A Little Disappointed

[bounderfreddy]

Obviously the weather on Monday morning, the 1st day of the Rally was not good. Rain, Rain and more rain. The disappointment for my wife and I was the lack of things to see and do the 1st day. We live here in Indianapolis and although we are RV'ers and FMCA members, we are busy working and could only get 1 day off. Our hopes were to meet my sister and husband who did come in from Virginia to attend the event and spend the day with them.

We found out after our days off were already aligned that no motorhomes could be looked at until Tuesday, but we forged forward hoping we could at least see some vendors. Nope, they too were not available until tomorrow (Tuesday). So needless to say my sis and her hubby went back to their coach and we headed back to our vehicle, soaked...

To anyone listening or who may be reading this, I would encourage some more thought go into scheduling of events. Not everyone wants to set in seminars all day.

This is not negative nor a rant, just a post from a disappointed member.

I hope everyone enjoys the remainder of the event.

Fred & Peggy

[RVerOnTheMove]

Fred,

I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your first day / first experience. All the setup and all of the parking takes time so the "show" is really not scheduled to begin until tomorrow with early parking beginning as early as yesterday (I believe). The seminars today are designed specifically to give the folks being parked over those 2 days something to do. The events schedule for the FMCA rallies are available on-line if you do plan to attend a future rally. You could take a more detailed look at what will be available and when before you make a decision about when to park.

Please don't take this as any kind of a criticism or trying in any way to minimize your disappointment. This just happens to be the way it has been for many years and it's a necessary evil for the proper organization of the event. The seminars today are actually an improvement over the past when literally nothing happened until the show started. This left the early arrivals with literally nothing to do other than walk around and visit the food vendors.

It sounds like the rain is gone and the skies will clear. Have a great rally and be sure to report back and let us know what you think about your experiences (if you have the time to do so).

Enjoy!

[bounderfreddy]

Thanks Bill,

I appreciate your post and do wish we had more time. Perhaps in the future.

Fred

[Howde]

We had the same experience last year when the rally was in North Carolina. We were near there and extended our stay for one day so we could attend on the first day then travel home the next day. To our surprise, the rally did not start as advertised. I wrote FMCA with the suggestion to make their advertisement match their opening but apparently that fell on deaf ears.

You are gentle with saying "little disappointed." I was mad at such false advertising! This is unacceptable from a large organization that does this regularly. Why doesn't anyone on the rally organization committee understand this frustration from potential attendees? I would think vendors would like to know this.

[desertdeals69]

Last years convention was in Madison Wisconson.

[tbutler]

I have attended a number of conventions, not only RV conventions but others as well. It is customary and well published in all convention programs I am familiar with that the first attendance day is without vendors as they are busy setting up their displays. I am sorry for the confusion and agree that there should be special mention of the vendor schedule in any convention publicity. By the way, the best day to see the vendors is the last day of the convention. While their wares may be depleted, some vendors, especially those with large materials to haul or ship home will be anxious to make a deal to save the cost and effort involved in hauling their inventory back home. So you may be better off shooting for the last or second to last day to see the vendors if you only have one day. I always make it a practice to visit the vendors on the last day to see what special deals they are offering.

[RVerOnTheMove]

The exception to visiting a vendor on the last day would be visiting any vendor where the equipment you want to buy needs installation on your RV. If you wait until the last minute you are likely going to be disappointed.

[Howde]

Last years convention was in Madison Wisconson.

Whatever it was I know it was sponsored by FMCA in Winston-Salem, NC. I thought it was 2011 but maybe I am incorrect. The point is that the advertisement needs to be correct. Advertisements should read on the day they are ready to entertain participants.

[rossboyer]

The rally you are commented about was the Eastern Area Rally just one of 10 areas of Family Motor Coach Association. Most area rallys open on Wednesday and close Sunday morning; therefore, the coach and vendor areas would be open Thurdays - Saturday. We arrived on Monday afternoon and stayed through Sunday morning leaving about noon. The areas operate on a very limited budget.

The national conventions have additional resources and computers to make schedules available in advance. We are currently at the Indianapolis Family Reunion (Convention). We volunteer and have been very busy for the past 8 days. Yesterday (Monday) the coach displays opened at 5:00 pm and the indoor vendors opened today (Tuesday). Both will be open through Thursday.

