Allowing Towables Vote At Indianapolis In July

[jleamont]

19 hours ago, jeff753 said:

One thing FMCA could do better is to announce the rally dates at least 14 months in advance so people can plan on hitting some other venues on the way

Agreed! I plan the following year at least 12 months in advance, so we get the campground in the area that is desired. When you are part time with a family the campground selection and location is critical, you don't preplan well ahead of time forget it! Too many RV's on the roads today and not enough large sites. Since we plan so far ahead, if a rally is close enough I can incorporate that into our schedule if I know in advance. Every year we have been FMCA members I find out about the rally long after the following year is all booked.

[hermanmullins]

Jeff & Joe,

You both are correct in the fact that announcing Rally dates way out there would be ideal. However in the real world it isn't as simple as just calling and making reservations. The Ex. Board and Staff have so much to take into consideration in finding a location that can accommodate every thing needed. It would be simple to just say every March we will be going to Perry and every July we will be going to Gillette. But it is still the goal to have a Rally that will attract members to go to something new. 

I always leave the months of March and July open for FMCA Rallies. I also keep Mid September to early October open for Six-State. That's just me.

Unfortunately we live in the real world and have to, as Clint Eastwood said, "Adjust, Adapt and Overcome".

Now I will turn the Soap Box over to someone else. Thanks for listening.

Herman   

[jleamont]

Herman, understood! The one critical piece I didn't mention, when I book those places I check off how much vacation time I have, when I'm done booking I also have no more time off from work. Leaving those months open would be simple, but no time off of work makes it impossible to go.

[jeff753]

9 hours ago, manholt said:

Jeff,  Hi.

Just call the office and you can get that info on INTO and National well in advance!   As long as you have been doing your FMCA thing, I would have thought that you would know more than me!  

You missed my point. 70,000 members could be served with electronic postings or 70,000 phone calls.  FMCA acts like everyone knows the routine.  In fact most do not.   Especially when 33% are first time rally attendees  

I was at the Eastern Area briefing in Chandler and the dates for Gillette 2018 were announced.  Can't find them in FMCA.com though.  Even tentative dates would help people at least consider a rally.  

The notice of rallys is a different issue than this discussion on if we should allow towables though.  I apologize for going off topic.  

Is there a link a member can view what exactly is going to be discussed and voted on July 12 at the convention meeting?  

[dons2346]

It would be great to be able to make a concrete statement as to where and when the international conventions will be held but you really can't. When the governing board is given a possible location it is always given with a caveat of "successful negotiations". Contracting out for a complete facility isn't as simple as asking how much and then saying OK here is the check.

Some of you know don't have a clue as to how much the coffee bill is at a convention. Prices can go as high as $50 per gallon!. Now you say, we will make our own. Not so fast here as there are restrictions especially if the facility has a food concessionaire on site .

It is the little things that can make or break it when it comes to selecting a site years in advance. Once upon a time a site was selected and at the last moment, the site went under construction so it was a scramble to find another suitable site.

[gulya]

I thought this topic was towable so yes or no. I agree planning fmca events is a very tedious process but planning for being able to attend ialso requires long term view and it's not easy when fmca doesn't forecast and publish dates and locations even though they are already projected.

The question still is how to grow membership with out towables and the answer is stop talking about it here and get out and talk to the motorhome owners in your campground or RV resort. The more you talk fmca up the better your opportunity to sign up a new member. It's like any other sales job the more potential customers you talk to the better your chance of making a sale. 

I said before if everybody brought in one new member we'd have 140,000. I did mine this year where's yours. 

[wildebill308]

49 minutes ago, gulya said:

I thought this topic was towable so yes or no. I agree planning fmca events is a very tedious process but planning for being able to attend ialso requires long term view and it's not easy when fmca doesn't forecast and publish dates and locations even though they are already projected.

The question still is how to grow membership with out towables and the answer is stop talking about it here and get out and talk to the motorhome owners in your campground or RV resort. The more you talk fmca up the better your opportunity to sign up a new member. It's like any other sales job the more potential customers you talk to the better your chance of making a sale. 

I said before if everybody brought in one new member we'd have 140,000. I did mine this year where's yours. 

I agree that the real growth will come from the ground up not the top down. 

By the way why did you stop with one? I am about 6 ahead of you and I haven't stopped.

Bill

[gulya]

Way to go Wildebill. Unfortunately, I had a heart attack in Arizona and am just starting to get back on my feet. FMCA assist does work we finally got the motorhome back two weeks ago driver did the 2400 miles in 3 days.  See you all at Indy. 

[hermanmullins]

Tom,

Sorry for your illness. Glad you are back and will be able to come to Indy.

Safe travels.

Herman

[manholt]

Tom.  X2, wish you well.

