole new set of customers whohave never even considered park models orrenting an RV or a tent — or any of thesetypes of camping experiences — as an al-ternative to traditional accommodations.”

Cruise Inn executives founded the com-pany in late 2013, but with more than 125years of combined hospitality experiencethey came out of the gate with a long-termgoal to “elevate the entire industry.” Ac-cording to Anderson, the partnership withExpedia confirms the company’s commit-ment.

“We are very serious about our goals,”Anderson said. “This partnership is part ofour strategic plan, and frankly, we aren’tdone yet.”

Cruise Inn (cruiseinns.com) is modelingits plan after the hotel industry, specificallythe member networks of Lexington andAmerica’s Best Value Inns developed byVantage Hospitality Group Inc. — a CruiseInn corporate backer — which has grownto 1,100 hotels worldwide. The Cruise Inn vi-sion is to grow into a member network of atleast that size or larger.

For their part, Expedia (expedia.com)representatives said they are confident intheir new partner’s ability to deliver on thatvision.

“We think, in Cruise Inn, we’ve found a

really good partner,” said Drew Bowering,director of key accounts at Expedia. “Theyrepresent the ideal business model andwe’re confident that the end result will beone that’s going to benefit the customer.”

The partnership represents Expedia’sfirst serious public foray into the outdoor-hospitality arena, and Bowering said thecompany’s leadership is enthusiastic aboutthat prospect as well.

“We truly are excited about the partner-ship and the new relationship that we’ve setup with Scott and everyone at Cruise Inn,”he said. “We have no current productcarve-out for outdoor hospitality in ourshopping experience and all eyeballs areon this internally now.”

Initially founded as a division of Mi-crosoft in 1996, Expedia was a pioneer inthe online travel industry and has grown tobecome a global powerhouse with 150travel booking websites in more than 70countries, 60 million unique visitors to itsfamily of websites each month and $4.8 bil-lion in revenue in 2013.

“We are constantly trying to innovateand offer unique travel experiences,” saidMelissa Maher, senior vice president ofGlobal Partner Group at Expedia. “We’rethrilled that this partnership allows us to ex-pand our offerings into the outdoor-hospi-tality space.”

Due to that attitude of constant innova-tion, Bowering added, it should come as nosurprise that Expedia has been keepingtrack of the outdoor hospitality industry andits strength of market, as well as quietlytesting it out.

wooden rafts. “Today the cottage onHermit Island is one of the most popularaccommodations at the resort,” said JanKeen Petroski.

Today there is a retro feel to thecampground, which has been voted as a“Best Campground in the Poconos” andhas consistently received ‘A’ ratings in aconsumer-satisfaction survey. KeenLake also was named a Top Rated Parkin the 2014 Good Sam RV Travel Guideand Campground Directory with a ratingof 9/10*/10 and has won awards for ac-tivities, community service, marketing,and website design among others fromPCOA.

Four of the Keens’ seven daughtersnow run the resort and they operate it inthe same friendly manner as their par-ents did. “Each day brings an opportunityto greet a returning friend or meet a newone. We respect how hard our guestswork and how valuable their leisure timeis. We think it is our job to provide oppor-tunities for families to have face-to-facetime as well as to relax and renew,” saidJan Keen. WCM

Keen Lake Campingand Cottage Resort cel-ebrated 60 years ofbusiness in June attheir Waymart, Pa., re-sort, according to thePennsylvania Camp-ground Owners Associ-ation (PCOA).

“It is both excitingand humbling to cele-brate this benchmark,”noted CEO JenniferKeen Wertz. ”Certainlythe cornerstone of any success story ishard work and dedication, but our secret‘sauce’ is our guests. Anytime a family istogether is cause for celebration and tobe welcoming the great-grandchildren ofmy mom and dad’s first guests is just un-believable to us. We have had a front-row seat as these families grew andevolved, and we are so grateful for theexperience.”

James and Dorothy Keen establishedwhat is now the award-winning campingand cottage resort in 1954 when theyconstructed a simple cottage on theshore of the lake. What James andDorothy had envisioned as a cozy one-room cabin to use as their private get-away became much more whensomeone inquired about renting the unit,and Keen Lake Cottages made its debut.In 1955, the country schoolhouse wastransformed into a two-bedroom cot-tage. In 1956 another — built on the is-land in the center of the 90-acre lake —went up on the site of a popular 1800’sdance hall where revelers were trans-ported to and from the island aboard

Cruise Inn, a newly launched nationalbrand of RV parks and campgrounds with amember-based network of owners, recentlyannounced a partnership with online travelagency Expedia Inc. in a deal the companysays will significantly expand its nationalreach in the outdoor sector.

“We’re the first brand in the outdoor hos-pitality space to forge a partnership with theExpedia family of brands, and it’s going tofundamentally change the RV industry,”Cruise Inn CEO Scott Anderson told Cruise Inn – continued on page 6

ARVC & RVIA – continued on page 4

Matt Wald Jeff Sims

Ten KOA CampgroundsFeatured In Nationalist

Ten Kampgroundsof America (KOA)campgrounds through-out the United Stateswere featured in the Au-gust issue of Nationalistmagazine. According to

a written announcement, the nationwidemagazine focuses on “all things aboutAmerica, made in America and loved byAmerica.”

The 10 KOA campgrounds were in-cluded in the magazine’s annual Travel edi-tion, which was entitled “The Best Places toVisit in America.”

KOA campgrounds featured in Nation-alist magazine include:

• Cape Hatteras, N.C.• Okeechobee, Fla.• Mount Rushmore, S.D.• Port Huron, Mich.• Williamsburg, Va.• West Glacier, Mont.• Newport/Little Diamond, Wash.• San Diego Metro, Calif.• San Francisco North/Petaluma, Calif.• Middlebury, Ind.“This is a wonderful, 11-page spread in

a national print and online magazine thatgives readers a fresh perspective on travel,fashion and enjoying life,” said KOA VicePresident of Marketing Toby Hedges.“The story addresses our three new KOAJourney, KOA Holiday and KOA Resortbrands and presents the developing conceptto a new audience, and also features 10 ofour best locations around the U.S.” WCM

‘We’re the first brand in the outdoor hospitality spaceto forge a partnership with the Expedia family ofbrands, and it’s going to fundamentally change theRV industry,’ said Cruise Inn CEO Scott Anderson.

Pennsylvania Park Marks 60 Years

Scott Anderson

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Historic West Coast WildfiresSparing RV Parks — So Far

As wildfires — some of them histori-cally large — ravaged the west coast thissummer, the news for independent RVparks and campgrounds has thus far beensomewhat positive, if close calls and veryslow business could be called positive.While many thousands of square mileshave been burned in Washington, Califor-nia and Oregon, as well as hundreds ofhomes and a handful of state and nationalcampgrounds, the blazes of late summer2014 have yet to claim a non-governmentrun RV park or campground.

“We have yet to hear of any parksforced to close from fire in those states,”said Paul Bambei, CEO of the National As-sociation of RV Parks & Campgrounds(ARVC). “Right now, I think the main mes-sage is, business continues and parks areopen for any and all comers. Unless any-body tells me not to say that, that's gener-ally my pat response.”

That's certainly the message that parkowner Cheryl Ethrington is hoping to getout about her Riverbend RV Park nearTwisp, Wash., which was threatened bythe Carlton Complex fire, the largest inWashington State history. “Everyone is

hearing on the news that Twisp is burnedup, but it’s here and we’re still open,” shesaid. “In fact we have nothing but greenaround us here and the air quality is good.Unfortunately we only have four sites oc-cupied whereas normally we’d have 70.Everything is fine except we have no cus-tomers.”Carlton RV Park ownerBob Gibson said

his park was also untouched by flame,though his personal residence was a dif-ferent story. “It feels like a bomb zone,” hesaid. “It took out our barn, cabinet shopand an old log chicken house, and the fireburned right up next to the house — lickedit a couple times but didn’t burn it. Wewere standing in the yard with gardenhoses, flames coming through the 50-foottrees, running over the ground, and wewere fighting it back with garden hoses.So it was more than touch-and-go, it waslike, go, go, go.”

With the Carlton fire mostly underwraps at 91% contained by early August,a new fire in Oregon quickly gainedstrength, forcing the evacuation of 150homes near Rowena, Ore., and threaten-ing 700 more.

Carefree Appoints KimHead of Acquisitions

problems for themselves and for the RV andoutdoor hospitality industries in general ifthey allow people to live in park models ona permanent basis.

ARVC and RVIA support the use of parkmodels as seasonal dwellings consistent withrecreational vehicles. But when park modelsare used as permanent housing instead ofrecreational purposes, it can often raise flagsfor local taxing authorities who are morelikely to want to tax these units as a perma-nent dwelling rather than an RV.

To help clear up this confusion, RVIA hasspent the past eight years trying to persuadeCongress to clarify the HUD code to moreclearly define park models as a type of RV.But while the Manufactured Housing Insti-tute has supported RVIA’s efforts, the Manu-factured Housing Association for RegulatoryReform has opposed changes to the HUDcode to clarify that park models are, in fact,recreational vehicles.

Wald said RVIA is undeterred and willcontinue its efforts to clarify the language inthe HUD code involving park model RVs sothat the HUD law makes it perfectly clear tolocal zoning and tax officials that park mod-els are indeed a type of RV, not housing, andshould be treated as such. Several camp-grounds and state campground associationshave already helped advance this effort bycontacting their senators and representatives,and more support from the campground in-dustry will be required in the coming year toget the HUD law changed.

By clarifying both the HUD law and statelaws regarding park models, the industrygroups hope to eliminate the need to con-stantly explain what park models are and de-fend their use in private campgrounds. WCM

ARVC & RVIA —from page 3

In California, three large fires nearLassen National Forest caused the mostconcern. The Eiler fire near Burney hasconsumed eight homes and appears tohave marched over the Hat Creek Here-ford Ranch RV Park and Campground,though initial reports have been that thefacilities were spared.

“We seem to have a lot of smaller fires,at least in comparison to previous years,”said Debbie Sipe, executive director of theCalifornia Association of RV Parks andCampgrounds (CalARVC). “But so far theyseem to be confined to pretty rural areasand nothing has gotten seriously out ofcontrol.”

One of the unique things about RV parksnear fire zones, Sipe pointed out, is thatthey typically have resources that firefight-ing crews need such as temporary hous-ing, restrooms, electricity, sometimes fuel,and that can often be their saving grace.Lassen RV Resort owner Phil Martin

said his park, still several miles from theEiler fire, had the opportunity to help oth-ers. “We’ve actually got people here thatwere evacuated from their homes nearby,and so we’ve done the best we can to givethem a nice discount and accommodatethem during such a tough time.”

Although the wildfire season may be farfrom over without drastic improvements inthe weather, for now Bambei said the besthis organization can do is to be availableto help wherever possible, and to encour-age people to continue to go camping,checking for themselves on park and roadclosures. The substantive help that ARVCoffers to member parks comes in the formof a disaster relief fund, a donation-basedpool that is managed by the educationalarm of the association.

“It’s for parks that are in need or ur-gently in need and it’s rare that the reliefrequests are denied,” Bambei said. “Wehad floods here in Colorado last fall thatwere just horrendous and we had fundsreleased for that, as well as for floods inMissouri a few years back and hurricaneson the eastern seaboard. But so far thisyear, we haven’t had any requests for as-sistance for fire in states west of the Mis-sissippi.” —Ty Adams WCM

Wildfires didn’t wreak as muchhavoc for western campgroundsthis year as sometimes happens.

Carefree Commu-nities Inc., one of thenation’s leading ownerand operators of RVparks and manufac-tured housing com-munities, announcedthe appointment ofBennett Kim as senior

vice president and head of acquisitions. Kimwill report to CEO David Napp and Presi-dent Colleen Edwards.

Kim, 41, brings extensive acquisitionsexperience in various real estate assetclasses. For the past eight years, Kim servedas the chief investment officer of Big RockPartners, a former real estate investmentjoint-venture partner of DB Zwirn & Co.Kim previously was a vice president atApollo Real Estate Advisors and an assis-tant vice president at Oaktree Capital Man-agement and also worked at Merrill LynchReal Estate Investment Banking and DisneyDevelopment Co.

“After conducting an exhaustive nationalsearch for an experienced professional to leadour acquisition efforts, we are excited to haveBennett join our team and help us grow ourcompany,” Napp said. “He brings a depth ofacquisition and leadership experience withinthe institutional real estate industry.” WCM

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“We’ve been watching (the market) for awhile,” Bowering said. “It’s an area we don’thave a great deal of penetration into right now,but it's something that we've seen developand we see a lot of opportunity in it. We havea handful of RV parks on our site currently thatare independent contracts. That tends to bethe beginning of a strategy for us, so there’s alittle bit of test-and-learn going on there.”

