WBCCI and local Units

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Condoluminum

....... frustrated with our local unit in land of high tech.. We may have to try for Nor-Cal "Unit" though it might be hard to find a dozen Forum members still willing to send $60 dues to WBCCI for privilege of receiving Blue Beret.. John McG

You could join another unit - especially if you aren't a meeting go-er. It shouldn't really matter - you could still attend your home town unit rallies.

We joined the Oregon unit - even though we live in Washington for the same reasons you mentioned in your post. They are stuck in the mud! (well actually they are stuck in a concrete trailer park).


The Oregon Unit is cool and a good mix of old and new. Meetings and formal rallies complete with a morning bugle for those who need/love pomp AND pick up rallies with casual scheduling for those who want to sleep in and actually have campfires when camping.

For another few bucks you could probably get a newsletter from the local unit....

[ITOWAIR]

Hello one and all.
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Andy Neumann past President of the Metro Detroit Chapter of the WBCCI. I served two consecutive terms as president of the unit.
I took office after being a member of the unit for 3 years. My wife and I are what is considered younger members of the WBCCI at the time we were the youngest members of our unit. We joined because we had no experience what so ever in Airstreaming and saw the vast amount of experience and knowledge the club had to offer and are very glad we did. The year we joined there was a local dues increase of $2 and the outrage it created was tremendous. When I assumed the office of president I promised that we would do everything possible to avoid a local dues increase. Our local treasury was very tight and at my first Board/Membership meeting several cost saving measures were put into place. We voted to encourage newsletter distribution via Email to save the cost of printing and postage. We discounted the local unit purchase of rally plaques, since we were winding up eating the cost of the unsold plaques. We would have a 50/50 raffle at unit activities and use the earning to by door prizes, it was decided that we would now place this income into the general fund and no longer do door prizes. We also decided that we would no longer just mail out new membership packages. At the time it was costing the unit around $9 for each packet, which included the membership directory and badges.
We were seeing very few of these new members actually come out and participate. We thought that if we could meet them in person we would have a better chance of them being active members of our unit. We did not do this as a way of taking the money and running. We were sending them a welcome letter and they were receiving the newsletter every month. I am very sorry that our actions caused anyone to feel slighted, I also want it made clear that these changes were made at a local unit level and should not reflect on the WBCCI as a whole. As president of the unit at the time I accept full responsibility for implementation of the above actions. I have already contacted Wheelinterested and am working on remedying her dissatisfaction. If anyone else has been offended by our action please fee free to contact me and I will do everything I can to assist you as well.

I am truly sorry if this has turned any off of joining the WBCCI, the Metro Detroit unit is a great bunch of people and I am proud to be a member.

[47WeeWind]

Andy and Carol may have met each other this past summer at Airstream's 2005 Homecoming, as both were there (and I met each of them there). As president of the Detroit Unit, Andy spent much of the first few days (along with other Detroit Unit members) graciously parking all the trailers. He was the large guy in an orange vest waving a large orange flag. Carol was the gal with one or two camera around her neck all the time who hung out at that unusual blue/green Argosy trailer near the front row. Did you two meet each other at the 2005 Homecoming?

[wheel interested]

Originally Posted by 47WeeWind

Andy and Carol may have met each other this past summer at Airstream's 2005 Homecoming, as both were there (and I met each of them there). As president of the Detroit Unit, Andy spent much of the first few days (along with other Detroit Unit members) graciously parking all the trailers. He was the large guy in an orange vest waving a large orange flag. Carol was the gal with one or two camera around her neck all the time who hung out at that unusual blue/green Argosy trailer near the front row. Did you two meet each other at the 2005 Homecoming?

Hi Fred,

We did indeed meet. Andy made a great greeter and parker. First person I met on site that year. (He and Claudia are featured in the Airstream 75th Anniversary book.) Not only did I have the pleasure of meeting Andy and Claudia and their dog Triton, but I got to meet our membership chairman and treasurer, Rachel and Don Bates. We rallied together with the Neumanns and the Bates at our Metro-Detroit forums rally (1st annual Louapalooza) last August in Ottisville as well. Andy gave us each a flamingo! Too cool.

Andy, please feel free to subtract the postage from my luncheon refund. I haven't received a reply from you or Rachel to my response so it seems I have got you all still working quite hard on resolution??