Carl

[jleamont]

Tom, hope you are doing well now! Glad to hear you are ok.

[wildebill308]

15 hours ago, gulya said:

Way to go Wildebill. Unfortunately, I had a heart attack in Arizona and am just starting to get back on my feet. FMCA assist does work we finally got the motorhome back two weeks ago driver did the 2400 miles in 3 days.  See you all at Indy. 

Hope you are feeling better. Now back to recruiting.

Bill

[jleamont]

Well...well...well, ask and you shall receive 

[Ragtag57]

FMCA should cut a deal with Motorhome Dealers offering free membership for one year with the purchase of any motorhome.This is the best way to increase  membership.

[rossboyer]

FMCA does offer to Dealers free memberships for them to give to buyers of motor homes.  The last I heard Lazy Days in Florida is the most effective.  But most dealers are mostly interested in closing the deal, not promoting FMCA.

FMCA also gives a member that recruits a member a $10.00 coupon that can be applied to dues, convention registration, area rally registration and FMCA merchandise. So, 5 new members would get you a year of free dues, not just 50% as someone suggested.

[wildebill308]

3 hours ago, rossboyer said:

FMCA does offer to Dealers free memberships for them to give to buyers of motor homes.  The last I heard Lazy Days in Florida is the most effective.  But most dealers are mostly interested in closing the deal, not promoting FMCA.

FMCA also gives a member that recruits a member a $10.00 coupon that can be applied to dues, convention registration, area rally registration adn FMCA merchandise. So, 5 new members would get you a year of free dues, not just 50% as someone suggested.

I have spend quite a bit of time reading on the FMCA website and can't find where it talks about the $10.00 coupon. This needs to be HIGHLIGHTED and promoted. I even printed a app to read and can't see it. I usually keep a couple of apps handey. 

Bill

[dons2346]

Bill,

Step away from the computer slowly. Then pick up a copy of the magazine. The only one I have handy is the Feb 2017 edition and on page 116, there is a half page devoted to "Recruiting Has Its Rewards". There it tells you about the 10 buck coupon.

A trip to the "throne room" found the December 2016 edition with a full page ad on page 55 and in the March 2017 magazine there is another full page ad on page 17

[manholt]

Don.  Bill has a reading problem. unless it's on the computer, it must be wrong!

[wildebill308]

Yes great answer both of you. You seem to miss the point. Perhaps it points to the systemic problem with recruiting. 

Bill

[isaaac1]

I agree there is likely a systematic / generational problem here, and as I mentioned earlier in this thread, or in the lost one, younger people don't read magazines, even if they receive them as part of being a member of some group.  Instead they watch step by step youtube videos for how to's, ask questions and get instant answers on online forums instead of Q/A mailbags, .... At most they may flip through the pages while eating breakfast, but most likely they just go in a pile to read later before eventually going in the trash.  Personally I am getting to that age of needing reading glasses, and find reading things online so much easier, the text has much higher contrast and people don't do stuff like printing text over photographs and if I need it to be bigger there is Ctrl-+.

[rossboyer]

The magazine is online for members to read. 

[wildebill308]

2 hours ago, rossboyer said:

The magazine is online for members to read. 

, This is a perfect example of the problem. I am sorry about picking on Ross but this a perfect example of the problem. "We did this one thing and we don't need to do anything else". If recruting new members is critical to your survival you should have it on every piece of literature and correspondence that goes out and yes on the web site prominently displayed. Not where you have to hunt for it.

Bill

[dons2346]

What do people do with the email blasts that come out every once in awhile? Maybe a blast tolling the virtues of getting members. Heck, I just found out that if I use Amazon thru FMCA,FMCA gets a couple of pennies. Found it out on the forum sidebar.

[manholt]

Yep, noticed that myself.  It's a changing evolution, that we don't need to mess with!  Said it before, we have not had a noticeable decline in revenue, in the past 4 years and what part of a "Not for Profit, Tax Free Corporation" , don't you get?  So,  why does FMCA feel it has to make more money?  It only then means, they have to spend more money!  It's got to balance out, if we are to remain "Not for Profit"!

I guess, we'll never know the real reason. for the proposed change!

Carl

[rossboyer]

The real problem is us. If every member recruited 1 member, we would have 140,000 members. How many members have each of the posters recruited in the past year? Are you a Rally Booster to promote attendance at the convention? When you travel do you give a magazine to your neighbor and ask them to join?  Whether it is a paper magazine or online advertising, the more members an organization has then more suppliers will advertise.  Which lowers the cost to the members. Probably we will see a double to triple charge increase for FMCAssist. Are we willing to pay $65 to $70 per year dues to maintain this benefit?  Every dues increase results in about a 5% decrease in renewals. Can we continue a downward spiral? Sure, right in to non-existence.