A Technological FocusTheir testing with independent contrac-

tors has gone well enough for Expedia toconsider a corporate partner, but Expediasurely has quite a few options — so whathave they found compelling when it comesto an upstart like Cruise Inn? Bowering saidit’s a combination of the experience theybring on a leadership level, as well as a keycomponent that is sometimes lacking in therealm of RV parks and campgrounds.

“One of the things that’s very attractiveabout Cruise Inn is that they’ve been bornthrough technology,” Bowering said. “Scotthas a very technological focus in the waythat he wants to see this develop.”

The new corporate partners also believethat this move will not only benefit owners ofCruise Inn-branded facilities, but all outdoor-hospitality enthusiasts as well.

“Our owner members are extremely ex-cited,” Anderson said. “This is another bigway for us to bring them customers that theywouldn’t be able to get on their own. Andfrom the consumer side, they previously hadvery limited options when it came to bookingan entire camping vacation online. That’sabout to change.”

In addition to expanding the customerbase for park owners, Anderson also ex-pects the move to make bookings exponen-tially easier. Initially, only RV parks with parkmodels and cabins will appear on Expedia,but those with RV sites and tents will even-tually be added.

“Our reservation system will connect di-rectly to the Expedia family of sites, so thepark owner doesn't have to manage the in-ventory separately,” Anderson said. “It elec-tronically communicates rates and

Cruise Inn —from page 3 availability real time, in what’s called a two-way interface. This is something that nobodyin the industry has today.”

The international market may also openup dramatically for independent park ownersas a result of this partnership.

“Expedia has websites both in China andin Europe that are exposing these RV parksto international customers who want tocome see the great American outdoors,” An-derson said. “Before, unless an independentpark had a booking engine, it was impossiblefor someone in Europe or Asia to book theirpark, and even finding them was difficult.”

So the average consumer overseas willnow be able to search an Expedia site forRV parks, but active interest might not benecessary.

“Let’s say you’re looking for hotels in Gun-nison, Colorado,” Anderson said. “In additionto hotels that appear, up will pop up theCruise Inn – Gunnison Lakeside RV Park. Sopeople can book a cabin at Gunnison LakeCruise Inn, just like they can book a hotel.”

Putting that type of option in front of mil-lions of new consumers each month issomething that hasn’t happened before, andit’s that type of advertising that independentparks have never received.

“Expedia spends about a billion dollars ayear in advertising globally,” Anderson said.“That’s huge for an independent park to nowhave the ability to tap into that.”

The First, But Probably Not the LastWhile it's true that Cruise Inn is the first

company in the outdoor hospitality sector topartner with Expedia, this deal is also a firstfrom the other side of things: Expedia will bethe first major online travel agency to featureRV parks and campgrounds among its prod-uct selections. If they find a demand for suchofferings, it could mean bigger things for theindustry as a whole. Their peers in the on-line-travel industry would most certainly fol-low suit.

Though Bowering declined to speculateon what other travel companies would do ifExpedia finds great demand in outdoor hos-pitality, Anderson thinks they’ll soon comerunning to join the party.

“The online travel agency space is a verycompetitive one,” he said. “And we think,once Expedia competitors find out, they’regoing to want to have their own piece of thepie, if you will.”

For Expedia, the proof will come from cus-tomers. “In all honesty, we're going to be ledby the consumer,” Bowering said. “We'regoing to let the consumer tell us whether theywant to see (RV parks and campgrounds)comingled in with everything else that’s geo-graphically relevant or we will be told by theuse and the demand that we have that they’regoing to want to see this in a separate area.”

Whether the demand proves to be mod-est or enormous, Bowering said that Expe-dia is determined to continue innovatingand is happy to be in the pioneering posi-tion. “It gives us a chance to be involved atthe ground level of the modernization of thedistribution space of the whole sector (ofoutdoor hospitality),” he said. “We're prettyconfident that it'll be a success.” —TyAdams WCM

ARVC Veterans Profaizer, Palmeri Join Cruise Inn TeamThe Cruise Inn network of RV parks

has announced that Kathy Palmeri andLinda Profaizer joined the company asDirectors of Business Development,Cruise Inn said in a written announce-ment. They will be responsible for grow-ing the brand across the United States.

“Kathy and Linda bring strong rela-tionships and impressive track records toour team,” said Scott Anderson, presi-dent and CEO of Cruise Inn. “We areconfident they are the right individualsto grow our brand's strategy in the outdoor hospitality arena.”

Profaizer has a 40-year track record inthe RV camping industry. She is the im-mediate past president of the NationalAssociation of RV Parks & Camp-grounds (ARVC), successfully movingthe association from the suburban Wash-ington, D.C., area to Colorado and estab-lishing strong working relationships withnational industry partners.

As the former president and CEO ofWoodall Publishing Company, Profaizeralso was responsible for the growth of itsnational camping directories. During her

tenure, she created the Tenting Directory,established the first agreement with Mi-crosoft to put parks on a nationally sold

DVD travel product, and oversaw theconsolidation of six RV/camping newspa-pers and a national RV tour company.

Profaizer oversaw changes to theWoodall Rating System and the manage-ment of its representative teams. She alsoheld the title of director of RV businessdevelopment at Flying J Truck Stops,where she doubled the size of their RVconsumer club at the end of one year tomore than 400,000 members.

Palmeri was a hands-on parkowner/operator for 17 years and partici-pated on local, state and national boardssince becoming involved in the RV parkand campground industry in 1994. Ofnote were the Colorado Tourism OfficeBoard, the ARVC board — where sheserved as its chairperson in 2003 and2004 — and most recently as chairpersonof the Visit Estes Park destination mar-keting organization.

During her term at ARVC, she focusedon outreach to the parks and state organ-izations, attending trade shows and meet-ings in order to communicate directlywith the membership. WCM

Linda Profaizer

Kathy Palmeri

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8 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

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10 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

fort. It’s one of the ways that they go theextra mile for their guests.

Put This Under Your HatWhile in the heart of the season

implementing new modern marketingcommunication techniques may be toomuch to take on but rest assured, fall willarrive. Take notes, observe what parks inboth the U.S. and overseas are doing well,and challenge yourself to introduce anew way of telling your guest that theyare valued and important. After all, theymake our world go ‘round.

Like what you see in Modern Market-ing? Stay abreast of the latest digitalmarketing trends for the outdoor recre-ation industry by subscribing toSchmarder’s bi-weekly trend digest Dig-ital Marketing for the Outdoor Recre-ation Industry at www.roadabode.com.Ask her about her digital marketing/so-cial media diagnostics and tune-ups,content strategy and marketing plans,and more at [email protected] or702-460-9863. WCM

MODERN MARKETING

It was a warm and wonderful day as Isat eating a pie (chicken curry if youmust know), taking advantage of the freeWi-Fi hot spot, and watching the worldpass by the Queen Street Mall in Bris-bane, Queensland, Australia. The mainintersection was festooned in pennants,the World Cup was in full swing andevery Aussie seemed to be “Fan No. 1.”Not unusual, my smart phone pinged,alerting me to an incoming text message.What was unusual, however, was themessage itself: It was from the holidaypark I was staying at, Brisbane HolidayVillage, inviting me to the onsite cafeand that evening’s event. It was short andread, “Don’t miss tonight’s State of Origingame at Lagoona Restaurant! $5 beers andhouse wine, dinner specials available.Bookings essential. Call 07 3341 3111 tobook.”

I thought to myself how kind my hostswere, keeping me in the loop. Then, acouple days later, I received another text— this one reminding me of the follow-ing day’s checkout, checkout time and in-structions in case I was leaving before theoffice opened in the morning.

I mentioned this to Ken and Geoff Illich, the brothers that run the opera-tion, and learned it was a common mar-keting practice. In fact, it’s a big businessbuilder. In addition to the event updatesand checkout reminders, if a site or cabinis available for another day or few daysthe checkout text will offer them an ad-ditional stay at a discounted rate. Veryoften the offer is accepted — and whatwould otherwise have been an unoccu-pied site night turns into a win-win.

How does it work? Smart phone num-bers are collected at check-in and enteredinto the system. Messages can then be blasted to all guests, as in the State ofOrigin text I received, and scheduledbased on triggers, as in the checkout textI received.

Building AnticipationJust a short bit south of Brisbane is a

gorgeous seaside town called HastingsPoint, home of the BIG4 North StarHoliday Resort and Caravan Park.Marketing manager Andrew Bradleykindly took the time to show me aroundthe grounds. I was impressed with thecontinuous improvements he talkedabout, such as adding carport covers tocabins or artificial turf to sites. I was evenmore impressed when he told me thatonce an improvement is completed,everyone with an upcoming reservationin that cabin or on that site receives anemail telling them about the upgrade aswell as a photograph of the upgrade.

Evanne Schmarder

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dance of extra work for the staff I learnedthat yes, it was — and it was worth it.This communiqué makes guests feel spe-cial, part of the North Star family, and issomething that's talked about and sharedvia e-mail and social media in the runupto their stay. Guests can’t wait to arrive at“their” site. Ownership abounds.

Good On Ya!With wages high and quick cabin

turn-arounds critical to a successful op-eration, the Brisbane Holiday Villageteam employs an interesting method ofencouraging their guests, many returnand referral stays, to leave the roofed ac-commodations as neat and tidy as possi-ble. This includes tossing out bathroomand kitchen items no longer needed or inuse, taking out the trash, loading andstarting the dishwasher, gathering up thedirty towels and wiping down the coun-ters. When the housekeeping staff arrivesto find these tasks completed they com-municate that to the reservations depart-ment — which in turn texts the guest aphotograph of the housekeeping staffflashing a “thumbs up” and offers a sin-cere “thank you.” Guests, as evidencedon review sites and social media postings,talk about and appreciate this thoughtfulgesture. The Illichs mentioned it wastime to take a new photograph to keepthe program fresh. As in the North Starexample above, they admit this step isextra work but again, well worth the ef-

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12 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

INSITES

David Gorin

camp” to “great places to visit.” Raisingtheir standards and demanding that affiliates become better and better, theyare likely to grab market share across the U.S.

Finally, the competitive field is beingchallenged by federal, state and countyparks that are expanding campgroundsand upgrading to a higher and more-developed standard in order to attractmore business and raise rates to supportpublic recreation and public parks.There is no doubt in my mind that thesefacilities are going to increasingly challenge private, commercial parks formarket share.

The future is clear for independentcampgrounds — step up your game inall aspects of your business to competesuccessfully or risk being the victim ofdeclining occupancy as others “eat yourlunch” in your market.

With the growth of RV sales and therising popularity of outdoor recreationand camping, it’s a new era for the parkbusiness, one that calls for everyone tobe on their toes all the time.

New Technology Comes to the Park's Laundry Room

I remember being impressed when mykids were in college and they could usetheir credit cards or school-issued mealcards to pay for the washers and dryersin the dorm laundry. Great idea. But Iwas taken by surprise by the latest devel-opment in laundry technology that I sawrecently at a campground.

Aside from the ability to charge yourwashing and drying on a credit card,

there was a system that enabled a cus-tomer to receive a text on their phonewhen a washer or dryer became availableand another text to alert when theirwashing or drying was finished. Nomore hanging around waiting for anopen washer and wondering where thethoughtless person was whose wash wasdone. It’s a good step forward in deliver-ing top-notch customer service in today’stechnology age.

Are Campground Game Rooms and Cable TV On Their Way Out?

I’m hearing that many parks arerepositioning their game rooms and arcades. As more and more kids andfamilies are traveling with their owngame devices, many of the formerlypopular arcades are seeing the revenuesdecline, especially on video games.While there may still be a good marketfor pinball games, billiards or pool, airhockey and crane games, the old reli-able video games are rapidly becominga thing of the past.

Along with the changes in the game-room business, it would seem that offering cable television may also be onthe decline — or at least about to headin that direction. With rapidly expand-ing demand for quality Internet servicewith sufficient bandwidth to enablestreaming of movies and television programs, combined with rising costsof providing cable television, it seemsthat the time may be coming to doaway with cable television and put thesavings into providing the best internetaccess possible. There is significantcost associated with quality park-widewireless Internet, but the savings oneliminating cable TV may compensatefor the cost of providing high qualityWi-Fi.

Anybody heading in this direction?

