This year marks the second time I attended the RV Entrepreneur Summit, a 4-day conference for RVers who are making (or trying to make) a living from the road. And it marks my first campground repeat. Lucky for me, it’s an awesome campground.
In fact, I am the reason the Summit was held at Lake Guntersville State Park. The Oliver Travel Trailer Rally was held at the campground last May. And when Heath and Alyssa of the RVE Summit asked the Facebook group for ideas for the 3rd Summit, I suggested the northern Alabama State Park. I knew it was large enough to accommodate the 350 attendees plus it has cabins as well as a hotel for those not yet in rigs.
It turned out to be a pretty perfect location and so many people said they had no idea that such a gem would be found in Alabama.
The Summit
The theme of the summit was Create Your Own Rules. It was broken up into different types of session:
- Main Stage and Key Note Speakers
- Workshops
- Attendee-Led Meet Ups
- Pre-Summit and Other
Main Stage speakers are often the RV entrepreneurs who’ve reached a certain level of status, whether that’s income, followers, etc. They generously offer advice and inspiration on a larger, more global scale. At the closing evening we heard from the Key Note speakers (Marc and Tricia of Keep Your Daydream who have 150,000 followers on their YouTube channel) before the closing dinner.
The Workshops offer more practical action-based assistance. For example, I loved the workshops on SEO, Pinterest and Systems & Processes. And I left those with a “to do” list to help me with my goal of helping readers find this blog in a sea of other RVing blogs.
The Attendee-Led Meet Ups are a more informal casual version of the workshop and generally included more audience participation. There was one for solo travelers that I especially liked and it was also a favorite of mine last year.
Even though the summit is officially four days long, with pre-summit activities most of us planned on eight days. Sunday to Sunday. Pre-summit is about connection with the co-working space, impromptu campfires, group dinner at a nearby restaurant, more attendee-led meet ups and a sponsored cocktail party. I wanted to attend the laughter yoga meet up to find out what that’s about but it coincided with a vet appointment.
One pre-summit meet-up had limited space so I set a timer to make sure I got in. So glad I did. I loved the Craft Beer meet up and talk and tasting. I knew nothing about beer. Now I can tell you that every beer falls into one of two broad categories. It’s either an ale or a lager. I’m not a big beer drinker so I didn’t like many of them, but I wanted to be open so I tasted every one offered.
There were also things like disc golf lessons from two professional disc golfers who were also Main Stage speakers, hikes led by the naturalist at the State Park and a day where Jeep-enthusiasts went off-roading.
In other words, if you are interested in RV life and entrepreneurship and connecting to a great group of people, this summit has something for you. Even if you don’t attend every session.
And did I mention Hammock Village for chilling out?
But enough of me telling you about it. Let me show you the conference in photos. A huge thanks to my friend Joe Hendricks who was the conference photographer again this year. I was super lucky to also nab a seat in his photography workshop. Except for the two beer photos, the rest are his.
The Rigs
Because of the location, those without rigs stayed at the hotel. But walking the campground was awesome. So great to see so many different versions of RV life. That’s true at every place I stay. But at the summit, I tried to imagine what working in each rig would be like.
A Few Speaker Quotes
Other Summit Photos
Final Thoughts
The summit is a great event that attracts amazing, generous and creative people. And, at this point, I plan on attending again next year. Dates and location won’t be announced until summer. Since Lake Guntersville was so perfect for our group I am fairly confident it will be held there again.
Since I’d already experienced local adventures last year, I wasn’t a tourist during my month-long stay. However, it doesn’t mean my time wasn’t without a certain amount of drama. The brief version is that I rescued six cats/kittens. It’s a longer and more dramatic story than you might expect. Even though I’m not in Lake Guntersville, the story is ongoing. When it wraps up, I will write a post all about Saving Six Cats.
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I love all the different types of RV’s, especially the one on the jeep roof. I would love to see inside all of them. Love, Marie
Me too. I’ve seen them in RV life videos but that was the first one I saw in person. Though I didn’t get to see inside.