FL 027 : 2007 Florida State Rally

[StreamNTyme]

This is not brain surgery. They should send some info. when you register and include the location that all changes will be posted at the rally. Then all they had to do is keep up with the schedule in the mini building. Which they did NOT do.

[HowieE]

Well I have read all of the post from #73 on and have to say I was not wrong in coming home before the Fl State rally.

We have owned our Airstream for 13 years but have only just joined WBCCI last year. My association with Airstream goes back to the Princeton Intrnational rally in the 60 when my inlaws first got hooked. As newly weds and youger children my wife and I had an smaller SOB. When attending a Delmarva rally with my inlaws we were told to park behind the barn out of site of the main bady of the rally. That tainted my thoughts for quite a while. It appear little has changed.

It was only after my uncle, a past President of the Watchung unit, died that I considered putting numbers on my trailer in his momory. Since joining we have attended three unit rallies and one WBCCI rally. When I compare WDC's Cherry Blossom, WDC's buddy rally, and this years The Can Opener I see little reason to ever consider another WBCCI rally.

After the Can Opener we and another member asked a new Airstream owner, less than 2 weeks, to join us at the Daytona rally. Thought that would be a good way for he and his wife to see what it was all about. What a mistake. We no more than parked when this years newly elected membership chairman came over and tour the poor felllow apart. No numbers, his hitch was all wrong, and he was voiding the insurance on the rest of the attendees. Needless to say they left first thing the next morrning.

Now that,s the future Membership in a nutshell.

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by HowieE

Sorry this did not work as well as expected. I had hoped to copy and paste into the post but not so. Please open the Document for my thoughts.

Howie,

I assume that you sent your comments to Don Shafer, the membership chair for your region and Renee Ettline?

Just my personal opinion.

Bill

[jimmickle]

And the IBT thinks that letting SOB class As in will fix our membership problems. NOT! If someone with a new Airstream gets treated that way, can you imagine how a SOB owner would be welcomed? How quickly would they split, never to return?

[SwampBillies]

Well, after reading everyone else's rally stories I figured I might as well add our own. As some of you may have read before we are new to Airstreaming and this was our first rally. I tried everything I knew to be prepared and try to get info ahead of time. Including posting a thread on this forum. Which I might add gave me more info than anything else. Otherwise I would have been even more lost! I truly love this forum!
Anyway, we took the day off Friday to get there early, our directions told us to "get off of 75 and head west on Fruitville Rd. There will be signs posted along the route. Go to the parking area and parkers will guide you from there." Sounds good right? We get off the highway into down town traffic heading west. Both our eyes peeled looking for signs along the route. Nothing. Are we going the right way? We are going west right? This is Fruitville Rd right? He is driving while I read the directions over and over. No it doesn't tell me how far it is! Finally we see a sign that says Fair. We pull in and look for something that tells us where the parking area is. Nothing. There is a big parking lot with some new airstreams, maybe that is it. We asked 3 different people where the parkers are. Noone knows. The last person told us we were late, the rally started on Wednesday, and they didn't think the parkers were still parking people. It is Friday afternoon at 3:30! So we just drove to the back and found an open field with a couple of other trailers parked around. Lets just park here. Lucky for us we did after hearing all the nightmare stories about being parked with the "pack" We really enjoyed being off to ourselves with a little more elbow room. We were lucky enough to park next to Capt Mark and his Lady June! Truly nice, nice people! I assumed the bulletin boards would be in the big building I saw coming in. Went in, couldnt find them. I had thought someone had said on here they would try to have a happy hour on Friday for the working people. The third person I asked knew the bulletin boards were in a hidden hallway. Jeesh! Get the trailer number, go running over to find that I had missed it. It was on Thursday. Darn! Ok lets register. Noone knows where that is. Finally a fairground employee tells me he saw a registration sign on a trailer and takes us there. Noone home. OK. We go back to the trailer have dinner and stop by again before the entertainment. Still noone home. We have no schedule, no nothing. Checking the bulletin boards, no maps anywhere, dont know when or where anything is happening. Anyone you ask tells you that you missed everything, you are late. I did catch the entertainment Friday night, but we left early. It was indescribable. Well at least we have good neighbors and we will make the flea market and the open house and vendors in the morning. We went again to register Saturday morning and the sign is down. We think we are at the right place. Knock and are told yes this is it, but we are late. We got the green first timer ribbons also, no help at all. We then happen to find the vendor building by accident, to find they were all closing up and most of them were gone! It is 9:00 Saturday morning! Even Airstream was packing stuff up. Unless you want to buy crocheted items or used paperbacks the flea market was dissappointing. The open house was great!! Great people, lots of info, beautiful trailers, very cool! We got to meet Brett who had a key we were desperate for! Thanks again Brett! He and Lori stayed and visited. Very nice couple, we enjoyed them very much! Saturday night dinner was not good. If I go to another rally I will plan on cooking my own meals. The entertainment Saturday was much better. At 10:00 Sunday morning the roads are lined bumper to bumper with people trying to leave. So we made breakfast and waited until the rush was over. All in all I enjoyed many aspects of the rally. And many I did not. Most things are like that. It is just frustrating to have the club "say" they want new and younger members and then "do" everything possible to make us feel lost and stupid. They "say" they want younger people and then they have all the activities during the week when the younger people have to work! When I mentioned this to one woman she told me " Someday it will be your turn" But do I want to do it their way and wait 20 years for my turn? Or just seek out people that I have more in common with and could enjoy Now? Hmmmmm.....

[Happycampers]

Debbie.. I have to agree with you about the way this rally is run.. it was like that 3 years ago when we went... we were there this past Sat for the flea market and I, like you was very disappointed , especially with the vendors being gone.. We were seriously thinking of attending next year BUT this is a very BIG BUT...