Digital Marketing for the Outdoor Recreation Industry

Industry digital marketing expert, fel-low Woodall’s Campground Managementcolumnist and RV Cooking Show hostessEvanne Schmarder is publishing a bi-weekly Digital Marketing Newsletter forthe Outdoor Recreation Industry. Thenewsletter is available at no charge; dropEvanne a note at [email protected] ask her to add you to the subscriberlist. If you agree that electronic market-ing is the way to go for marketing yourpark, and even if you’ve got an expert social-media marketer on your staff, youowe it to yourself to subscribe to thisnewsletter and keep up to date on therapidly growing field of digital market-ing. Each issue is filled with ideas, tipsand suggestions on how to improve your digital marketing and how to expandyour reach.

And while you’re at it and contactingEvanne, ask her for a copy of her recently released Digital MarketingBenchmark Study, a valuable report onwhat your competitors are doing in thedigital marketing era. Digital is the waveof the future.

David Gorin is the former president ofARVC and is the principal of David GorinAssociates LLC and president of the on-holdBest Parks in America. Contact him at:[email protected]. WCM

As Competition Heats Up, Cooperation Between Parks May Lag

Over the years, independent parkowners that comprised much of the industry prided themselves on theiropenness and willingness to share infor-mation and experiences with other owners or newcomers. This spirit of co-operation was a hallmark of the industry.A rising tide — better-operated camp-grounds — would raise all boats, andeveryone would benefit.

While this spirit of cooperation canstill be found in the business, there’s nodoubt that competition is heating upamong parks in many parts of the coun-try. Several factors are contributing tothe emerging competitive environmentwithin the park business.

First, on the heels of the recession of2008-’09, many campers and RVers arestaying closer to home and traveling farand wide less frequently. The local andregional markets are the primary sourceof business for many campgrounds —and attracting local and regional business is increasingly important andcompetitive.

Second, there are more large compa-nies expanding their network of camp-grounds by acquiring parks in manymarkets, promoting their brands withconsiderable financial resources and

expertise and providing real competitionwhere it may not have existed previously.Companies such as ELS, Sun Commu-nities, Carefree, RVC Outdoor Desti-nations, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone ParkCamp-Resorts and Kampgrounds ofAmerica (KOA) are bringing new mar-keting energy to the industry and work-ing hard to expand their market share.

The deep-discount camping clubs —Freedom Resorts, Passport America,Escapees — continue to expand, addinga competitive factor into the marketingplans of many parks.

And of course Good Sam and thenew Amerigo Camping Club have morethan 1.5 million members combined thatthey are pushing to their affiliated parks.

And for the independent camp-grounds and RV parks around the U.S.,we can’t overlook the new competitiveforce of KOA. Always a force in themarket with roughly 500 franchisedand corporate-owned properties, thenew KOA initiatives to rebrand their affiliates to better help the RVer andcamper find a KOA that meets theirneeds — and now KOA’s plan to launchmajor national television advertising —are rapidly repositioning KOA’s brand togain wider appeal to all segments of theRVer and camper market and to expandtheir markets into the non-camper segment by aggressively promotingtheir cabins.

KOA has always been a powerhousemarketing engine within the industry,but now with these initiatives they arechanging the popular perceptions ofKOAs from “good but not great places to

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14 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

ON CAMPGROUNDS

Reports from the field:

Bob Ashley

Unusual Texas RV Park Boasts a Drive-Through Beverage Barn

Longtime RVers Scott and Debra Slatedecided last December that they wanted tolive the dream that many RVers think aboutbut don't follow through on.

That is, they bought an RV park in Bandera, Texas, 30 miles northwest of SanAntonio. Not just any RV park, mind you,but one associated with an unusual drive-through convenience store, typical to southTexas.

Along with a 35-site campground on fiveacres in Texas Hill Country, the BanderaBeverage Barn and RV Park features a largemetal building with entrances on each endthat allow people to literally drive through.

“Our employees get them what they wantand they don’t even have to get out of theircar,” Scott Slate said. “They are very commonin south Texas. This one has beenin Bandera since the 1960s. We donot sell hard alcohol, just beer andwine, tobacco and soft drinks.”

The associated Bandera RVPark has about 700 feet offrontage on the Medina River thatis available for private use. RVsites in the park, many shaded byold pecan trees, are set 50 to 100yards off the river to forestallproblems with flooding. “We’vekept the sites off the river to keeppeople from having to move on amoment’s notice if there’s poten-tial for flooding,” said Slate, a former truck-safety instructor.

The Slates anticipate adding another 18sites later this year along with a new showerhouse and maintenance garage. “And we are

in the process of renovating the existing sitesto get the electric up to a minimum of 30amps,” Slate reported. Eventually, he said, allthe park’s sites will be upgraded to 50-ampelectrical service.

The Slates have yet to establish a website,but market the RV park on Facebook whereword spreads.

In just the few months the Slates haveowned the park they’ve had visitors fromthroughout the U.S. and as far away as Aus-tralia, Denmark and South Korea. “A lot ofthem are tent campers,” he said. “They comein and take videos and pictures of the barnand post things on YouTube because theycan’t believe what they are seeing.”

A prime motivation for the Slates to moveto south Texas from Denver was the weather.“We wanted to move somewhere where itwasn’t cold and it didn’t snow,” said Slate,who travels in a 2000 Fleetwood Tioga ClassC motorhome built on a GMC chassis.

“We grew up motorhoming and campingand we always jokingly said we were goingto buy an RV park and settle down and runit until we couldn’t do anything else. Movinghere was a very freeing experience because

we had no debt and no true responsibilities.”While most of the park’s sites are occu-

pied by long-term guests, as many as a quar-ter of the pads are reserved for travelers. “Wecan accommodate up to 38- to 40-foot

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The drive-through beverage barn isn’t your usual campground store,but it’s a big one for Bandera Beverage Barn and RV Park in Texas.

The RV park side of the equation is more traditional.

dia, is a term used to describe a “segment ofa larger geographic region that enjoyswarmer weather conditions than the regionas a whole, especially in the wintertime.”

And Gerlach attributes part of the park’ssuccess to the temperate climate.

“We have pretty mild weather all year,”Gerlach said. “We can get 80-degree weatherin January, although most of the time, it’s inthe 50s. We tend to get quite a bit of rain andfog off the ocean but we virtually never seesnow but once every 15 years.”

Park visitors typically are escaping thesummer heat in California, although manysnowbirds from Canada pass through duringthe shoulder seasons.

* * * * *With 80% of RVs built within 50 miles,

it’s understandable that Eby’s Pines RVPark and Campground in Bristol, Ind.,draws customers who are visiting area RVmanufacturers or the RV/MH Hall of Fameon the north side of Elkhart, Ind.

“There also are a couple companies in thearea that offer retro parts for older RVs. That’sa pretty good draw for us, too,” said BarryLang, who owns the 300-site park with hiswife, Chris, and his sister, Janice Maxey.

Built in 1968 by Lang’s grandfather, thepark “always has been targeted at youngfamilies,” Lang said.

That’s true also for the Family Fun lasertag/roller rink, and mini-bowling alley forkids that the Langs own across the streetfrom Eby’s Pines.

“I’m full this weekend,” Lang said duringthe first week in August as the 54th AnnualMidwest RV Supershow was going on at theHall of Fame.

Lang reported that the park attendanceheld pretty steady even through the reces-sion.

“We’ve been on a pretty good roll since2003,” Lang said. “The last couple of yearshas been very, very good. Some of that is at-tributed to the longevity of the park.”

In early June, Eby’s Pines experimentedwith a “murder mystery” weekend — a Fri-day show for kids and a Saturday event thatwas more adult-oriented that followed awine-and-cheese party. “It was like a gameof Clue where everybody in the audience gotinvolved asking questions and giving an-swers to determine who the murderer was,”Lang said. “That was a new adventure forus, but it turned out to be a good weekend.”

RVBusiness Senior Editor Bob Ashley is a Central Indiana-based freelance writer/editor and a 25-year newspaper veteran whohas focused on the RV industry and nationalrecreation issues for the past 19 years. He received the 2013 “Distinguished Service inRV Journalism” award from the RecreationVehicle Industry Association (RVIA). WCM

units,” Slate said.Business during their first season of own-

ership has been gratifying.“We’ve been comfortably busy all summer

long,” Slate said. “Comparing our businessthis year to the former owners, we are doingvery, very well.”

* * * * *Having opened in 1968 with only 18

campsites, Driftwood RV Park in Brook-ings, Ore., has grown today to accommodate110 RVs — and is able to squeeze in a fewmore when demand is high.

“The season has been amazing,” saidJanet Gerlach, a second-generation owneralong with her four children. “We had onlythree spots open last night. A couple of timesthis year we’ve had full occupancy andtucked a few in besides the regular sites wehave.”

About 125 miles west of Medford on theOregon Coast, Driftwood is about three min-utes from the nearest beach, and about a milefrom the Port of Brookings Harbor wherethere are restaurants and a marina where youcan buy fresh fish off boats after they returnfor the day.

The area, she said, is known as Oregon’s“Banana Belt,” which, according to Wikepe-

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16 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

Today’s RVs are on a power trip. And, ifthey haven’t already, campground ownersneed to make sure their parks are ready tomeet the demand.

RVs with multiple air conditioning units,televisions, microwaves, residential-sizeappliances and washers and dryers —even in-floor radiant heat — are quickly up-ping the electrical ante.

“RVs are always looking for more power— some manufacturers are even talkingabout 200 amps — and RVs are being madewith way more amenities than before andnearly all of them are electrical,” said WadeElliott, owner and president of Utility Sup-ply Group, based in Kingston, Wash. “Thisis forcing RV parks, especially those in thesouthern U.S., to determine whether theyneed to offer 50-amp service. They mightneed to overbuild and beef up their infra-structure.”

Improving the park’s infrastructure is notsomething campground owners need to beafraid of, Elliott said. In fact, it’s a project thatcan easily be accomplished in phases. At the end of each season, set aside a certain

number of campsites that will be upgraded to50 amps. After a few years, eventually thewhole park will have been upgraded.

“Owners should be putting money backinto their campground, and this is some-thing they’re just going to have to do,” hesaid, adding that an additional transformerand/or panel box might be required in certain situations.

Maggie Linnell of Your Electrical Solu-tions said several campground ownersshe’s talked with are delaying bigger proj-ects until the fall, such as redoing or addinga section, but have been making smaller upgrades throughout the summer.

“What we’re seeing is people are doing

Campgrounds Preparing for Power-Hungry RVs‘RVs are always looking for more power — some manufacturers are eventalking about 200 amps — and RVs are being made with way more ameni-ties than before and nearly all of them are electrical,” said Wade Elliott,owner and president of Utility Supply Group. This is forcing RV parks toreevaluate and possibly upgrade their electrical systems.

Electrical upgrades are something campgrounds needto constantly consider, according to industry experts.

Wade Elliott

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WOODALLSCM.com September 2014 - 17

the increased use of meters. Meters not only help offset the cost of providingutilities, but also help to curb wasted resources.

Terry Linnell of B&B Electrical said hercompany, based in Keego Harbor, Mich.,has been selling quite a few meteredpedestals.

“With the economy coming back, morepeople are camping so the parks are full.Plus, people are staying longer at a time —

Baby Boomers are completely retired nowand some are staying the full summer,” shesaid. “That’s costing campground owners alot in utilities. That can get real expensive.So owners are installing metered pedestalsand charging campers for electricity usage.All of a sudden campers aren’t so willing toleave their RV’s air conditioner on 24/7.”

Lisa Senior, general manager of HialeahMeter Co. in Hialeah, Fla., agreed that me-ters encourage RVers to curb their powerusage. She said one New York campgroundowner told her the meters he installed paidfor themselves in two seasons — not because of the money they generated (theowner never charged RVers for theirusage), but because RVers became awareof how much electricity they were consum-ing and changed their habits.

“It depends on a lot of factors, but we’vedone some estimates and campgroundowners can save as much as 25% to 75%off their electric bill,” Senior said, addingthat the typical power pedestal will pay foritself “in only a few months or a couple ofyears.”

Tom Benken, sales and marketing direc-tor with Monarch Coin & Security said he’sseeing meters being used to regulate theuse of outdoor lighting at a playground orbasketball, tennis or volleyball court or anyother outdoor area. It also would mean thelights aren’t turned on unnecessarily. Thecampground owner determines the amountof coins/tokens required to turn on thelights, and the length of time the meterwould allow the lights to stay on.

