i'm on record from early on...let EVERYONE and EVERYTHING in to the current club....
2air...2shay.
i have also stated in this forum that the club needs to hire an outside consulting firm to help shed light on it's operations the effect they have on growing membership. there is nary a business man in the bunch at the IBT. I'm sure CRM is a foreign acronym to most in the upper ranks.
i've felt this way since the name change debacle. it really came to light though at this past mid-winter IBT meeting. I listened in to most of it. I heard all of the mundane calls to order and motions being presented. it sounded like the meeting was just dragging along.
then there was a break and larry huttle spoke - kind of his state of the company annual speech. he was incredibly upbeat. talking about global domination, new models, sales through the roof, special projects, TV placement, etc. in a word exciting. one would think that a club associated with this brand would be thriving in the same manner.
not. once larry was done speaking there was a call to order and back to the business at hand - in the most droll and boring manner you could imagine. the contrast between what the WBCCI - an Airstream club, and what the corporation is up to was night and day. stating the obvious, the club is not keeping up with the company in terms of the sizzle factor.
Whose fault is it? Where does the problem lie? Should the company have more of a hand in the clubs business? maybe. but then some may scream that they are meddling. The WBCCI is the quintessential old boys club. Until the IBT allows outside input from marketing and customer experience professionals the membership will continue to decline.
for me that is no big deal because i get everything i need and want from the club already - friendships and rallies. if it continues on the same course it's on now, it will still be here in 15 or 20 years when i'll be ready to retire and caravan.
will the WBCCI survive to the next generation? who even knows what the heck we'll be driving by then. personally, i'm bullish on the WBCCI being here for my kids if they are so inclined.
I don't understand what all the quitting is about. this issue has zero effect on the overall experience of being in the WBCCI - which is attending Unit events. to me it is a convenient (and false) excuse to quit the club.
it hardly gets discussed at our Unit events...ever. we had a mail in vote last spring. the tally was taken quietly by the officers and our Unit vote of NO SOBs was cast at Perry. it was the end of discussion at our Unit level.
the only time i ever see any discussion is on the boards. and frankly i enjoy it, albeit one sided. we never here someone who is pro SOB in the WBCCI chime in here or at any of the other boards.
call me offbeat but i enjoy the hell out of trying to solve the WBCCIs problem via my keyboard. this has provided the smallest bit of controversy in my day-to-day existence. everywhere else i go in my day-to-day i am required to be soooo PC that discussing anything beside the weather is treading in dangerous waters - exaggeration but i hope you get what i mean.
let these knuckle heads bring it. we'll send them packing to the Good Sam Club in no time.
I couldn't disagree more. We have enough stress in our jobs that we don't need it in our hobby. Fighting the Name Change in 2006 was tiring, but worthwhile. Fighting the SOB MH issue in 2007 became too much. We survived 2006 because all of our units came together to reaffirm that Wally needed to remain in the club name.
2007 was a different case. We ended up changing our primary unit for 2008 because of this issue. When we attended the 2007 rally where the vote was held, we came to understand that we viewed things very differently than the rest of our unit. They all bought the "we don't want to vote our friends out of the club" story that was delivered loud and clear in the Blue Beret (with no opposing opinion allowed in the Blue Beret, I might add). We didn't buy that story. After that rally, we ended up seeing ourselves as very different from the rest of the unit, who are generally old enough to be our parents. Yet just a year before we were inspired by these same people as we could only hope to be as active when we get to their age.
But not all was good with our other units either. After having opinions and counter opinions about the SOB MH issue published in the Unit Newletter, things got a bit too personal. We almost avoided a rally for fear of being parked next to someone whose rebuttal to something I wrote got a little too personal.
We also know a couple of Airstream Motorhome owners (who were opposed to SOB MH's being admitted into WBCCI) who left the club because this issue came to be "MH vs. trailer" rather than "Airstream vs. SOB". And this never would have become an issue if the IBT hadn't brought this issue forward in the first place.
So, YES, these IBT inspired, top down, issues do real damage at the unit level. That damage can and does impede attempts to "just enjoy the local unit".
And let me add, that most everyone we have met in the club (and all three of our units) is nice, but we just want to be around others that think like us (more or less).
__________________ Joe
Vintage Airstream Club Historian WBCCI/VAC #5533
'55 22' Safari / '63 28' Ambassador / '94 28' Excella / '05 Hummer H2
Last edited by 66Overlander; 02-26-2008 at 11:33 PM.
Sure am glad I joined before learning that I joined a club that is having an identity and personality crisis. I read this article Here we go again...*-*Savewally.org and was struck by a feeling of remorse. If it were not for being a part of a great unit, the numbers would already be in the mail. What kind of reception would a class A SOB motor home recieve at a rally? Has there been any in the past as associate members?
the company could eventually restore the club and re-connect current buyers and long time owners, with 'streaming history...
This is the key to a better WBCCI future, but I don't think we need Thor to take over to accomplish this... just their assitance.
Here in Wisconsin, a few of us already have some marketing in the works to do just as you suggest.
As far as the VAC thinking they are the future of the WBCCI, It's not exactly that... but the Vintage trailers (and their owners) are the history of Airstream and history is what Airstream and the WBCCI have that the SOB clubs don't. History is something that can't be bought, but it can be sold... and that is what needs to be done to grow the club. There is an amazing story to be told.
Has there been any in the past as associate members?
No, the club's constitution is very specific on this point. If you sell your your Airstream you can stay as a member, but if you then buy another brand to travel in you are no longer allowed to stay.
The deadline for the proposal to get to WBCCI HQ is the 1st of March. The Club must then send the proposal to all Unit Presidents by the 1st of April.
