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Old 08-14-2008, 01:22 PM   #1
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Saddened by WBCCI Action

I was greatly saddened to read in the August, 2008 Blue Beret that the IBT had voted 13 to 5 to increase the MAL Surcharge from $15 to $20. Now it will cost $75 per year to be a MAL. I know that there are several Units that you can join and the annual dues would be $56. That's not the point. Here the Club is trying desperately to increase membership and they choose to single out and penalize about 10% of the membership in a blatantly discriminatory fashion. Don't they think that this will drive members away? Don't they understand that not everyone wants to belong to a unit?

I have to wonder, who is driving the bus?

Brian
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Old 08-14-2008, 01:27 PM   #2
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Just another thing that pushed the club further down the road to extinction.

Change or Die!

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Old 08-14-2008, 01:31 PM   #3
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Got my renewal form from headquarters too. It is a wonderment that MALs have no say in the increase and that we have been singled out as undesirables to be priced into any unit, no one cares which one, just to have one if only just on paper. We do not incur any special expenses from the club if anything a savings is procured. Just another case of suck it up and pay, or quit. Not exactly enticing options. This is their best foot forward?

Seems imprudent to work their way backwards into a failing budget. The budget should be drafted anew reflecting membership numbers, membership priorities and todays economic climate and the lack of necessity to travel for WBCCI business and admit it's for pleasure as with the general membership's travels on their own dime. It's not like others would not volunteer to do the same work, but one CANNOT even break into the system with effort. Selection rules and that's it and they need not answer to anyone.

Renounce your chosen status or you will pay dearly as instituted from those in power who are of their own opinion that you are substandard...nice club.

My MAL staus is keeping me IN the club. I already left off on the unit thing.
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Old 08-14-2008, 01:36 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by moosetags View Post
I was greatly saddened to read in the August, 2008 Blue Beret that the IBT had voted 13 to 5 to increase the MAL Surcharge from $15 to $20. Now it will cost $75 per year to be a MAL. I know that there are several Units that you can join and the annual dues would be $56. That's not the point. Here the Club is trying desperately to increase membership and they choose to single out and penalize about 10% of the membership in a blatantly discriminatory fashion. Don't they think that this will drive members away? Don't they understand that not everyone wants to belong to a unit?

I have to wonder, who is driving the bus?

Brian
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Kinda makes ya feel a little left out don't it?
Why not just become a MAL-content (sic).
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Old 08-14-2008, 02:39 PM   #5
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I was a MAL when I joined WBCCI.......then I found the FCU. What a deal for a buck!!!! And I especially like the 'renegade' feeling of being in the WBCCI attached to an 'upstart' unit like the FCU....

Y'all come on down now.......ya hear!!!
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Old 08-14-2008, 02:52 PM   #6
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Brian-
What isn't going up in price these days? Yes, WBCCI is having its share of problems these days and they have bitten me in the back a few times but I am not giving up on the club. You know the old saying. But let's be honest, for $0.205 a day does it really cramp your style to be a part of the club and proudly display those great red numbers? I didn't think so. IMPO it think every WBCCI member should be out there soliciting like minded Airstream owners to join up. In a matter of time the general membership majority will be us younger, more active, totally dedicated Airstream Only members. Remember, you can only make a difference from the inside and not outside looking in. Send in your check, renew your membership, look for a local unit that fits your style but please stay in the ranks to help form the new member majority.
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Old 08-14-2008, 02:54 PM   #7
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MAL - Member At Large.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I remember, in my early days of Airstream ownership, trying to figure out what the acronyms were.

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Old 08-14-2008, 03:17 PM   #8
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Brian-
What isn't going up in price these days? But let's be honest, for $0.205 a day does it really cramp your style to be a part of the club and proudly display those great red numbers?
But let's be fair, for $0.205 a day the rest of WBCCI wouldn't be cramped in their style. How about I arbitrarily raise only your dues, those great red numbers might lose their punch. Remember the MALs have not incurred any additional expense for the club, the dues raise is entirely a political tool to discourage the status. This behaviour is what the club members can be proud of? We want to effect change and we are denied and rules out of order, they want to effect change and they go out of their way to penalize someone to "persuade" them to take THEIR view and no one stops them.