Benken, who added that water meters

— specifically those which regulate theflow of water to a shower — are provingjust as popular, said park owners could alsodetermine whether the meter accepts

B&B Electrical’s staff includes (L-R) MattLinnell, Jen McBurney and Terry Linnell

Hialeah Meter

a few things at a time, like upgrading a sitefrom 30/20 to 50/30/20 so that it can accom-modate anything,” said Linell, whose com-pany is based in Orion, Mich. “Last year, itwas a lot of parts and pieces. But this yearit’s a lot of new products so people are replacing rather than repairing.”

Metered UsageElliott and other suppliers said another

response to this demand for electricity is

Your Electrical Solutions

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coins, tokens or is simply activated by thepush of a button. Meters activated by a sim-ple push of a button are in place simply toensure utilities aren’t being wasted, such asa shower left running.

Obviously, a meter that accepts coinswould help to offset the cost of utilities. Like-wise, campgrounds could sell the tokens fora token-operated meter. But Benken, whosecompany is based in Covington, Ky., men-tioned the tokens could be used as a way ofensuring only paying campers are using thefacilities. Campgrounds would distribute thetokens free of charge to campers when theycheck in, he said.

Lighted PedestalsAnother trend in campground electron-

ics is the move toward lighted pedestals,and Linnell at B&B Electrical along withother suppliers said many owners are in-stalling new units or purchasing a pagodalight kit to retrofit an unlit pedestal. Linnellsaid her business has sold many such unitsto KOA campgrounds.

Jamestown Advanced Products Corp.also has seen an uptick in campgroundswanting a lighted electrical box.

The Jamestown, N.Y, business has takenthose lighted pedestals a step further, though.

“Our solution has been to offer camp-ground owners with options, such as alighted access door panel, which can becustomized with a logo,” said Liz Caldwell,marketing manager for Jamestown Ad-

vanced. “Not only do the customizablelighted RV Power Outlets feature a photocellthat keeps them lit from dusk to dawn —making them a great site marker for cus-tomers — but they offer an LED light, whichallows the entire box to be illuminated. Thesenew RV Power Outlets are also a greatbranding opportunity for campgrounds, be-cause they can add their logo or other cus-tom design right to the electrical box panel.”

Jamestown also offers “retro-kits” totransform a power outlet into an electricalunit that has the photocell, an LED interiorlight and has the option to be customized fortheir business.

Caldwell added that as campgroundsand parks continue to look for a way tobrand themselves, Jamestown AdvancedProducts believes the trend to customizeproducts will continue in the future. “Forthis reason, any product we manufacture— such as benches, bike racks, fire ringsand more — can be personalized to suit our

customers and their businesses,” she said.Another industry-wide movement Elliott

sees looming on the horizon is the conver-sion to three-phase power.

Elliott, who also is the National Associ-ation of RV Parks & Campgrounds (ARVC)representative on the National ElectricalCode Panel, said power companies willwant campgrounds to convert to three-phase power, which is usually more eco-nomical than an equivalent single-phasesystem and is used to power large motorsand other heavy loads.

“It’s not something to be scared of, it’sjust something to be aware of that youmight have to do,” Elliott said. “It’s theequivalent of going from a manual transmis-sion to an automatic. You just have to makethe switch.”

Another trend Linnell pointed out wasthe campgrounds sprouting up seeminglyovernight to accommodate the workers as-sembling the Keystone pipeline fromCanada to Texas. Often known as “mancamps,” Linnell said her company has beenproviding owners much of the infrastruc-ture.

“We had one lady just the other day whohad put 40 campsites on a few acres sheowns in Oklahoma near where the pipelineis going. She bought all her electrical fromus,” Linnell said. “There was nothing onthat property before, and now she’s got anice little income from it for a few years.”—Rick Kessler WCM

Monarch Coin-operated Meter

RV Pedestal from Utility Supply Group

Jamestown Advanced Power Outlet

‘Hot Skin’ Electrocution UnderscoresDangers of Improperly Grounded OutletsHowever, RV park and campground operators don’t have any-thing to worry about as long as RVs are connected to properelectrical pedestals at campgrounds, experts told Woodall’sCampground Management.

The circumstances leading to the acci-dental electrocution of a 3-year-old Illinoisboy June 30 are common enough that nearlyevery RVer across the country is potentiallyat risk.

Landyn Gerald Keener died when hetouched a door handle of the family’s traveltrailer while standing on wet ground. Offi-cials said the trailer was plugged into an improperly grounded outlet in the garage,which electrified the camper’s exterior.

This is known as an RV having a “hotskin” condition.

“It was determined by an electrician that(the camper) was poorly grounded,” LeeCounty Sheriff John Varga told Kathleen A.Schultz for a report published on saukvalley.com. “It’s an extremely tragic accident,and we’re not putting fault on anybody.”

Although tragic, experts say it’s an acci-dent that could have been prevented, and itserves as a warning to others not to repeatthe same mistake.

Mike Sokol, author of “No-Shock-Zone:RV Electrical Safety,” said a simple non-con-tact voltage tester such as those made by

Fluke wouldhave alertedthe family tothe “hot skin”c o n d i t i o n .Sokol recom-mends everyRVer shouldhave such atester in theirtool kit.

As for howto avoid therisk altogether,

both Sokol and Wade Elliott, the NationalAssociation of RV Parks & Campgrounds’(ARVC’s) representative on the NationalElectrical Code Panel, recommend thatRVers have a professionally-installed dedi-cated RV outlet at their home.

The RV outlet, which could be similar tothe familiar outlet post found at camp-grounds, should be an outside-rated recep-tacle that matches the shorepower of the RV(typically 30 or 50 amps), uses the proper-size wiring and has a dedicated circuitbreaker in the panel box.

It’s imperative that it be professionally in-stalled by a qualified electrician and tested.Homeowners should not attempt to install aRV outlet themselves since mistakes can bedeadly.

Elliott, who is also owner and presidentof Utility Supply Group, which sells infra-structure components to campgrounds, saidhomeowners should not be wary of havinga dedicated RV outlet pedestal or box in-stalled at their home. The typical RV outletpedestal or box he sells to homeowners —essentially the same one used by camp-grounds — costs about $150 and the entireinstallation should only take about an hour.

Elliott said he doesn’t recommend peopleuse “cheaters” or “dog bone adapters” be-

cause that simply bypasses GFI devices,properly sized breakers and other safety de-vices. A dedicated RV power outlet is notonly the safest method, but it’s the most con-venient and it offers the most peace of mind.

“Most of the time your RV is the second-largest asset besides your home, and you’regoing to take care of it with a 50-foot orangecord?” Elliott said.

RV owners are the most susceptible in thethree-prong risk equation, Elliott said. RVmanufacturers adhere to the National Elec-trical Code and campground owners aresubject to municipal inspectors using localelectric codes. But RV owners have no uni-form standard of safety they are beholden to.Therefore, they run the greatest risk of anelectrical problem, especially if there wereany “Do-It-Yourself” changes made to eitherthe RV or the home’s electrical system.

“It’s incumbent on the owner to have thework done by a professional technician,” hesaid.

“If there were any modifications not doneby an electrician, that can be a problem,” hecontinued, adding current homeownersmight not even know whether previousowners compromised the home’s electricalsystem. “If your home has had any adjust-ments to its electrical system over the years,that could give you a problem. But you don’tfind out about it until a 3-year-old getskilled.”

Sokol said he understands why peoplemight not feel they’re at risk. Most RVers sim-ply use an adapter and plug their motorhomeor camper into an outlet in their garage. Theproblem is these 15-amp outlets sometimeshave a compromised safety ground, andhomeowners simply wouldn’t be aware of thissince today’s power tools — normally theonly device plugged into a garage outlet —are insulated against this risk.

“And, contrary to what people have triedto tell me, an RV’s stabilizer jacks don’tground it,” Sokol added.

To ensure everyone’s safety, Sokol wouldtake it a step further. He advocates that mu-nicipal and/or industry inspectors should beequipped with a ground loop impedancetester, such as an Amprobe INSP-3, whichwould determine that all RV receptacles,whether at a home or in a campground, aresafe for use. He also suggests the NationalElectrical Code be updated since the modernworld is addicted to power, and older infra-structures might be incapable of safely satis-fying that appetite. —Rick Kessler WCM

Equipment installed by professionals is the onlysafe way to deal with electricity.

Mike Sokol

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GUEST VIEW

MaryArlington

Learn How to Segment YourSocial Media Personality

Separating your professional self fromyour personal self has become more chal-lenging with the popularity of social media.Is the image you’re revealing the one youshould reveal? Who are you to your guests?Fellow park owners? Industry suppliers(such as a broker, insurance agent, retailsupplier, or franchise manager)? Your bestfriends? Your neighbors? Your siblings?

Social media was developed for socializ-ing. Most of the social sites are more fortelling about your day, sharing jokes, tellingfamily stories, posting pictures of your vaca-tion, or maybe offering a review of a movie.

I recommend business professionals im-plement ‘best practices’ on their personalpages. Some people have lost professionalfriends because of their personal posts, orbecause of their harshly opinionated com-ments on another’s post.

Although I don’t have a foolproof recipefor posting socially, here are some thoughts.

Define your purpose. How do you wantto use your social media personal page? Iembraced social media when I realized itbrought our outdoor hospitality industrytogether in much the same way attendanceat conferences brought us together. Few inmy local community or in my family un-derstood my professional life as clearly asindustry colleagues understood it. Ratherthan mingling just at conferences, Face-book brought us together every time welogged in, regardless of our location and ourdiffering schedules.

As a park owner, I chose to post about theprofessional side of my life. With my parkbeing my focus 365 days of the year, I didn’thave much of a life outside of my business!

I chose to show the human side of running the business. Sample topics:

• Excitement that I had selected my employees for the season.

• Enthusiasm over a record-breakingmonth.

• Pictures showing the arrival of my retail inventory and how my store was coming together.

• How anxious I was for a holiday week-end to arrive.

• How anxious I was for to the calm afterthe holiday weekend!

• Exhaustion, mixed with joy, about off-season renovations.

Now, think back to the pre-social-mediadays. These examples are stories you mighthave overheard when colleagues visited ata conference, in between or after seminars,perhaps in a lounge or while mingling nearthe elevators. Social media are merely anextension of socializing in real life.

Now, if you saw me at a convention, it’slikely you wouldn’t have overheard me sup-porting or bashing political parties, politi-cians, or rights (gun, gay, abortion,immigrants, etc.). Those who know meknow I work on legislative affairs, but theaudience for such discussions isn’t foundon my personal page or on the personalpages of those professionals whom I wantto influence.

Determine your social circles. As inreal life, virtual life involves many social cir-cles. I say things to my sister that I mightnot share with industry colleagues, and thereverse may also be true. Social media al-lows for such distinction. Create Facebooklists or Google+ circles, and place peopleinto their respective area(s). Then, identifywho it is you’re talking to, and post it to theapplicable list(s) or circle(s).

Your circles might include relatives, acquaintances, employees or co-workers,church, photographers (or whatever yourhobby may be), neighbors, guests/cus-tomers /clients, industry suppliers and thelocal community.

Determine your material. I began bywatching what others said and then I set myown rules. Rule #1: No bedroom pictures!Sound obvious? Seriously, I avoid showingeven pet pictures that took place in thatroom, or showing off a new headboard orquilt. Really, rule #1 is: If I wouldn’t inviteyou into that subject (or room) if you cameto my home, I won’t post it for you to seeonline. I encourage you to make your rules.

Respect posts by others: If a post offends you, just scroll on by or, if the sameperson is doing them too frequently and it’sbothersome, choose to un-friend the person.And remember, just because someone postsa different view than yours doesn’t mean youare obligated to voice your view. Most peopledon’t use Facebook to determine deeply heldviews (because there are far more reliable resources available). Your posts will not swaymost people, and yet it could cost you the social friendship. Rather than use socialmedia for such campaigns, use it for profes-sional socializing. Even in today’s world thisadage still works: If you don’t have anythingnice to say, choose to say nothing.

Define yourself and then define whoqualifies to be your friend. Define yourfriends and communicate with them rela-tive to how you would communicate withthem if you were in their actual company.Implement and post according to your bestpractices.

If you wouldn’t tell your mother a dirtyjoke then don’t tell it to her circle on socialmedia. While visiting at a convention, ifyou wouldn’t rant to me about a nationalpolitical debate, then don’t do so in what-ever circle you have me in online.

Freedom of speech is an American lib-erty, but using it properly makes for a moreenjoyable social life.

