Before the Show

I started this week loading the materials that I need in Denver for the Glamping Show Americas trade show next week:

Everything got loaded into my car and was brought to our warehouse, where our 3PL Expeditors threw it on a pallet. $285 later it is on it is on its way to Denver where I will pick it up from the Expeditors warehouse there.

I'm realizing just how much effort goes into trade shows:

One of my two biggest value-driving features of our stand is the faux campsite with a TV set up with the interview that I conducted while I was in Denmark with the director of one of Denmark's largest campsites. His responses, with him talking on the TV, are such a strong validator that our product is and can be used in the way that all those people attending the show are wanting to search for structures to allow them to rent out.

I've put a lot of effort into how that funnel works, with QR codes directing them to a dynamic HTML ROI calculator, which I feel is our next biggest value-driving feature of our stand. They can enter specific information about their occupancy, their nightly rate that they can charge, and so much other data that pops out a break-even analysis based on them purchasing the number of Camp-lets of their choosing.

At the bottom of that form, there is an email signup, and the biggest part of what I'm trying to accomplish is to get their emails. I have a campaign already built with roughly 3 to 4 months of slow-trickled emails that take them through winter, approaching spring. As most people will be getting ready for purchasing decisions before the new season, I can't express how much opportunity lies ahead of me at this show.

If this product is interesting to campsite and glamping operators, I would then have a place to send the people who message me about wanting one. My biggest challenge right now is the fact that to see one in person in the United States, you have to be near Indianapolis.

Our Camp-let, as a rental unit, is a far more powerful sales tactic than going to a dealership and getting a demo on a concrete pad. Actually staying in a Camp-let overnight, waking up outside, out in nature, under canvas, has to be one of the best sales tools or sales opportunities to qualify someone who's interested in purchasing a Camp-let.

I don't think that there are any other structures that are going to be there at the Glamping Show Americas where an individual person can purchase and go enjoy the outdoors. I think this gives me a tremendous opportunity for campsite operators to actually make a commission when someone who stays in their Camp-let at their campsite ends up buying a tent trailer from me. Needless to say, this trade show is the first step in accomplishing this moonshot goal that I have.

I started my work morning like I always do, bringing down an espresso and my water and sitting down at my desk. I opened my email, and to my surprise, a message from my contact at the OEM that is still not to be named in Europe said that he got the okay from the person at headquarters in the USA to help us get a hold of an awning that's installed on the side of their trailers. Their dealership in Germany is going to either sell or let us borrow an awning that we can mount in our development department, so our team can be hands-on and develop a new product for it.

I am beyond thrilled that we have the opportunity to not only work with but develop a product for this iconic trailer. I outlined the conceptualization in last week's post. I find myself in a place where I need a few products developed for the American-specific trailers. If we can pull this off, there's so much opportunity to grow Isabella as a brand, but to assimilate our quality and our brand with one of the strongest names in the RV space in America.

This was perfect timing, as I had my biweekly meeting with my CEO, Morten, where we obviously discussed that great news, but also all the other pieces of a puzzle that are building momentum:

This morning started with an early rise, a quick shower, and a brisk drive to the airport. It was still dark on my way, which always encourages a little spirited driving from me. A couple of banger songs like As Within, So Below EP by Soundprank and Angry JP8 (Mixed) by Above & Beyond made the drive almost exhilarating. The thought of the adventure that I was going on, and the upbeat music, made me feel a little more alive than usual.

A quick 3-hour flight from Indianapolis to Salt Lake City had me there in the early morning. I was able to get over to the U-Haul rental center and pick up my pickup truck before going to Jonny's house to get the Camp-let.

I had made this exact same trip just about a year ago, when I dropped off the Camp-let after picking it up at a freight company's warehouse and dropping it off at Jonny's. Jonny is a creator, a very talented one at that, who got caught up with work, the seasonality, and vehicle troubles that prevented him from creating content for the Camp-let. I truly believe that anytime you're working with someone, that patience will produce more favorable outcomes than by being pushy or trying to hit a deadline that oftentimes is created in your own head. Patience does come at a cost, and that is likely always time. It's been one whole year without any deliverables.

Now, one year later, I have the convenience of having a Camp-let only 8 hours away from the trade show that we're taking part in. I was able to solidify that November 3rd I will fly back out here to work with Jonny, as the vehicle that's going to be pulling the Camp-let is going to be back in his possession in another week or two.

In the end, it worked out, and that theme of being patient and not forcing things is very relevant to the Diary of a CEO podcast that I'm listening to with Rick Rubin about not creating pressure on the art that you're creating. It made me think about these first couple of years I've had the privilege of not feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones or hit certain performance criteria while launching in the United States from my CEO.

2 years is a long time, but can also be seen as a short period of time. In that amount of time, I have slowly been developing what our messaging is here in the U.S. through:

All of this hasn't had a tremendous amount of pressure or timelines put on it.

I've got another 6 hours and 17 minutes before I reach my hotel in Denver, but I am so much enjoying this journey that I'm on, exploring this part of the country that I've never been to, and seeing such beautiful landscape. So often when I pass an exit, I keep saying I should have stopped there to take photos and just enjoy the surroundings. My hope is that I'll take one of these stops in the next 6 hours.