The deadline for proposed amendments for the Delegates Meeting IS at HQs by the 1st of March. I'm guessing we won't know for sure until the 4th as the 1st is a Saturday.
Also, if you plan to run from the floor and want to make the Blue Beret, theoretically you have that same deadline. Better brush up your resumes!
__________________
6000+ Airsteam families having fun!
1000+ Airstream Events including 500+ Rallies in 2009! SaveWally's WBCCI Unit Guide
What is always interesting to note is that Thor is the reason this club has had every major shake-up it's ever had. It's Thor that took Airstream from a classic shape to everything else under the sun. It's Thor that pushed every brilliant iteration of what an Airtream COULD be and pushed the club to adopt each and every model (including the Basecamp). It's Thor that eventually wakes up every couple of years, and just like the movie Ground Hog Day, keeps cancelling each one of those iterations because they ALL FAILED IN THE MARKETPLACE. Poor stewardship of the brand is an understatement. If Airstream were a separate company with its own board of directors and stockholders heads would have rolled there long ago. But because they're merely under the umbrella nobody pays attention to, or comments on, the long list of failed attempts by Thor.
It's Thor that continues to tinker with what an Airstream COULD be and leaves this club having to deal with their failed products (and a teeny tiny segment wanting MORE of those failed products).
WBCCI Delegates got SOFT in '06 and made sure that there are no more debates. If Airstream makes a pop-up -- it's IN!
Let Thor run the club?
__________________
6000+ Airsteam families having fun!
1000+ Airstream Events including 500+ Rallies in 2009! SaveWally's WBCCI Unit Guide
What is always interesting to note is that Thor is the reason this club has had every major shake-up it's ever had. It's Thor that took Airstream from a classic shape to everything else under the sun. It's Poor stewardship of the brand is an understatement.
It's Thor that continues to tinker with what an Airstream COULD be and leaves this club having to deal with their failed products
I'm not a proponent of letting Thor run the club, but I think you may be throwing the baby out with the bath water here. Yes Thor has expanded the product line to many variations but to expect a corporation to stand static in a product market isn't a reality today. You test the waters, you see what takes and what doesn't. It takes company resources to do this but we wouldn't have the variations in many corporate product lines if a single product attitude was taken.
Quite honestly the direction that Airsteam was going before the Thor purchase was right down the tubes. Personally if Thor hadn't decided to develop the Safari line, would I be in an Airstream today? Probably not (either because the company would have been bankrupt or the lower cost and weight Safari might not have been available). Their best selling lines today aren't the Classic but the variants, the Safari's, the Internationals, and the CCD. Those lines have sparked the interest of the younger owners and those not willing to spend the bigger dollars that the Classic line trailers demand.
Now you might say these examples are all trailers, and not in the same discussion as motor homes, class C units, base camps etc., but you have to understand that there is only so much market out there and allowing diversification in the market can benefit the community as a whole by building a stronger corporate unit. Yeah it plays havoc with the club but you know what ever form that product takes, it still is an Airstream. The key is that it stays a club for Airstream owners.
I applaud those fighting the battle preserve that single fact.
Jack
__________________
Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.,'03 GMC Savana 2500,'08 Vespa GTS 250
Hi, right now I have no interest in joining this club, what-so-ever; And I'm concerned that by the time these old fogies are out [one way or another] I will be too old myself to enjoy what could be something every Airstream owner would and should want to be a part of.
Why wait? Join WBCCI now and be a part of the fun group. We have an awsome WBCCI Unit, New England, and we don't let politics get in our way of camping and having fun together. We are a diverse group of over 100 units from MoHo's, Vintage, Argosy, New and everything in-between. So far this year we have over 15 rallies scheduled and three caravans. WBCCI can be what you want it to be. Join today and be a part of future of this great club.
__________________ J. Rick Cipot Sandi Gould NEUNew England Unit Airstream Life Magazine WBCCI #3411 AIR #17099 2009 Silverado 2500HD 2004 22' Safari 1960 24' Tradewind
What is always interesting to note is that Thor is the reason this club has had every major shake-up it's ever had. It's Thor that took Airstream from a classic shape to everything else under the sun.
Time for a reality check and some homework. This comment is totally out of line and not factual. Leo, please do not spread your beliefs as facts and please post your comments as such that other forum members and visitors understand that this is purely your understanding of the situation. One very, very important event to remember is that if Thor had not come onto the scene no one but no one would be buying new Airstreams today! Learn the facts of the subject then post accordingly.
__________________ J. Rick Cipot Sandi Gould NEUNew England Unit Airstream Life Magazine WBCCI #3411 AIR #17099 2009 Silverado 2500HD 2004 22' Safari 1960 24' Tradewind
a/s is such a small brand, small market... and SMALL piece of thor financially...
2Air - how do you know what piece of the revenue pie AS is for thor?
I just looked through their '07 Annual report and you can't gleen how much revenue each of their brands puts to the bottom line. they only break out RV revenue by towable and motorized. towable rev for '07 was $1.9 billion and motorized was $565.5 million with total RV sales rev at $2.4 billion. Almost 3/4 of their RV income and corporate profit is from the towable side of the house with AS being the flagship.
trust when i say that this brand is VERY important to this company and their bottom line. 2007 was their second best year behind '06, when they delivered many hurricane relief trailers.
The company has always sprinkled cash support on the WBCCI. I think they could do more but, as you state they may get push back from the IBT. arrrgghhhh
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Hi, right now I have no interest in joining this club, what-so-ever; And I'm concerned that by the time these old fogies are out [one way or another] I will be too old myself to enjoy what could be something every Airstream owner would and should want to be a part of.
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