Mary Arlington is a consultant, speaker,RVer, and executive director of the Kansas As-sociation of RV Parks and Campgrounds. Hav-ing sold her RV park, Mary Arlington is nowworking to help other small businesses. Findher online at www.MaryArlington.com WCM

Manufacturers of Quality Recreation FUNniturewww.ParkEquipment.com

1-800-376-78972061 Sulphur Springs Rd

Morristown, TN 37813

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20 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

wood trees were planted and a number ofsites were established for the smaller RVsof that era.

Harold and Katrina Anton bought thecampground in 2006, after owning a pre-vious campground in Thermopolis, Wyo.They are the fifth owners of Indian Camp-ground and this year marks their ninthseason here.

Indian Campground has undergone anumber of changes over the years. Thecottonwood saplings planted back in 1964have grown up and are now full-sizedtrees, towering over the campground andproviding excellent shade coverage.Harold Anton does keep busy trimmingthem to allow plenty of room for today’slarger RVs with multiple slideouts. Fortu-nately, he said, the original sites were niceand wide and can easily accommodatemodern RVs. The front section was origi-nally built with shorter back-to-back sitesto fit the smaller campers of that era.Harold was able to upgrade them to fullpull-through sites, adding 50-amp powerand sewer in the process. That left himwith half as many sites but they were suit-able for the longer fifth-wheels and ClassA motorhomes now coming through.

“One of the things that make us such ahigh-energy park is the turnover,” saidHarold Anton. “We can have 30 or 40 rigsleave by checkout and fill back up thatevening.”

That said, the biggest hurdle the An-tons want to overcome is the short stays.Many stays are overnight or for two orthree days. Visitors just don’t seem tograsp all that this area has to offer, HaroldAnton believes. “Our tourism board —and we, individually — are always tryingto find ways to let our visitors know howmuch this area has to offer and keep themhere longer,” he said. The Bighorn Moun-

CAMPGROUNDPROFILE

tains have numerous scenic drives, of-froad-vehicle trails and scenery that rivalsanywhere.

Buffalo is also located right on theBozeman Trail and one of the posts thatmark its position is located right across the

street from the campground. Just 15 milesto the north is Fort Phil Kearney, an im-portant fort along the Bozeman Trail.

Nearby sites such as the locations of theWagon Box Massacre and the FettermanFight are historical sites that mark cavalrybattles with the Sioux Indians. And, thearea to the south is the Hole in the Wallcountry where the Butch Cassidy ganghung out, evaded posses and rustled cattle.

Buffalo was also the location of theJohnson County Cattle War and manysites in the area feature the famous histor-ical events that took place. Harold Anton

Nestled into a beautiful setting at thebase of the Bighorn Mountains lies IndianCampground in Buffalo, Wyo. Buffalo isknown as the “Gateway to the Bighorns”and is located right alongside Interstate90, a popular route for westbound travel-ers heading to the Yellowstone region.

U.S. highway 16 exits here and headsover the Bighorns via the most scenic andRV-friendly route as it winds its way to theTetons and Yellowstone, passing right bythe Indian Campground on its waythrough town.

It’s this location that’s helped IndianCampground thrive for 50 years.

Indian Campground was started in1964 on the edge of town along the maintravel route through Buffalo. Small cotton-

Region was the site of the Johnson County Cattle War as well as historically rememberedconflicts between the U.S. Cavalry and the Sioux Indians — and, to the south, travelers canpass through the Hole in the Wall country, popularized by the Butch Cassidy Gang

serves on the board of the Johnson CountyTourism Association, an organization thatuses tourism and lodging tax money tohelp promote the area. The goal is to in-form visitors as to the many opportunitiesin the area, hopefully increasing theirlength of stay.

One thing that has helped IndianCampground is Buffalo’s local events andfestivals. An annual bluegrass festivalbrings in crowds that boost tourism activ-ity and often fills the campground for theweekend.

Buffalo has also been brought to lightdue to A&E’s Longmire television series.Writer Craig Johnson lives in the Buffaloarea and based the series on people andevents in the area, though the names ofstores and other businesses have beenchanged for TV.

“Longmire is a fictional story based onBuffalo and Johnson County,” Harold said.“Sometimes, especially in the books, youcan pick up on the real business name orlocation that is being shown.” On theshow, he said, there’s a murder to solveeach week. “Of course, I let the visitorknow that the real Buffalo hasn’t seen amurder like what’s on the show since thedays of the gun fighter.”

This year the third annual LongmireDays festival took place and visitors andlocals had the chance to sit down and eatwith the actors and actresses from the show. During Longmire week Buffalodoubles in size (normally 4,600, accordingto the U.S. Census Bureau) due to the increased visitor count.

The campground also benefits from thelarge rallies held at Camplex in nearbyGillette. During the last Family MotorCoach Convention in Gillette, IndianCampground was the scene of a pre-rallygathering. “The morning the rally startedwe had 64 Class A's leave the park in car-avans. After the rally ended there were rigs

backed up on the highway, waiting to reg-ister,” Harold said. “We parked 25 big rigsin 2 ½ hours,” he said.

Indian Campground now has 90 RVsites, 65 of which are full-hookup sites.These and a number of tent sites are situ-ated on 11 acres on the edge of town in aprime traffic location. Three camping cab-ins are available but with the trend towardovernight stays, the cabins aren’t a hugepart of the overall mix. Services such asdining, fuel and convenience stores are allwithin easy walking distance. This ideallocation combines convenience, trafficflow, quietness and scenery all in one

This view shows the office and poolat Buffalo’s Indian Campground.

A recent addition included eight large unshaded pull-throughs and a large number of tent sites.

Harold and Katrina Anton pause in front of the office.

At Wyoming’s Indian Campground, Natural Beauty And Western History Come Together

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WOODALLSCM.com September 2014 - 21

Campground OverviewName: Indian CampgroundAddress: 660 East Hart St., Buffalo,WY 82834Number of sites: 90 hook-up sites (65 full hook-up with cable TV), 3 cab-ins, 9 tent sites, one group campingtent sitePhysical description: 11-acre camp-ground amongst large shade treesalong US-16 on the edge of town bor-dered by a creek with easy access toI-90 and I-25

Season: April 15 through Oct. 15

Rates: Full hookups: $39 – $41.Water/Electric sites: $36. Tent sites:$27. Camping Cabins: $48Website: www.indiancampground.comContact information: (307) 684-9601.Reservations: (866) 808-9601. [email protected]

attractive package. There is more land available across the

creek if the need arises for more sites —as long as the demand is strong enough tojustify the cost of building a bridge acrossthe creek.

The campground’s gift shop is unlikethe ones at most campgrounds. Sure, theusual selection of RV accessories and ne-cessities is present. Food offerings are lim-ited to a small assortment of beverages andice cream snacks; milk and other staplesaren’t necessary due to the conveniencestores located nearby. The selection of giftsand souvenirs is larger than most othercampgrounds — the attraction ofWyoming and the mountains seems to bea good mix for T-shirts, gifts and collecta-bles.

The campground office building isopen 24/7 with the office portion and giftshop blocked off after hours. This gives ac-cess to the well-kept laundry facilities,bath area and lounge at any time of theday or night. The owners live on-site andnear the entrance so security is not a prob-lem, although this is a safe area and Buf-falo in general is a safe town, HaroldAnton noted.

The in-ground pool is a popular spotduring hot summer days and an enclosedplayground for junior campers is also located next to the pool.

At Indian Campground the motto is,“Where true western hospitality is alwaysserved,” but it’s more than a motto and it’smore than the on-site amenities. The Antons have made it a way of life wherecampers are truly treated as guests andmade to feel at home. Guests seem to recognize this and respond accordingly.

“If you treat your customers like guestsand make them feel at home, they willlook forward to coming back, and manydo come back year after year,” Harold said.“We have made some lifelong friends outof some of our customers. We see morethan 3,000 units a year.”

Harold and Katrina utilize three to fourWorkamper couples during the season,which runs from April 15 to Oct. 15.Those workers must commit to at leastthree months during June, July and Au-gust. The Antons also employ two highschool teenagers to mow lawns.

While the Antons would like guests tostick around longer than overnight, other

than for the working camperslong-term sites are discour-aged. The long-term rates arehigher to pare down long-term stays and the contractstates that their site must looklike they are ready to pack upand leave the next morning.

Free Wi-Fi is provided tocampers and has been up-graded to keep pace with theincreased demand of today’smobile RV community,Harold Anton said. In thepast the typical RV wouldhave a laptop to check emailand view a few websites. Thecurrent trend is for multipleusers within each RV. He fig-ures it’s likely a pair of iPadsas well as smartphones areused to stream live video aswell as web browsing andemail. This creates a huge de-mand on bandwidth andmany campgrounds can’tkeep up while campers ex-pect better service, he said.Indian Campground has up-graded its wireless network tohandle those demands and astrong signal with plenty ofbandwidth can be obtainedanywhere in the park.

One current issue they’refacing is the impending con-version to digital cable TV.Cable TV is provided at thecampground but it has al-ways been analog, which al-lows any RV owner to view itonce connected. With cableTV companies convertingover to digital, digital con-verters will be required towatch TV. To supply each RVwith a converter is expensive,would require a deposit andentails having to check themin and out. Another option isto add weatherproof convert-ers at each pedestal, but thenthey couldn’t be easily accessed via infrared remotesto change channels and goingwith radio-frequency remoteswould require too many frequencies so that is not anattractive option.

Another option is to buildthe campground’s own headend, converting to analog fordistribution. But that requiresa substantial initial invest-ment though so the jury isstill out on the issue, HaroldAnton said.

With so many things tosee and do, the area is primefor tourism development, theAntons fully believe. Haroldand Katrina don’t plan onhanging it up any time soon.Harold told WCM, “A fewyears back I told Katrina thatwhen I stop caring aboutwhat the campground lookslike, and when I stop lookingforward to new camping sea-son, she needs to remind methat it’s time to sell. So far I’mstill going strong.” —MarkQuasius WCM

The large, heated swimming pool is located next to the office and a welcome respite on warm summer days.

The popular gift shop stocks a wide selection of gifts and curios as well as basic RV related accessories.

One of three camping cabins at Indian Campground.

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22 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

“Wouldn’t you rather be running a Villageand not just a parking lot?”

That’s a question posed to campgroundowners in a video about RVillage.com, a so-cial networking site specifically for RVerslaunched last March. Founder and RVer CurtisColeman has been getting the word out toconsumers about RVillage — it topped10,000 registered members (“Villagers”) inthe first four months — and now he wantsto have a word with campground owners.

They’re already on the RVillage camp-ground map, because it’s populated by every

park known to exist by the online destinationdirectory Allstays, whether or not the own-ers know about RVillage. What remains tobe done, he said, is for the owners to“claim” their parks — by signing in, they canfill out their profile and access park benefits— so they don’t miss the boat. And that boatis getting closer to yacht-size every day.

The network has already been endorsedby travel groups and industry entities suchas Escapees RV Club, Workamper Newsand RV Daily Report, with Coleman currently“in deep conversations” with representa-

tives at FMCA (Family Motor Coach Associ-ation) and working on creating a presenceat the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum inElkhart, Ind.

Chatter and testimonials are also poppingup on discussion forums at RV sites, onrecreation and owners’ clubs and all overthe blogosphere — “Google us and you’llsee 15 pages of blog entries,” Coleman pro-claimed — with plugs coming in from per-sonal bloggers as well as Geeks On Tour andTechnomadia. Based on the buzz, RVillage iswildly popular and still gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, the names of campgroundslisted on RVillage fill tens of pages, whileclaimed campgrounds fill one-and-a-half.

“What we want is for people to claimtheir parks,” Coleman told Woodall’s Camp-ground Management. “We want those own-ers to go take a look. Let us impress you.”

Campground owners and operatorsshould be knee-deep in this, he said, because RVillage is already proving to be a solid business-generator. Customerschoose one park over another when theysee it has members staying there who alsoenjoy potlucks or travel with their dogs, forexample. If a member wants to accept afriend’s invitation to a get-together at Camp-ground X, he’ll book a site. Members caneven plot specialized routes that take themthrough Villager-heavy campgrounds be-tween different destinations. They can iden-tify those campgrounds by the icon thatturns green when a park has three or moremembers checked in.

“When we’re traveling through an area,we always prefer an RV park that promotesthe lifestyle, not just providing us a place topark for the night,” said Cherie Ve Ard of

Technomadia, who works and RVs full-timewith her business partner, Chris Dunphy.“Whenever we pull into a park that displaysan RVillage sticker, we know they encour-age us to get out and meet our neighborsand make new friends. When decidingwhere to stay in our journey, we seek outparks on RVillage that already have peoplechecked in…For us, making friends is a bigpart of the lifestyle.”