If that is acceptable standards the US Federal government could adopt such practices and overtax people in undesirable communities and they will just move into "better" neighborhoods and there will no longer be a problem of what to do with that community. Is this wisdom or folly? Do some perceptions and opinions of the super fine members count more than those chosen by other individual members themselves? At what point did WBCCI leadership become monarch?
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Old 08-14-2008, 03:40 PM   #9
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Brian-
What isn't going up in price these days? Yes, WBCCI is having its share of problems these days and they have bitten me in the back a few times but I am not giving up on the club. You know the old saying. But let's be honest, for $0.205 a day does it really cramp your style to be a part of the club and proudly display those great red numbers? I didn't think so. IMPO it think every WBCCI member should be out there soliciting like minded Airstream owners to join up. In a matter of time the general membership majority will be us younger, more active, totally dedicated Airstream Only members. Remember, you can only make a difference from the inside and not outside looking in. Send in your check, renew your membership, look for a local unit that fits your style but please stay in the ranks to help form the new member majority.
Rick-

I'm not in disagreement with anything you are saying, and I don't plan on leaving the club. I really like Lucy's big red numbers. I just find it strange and suspicious that the IBT chose to raise ONLY the dues of the MALs. There was no general raising of dues to the rest of the membership. I guess the IBT knows that members who are not permitted to vote, can't possibly hold them (the IBT) accountable. The IBT has blatantly discriminated againt the MALs. The IBT's behavior in this matter is nothing less than reprehensible, as in worthy of censure or rebuke.

-Brian
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Old 08-14-2008, 04:42 PM   #10
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I'm surprised no one has tried to initiate a class action lawsuit against these people yet. A club that discriminates against its own members has to be violating some laws or civil rights somewhere.
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Old 08-14-2008, 05:20 PM   #11
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I'm not MAL, and I don't support the IBT's decision to raise the MAL dues. Nonetheless, when I read the thread and listen to the IBT discussion of the matter, it's kind of like hearing two very different points of view on the same subject matter. Yes, they did raise rates, but my understanding -- admittedly not always accurate! -- was that they did it in order to encourage people to join units.

That said, it's also the case that it's not always that easy to find the perfect unit in some parts of the country. We've had non-WBCCI folks here at the park that we were going to encourage to join, but then checked the unit calendar nearest the guests' home and found pretty disappointing fare (monthly bingo at the old folks home).


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Old 08-14-2008, 05:53 PM   #12
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MAL - Member At Large.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I remember, in my early days of Airstream ownership, trying to figure out what the acronyms were.

Tom

Like Tom and Family, we're not part of the problem (or solution) either. I do wonder, however, why the MAL's don't simply join one of the more progressive units--like the NEU, WDCU, FCU or SNU (I'm sure there are others, just not that politically connected). That way, you would have a voice, lower dues prices, and the added advantage of being associated with some pretty cool people.

Sorry if I stuck my nose in where it shouldn't be.

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Old 08-14-2008, 05:58 PM   #13
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But does the reason justify the means? If I have understood correctly, best case scenerio, it is assumed that the high percentage of members not renewing from MALs is because they are not in units. Never ones to assume their own shortcomings, the issue that that percentage has not renewed because of the club and not because they were MALs has eluded our leadership. It would be helpful to see just how many MALs have renewed each year! Then it would be better to serve the reupping MALs than chase after the wind with wild ideas of member loss attributed to the status of MALs.

You get more bees with honey. If a unit cannot contact and persuade MALs and retain those members than merely eliminating the MAL status may just get the opposite effect of member retention.

WHY Jim? For the same reason people will suffer indignities not to deny a part of themselves. I AM a MAL. I WANT to be a MAL. And if and when I say I am affiliated with a group, it will be the real deal and not a paper chase or convenience. It's high time the club recognized the LARGE number of MALs and provide internet services for their members. The answer is not a workaround to pay less and get a vote. The right approach is to get MALs equal member rights. Though joining WDCU is much easier, how does that further the club in the right direction?

