WBCCI member at large totals as compared to total membership
I have compiled some WBCCI stats on my own on the MAL membership compared to the total WBCCI membership.These are 'unofficial stats'.
In looking at the numbers you can see at a glance two distinct trends developing.
The MAL number now makes up over 7% of total membership and I'm posting this for those who might find this interesting.
Year
1996-74 MAL's(members at large)-10,300 total WBCCI membership
1997-167 MAL's-9848 total membership
1998-267 MAL's-9547 total membership
1999-340 MAL's-9085 total membership
2000-383 MAL's-8750 total membership
2001-448 MAL's-8467 total membership
2002-473 MAL's-8073 total membership
2003-514 MAL's-7844 total membership
2004-510 MAL's-7540 total membership
2005-554 MAL's-7504 total membership
2006-506 MAL's-6913 total membership
Thank you Streamer23 for your research. I have crunched these numbers and came up with the following: total membership is 6913 minus the 506 MALs = 6407 members in regions divided by 12 current regions = average region membership is 533 members. It then follows that they are enough MALs to create a 13th region to represent MALs within WBCCI.
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I have compiled some WBCCI stats on my own on the MAL membership compared to the total WBCCI membership.These are 'unofficial stats'.
In looking at the numbers you can see at a glance two distinct trends developing.
The MAL number now makes up over 7% of total membership and I'm posting this for those who might find this interesting.
Year
1996-74 MAL's(members at large)-10,300 total WBCCI membership
1997-167 MAL's-9848 total membership
1998-267 MAL's-9547 total membership
1999-340 MAL's-9085 total membership
2000-383 MAL's-8750 total membership
2001-448 MAL's-8467 total membership
2002-473 MAL's-8073 total membership
2003-514 MAL's-7844 total membership
2004-510 MAL's-7540 total membership
2005-554 MAL's-7504 total membership
2006-506 MAL's-6913 total membership
I just today received the 'official' MAL numbers and membership numbers from WBCCI and They are posted below.My totals posted above are from the yearly directories and the WBCCI totals are for the year so for example my 1997 directory totals correspond with WBCCI's 1996 numbers and so on.
I believe I know some of the reasons for the discrepancies between the two sets of numbers .Here are the official numbers;
1996-166 MAL's-11,092 total membership
1997-259 MAL's-10,583 total membership
1998-344 MAL's-10,229 total membership
1999-401 MAL's- 9,755 total membership
2000-471 MAL's- 9,443 total membership
2001-551 MAL's- 9,074 total membership
2002-524 MAL's- 8,785 total membership
2003-503 MAL's- 8,593 total membership
2004-632 MAL's- 8,243 total membership
2005-700 MAL's- 8,258 total membership
2006-634 MAL's- 7,681 total membership
I just today received the 'official' MAL numbers and membership numbers from WBCCI and They are posted below.My totals posted above are from the yearly directories and the WBCCI totals are for the year so for example my 1997 directory totals correspond with WBCCI's 1996 numbers and so on.
I believe I know some of the reasons for the discrepancies between the two sets of numbers .Here are the official numbers;
1996-166 MAL's-11,092 total membership
1997-259 MAL's-10,583 total membership
1998-344 MAL's-10,229 total membership
1999-401 MAL's- 9,755 total membership
2000-471 MAL's- 9,443 total membership
2001-551 MAL's- 9,074 total membership
2002-524 MAL's- 8,785 total membership
2003-503 MAL's- 8,593 total membership
2004-632 MAL's- 8,243 total membership
2005-700 MAL's- 8,258 total membership
2006-634 MAL's- 7,681 total membership
Mike, I took your actual total membership numbers above, pasted them into Excel and did an extrapolation.
The result is attached. This result assumes nothing more radical happens than the variation typical of the last decade.
Click on graph for a larger view.
While the membership is going down overall, the subtrend is greater ratio of members at large. That says something about the units that people have considered to join (or have left). There are enough of them in MAL status that they can form their own region.
And, by the way, I'd be willing to bet that MALs are more active than the averge WBCCI member. There are alot of members in the club today who hang onto their unit membership as a way to keep in touch with old friends even though they, themselves, no longer travel much if at all. Someone who goes as far as bothering to pay $70/year for the Blue Beret (instead of Airstream Life) and not be part of much of the fun that happens in some units is a pretty dedicated soul.
And, by the way, I'd be willing to bet that MALs are more active than the averge WBCCI member. There are alot of members in the club today who hang onto their unit membership as a way to keep in touch with old friends even though they, themselves, no longer travel much if at all. Someone who goes as far as bothering to pay $70/year for the Blue Beret (instead of Airstream Life) and not be part of much of the fun that happens in some units is a pretty dedicated soul.
But isn't that part of why so many people join the club anyway.To go camping and make friends,some friendships lasting a lifetime.I'd be willing to bet that most of the members you refer to had their day when they were very active in the club and camping.They keep their membership and pay their dues to keep the friendships 'alive'.It works for them but obviously not for everyone.
It may be difficult for someone new to be accepted into 'the group' or 'inner circle' in units like this and that is why I feel there should be some alternative available.
It may be difficult for someone new to be accepted into 'the group' or 'inner circle' in units like this and that is why I feel there should be some alternative available.
You got it streamer23! When a group of Airstreamers have grown old and gray together, they like each others company, and certain activities that have evolved with them. They want their unit to continue, and they want new members to sustain it; but they also want things to stay just the way they are and resent any deviation from their "template." There's the rub.
New units should be a normal and universal mechanism for sustaining an organization like WBCCI. As old units "ramp down," new units should be allowed and encouraged to "ramp up." It's "Win-Win." It's Yen and Yang. It's a beautiful thing, but it scares the heck out of the old guard.
It may be difficult for someone new to be accepted into 'the group' or 'inner circle' in units like this and that is why I feel there should be some alternative available.
One of my points was that it is not a healthy trend to see the ratio of MALs grow. We appear to be approaching 10% of membership. We should consider ourselves lucky that these MALs hang around for $70/year instead of dropping out completely.
I am not saying we should stop offering MAL as an alternative. We should continue to offer it. It would be a positive leading indicator, however, if we can convince MALs to become regular members. For that to happen, the MALs have to be convinced that there are units worth joining. Right now, the trend appears to indicate that this is not the case.
One of my points was that it is not a healthy trend to see the ratio of MALs grow. We appear to be approaching 10% of membership. We should consider ourselves lucky that these MALs hang around for $70/year instead of dropping out completely.
I am not saying we should stop offering MAL as an alternative. We should continue to offer it. It would be a positive leading indicator, however, if we can convince MALs to become regular members. For that to happen, the MALs have to be convinced that there are units worth joining. Right now, the trend appears to indicate that this is not the case.
Could the trend be telling us that they like belonging but there is something about the nearby units OR the activities of the Unit that keep them from joining??? Mike-can these number be broken down by region? I apologize if some one has already asked this of you and I just don't know where to find it.