Claiming a park on the network is free,and the level of involvement is up to camp-ground management. They may earn agreen icon simply by giving existing gueststhe RVillage-provided sign-up flyer. “There’s

nothing to manage,” Coleman said. “Youcan, but you don’t have to. You have nothingto lose, but plenty of potential for good.”

Part of that potential comes from the ca-pability to message Villagers near and far.“You can create your own get-together ordiscount and send an invitation to memberswithin 100 miles,” he explained. “You cansend a message to your guests telling them,‘The forecast is windy tonight so roll up yourawnings,’ or ‘We had to move this craft ac-tivity to this other time.’” Likewise, guestscan send direct feedback to park owners,allowing any complaints to be handled im-mediately and before they go external onsites like Yelp or RV Park Reviews.

With the site being free to members andcampgrounds, financial support for thenetwork comes from ads — which changedepending on the user’s location — to dis-play local attractions, businesses andservices. RV dealers, manufacturers andsuppliers can also promote their productsto members.

That’s another arena where RVillageclaims superior value and reach: Colemansaid advertisers spend far less on fargreater exposure attained through the site’sinteractive online ads compared to com-pact, static business-card reprints on paper-placemat park maps.

That localized information is also appre-ciated by RVers, according to work camperRosalyn Chauvin.

“We need things like a good dentist fora toothache, RV repair or detailing, or alocal restaurant serving our favorite cui-sine. Our usual option is to sift throughGoogle results to hopefully find something.With the arrival of RVillage.com comesmovement into the 21st century,” Chauvinsaid at her RosalynAndRoy.com blog site.

“Say you’re looking for some RV serviceand you find the company that does it nearan RVillage park. You’d probably stay thereto have the work done. You can plan yourtravels accordingly and contact the com-pany to schedule your visit well before ar-riving, which saves a lot of time waiting likewe’ve all done,” she wrote.

Coleman said getting all the pistons firingon RVillage, from camper users to park own-ers to advertisers, is something he’ll keeppouring himself into with an eye on bringingthe site to full capacity — the ceiling, hesaid, is around a million users.

“It’s not cheap, but it’s necessary. We’rebuilding this for the future,” he stated confi-dently. “We’re just unbelievably proud ofwhat we built, and everybody’s just embrac-ing it.”

To claim a campground or learn aboutRVillage’s opportunities for park owners andadvertisers, visit rvfriendnetwork.com/rv-parks. —Barb Riley WCM

RVillage.com Seeks To Build Online SocialCommunity For RV Parks and Campgrounds

‘What we want is for people to claim their parks,’ said Curtis Coleman, founder of theRVing social network. ‘We want those owners to go take a look. Let us impress you.’

Curtis Coleman

RVillage members hold a "Geeks On Tour" get-together in May.

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RV Golf Club Wants Park Operators to Give Members A Taste of Their Parks’ Services, Accommodations and Courses

The initial inspiration for RV Golf Club—one of the RV universe’s newer twists — hadlittle or nothing to do with RV parks andcampgrounds when it first cropped up in late2012 as full-time RVers Jim and Julie Vernesnoticed dry-camping RVers at Walmart park-ing lots around the country. Jim, a 33-yearveteran of the resort real estate business andan avid golfer, immediately saw an opportu-nity to expand on the idea in the golf realmand beyond.

“As I drove by, I thought, ‘Wait a minute,I’m a golfer. There are 17,000 golf courses inthe United States and 7,000 in Canada andthey all have big parking lots — just like this— that sit totally vacant at night,’” recalled

Vernes. “And you don’t have to be a golfer toappreciate beautiful places to park in serenelocations.” And from there, the Las Vegas-based RV Golf Club (RVGC) was born.

As things have evolved, Verne toldWoodall’s Campground Management, privateparks are a big part of his fledgling enterprise.

Vernes immediately started contactinggolf courses — and saw instant traction. Theclub now has 369 RV-friendly properties and300 RV members throughout the UnitedStates and Canada. “RVers will pay for their

membership in one or two nights and full-timers can save thousands a year on parkingspaces,” said Vernes. “I challenge people tofind a better investment for their RV lifestyle.”

Membership is $49 annually, or $245 for alifetime membership, for self-contained ClassA, B and C motorhomes, fifth-wheels, trailersand truck campers with no restriction onlength or year. It is, however, a requirementthat members’ vehicles be “classy and prop-erly-maintained” to compliment the high-quality surroundings.

“It’s really a win-win relationship,” saidVernes. “RV Golf Club will introduce thosegolf courses to a whole new demographic ofcustomer with a simple idea: RV owners candry-camp overnight for free, plus receive adiscount on green fees, food and beverages,shopping and services at most partnercourses. Members get to enjoy the atmos-phere and the service of these high-endproperties — and the golf courses earn moreprofits without investing a dime.”

As the RVGC venture continued, thefounders began looking for both a summerand winter home for their RV. “As we weretraveling, we had conversations with other RVowners and found out there’s a lot of peoplein the same boat who are looking for a placeto settle in with their RV,” said Jim Vernes. “Sothen I started thinking, let’s introduce RV parksto full-time RVers in a new way.”

Vernes said RVers often feel overwhelmedwith choices, yet underequipped with insightand valid information regarding the opportu-nities available at North America’s estimated8,000 independent RV parks and camp-grounds. So, as he explained it, Vernes isturning to the “Baskin-Robbins businessmodel” as he works to expand RVGC to in-clude RV resorts as well by giving people asample of what’s available to them.

“My concept is to reach out to RV parksand encourage them to give a little free taste(of their services and accommodations). Letour members have two nights with freehookups or for a 50% discount. That will givethem the opportunity to come in and analyzefor themselves if they like your property,” saidVernes. “And you’re going to have a percent-age of RVers that want to stay an extra night,extra week, extra month or even book a stayfor next season.”

Julie and Jim Vernes

RVers and golf courses can both benefit from overnight camping with this sort of view ratherthan in the parking lot of a big box store, at least that’s the reasoning behind RV Golf Club.

RV Golf Club – continued on page 28

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WOODALLSCM.com September 2014 - 25

that, however, is that the informationabout your campground has now reached500-plus people you don’t know at all —simply because you gave John a great experience and asked him to review yourpark in an honest way.

Of course as Peter mentioned, I wouldencourage everyone to create a businessprofile on TripAdvisor and actively man-age your reviews. TripAdvisor has a lot ofnifty tools to help business owners pro-mote the fact they are associated with, andrated on, the site. You can receive stickersto place in your windows. You can alsoadd a section to your website where thelatest customer reviews will constantlyscroll for guests visiting your site to see.

Let them know you are proud of yourpark and what guests are saying about youby displaying the reviews on your site.Give them the assurance they need to onlyclick the “Reserve Now” button and starttheir relationship with your campground.

We could (and should) take the con-versation one step further and talk aboutthe campground industry and it’s appear-ance on TripAdvisor.com. There are manyparks and campgrounds with 100 or morereviews. What’s even better is that most ofthese parks have earned a 4-star rating orhigher!

Campgrounds, RV parks and resortsare a valid and growing section of thetravel and tourism industry and should betreated as such. We should not settle fora “Specialty Lodging” categorization.

GUESTVIEW

As the marketing director for an RVPark, I always enjoy reading articles thatprompt campground owners to explorenew ways of attracting customers. PeterPelland’s July column about TripAdvisorwas an excellent introduction into a pow-erful website. However, there are a few keyfactors about TripAdvisor that RV parkand campground owner operators shouldbe aware of to help them utilize it properlyand take advantage of everything it has tooffer to augment their businesses.

We hear so much these days about “so-cial media” and “social networking” andread article after article about how-to-get-started-with-social-media-in-just-3-quick-steps or why we need to fit it into our busyschedules. What many owners are notaware of is that the “social” part of the In-ternet does not always have to come fromyou. You do not have to do all of the work.

TripAdvisor is much more than a re-view site: It is a social media site. Manyof the social media sites we are all awareof are interconnected. Both Facebook andTwitter interact with TripAdvisor, makingit extremely easy for your guests to spreadthe word about your park. Let’s take a look

at an example. When “John Smith” comes to visit for

the weekend there are several steps you’regoing to take to make sure he has an ex-cellent experience. You’re going to providehim a level site, excellent amenities andmaybe a weekend packed with fun familyactivities. You’re also going to be sure yourstaff greets him with respect and cheerful-ness. Hopefully, many of you also thankJohn Smith upon his departure —whether it is via an automated “ThankYou” email or a friendly wave as he pullsthrough the exit.

What happens next? Do you thinkJohn is going to make a point to tell hisfriends about his experience? How manyof his friends would he tell? Did you makeit a point to tell John that his feedback isimportant to you and your business?

We all should be actively asking guestsfor reviews. Of course it’s the best way toknow how we are performing, but it alsoserves as validation of your campgroundto so many potential visitors. ‘Word ofMouth’ is one of the top marketing meth-ods for a campground. How do we spreadthe word? By encouraging our guests todo it for us, and by giving them the plat-form to do it on.

TripAdvisor provides a service calledReview Express. Here you can create anddesign your own review e-mail to send toyour guests. Within the template designyou create your own subject line, messageand even upload a photo. All you have todo then is input your collected guest

Heidi Runels

Social Media Aspects Of TripAdvisor.com Can Help Your Parkemails — just be sure to abide by the lawsin your state for email collection — andhit ‘send.’

Once your email is created, which usu-ally takes about 15 minutes, each Mondayor Tuesday morning take a few minutes toupload the emails from last week’s visitors— and watch your reviews pile in. Ofcourse, you can always take matters intoyour own hands to avoid over-sending toyour guests. Create a flyer to hand to themupon checkout. Giving them somethingtangible to solidify your request is moreeffective than just asking and hoping theyremember.

Let’s get back to John for a moment.Once he checked out of your park, eitherreceiving the flyer or the TripAdvisor “Re-view Express” e-mail, he is now seated infront of his computer prepared to write hisreview. If John is like most social-network-ing Internet users out there, he has his so-cial accounts linked. Here are some of thepeople who now know John Smith was atyour park over the weekend: his 300-some Facebook friends and/or his 200-some Twitter followers and every potentialguest that looks up a review on your park.

That’s a lot more than John casuallymentioning to the few friends he goes todinner with the following weekend thathe was there. The 300-some Facebookfriends that John has may not all becampers, but if John had wonderful thingsto say about his experience it would beone of the best ways to introduce someoneto camping. What’s even better than all of Guest View – continued on page 32

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26 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

VENDORSCAPES

Light ‘n Go Essay Group in Lyndhurst, N.J., is intro-

ducing its Light ‘n Go line of logs andfirestarters to the campground industry.

According to Essay Group vice presidentLen Gannett, the Light ‘n Go Bonfire Log isunique among self-contained firelogs be-cause of its material and construction. TheBonfire is made of kiln-dried hardwoodwhite birch rather than a soft wood, whichhe said lights easily but burns quickly andalso causes a firelog to fall apart duringburning.

New Supplier Accessories: From Firestarters to Panning for GoldGannett also touted the Bonfire’s ad-

vanced engineering, which he said was cre-ated by physicists in Estonia and holds a U.S.patent.

“The challenge was to create a design thatallows you to easily light hardwood, whichis harder to light and maintain,” he ex-plained. “You have to design the cuts in thewood so that it creates sufficient airflow toburn the log from the inside, out. The userjust lights the wick, the wick starts the hard-wood burning, and it’s off to the races.”

Other Light ‘n Go products include

thinly-sliced kiln-dried Alder wood kin-dling, one-match charcoal packages forquick and mess-less grill lighting, and theself-lighting Light ‘n Go Firestarters.“They’re basically 20 chubby matches in atray box, but these little guys will burn forsix minutes,” said Gannett.

For more information, visit www.light-ngo.com or call Gannett at (201) 460-1300ext. 207.

Wizard Works Water park development company Wiz-

ard Works recently introduced a brand-newnew water structure concept that will be unveiled at a yet-unnamed campground in2015, according to Joe Ventura, CFO andmarketing director.

A park owner wanted to replace a waterattraction on his property without tearingout the existing $200,000 infrastructure andplumbing. Upon learning the owner wasalso looking for more teen activities, Venturagave birth to a brand-new concept to satisfyboth needs: By day, it’s the action-packedBlaster Bonanza water cannon game; but atnight, it turns into a teen dance club.