A few fun shots of the leader of our pack (Andy) and Rachel

[wheel interested]

Here's a cute ditty Andy wrote about the forums rally. I'm the photo gal--Gilligan? Can't beat the rallies that are all about just camping. Now if we could just throw out those pesky and overly rigid rules we'd have it made in the shade.

http://www.airforums.com/forum...13-post34.html

[Condoluminum]

I'd like to thank Andy for his message above as well.. Doing things for a good reason and having unintended consequences is not a bad thing, especially from a volunteer who is willing to work and put in effort for the good of others... Reading about member outrage over $2 dues increase suggests a disconnect with new members who are spending $35,000 and up for a trailer, and more than that for a single gallon of gas. If the unit is delivering value, an incremental $2 or $5 in cost will not be cause for outrage. I also appreciate offers to join other units or events.. We may take them up, as I am young by our unit standards (late 50's) but retired enough with some time to travel.. I've heard good things about Northern Nevada unit, and Northern California and Monterey units also.

Purpose of my messages is not to whine, but share info on what I think is great topic about good and "less good" about some local units of WBCCI.. I know Cindy Reed of HQ lurks here from time to time, and have traded messages with her offering encouragement for the member survey and the positive things they do. I think the Forum Rallies are becoming a great way to exchange best practices and good ideas, and hope they continue to expand as well...

John McG

[BowlingAlone]

I would like to thank those that sent messages, and posted supportive replies to my last posting. It was very kind. Thanks.

The WBCCI unit we joined last year is tailor fit to its senior members. They are good people that tried to be kind, and helpful. The comment about my daughter was in no way meant to offend. They were just telling us the rules.

It would be easy to tear into the existing unit and upset its members by trying to change things but we do not believe we should. If 95% of a unit is happy with the way things are being run do you think they would change anything for a single new family? If you were in the 95% would you? I am not sure I would. (Sometimes I wonder how set in my ways I’ll be at 75) We wish these people the best.

Since there are no other WBCCI units close we decided to see if there was any interest in building a new unit that accommodates working families. Our local Airstream dealer volunteered to assist by getting the word out to people that pass through the dealership, and we will try using Region nines idea about advertising in the local neighborhood papers.

We would like to retain a good relationship with the existing unit so we can take advantage of their experience. While I have different camping needs then my seniors do I am not foolish enough to believe they have no value. They could make good mentors, and there is no reason the two groups could not work well together as long as each respects the other. Who know, maybe my Scouting Wood Badge training (Bear) will come in handy getting this off the ground.

Terry

[streamer23]

Hi Terry,

I read your post with interest and can sympathise with your situation.In some areas,starting anew may be the only solution as you explained so well.I feel you have taken some great steps forward having the dealership involved and running ads in the local papers.I know there has to be quite a few potential members in your area.You may even get some responses from forum members.Best of luck to you.

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by BowlingAlone

Since there are no other WBCCI units close we decided to see if there was any interest in building a new unit that accommodates working families. Our local Airstream dealer volunteered to assist by getting the word out to people that pass through the dealership, and we will try using Region nines idea about advertising in the local neighborhood papers.

Terry,
If your proposed new unit stretched into Michigan, you could all it the OH-MI Unit as in "Oh My!"

I would be interested to learn more about how the new Texas Unit was formed and yours too, if you are successful. I know you need at least 10 memberships willing to sign up to start a new unit. I think you need to hold at least two functions (rally's or caravans) to which members bring their Airstream's each year (i.e. luncheons don't count). I wonder how minimalistic you can get the "rules" (i.e. the Unit Constitution and Bylaws)? I wonder how much influence WBCCI National has over how these Unit rules are formed? I am curious about what else it takes to form a new unit.

If you get started down this path, please keep us informed of your progress.

[BowlingAlone]

Joe,

My approach to starting a new unit was based on a rather small geographic foot print to enable working families the opportunity to participate. This came from the idea that working families would not have the time or desire to travel over 120 miles for weekend events. Perhaps I am thinking too small.

When you asked if we would open the unit to Michigan it forced us to rethink what we were trying to do. If the goal is to build new WBCCI units that accommodate the needs of working families why not open the unit to anyone? The next logical step in this thought process asks why not form new units through forum threads.

Help me out here.

Terry

[Paul Mayeux]

Terry, you might want to contact our unit President, David Tidmore. He is "dtbw" on this forum. I thought I had a copy of our constitution and by-laws but I can't find it, however it is way more minimalistic. He is the one that got everything started so I'm sure he would happy to offer some insight.

