Help needed for new RV Directory

[gregoryh]

I wrote the forum admin, Janet, before posting and she suggested this Workamping forum would be the best place to post this.

Hi, My wife and I owed an RV (Fleetwood Winderness, Yukon '28) for a year last year and that is how we got into RVing. I work for a small Internet company in California (which means I can work from anywhere), and my boss’s parents proposed an idea. So we're currently working on building a new site dedicated to just RV parks. I've spent a while studying how people research RV parks and we think that we can provide better tools to the community than what currently exists.

I wanted to reach out to you and the members of the IRV2 groups, but I also wanted to be respectful and not at all spammy. Right now, we're assembling what we hope will be the most comprehensive list of RV parks around. We're currently looking for RVers to help us fact check that data that we are collecting. Soon, we'll also want beta testers to start playing with the site and sharing their thoughts on different RV parks. For all of these efforts, we're more than happy to compensate people for their time, but we really want to find people that are dedicated to RVing.

We will need fact checkers (paid position), park reviewers (for those who are constantly on the go, and a paid position) and even site testers (fun, but voluntary).

If anyone is interested either reply here or you can email or private message as well.

Thank you,
Greg Holsclaw

[lthrnk]

Greg,

Sent you a PM. Let me know if you do not receive.

[RVDude]

Curious what you are thinking that is different than the dozens and dozens of directories already out there??? Can you be more specific?

Seems it'll be hard to compete against the likes of the "establishment" (woodalls, trailerlife, goodsam, etc...) and the myriad of others (rvparkreviews, rvfamilyfun, campusa, rvpark, rvthereyet, and on an on...)??? Or am I just not thinking broadly enough???

[gregoryh]

Hello RVdue,


I help run an Internet company in Silicon valley and we had some RVing interests among us and thought we could make a good RVer focused website. We do think that rvparkreviews.com does have a load of reviews, but other features likes maps, planning and comparisons is lacking. We hope to merge the successful directory type sites with great amounts of reviews and photos.


I think the main difference is that 'establishment' and 'new folks' all are about helping the RV Parks make money. We want to be about helping RVers find great places to visit. So all of our tools will focused on better searching, better mapping, and of course good reviews and photos.



Other sites make park owners pay a promotional fee just to place photos and 'upgrade' the park listing. That might be good for the website, but it is horrible for the RVer looking for good information. We want to focus on what you want, and make a good site for your needs.


We're trying to improve the process of finding RV Parks. We're in the process of building a directory of every RV park in the country (we'll list everyone, not just the ones who pay us!). We'll have detailed information, user reviews and helpful traveler tools.

RVParking.com will launch in early 2010, but here are some ways you can help in the meantime:

1) Fact Checkers: We're in the process of assembling data on over 15,000 RV parks in the U.S. As this data comes in, we need some RVers to spot check the results and make sure everything is looking accurate. This will be a paid position.

2) Reviewers: We're also looking for experienced RVers to start writing reviews of some of the parks they've been to recently. We want to make sure that there are some good, useful reviews available to visitors when the site launches so this will also be a paid position.

3) Beta Testers: Finally, we want to make sure that the site is easy to use, easy to navigate and relatively bug free. As we get closer to launching, we'll want some detail oriented folks to try to break the site. This should only take 15-30 minutes so it will be a volunteer position.

Let me know if you would be interested in helping with this endeavor.

Thank you.
Greg

[EngineerMike]

One suggestion for improvement in search (maybe this exists in the category already?) is to search by radius from a zip code or from a lat/long coordinate or from a milepost along a freeway or state highway. I sometimes don't know what town name to search for and that makes the Trailer Life campground book a struggle at times. An "interstate exit" approach would be nice for when we are just plain on the road and decide to look for a stopping place.

Tho as an internet-website-only format, the above won't serve very much of the RV'ing community once folks are on the road (most don't have aircard type internet service) unless it gets chopped down to "mobi" type smart phone format and even then the older crowd is not exactly the early adopter market segment). I can't tell you what's "normal" but I never plan my stops before about 3:00 p.m. By that time I have a pretty good idea of the neighborhood I'll be landing in at the end of the day, and if we want somewhere new then TL is the source for info w/its concomitant shortcomings. I think I pre-planned an Oregon coast set of stops once. Other than that its been point & fake it when we get there, wherever there happens to be.