With more teen-centric elements likespeaker towers, laser lights, fog and music-synchronized floor water jets supplementingthe universal-appeal water cannons, Venturasaid this new waterplay dance club conceptis a perfect way for campgrounds to extendthe play value of their water equipment.That’s why Wizard Works has added “splash-dance” applications for splash pads andmulti-level water structures to their menu,joining other distinctive attractions like theHydro Storm, which blasts up to 750 gallonsof water 360 degrees, and a life-size pinballmachine water ride with spectator controls.

Ventura said their holistic approach —“engineering meets artistry” — lets them domore than just install water park equipment.“The client had a logistical problem that weneeded to solve, but he also had a creativeproblem that needed to be solved as well,”he related, “and so we just kind of put thosetwo things together.”

For more information, visit www.wizard-works.biz or contact Ventura at [email protected] or (518) 434-3488.

Cold River Mining Co. After mining out West on a family vacation

inspired him to build a simulated cave-miningexpedition at his Connecticut campground,George Marchacos discovered the attractionwas so popular, he had to give his guests some-thing to do while they waited their turn — andthe resulting sluice was such a hit, the park re-ceived the 1993 “Catching the Magic” awardfrom the national Association of RV Parks andCampgrounds (ARVC).

That’s how he got out of the campgroundbusiness and into the ground-harvesting busi-ness. Cold River Mining Co. offers sluicing,panning and mining activities — guests mayfind treasures such as amethysts, rubies, emer-alds, arrowheads and crystals — as well as

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WOODALLSCM.com September 2014 - 27

boneyards and fossil digs. A standard sluice usually takes about three

weeks to build, and customer demand led Cold River to offer a portable wheeled conversion.

Marchacos said a mining attraction is aworthwhile and easy-to-manage investmentfor a campground. “Turnkey sluice systemsthat include signage, set-up and bags roughlycost between $10,500 and $20,000, dependingon the size and how many bags you buy withthe system,” he explained. “Normally, thecampground can pay for the system within oneseason, but we have had some pay the full costwithin two months. It has a great return.”

For more information, contact Marchacosat [email protected], call (413) 219-3252 or visit ColdRiverMining.com.

RV Park Signs Based in Canton, Ga., RV Park Signs offers

just what its name describes, in a variety of ma-terials — sheetmetal, extruded metal, castmetal and poly resin — and various colors ofmetal and poly resin sign posts to accommo-date any budget.

RV site signs are available as vertical sheet-metal or light-up vertical or horizontal designs;standard traffic and park icon signs include areflective engineer-grade finish on one side,

with most also available in high prismatic re-flective material for extra night visibility. Thecompany also makes campground entrancesigns, street name signs and building signs.

But that’s not all you’ll find at RV Park Signs.They address all elements of a campground’svisual presentation with park maps, logo de-sign, brochures, professional photography andretouching of existing photos, plus tips fromthe staff on taking your own.

They provide unique visual branding withcustomized all-weather indoor and outdoor tables, created by thermo-fusing logos, camp-ground maps, gameboards or other imagesinto a resin-wrapped tabletop that’s mountedonto your choice of pedestal.

To download a brochure and view samplesof all RV Park Signs product, visit www.rvparksigns.com. Free quotes can be obtained at(404) 944-9988 or [email protected].

Fluid Manufacturing Lodi, Calif.-based Fluid Manufacturing

specializes in elec-tronic coin-operatedshower control sys-tems that aim to re-duce water, gas &electric and sewer &septic costs while pro-viding an incomestream that tricklesdown into a camp-ground’s bottom line.All systems are

custom-built for privately-owned to largecorporate parks.

Cost benefit analysis results posted on thecompany’s website conclude that its meteredshower systems may reduce energy usage upto 70%; a testimonial relates that Big SurState Park in California saved a million gal-lons of water and 4,500 gallons of propane,enabling it to pay for the system in the firstseason of use.

Fluid Mfg. systems are also designed to“take abuse and keep working.” The

“bulletproof” coin acceptors, housed in 12-gauge anti-rust stainless steel, are describedas 33% stronger and 68% harder than con-ventional coin boxes, continuing to acceptcoins and tokens even after being fully immersed in water.

To download a brochure on Fluid Mfg.shower systems, fill out an inquiry form orshop its bill changers, token dispensers and shower parts online, visit www.fluidmfg.com. For more information, call toll-free at (800) 443-5843. WCM

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28 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

Vernes said RV Golf Club already has animpressive lineup of participating golf and RVresorts, like Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff,Calif. “Our members are constantly letting usknow what a pleasant experience they havewhen they visit” Durango RV Resort, saidVernes. Other properties include the Coeurd’Alene Resort in Idaho — a golfer’s dreamwith a floating island green and eight on-siterestaurants — as well as Birchwood Golf &RV Resort in Bottineau, N.D., the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa in Geor-gia and Club Shuswap Golf & RV Park inCanoe, British Columbia.

RVGC, after a bit of a stutter-start with re-gard to website development, just launchedits new, more-user-friendly site in late Juneand hopes this will draw even more buzz. Theupdated website offers members an interac-tive map of affiliated properties and links toeach property’s website offering specific de-tails on whom to contact and where to park.

“Members know ahead of time whatthey’re looking at before they go to the parkor golf course and they know to just call upand see if there’s any room for them to park

that night,” said Vernes. “Everything is basedon availability. The RV resorts and golfcourses are not obligated to anything. It’s anagreement of understanding that says theywill accommodate our members if they haveavailable space.”

Along with the launch of the new website,Vernes has incorporated an affiliate programwhich offers a 20% fee to members referringnew properties or other RV members to theRVGC. He is also is in the process of startinga national brand partnership program thatwill allow members to enjoy discounts andspecial privileges from popular national establishments. —Danielle Bova WCM

RV Golf Club —from page 24

RV Golf Club now has nearly 370sites across the U.S. and Canada.

As Go USA Camping Exits Market, Other Firms Step Up To Fill Void

On the heels of a termination of services an-nouncement by Go USA Camping, two industrypartners announced a willingness to helpparks which received the startling 30-day no-tices. At the same time, another industry vet-eran stepped up to warn Go USA Campingcustomers not to take the company’s partingadvice and also offered to help former Go USACamping customers.

TXAD Internet (a division of Texas Advertis-ing Co.) and Campground Manager (a divisionof Mission Management Information Systems)issued a joint written announcement of theirwillingness to assist former Go USA Campingcustomers with either website or online reser-vation services.

“We never like to see a competitor going outof business, particularly as parks are enteringtheir camping season. We will offer any assis-tance possible with either front office systemsor online reservations and special arrange-ments through this busy time,” said PeterKearns, vice president of Mission Management.

Brian Schaeffer, president of TXAD Inter-net, said, “Parks may be in need of web host-

ing/maintenance duringthis time of transition andwe are more than happyto assist with expeditedservices.”

Both Kearns andSchaeffer said their com-panies are doing welland growing exponen-tially. “We have seensteady growth in our

number of parks served and their reservations,especially going into this year,” said Kearns.That sentiment was echoed by Schaeffer, whosaid, “We are experiencing unprecedentedgrowth and feel very blessed to be in a positionto help others.”

Both executives encouraged parks affectedto contact them personally for assistance.

Peter Pelland, founder and head ofPellandAdvertising, said that campground ownersmay want to avoid some of the advice Go USACamping offered its customers in its notice.

“We are not in the business of chasing am-bulances, and we do not seek to profit from themisfortune of our fellow industry vendors; how-ever, we also would like to assist individualpark owners to take the time to make informed,

long-term decisions rather than hurriedchoices,” he stated.

The notice that Go USA Camping sent to itsclients included the advice, “If we designedand hosted your web site then contact a web-site hosting and web builder company such as‘godaddy.com’ or ‘1&1.com’ to assist you witha new website.”

Pelland took strong exception to that ad-vice, and told WCMhe would never advise anysmall business owner to turn to one of thoseInternet industry behemoths to provide websitedevelopment or hosting services.

There are several campground industryvendors who are small enough to know theirclients by name, who understand the uniqueneeds of your business, and who have a trackrecord of serving the industry, Pelland said.

“We are one of the campground industry’sleading suppliers of website development andhosting services. Independent of any allianceswith third-party online reservation services, thereservation engine of your choice may be em-bedded into or linked from your site. Many ofour clients prefer a simpler online reservationrequest system that is highly effective, partic-ularly for smaller parks, and free of transactionfees. We offer solutions and alternatives.”

BookYourSite is an online booking websiteand directory that provides information aboutcampgrounds throughout North America. Thesite hosts more than 950 subscribers, predom-inantly top-quality private campgrounds, in-cluding parks affiliated with Yogi Bear'sJellystone Park Camp-Resorts.

Based in Crowley, Texas, TXAD Internetprovides website and guest guides services(through AGS) for more than 1,000 camp-grounds, RV parks and resorts across the U.S.and Canada. Texas Advertising Company, Inc.acquired AGS & AGS Internet from Good SamEnterprises LLC in 2011.

For more information about TXAD Internetand Mission Management, visit their websitesat txadinternet.com and missionmgmt.com ore-mail [email protected] and [email protected].

Pelland Advertising provides web hostingand design services for campgrounds and in-tegrates those with online reservation systems.For more information about them, visit pelland.com or contact Peter Pelland at [email protected]. WCM

Brian Schaeffer

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WOODALLSCM.com September 2014 - 29

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GUEST VIEW

PeterPelland

Email: Making the Most of It

Email is often taken for granted thesedays, with the result being that many of usfail to realize its true potential. Everybodyknows that email is essentially free and im-mediate, as opposed to a letter which cur-rently costs 49 cents to mail and may takedays to deliver. Email always arrives at theright time because it is the recipient’s pre-rogative to determine when it will beopened or read. Unlike a phone call, thetiming of which may be inopportune at theother end, the recipient alone determineswhen — and if — it is going to be read.

With conventional mail, nobody dis-cards an unopened birthday card, bankstatement, or tax bill. These are immedi-ately identified as either friendly or impor-tant communications. The decisionwhether or not to open a conventionalpiece of mail is typically made within threeto five seconds.

For email to be opened with any reason-able frequency, it is necessary for it to con-vey that same type of urgency. The rateswith which conventional email is openedand read are difficult to measure, but it issafe to assume that they are remarkably low.The longer we have been online and themore email that we receive, the more selec-tive we become about what we will take thetime to read. In my own instance, with ex-cellent filters removing spam from theequation, I would estimate that I delete 90-95% of my incoming email before it is read.

There are third-party services whichwill allow a degree of tracking of conven-tional email messages. Some of these serv-ices are free, others paid, and they can tellyou when somebody has opened yourmessage, how long they spent reading themessage, where they were located,whether or not they forwarded the mes-sage and much more. These services gen-erally work by embedding an invisiblegraphic file into your message, monitoringwhen that graphic has been downloaded.Unfortunately, if the recipient’s email clientor mobile device is not set to displaygraphics, that invisible graphic will not bedownloaded and tracked.

If you would like to look into this typeof tracking, some of the services that youwill find online include WhoReadMe, Get-Notify, ContactMonkey, and BananaTag.

Conventional Email TipsWhether or not you use an email track-

ing service, to increase your open and readrates follow a few basic tips:

• Clearly identify yourself. In youremail settings, be sure that either your fullpersonal name or business name is en-tered. I am amazed at how many emails Ireceive from senders named “office” or“info.” If you enter nothing in this setting,most email clients will by default simplyshow your email address. Having your re-cipients clearly recognize you will increasethe likelihood of your email getting read,and it will also tremendously help them tosearch for one of your messages to refer toin the future.

• Write a subject line that asks to be

opened. Ideally, it will start with yourcompany name, both for name recognitionand ease of sorting. Make it compellingand specific. I have an amazing number ofemails in my inbox with the subject linesreading “hi,” “hello,” and “question.”Worse yet are the emails that are sent withno subject line whatsoever. Some peopleuse special characters (also known asglyphs) to draw attention to their subjectline, converted to more graphical emoji onsome devices. These might include sym-bols such as arrows, musical notes andhearts — not all of which are appropriatefor most businesses. I believe that, in mostinstances, symbols such as these get anemail subject line noticed — but have noimpact whatsoever on read and open rates.In addition, they might flag a message asspam. Use a subject line that the recipientwill identify as something of interest.

• Do not request read receipts. Exceptin specific instances, read receipts are per-ceived as an annoyance by recipients —and a recipient can choose whether or notto confirm receipt of your message. Thislast factor renders read receipts prettypointless. I find that some people have theiremail client configured to request a read re-ceipt for every message sent. They are oftenthe same people who send messages with-out a subject line!