Or how about this? You go to an International or regional event and your badge says WDCU. The conversation will go something like you are from Washington? No I am not I am from Michigan. Then why are you WDCU? Because they are cheaper and I get a vote. Why aren't you in a unit in Michigan? That is not the introduction and first impression I care to be making for myself.
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Old 08-14-2008, 06:27 PM   #14
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As a very new AS owner this year, and having been contacted by the local WBCCI club, every time I read the "goings on" of the organization, I (we) can only ask, "Why would we be interested in joining this organization?" And we can't seem to come up with an answer. Looking over these posts, it would seem the main reason is to have large red numerals placed on the front of your TT. Is this the reason??? When we asked the local recruiter why we sould join, his response was not very encouraging. We've purchased our AS so we could travel our wonderful country and this is the way we've chosen to travel and see it. We're not campers but we realize that trailering and camping go hand in hand. That works for us but we are travelers first! We know what it is we wish to see - and it seems we can do that very well on our own. Are we missing something here? We would be interested in hearing the many reasons you have for joining this organization. Thank you.
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Old 08-14-2008, 06:45 PM   #15
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I like the opportunity to be part of the legacy of the Airstream club. I think Airstreams and the club are nostalgic and cool. I like meeting other Airstreamers I would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet because they are assembled in concentration at larger rallies from all over the country. It's kind of like a blind date. The rally experience has not been fashioned by your own creation. You get surprises.

Because we travel so much we had missed the local WBCCI luncheons and many of the rallies. That was a problem for the unit and source of contention. After the attitudes encountered, quite frankly we had no desire to make those luncheons and rallies then on.

If I can't be a MAL, then I probably won't be a member any more.
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Old 08-14-2008, 06:50 PM   #16
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What is exactly the point of being an MAL? I do not understand, you see, I am slow. You want to belong to a club, but as an individual member, away from the group? I have been reading this discussion, over and over and over since the day I joined and still do not understand. What exactly is the benefit besides keeping this controversy going on? I must be the stupidest dog in the pack to not understand this one. Sure hope you find something that you can work with one of these days.
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Old 08-14-2008, 06:59 PM   #17
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... We would be interested in hearing the many reasons you have for joining this organization. Thank you.
For us, it's very, very simple: We enjoy the Airstreaming camaraderie of the other folks in our unit/intraunit! If it weren't for the Airstreams, we wouldn't belong, and if it weren't for the folks in the unit/intraunit, we won't do it.

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Old 08-14-2008, 07:18 PM   #18
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Like pilgrim, we have our AS as a way to travel this great land after retirement. We are WBCCI members as a tribute to my parents. They were long time members and were officers. We bought their last trailer and kept their numbers 6196. We are MALs because there is not much in the way of unit activity around here. The only unit to contact us is four hours away, not convenient to socializing. So...once again we will pony up the MAL dues, but I gotta tell ya, I ain't gettin that warm fuzzy WBCCI feelin.
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Old 08-14-2008, 07:35 PM   #19
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So how about about a MAL "unit"? Loosely organized, with a minimum amount of meetings, officers, elections and so on. Seriously.

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Old 08-14-2008, 07:50 PM   #20
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As a very new AS owner this year, and having been contacted by the local WBCCI club, every time I read the "goings on" of the organization, I (we) can only ask, "Why would we be interested in joining this organization?" And we can't seem to come up with an answer.
In my own opinion, there are two possible reasons to join:
1) You would like to camp a few weekends a year with people who are interesting to talk to. (This involves finding a unit with an appropriate fit of personalities. Don't let anyone fool you. IBT/International rally personalities are not necessarily the same as the individual units. Some worry about rules, others not as much. Some go to campgrounds, some inhabit more private spots like fairgrounds for the weekend.)

2) You want to do some traveling in a group. WBCCI Caravans may fit that requirement.

Possible 3rd, 4th and 5th, I'm sure, but those are the two that my bit of a brain can come up with at this hour.
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