I suspect this will take 2-3 years to achieve critical mass if you have the marketing muscle for promotion. The space is taken and somewhat crowded, tho the entrants all have drawbacks. FMCA has a trip planning service, e.g., as does the Auto Club, and there are many books and websites cometing for mind share. The largest challenge isn't making a better mousetrap; its selling it.

[RVDude]

Greg - I hear ya... Many "new folks" already do NOT take CG money using advertising or subscription models instead. I am all for you if you can make it work out.

Mike - try www.RVFamilyFun.com and zoom in (by double clicking on the map). It's the ONLY map driven CG finder interface (at least as far as I know). As you zoom you'll hit a point where CGs start showing up - you'll see "updating" overlaid on the map and trailers popping up. Dynamic refreshing as you drag the map around as well - another no one else does that feature. These map interfaces are probably better than having to know zip or GPS. Last check he had some 15,000 CG in the database. Then you gotta couple that into rvparkreviews. RVFamilyFun had RVParkReviews automatically added (via a mash-up) to his detail pop_ups but it seems someone at parkreviews got a little testy about that automatic (and very kewel mashup) interface.

[George Schweikle]

Greg,

Some details you might consider:

1. Verify the park pet restrictions. There's nothing more frustrating than arriving in the evening and being told your dog is on the "restricted" list. IE: German Shepherd Dog, or that no dogs are allowed but this wasn't in the Good Sam Guide Club listing.

2. Identify parks with RV age restrictions. Same frustration as above in being told my RV with MSRP of $96,000 in 1999 is not welcome.

Thanks,

[LostTexan]

Have you gotten anyone to apply?

[justimagination]

Greg, I think it's a great idea, looking out for the RVer's best information, which I believe will give everyone an unbiased opinion. How many times have you been to a well listed campground, and it was not @ all what it was supposed to be. We went to Daytona this past July and inquired about a paticular site that was on their webpage, only to find out when talking to the owner's that this picture was from an interily different park, who would have THUNK it............and this was a established K__A. Your statement below says it all. Good luck, and I would certanily give my honest opinion, and call it like I see it, knowing it would help all of us.
David G.

Other sites make park owners pay a promotional fee just to place photos and 'upgrade' the park listing. That might be good for the website, but it is horrible for the RVer looking for good information. We want to focus on what you want.

[gregoryh]

Thanks for the great responses. Just hit a few of the ideas:

The zip code proximity search is something we definitely have on our radar for implementing. We will also have a way to dynamically filter those search results with the options that are important to you (like Amps, shade sites, pool, rec halls....) to narrow the lists of results.

On other sites, we have used verification methods to double check the authenticity of reviews, so we most likely will use a similar approach here.

Also, though it might take little while, we want to make the whole site (or its contents available to mobile devices).

To answer lost Texan, yes we have had much interest. We have already started a mailing list at RV Parking.com | A Better Way to Find the Perfect RV Park if you want to stay apace of our progress.

Also the RV age restriction is a new idea. We will have to try to see if we can work that in.

We have no desire to compete with this great forum, or other such sites like RV.net. We just want to make the largest, and most useful RV park and review site. Do that one thing, and do it well.

Thank you -Greg

[clubmed98]

If you do it one thing I would suggest is have the reviewer define the type of RV, ie tent, MH,or type of trailer and its size in feet..so tired of reviews that say OK for big rig and then you dodge trees or have to move stuff to get into spot.

[TheDubs]

Greg I also like the age restriction idea, due to my 82 winne.

[450Donn]

Lots of suggestions. I will be willing to apply for one of your positions. I also have some suggestions as to what/how it should be put together.

[justimagination]

Thanks Greg for the mailer info, I did sign up for the e-mail updates. I think you have an excellent idea, and anything I can do to help, feel free to contact me. Good luck,
David G.