When & Why to Use Email MarketingIf you are thinking about sending a mes-

sage to multiple recipients using an emailclient’s ‘cc’ (carbon copy) or ‘bcc’ (blind car-bon copy) features, don’t do it! This prac-tice is impersonal, can flag you as aspammer, and using the ‘cc’ feature dis-closes the email addresses of every recipi-ent. To avoid these issues, use an emailmarketing service such as Constant Con-tact, iContact, Vertical Response,MailChimp or Campaigner. These serv-ices are all reasonably priced, have higherdeliverability rates than conventional emailand provide templates that make it easy foryour messages to stand out. More impor-tantly, they provide a wealth of trackingdata which goes far beyond simply who hasopened your email.

When mailing using an email marketingservice, you know exactly which recipientsopen your email, when they open it, whatlinks they click, if they forward it, if they un-subscribe, if their address is undeliverable,and if anybody reports your email as spam.Let’s say that you run a campground andyour newsletter includes articles on seasonalsite availabilities, a special event that youhave scheduled, and a limited-time discount— each including a link for more informa-tion. By checking the click-throughs for anyof these article links, you have identified keyprospects that are likely to be more than receptive to a follow-up phone call — if theyhaven’t contacted you first.

The most ineffective email is the one thatis not read. Make your email work smarter,and your business will truly benefit.

Peter Pelland is the CEO of Pelland Ad-vertising, a company that he founded in1980 and that has been serving the familycamping industry for more than 30 years.His company builds websites and socialmedia content, along with producing a fullrange of four-color process print advertis-ing, for clients from coast to coast. Learnmore about Pelland Advertising atwww.pelland.com. WCM

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30 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

CAMPGROUND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

FloridaCampground

for Lease

150-acre former Boy Scout campground in Inverness, Florida.

Perfect for year-round campground facility, retreat center or equestrian campground. Features multipurpose building, lodge, two residences, six cabins, 10 group camping areas with bath facilities, commercial kitchen and pavilion, swimming pool with bath facilities and more.

Seeking private or public partner to enter into a long-term lease agreement. An invitation to submit o�ers will be issued in .

Visit WaterMatters.org/FlyingEagle for additional information.

ADVERTISERS’ INDEXAirwave Adventurers, Inc. ....................28B & B Electrical.......................................32Book Your Site ...........................................6Campground Investment Opport.......30-31Carbolineum Co. ......................................10Cavco .......................................................8-9Champion/Athens Park Homes.............13CheckBox Systems.................................24Classified Ads..........................................30Cruise Inn..................................................11Dogipot......................................................19Dutch Park Homes ..................................24Enviro Design Products .........................29Fairmont Homes.........................................4Fluid Mfg...................................................24Frosty’s ...............................................9 & 32Hialeah Meter............................................2Jamestown Advanced Products.....16-17Kampgrounds of America ......................15Keystone Kabins......................................29

LCN Outdoors ...........................................22Mini-Golf, Inc.............................................4Mission Management ............................27Pacific Yurts.............................................14Passport America .....................................7Pelland Advertising ................................26Phelps Honey Wagon .............................28Pilot Rock .................................................19Raindeck...................................................25RMS North America ...............................10RVIA ...........................................................23rvillage.com by RV Friend Network ....12Silvertop Mfg. ..........................................28Southeast Publications..........................29TengoInternet.............................................2Tower Company.......................................27Utility Supply Group, Inc..........................5Workamper News...................................32YES – Your Electrical Solutions ...........26

Advertiser Page # Advertiser Page #Classified Advertising Rates are $1 per word, minimum $15 per ad. Paymentmust accompany order. Closing date is the first of the month precedingmonth of publication. Published monthly. Make remittance payable toWoodall’s Campground Management, 2901 E. Bristol St., Ste. B, Elkhart, IN 46514

CLASSIFIEDS

CAMPGROUND SERVICESMOBILE TREASURE HUNTS FUN + PROFITS – With our game, players have fun, share your message on social media, and spend more at your store/restaurant. We just launched, so early subscribers get half price rate. 508-520-0066 [email protected]

HELP WANTEDCAMPGROUND MANAGERSTravel Resorts of America is expandingand is seeking both experienced andpotential managers to join our profes-sional management team as opera-tions managers, assistant managers ormanagers in training. For more infor-mation about current and future open-ings, please contact Robert Bouse [email protected]. “Have Fun,Make Money” with an industry leader!

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WOODALLSCM.com September 2014 - 31

CAMPGROUND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

QUALIFIED BUYERS WANTED!!Florida RV Resorts, Campgrounds, and Mobile Home Communities

FREE Market Evaluationfor Motivated SELLERS

We help plant, grow, and harvest fortunes!

www.FortuneRealEstate.com • 941-755-1339

Fortune Real Estate - The “FLORIDA SPECIALISTS”

Campground Brokers, wehave a 30-year proven track

record of selling parks!• We know the campground industry.• We help educate buyers to this industry.• We meet the buyer to remove contingencies.• We personally attend every closing.• We are available to help – before, during, and even yearsafter the sale!

• We promise to always tell you the truth…even if it hurts!

We would like the opportunity to help you in the same way; contactus at 800-648-1624 or email to: [email protected]

WANTED!RV parks with water feature (lake,river, ocean), or near major attraction. Prefer 200+ sites withhigh number of seasonal residents,but will consider smaller parks(with or without water feature), ifhave high seasonal occupancy in desirable location near attractions.Family and/or retirement. Rural orcity location. We will decide quicklyand pay all cash or structure sale to meet your needs. We are experienced RV park owners andassure confidentiality. EasternU.S. region. Brokers welcome. Please call us today: 518-725-2003

“Specializing in RV PARKS andCAMPGROUNDS FOR SALE”

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612 Sidney Baker St. • Kerrville, Texas 78028Phone: 830-896-5050 • Fax: 830-896-5052

TO PLACE YOUR AD IN THIS

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Beverly Gardner & Associates 574-266-7980•Fax: [email protected]@g-gmediagroup.com

Looking for a great investmentand business opportunity?

This well-established 150 acre RVResort property offers both. For Salein one of the highest rated RV Re-sorts in the entire country. Locatedin, Northern Michigan’s TraverseCity, one of the best resort towns inthe country. The RV Resort has ex-perienced many successful years inbusiness and is ready for its nextlarge expansion which is already de-signed and permitted. This RV Resortis a licensed campground/site-condodevelopment. The Resort’s naturalsetting, perfect location and superiormaintenance make it a highly populardestination for high-end Motor-coaches and RVs. Rental income fordeveloped lots and the sales of lotsoffer a great return for investor/busi-ness owner. Sellers will consider apartnership with a qualified investor.

Contact James A. Schmuckal,Realtor at 231-620-2260 or 231-946-5100 (office) or [email protected] to review this unique businessopportunity.

FOR SALE BY OWNER102 sites including 5 cabins, tentsites & RV sites. Located in SENorth Carolina. 5 miles from 2beaches & several golf courses in community. Amenities includepool, general store, laundry facility, outdoor camping kitchen,bath & shower facilities, & fishingpond. Mobile home located onproperty included. 44+/- acres,park takes up 25 acres plusplenty of expansion acres for future growth. Will consider division of property if buyer doesn’t want entire parcel.

Selling due to health reasons.

Contact: (910) 524-4004

Campgrounds/RV ParksME - NH - VT

Lakes - Mountains - Oceans• Oceanfront-Multi-Income-Views-$1.5M• QualityRVPark-75 sites-Great Loc-$775K•Mtns-175 sites w/100 seasonals. Near largelake & Sum. & Wint. Tour Attract-Only $1.495M

• Lakefront-150 sites-cabins-House-more $1.2M• 70sites-5Cabins-House-NearBarHarbor-$465K• 225sites-w/120 seasonals-house-Pool, 80aOpportunity for increased Revenues-$1.250K

• Lakefront-55 sites-cabins-com. kitchen-Only$485K• 75+/- sites-350K in improvements-Ownertoo busy with his other businesses-$599K

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• 70 sites-Pool, Home-$595,000• Rec. River-large beach-home-Major Tourist Region-$1.495M

Contact Don for these and other [email protected] Broker. Campground Specialist.

603-755-3944One of America’s most experienced Campground/RV Park Brokers!

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32 - September 2014 Woodall’s Campground Management

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

SEPTEMBER

8-14: America’s Largest RV Show Industry days: Sept. 8-9Public days: Sept. 10-14Giant Center, Hershey, Pa. Contact: (888) 303-2887www.largestRVshow.com

16-18: Elkhart RV Open House RV/MH Hall of Fame. Forest River’sDynamax facility and various other locations around Elkhart, Ind.

23-24: Virginia Campground Association State Meeting Cherrystone CampgroundCheriton, Va.Contact: [email protected]

OCTOBER

10-19: 62nd Annual California RV Show (featuring Campgrounds) LA Fairplex, Pomona, Calif. Contact:http://calarvc.com/pdf/2014%20RVIA%20Show%20App.pdf

21-22: Ohio Campground Owners Association Fall Conference & POOTBest Western PlusSteubenville, OhioContact: (877) 787-7748

NOVEMBER

6-8: CONY’s 51st Exposition for the Outdoor Hospitality Industryand Trade ShowTurning Stone ResortVerona, NYContact: (800) 497-2669, [email protected]

10-12: Pennsylvania CampgroundOwners Association Convention &Trade Show Skytop LodgeSkytop, Pa. (In the Poconos)Contact: Bev Gruber, (610) 767-5026,[email protected]

10-13: Leisure Systems Inc. (LSI)Symposium and Trade Show Northern Kentucky Convention CenterCovington, Ky.Contact: Dean Crawford, (513) 831-2100ext. 12, [email protected]

12-15: Kampgrounds of America(KOA) Convention & Expo North Charleston Convention CenterCharleston, S.C.Contact: ekamp.com/convention-home,Jenny McCullough, (406) 254-7478

DECEMBER

2-5: 2014 National Association ofRV Parks & Campgrounds OutdoorHospitality Conference & ExpoRio All Suites Hotel & Casino,Las Vegas, Nev.Contact: Lisa Maurer, (303) [email protected]

2-4: Recreation Vehicle IndustryAssociation 52nd Annual NationalRV Trade ShowKentucky Expo Center, Louisville, Ky.Contact: Huyen Dang, (800) 336-0154 ext. 305,[email protected]

MARCH 2015

6-7: Ohio Campground OwnersAssociation Spring Conference& Trade ShowEmbassy Suites AirportColumbus, OhioContact: (877) 787-7748

APRIL

15-19: Inaugural RecreationVehicle Industry AssociationSpring Calif. RV ShowLA FairplexPomona, Calif.Contact: Tom Gaither, (818) [email protected] WCM

Manufacturers of Quality Recreation FUNniturewww.ParkEquipment.com

1-800-376-78972061 Sulphur Springs Rd

Morristown, TN 37813

Long gone are the days of antiquatedtechnology and business practices withinthe camping industry. Raising the barhigher and demanding a place on some ofthe most popular travel websites are con-versations we should be having within allof our 20 groups, state, regional, and na-tional associations. But that’s another col-umn for another day.

Heidi Runels is marketing director atWekiva Falls RV Resort in Sorrento, Fla.,which her family has owned since 2008.She learned RV park marketing the hardway, but said, “Much like anything,though, if you immerse yourself in it, even-tually it starts to come naturally.” WCM

Guest View —from page 25CCRVC To Assess Economic Impact of Campground Industry

TheCanadian Campground and RV Council(CCRVC) launched its first economic impactstudy to capture the contributions that camp-grounds make to Canada’s economy.

“This will be the first economic analysis un-dertaken specifically to assess the impact ofCanadian campgrounds,” said Maryse Catellier,president of CCRVC, of the study. “Campgroundscreate jobs and contribute to local economies,and we look forward to getting a clear pictureof the impact that this industry has on thetourism sector and the economy as a whole.”

In 2011, visitors spent $1.5 billion by stayingat one of the 3,000 independently owned andoperated campgrounds in Canada. That sameyear the total economic activity associated withthe Canadian RV industry reached $14.5 billion.

The economic impact analysis will be con-ducted by SOM over the course of the next sixmonths. The study will include interviews andsurveys with 2,500 campground owners, camp-ground customers and other respondents. A re-port on the study’s findings is expected in thefirst quarter of 2015.

The CCRVC is a Canada-wide industry asso-ciation that represents approximately 1,500campgrounds as well as RV manufacturers andretailers. The CCRVC supports Canada’s camp-ing and RV industries and helps ensure a thriv-ing Canadian tourism sector. WCM