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by BowlingAlone

Joe,

My approach to starting a new unit was based on a rather small geographic foot print to enable working families the opportunity to participate. This came from the idea that working families would not have the time or desire to travel over 120 miles for weekend events. Perhaps I am thinking too small.

When you asked if we would open the unit to Michigan it forced us to rethink what we were trying to do. If the goal is to build new WBCCI units that accommodate the needs of working families why not open the unit to anyone? The next logical step in this thought process asks why not form new units through forum threads.

Help me out here.

Terry

Terry,

If you start a new unit, it must be open to anyone. However, those who are able to participate will be the main ones to join. If you think that only those in a 120 mile radius of you will join, will that mean that all rallies will be in your back yard or within a 120 mile radius of you? If the latter, which I believe will be, then someone who is 240 miles away could attend if the rally was 120 miles from you. We have members in our unit (El Camino Real, in So Cal) in Colorado and hold rallies from San Diego to Mariposa (near Yosemite), not everyone attends, only those who can. We have traveled as far as Death Valley (250 miles) and as close as San Clemente (30 miles) for rallies.

Bill

[66Overlander]

Originally Posted by BowlingAlone

Joe,

My approach to starting a new unit was based on a rather small geographic foot print to enable working families the opportunity to participate. This came from the idea that working families would not have the time or desire to travel over 120 miles for weekend events. Perhaps I am thinking too small.

When you asked if we would open the unit to Michigan it forced us to rethink what we were trying to do. If the goal is to build new WBCCI units that accommodate the needs of working families why not open the unit to anyone? The next logical step in this thought process asks why not form new units through forum threads.

Help me out here.

Terry

Terry,
I totally agree on the geographic thing for the main focus of your new unit. While I might consider becoming an associate of your new unit, I would like to keep my primary membership closer to home if possible, for the same reasons you'd like to keep yours centered near where you are. (As an aside, so far so good for me with trying out the Metro-Detroit Unit after attending the first luncheon. )

I put the OH-MI thing in there mainly as a touch of humor (I know poor attempt).

I do wish you luck with the new unit. WBCCI certainly could use more units that focus on working folks and families. While retirees are and will likely continue to be the larger portion of the club (and probably many units work very well for them), we need to get new folks "in" pre-retirement, so that they can eventually ease into the retiree lifestyle in the Club. Better that than waiting until they are retired to try to attract them to the club.

[BowlingAlone]

If the goal is to build new WBCCI units that accommodate the needs of working families why not open the unit to anyone?

This was a poor choice of words on my part, and wkerfoot correctly brought this to my attention. We never thought about restricting who could join. We just never considered someone from another state would want to join a unit over 120 miles away.

The rally schedule will be based on the availability of the members. Families with kids often stay close to home when the kids are in school, then take an extended vacation during the summer months.

Weekend camping is very challenging for a lot of people just to get packed. Most communities today restrict home owners from keeping their RV at home, and some even have a 1 hour parking limit. The time required to retrieve the RV from a storage facility, pack it, and get on the road is not trivial. Add in a couple hours of travel time, water tank fill up, and site setup before Mom and Dad can sit down and catch their breath.

The trip home is no less time consuming. You have the travel time, unpacking, cleaning, and the trip back to the storage facility. Lord help those that think they can leave the RV on the street overnight. A young couple with a new 28’ Airstream was telling me Saturday that the police woke them up saying they could no leave the RV on the street overnight.

With this kind of environment to deal with I believe most rallies during the school year will be less then 180 miles from home. The summer months are a different ball game. We are currently planning a trip to Rapid City SD for 2007. I want to show the kids where I lived and biked in the 70’s!

Terry

[Communicator]

I can certainly see that not being able to get your materials without attending a rally would be frustrating! We all just want to go camping and have fun.

Local units vary in their composition, approaches, and do have local rules, but that is a part of the flexibility that allows the members to actually run the club! WBCCI has a long and cool history and new trends are definitely breaking through as is evidenced by many excellent units. Like everything else, the club is run by those who show up.

It is a volunteer organization run by volunteers. Forward thinking volunteers will result in a forward thinking club. I joined when I was just about 33 and have been a member for 17 years. Despite some frustrations, the club is definitely worth it. My unit, the South Carolina Coastal Unit is one that has moved forward in many ways and we are still working on it. We definitely just want to go camping and have fun!