[XRailroader]

I too was quite disappointed, matter of fact I was VERY disappointed along with a lot of others at the parking location known as "MM".

It is a ole industrial vacant lot with a lot of broken glass, holes, nails, very uneven ground and railroad tracks partially covered up.

I am very upset a FMCA for directing us to this very poor location.

As a first timer I may not attend another one of these events.

Never again.

[tbutler]

XRailroader,

Sorry to hear of your situation. I know what you are talking about. We've had really good parking spots and then we've had some lousy ones.

Our first rally was in Hutchinson, KS. We were parked in a field at the state fairgrounds. It rained that year, about 3" during the convention. We had neighbors who were in the middle of a shallow lake for the last three days of the convention. Everyone in our area had to be pulled out. If you attempted to move your rear wheels would sink in up to the axles. It wasn't fun but we enjoyed the convention.

So we came back for another. This one was in Redmond, Oregon. We did a pre-rally with Monaco International and decided to join the caravan to the convention. We traveled in groups of 25 coaches separated by about 5 minutes then another 25 coaches went out. Over 300 of us traveling this way. It was quite a sight and we enjoyed the fun of being in such an impressive caravan. Then we got to the parking. The parking which was so smooth at Hutchinson was equally disorganized in Redmond. It took us almost 2 hours from the time we pulled into the convention area until we were parked. I was pretty hot at that point. The convention was great, I learned some good things at the seminars and came away satisfied.

Our next convention was in Minneapolis/St. Paul. We pulled into the assembly lot to be taken to our parking site and it was pretty much as you described above. We unhooked the toad, lined up to depart for parking and then departed. It wasn't two miles before my wife called me on the two way radio to let me know that the left rear tire was flat! We had picked up a nail in the assembly lot. I drove on to our parking site. We got one of the best sites we have ever had. We were in the regular RV campground at the state fairgrounds. We had electric as soon as we parked and we had water. There were also showers just a short distance from our parking spot. We had friends that did the caravan to the convention that year, they got a lot that was pretty much like yours. Again another great convention. Our friends who were at their first FMCA convention bought a new coach that year!

Our last convention was in Bowling Green, OH. We decided to caravan to the convention with the Monaco International Chapter again. This time we were parked in the time it took us to unhook the car. Smooth as silk. Another great convention. The headline entertainer for the convention was rained out and many people were disappointed. We had a decent parking spot at some distance from the seminars and exhibitors so we used our bicycles to get to/from the convention.

My point is that there is a small staff from FMCA that is responsible for organizing everything for the convention. They are assisted by a huge volunteer staff that does the actual grunt work at each convention. Planning is done years in advance. The staff doing the planning may or may not have looked at the actual lot where you were parked. The condition of the lot could be different from when the staff looked at it if they did examine it as that likely would have been several years before the convention. The local organizers who are also volunteers may not have even had specific parking areas identified, only a commitment from the fairgrounds staff that they could provide sufficient parking for a certain number of coaches. I'm sure when the parking volunteers arrived to park coaches on the lot they realized the situation but didn't have time to do anything about it. I'm guessing it would have been necessary to have the lot cleaned by a mechanical sweeper to get the job done in a reasonable amount time and that time or the equipment may not have been available.

It's a big operation and there are things that go wrong somewhere in the operation nearly every year. Volunteers do much of the work. Some are experienced and do a wonderful job. Others are way out of their league and botch the job. Unexpected bumps foul up even the best plans. The intentions are good even if the occasional result is less than good. If you come back again, you'll likely get a nice parking spot but something else will be amiss. It is like the rest of RV'ing, you learn to roll with the punches.

We enjoy the conventions when we can get to them. Meeting fellow motor homers and learning more about your lifestyle is welcome and the entertainment is always fun. So come back, give it one more try. Don't expect perfection, overlook the flaws, celebrate the benefits and the good times with your fellow FMCA'ers.

[XRailroader]

Thank you Mr Butler for your most excellent reply.

I see you have had bad experiences as well.

I feel there is no excuse for the poor parking area we had to experience along with alot of others.

Leaves a bad impression of FMCA for this 1st timer.

I'll bet you the hierarchy of FMCA would not be subjected to an area like this.

Wonder what the Gillette parking area will be like?

You can bet I will check it out before I send in my $$$ next year.

John Ellis

F424743