Perry AAR

[skiprd]

So, what did folks think of the convention this year? I was there and thought it was pretty darn good, and the seminars were some of the best I've attended. I couldn't tell how attendance ranked versus other conventions. The weather turned out to be great (contrary to forecasts) and the only difficulty I encountered was that getting in on Wednesday was a bit more than I expected (it took an hour and a half from arrival to getting to an electric spot). (I also know everything is run by volunteers, and since I wasn't one ( ) I don't get to complain.)

I missed the forum meet-and-greet, but did attend the Military Veterans Chapter meeting (dinner was great) and had a great time chatting with other RV'ing hams.

Other thoughts?

Skip

[wolfe10]

I stayed pretty busy, but both Dianne and I thought it was one of the better Conventions.

Next summer, with the max of 1500 coaches (limit of the site) should be another good one. But, if interested you might want to register early, it will probably fill up fast (there were over 2,000 here in Perry).

[five]

Couldn't make this one, where is next year's?

[manholt]

Perry, GA. It was great....thank you FMCA !

FIVE. Next one is W. Springfield, Mass. August 3, Then there is a 6 State in Okla. Sep.

Carl

[mmcgivney]

This was my first FMCA event and we had a great time. Weather turned out to not be an issue. Really cool to pull up to the fairgrounds and see so many coaches in one spot. We stayed very busy and sorry to have missed the forum meet up ( somehow scored tickets to Entegra party with lots of food, beverages, and a kicking band! . Great entertainment at Perry every night too.

I got the opportunity to volunteer and spent 3 hours each of the day's riding a tram as a "safety" monitor ( was told its part of the insurance requirements). Got to meet lots of nice folks on the trams, but was pretty cold at 6:30 am riding in the dark. :-). Good times

[hermanmullins]

Mac,

Great to have new faces both at the rally and as volunteers.

As for the weather, this was one of the best we have had in years. The small amount of rain was just enough to wash off the pollen.

We had a good turn out for the Meet and Greet.There will be another M&G in Mass. Brett will post date, time and location when he get it from Cincinnati.

Thanks for all that attended our first M&G.

Herman

[moutonla]

Have the locations for the 2017 Rallies been posted?

[hermanmullins]

Chandler, AZ in March 8-11, 2017 and Indianapolis, IN in the summer, dates haven't been published yet.

Herman

[moutonla]

Thanks much Herman. Perry was our first rally and we had a great time. I enjoyed the seminars and got a chance to meet with the Under 60 gang at the reception on Friday afternoon. Hope to join the Crusin' Cajuns when they meet near Lafayette later next month.

[bob.2661]

Perry was my first FMCA convention and I had a great time. Prior to leaving for Georgia, I asked about volunteering and Herman responded to my request with information on just who to contact at the office, which was Doug at FMCA's office. So, I ended up being assigned to the parking team and worked directly with Herman. Although being on the parking team was at times, hard work, it was very rewarding and I got to work with, and get to know some great people. I highly recommend volunteering at the events. Looking forward to August!

[manholt]

Thank you for volunteering your time! You had a great teacher!

Carl

[bob.2661]

You are welcome. And I agree that the meet and greet was nice. Being new to the forum, I got to meet several folks who were very welcoming.

[jeff753]

Bob

Thanks for coming!!! Enjoyed meeting you

[jeff753]

So, what did folks think of the convention this year? I was there and thought it was pretty darn good, and the seminars were some of the best I've attended. I couldn't tell how attendance ranked versus other conventions. The weather turned out to be great (contrary to forecasts) and the only difficulty I encountered was that getting in on Wednesday was a bit more than I expected (it took an hour and a half from arrival to getting to an electric spot). (I also know everything is run by volunteers, and since I wasn't one ( ) I don't get to complain.)

I missed the forum meet-and-greet, but did attend the Military Veterans Chapter meeting (dinner was great) and had a great time chatting with other RV'ing hams.

Other thoughts?

Skip

Hi

I was the guy at the east gate sorting coaches with the floppy orange hat.

The problem was we lacked 4 parkers (one team) on the parking team to open the other 30 amp lot prior to one of the other parking teams finishing the loading of the K lot.

We then had to wait until they moved over to the other 30 amp lot and set up the first row. This resulted in forty six 30 amp coaches ready to move but no parking team to move them. We had 26 in the staging area and another 20 in the two lanes coming in. This caused parking to grind to a halt for a few minutes. We also had an injury in the corner of the inbound lot we had to get an ambulance to.

Anyone have a picture of the sorting corner at the inbound East Gate:?

Next year we will hope to get more parking volunteers and work faster:) Appreciate your patience on the inbound....arrive before noon and avoid the afternoon rush:)

Jeff Walukonis

FMCA ENERGIZED (formally U60) Chairman

[patron]

This was our (Pat and Ron Brown) first FMCA Rally and the first trip in our "new to us" 2003 Allegro Bus.

We had uncovered many "fix its" in the prior weeks before Perry, crossing our fingers we wouldn't have more, but knowing if we did, we were headed to the perfect place to yell "help"! Plugged in power--oh, oh--no power. Thank you Hermann Mullins for coming to our rescue. He narrowed down the issue, spending close to an hour fixing the power cord with stripped wires and a bent prong (kinda looked like the previous owners drove off before unhooking the electricity). We were extremely lucky there wasn't a fire.

Talking about a fire, we were located two rigs away from a new Allegro Bus that caught fire. Everyone OK. The guys from Tiffin, RV World, Allegro Club and many more were so helpful in taking care of that couple from Clarkesville, GA. Thanks to Shannon in the nearby Entegra and another lady walking her dog for spotting the fire. Shannon got to call the owners who were in seminars to give them the news. She also had bruised hands from banging on the door of another Allegro Bus next door to the fire. Luckily those folks were there and with everyone's help pulling sewer, water and electric, able to pull their rig out of harms way in short order. I guess that is one situation where you don't wait to warm up the diesel?

In any event, we had an absolutely great time. Pat (me) was signed up for Hands on Driving School where all the drivers were conveniently placed together in a full hookup lot near the South entrance. The full hook up also allowed us to try out our washer/dryer for the first time (it worked!). I did well with my driving lessons, enough that so that I felt comfortable driving back from Perry to the outer Atlanta limits. Thank you Charlie Adcock and everyone involved for making this happen. No doubt more RVers will appreciate you offering again and at other rallies.

Learned so much from everyone. We were so tired from attending seminars that we didn't have the energy to attend any of the meet and greets or any of the entertainment. We're headed to Alaska mid-May, so this rally was perfectly timed for us--needed all the help we could muster.

Thanks again everyone for an awesome time!

[wolfe10]

Patron,

Glad you had a good time and very glad it was an excellent learning experience for you.

That is what FMCA Conventions are about-- learning while having a good time!

Brett

[skiprd]

Hi

I was the guy at the east gate sorting coaches with the floppy orange hat.

The problem was we lacked 4 parkers (one team) on the parking team to open the other 30 amp lot prior to one of the other parking teams finishing the loading of the K lot.

We then had to wait until they moved over to the other 30 amp lot and set up the first row. This resulted in forty six 30 amp coaches ready to move but no parking team to move them. We had 26 in the staging area and another 20 in the two lanes coming in. This caused parking to grind to a halt for a few minutes. We also had an injury in the corner of the inbound lot we had to get an ambulance to.

Anyone have a picture of the sorting corner at the inbound East Gate:?

Next year we will hope to get more parking volunteers and work faster:) Appreciate your patience on the inbound....arrive before noon and avoid the afternoon rush:)

Jeff Walukonis

FMCA ENERGIZED (formally U60) Chairman

I remember you. Nice hat (sort of). I said it above, but just to be clear, I have NO COMPLAINTS whatsoever about the arrival/parking situation! In fact, as near as I can tell, no one in the line had any complaints. One of the things I like about RVers in general (and FMCAcians in particular) is that people are pretty much easy going and roll with the punches. When I got to the electric site, I had quite a nice chat with the guy sharing the power pedestal. He said something like, "I always volunteer at these things, but this year I didn't, and seeing everyone scrambling to get people parked makes me feel terrible I'm not helping..." What a great way to go through life...

Being a volunteer is on my list of things to do at the next rally. Until then, thanks thanks to you and everyone else who made this a great event.

Skip

[jeff753]

Chandler, AZ in March 8-11, 2017 and Indianapolis, IN in the summer, dates haven't been published yet.

Herman

I don't even see Chandler on the events tab?

[bob.2661]

Pat and Ron,

I'm very glad that you had a great time and that you attended the driving school.

I remember you and that Herman assisted you with the electrical problem. I was one of the guys on the parking team that was stationed at the GG lot while the driving school was in session. It was nice getting to assist all the driving school attendees when they moved their coaches to the driving school and returned to their camp sites.

We got to know quite a few of the folks attending the school.

This was my first convention also, and I'm looking forward to going to West Springfield this summer.

[patron]

Patron,

Glad you had a good time and very glad it was an excellent learning experience for you.

That is what FMCA Conventions are about-- learning while having a good time!

Brett

Brett,

We have lost our copy of the "what you need to know about your diesel" handout you distributed at the Hands on Driving Class in Perry. Is it possible to receive a copy via e-mail? If so, please send to patbrown30506@gmail.com and/or ronbrown30506@gmail.com. Thank you for your help.

[wolfe10]

patron,

Sent you a PM.

[gulya]

Perry was great. Far superior to the Madtown rally last summer. Wife and I were constantly on the go, between volunteer duties, chapter happy hours, vendors, coach displays and most of all catching up with old and making new friends. National and area rally's are the best way to enjoy your FMCA.

Time flies when you're having fun, and you get more out of them when you volunteer.

[patron]

patron,

Sent you a PM.

Thank you very much Brett.

[opsmdev]

On 3/24/2016 at 11:13 PM, jeff753 said:

Hi

I was the guy at the east gate sorting coaches with the floppy orange hat.

The problem was we lacked 4 parkers (one team) on the parking team to open the other 30 amp lot prior to one of the other parking teams finishing the loading of the K lot.

We then had to wait until they moved over to the other 30 amp lot and set up the first row. This resulted in forty six 30 amp coaches ready to move but no parking team to move them. We had 26 in the staging area and another 20 in the two lanes coming in. This caused parking to grind to a halt for a few minutes. We also had an injury in the corner of the inbound lot we had to get an ambulance to.

Anyone have a picture of the sorting corner at the inbound East Gate:?

Next year we will hope to get more parking volunteers and work faster:) Appreciate your patience on the inbound....arrive before noon and avoid the afternoon rush:)

Jeff Walukonis

FMCA ENERGIZED (formally U60) Chairman

Thanks for telling me this story Jeff.  We were one of the forty-six that had to wait awhile; fortunately (at least for us), we were in the first group to go to the new lot.  Later in the afternoon, I saw that line and my wait just didn't seem too bad anymore.  I wasn't angry with the volunteers as I was the lack of organization (or so it appeared).  We had no information about the loss of a team or an injury, so it just appeared as if this was the "system" in place.  I really felt sorry for some of the volunteers; they were working really hard, but you could tell they were frustrated.  I'm glad to know that we were the exception rather than the rule.  My only suggestion for future rallies would be improved signage on the way in.  

 

[hermanmullins]

opsmdev,

Sorry that you had to wait in line for some time. As the ole saying goes "The best laid plans of mice and men." Signage is always an area that is controlled by the local government. In some locations we can put out more signs then you have time to read and then again they will not allow temporary signage on the streets or highways. That is the reason driving directions are included in your packet (and yes I understand the problems when your packet is in will call).

But after folks are parked they all seem to have a good time and that is what it is all about.

Now let me give you a little secret: "Volunteer". As a volunteer you have the opportunity to arrive early, get a good parking space, a handsome Hat, a volunteer meal and best of all you get to meet lots of really nice people (and a few ole grouches that you get the chance to make smile).

Look forward to having the chance to see you at the next one!

 

Herman