[LI Pets]

I agree with you folks the rally lacked organization for any new member.

The one person I spoke to at length about this was Past President Tidewater Unit 111, Rick Bell.

He assured me that it shouldn't have happened any intended to speak to others including the President of the club about these same concerns.

Maybe we need to have an inner club for the forums members???

[munimula]

Originally Posted by LI Pets

inner club

i think the intra club is a great idea...we could just become more active in the already established computer club. how about a meeting at International? I think will require a new thread.

[Mac1]

Linda and I left the Florida State Rally this morning at 6:00 am and got home to NC about 8:30 pm - 735 miles. Just a little tired. I have read a few of the observations and experiences and will share ours tomorrow when I get time. Overall it was a good experience. We got there Thursday 3:30 ish. We met some great people who were camped around us - all on the outer perimeter. Lots of elbow room and more importantly next to the dog exercise area, Buckey had a ball. Swambilly, I think you were behind us a couple of rows, sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you.
Our local unit ENCU was great. They got us information and invited us to happy hour on Friday - it was a good time.
Had some of the same experiences in terms of registration - being told when to come back only to find no one there. Did finally trip across the registration trailer and were treated very cordially. The vendors got their fair share from me on both Friday and Saturday before they packed up.
We missed the Mummers on Friday, I opted for pork chops and dinner with Linda in the trailer. The brass was pretty good on Thursday, very tallented. The comic relief on Saturday needed some help, too many cruises, but the finale with the animal merry go round on his head took the cake - I think I have a video clip of it. (The buffet was good - portions were different depending on which line you were in.)
Rick (Bell) did a nice job on the newbie session.
More tomorrow - good night all.

Mac and Linda

[bjond]

I just want to post that I had a great time at the Florida State Rally. The last week has been like a blur there was so much to do. Never did get time to run down to the tourist area for that Cuban sandwich.... maybe next year. Its like a lot of things, if you go looking for things not right you can find them but if you go and want to have a good experience you can do that also. This is the second biggest rally in the country ( ~500 units) and lots of volunteers. Its not run by the WBCCI officers, its run by the Florida Units.

I arrived late one evening, parked in the bull pen with no problems. The next morning I was escorted in to my parking area by a cute vintage motor scooter after being given a pocket schedule. My new neighbors helped me park. Told not to worry about the parking exactly on the flag. I walked over and picked up by registration materials which included an informative program schedule book. I had running water and plenty of 3 amp electricity for the whole rally except this morning I had to use my onboard water cause a few trailers broke the water daisy chain when they left early.

We shopped the vendors and had the opportunity to browse thru a room full of Airstreams parts. This is one of the few times Airstream sells directly to the user. We had happy hours every day in the vintage area , a nice VAC pot luck dinner and a well attended vintage open house. After the evening entertainment we had more happy hour around a bonfire. I even dumped all my gray water on the ground and no one cared.

I heard Airstream management give their state of the Airstream World talk.
I saw many of my old friends and met several new ones. Even got several hugs from one of them.

So my suggestion is that if you want to enjoy the rally next year, get with a Florida unit and volunteer for a job and help make the rally better. We always need help.

BTW there will be a FSR next year, same time and same place except that the theme will be Hawaii.

[Wharf Rats]

I was reading the forums last thurs. nite and mentioned to my better half June that this big WBCCI rally was going on up in Sarasota this weekend, and after reading swampbillies post she said hey, lets check it out, we won't be the only new people there. So we hitched up and took off for Sarasota late Fri. morning. Finding the fairgrounds was easy as we're quite familiar with Sarasota, but remarked that there was no AS Rally signage anywhere. When we arrived we pulled into the I think handicapped lot outside the main gate when a guy in a golf cart pulled up and asked if we needed a space to park. We said said yes and he directed us to registration and said he'd be right back after he changed clothes. Sure enough he came and directed us to a field outside of the fence which was great because of the room. Even better yet, by coincedence our neighbor was swampbillies, amazing! Debbie and Lewis, or is it Lewis and Debbie, will be a great asset to the AS community. They are very very nice folks. Yes we had the same observations as the others in this thread, but it struck me as I was walking around last nite how quiet it was, and how unconcerned for my personal saftey I was. That speaks volumes. And we did meet some longtime Airstreamers that are wonderful people and very helpful, very polite. It will be very interesting to see how the changing of the guard happens in the future. In the mean time maybe they can form a youth group for us newbies

[SwampBillies]

A youth group! Too Funny! It has been a long time since I have been involved in a youth group. Capt Marc, I completely agree with you on the quality of people around us and the feeling of security.
JBond, I did go with a positive attitude. I was not at all looking for anything negative. I was very excited about this rally. My first. It appears to me that the problem lies in timing. Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears to me that alot of the things you enjoyed were over by the time alot of us got there. It seems to me that the people that are fortunate enough to be able to get there in the middle of the week, expect everyone else to be able to do the same. Alot of the activities I would have enjoyed, I missed because we didn't get there before Friday. Taking my time shopping vendors before they were packing up. Seminars. Pot Luck dinners. When and where did Airstream give a talk? I didn't even know I missed that. I would have enjoyed it. By the time we got there on Friday afternoon, the parkers thought they were done. Assuming everyone who was coming was there. Registration thought they were done registering and even took down their sign. The seminars were over. The vendors thought everyone had been and went. I think the problems alot of us experienced was because we weren't able to be there on the first day. Everything seems to be planned around people that are there for the duration. Unfortunately not all of us are able to do that. I was mistaken in assuming that Saturday would be the big day. It was the wind down.
Please don't think that my experience was completely negative. It was not. I enjoyed many aspects of the rally and am very glad I went. I met really nice people. I learned alot. I saw things I have never seen. I just felt an overall feeling of being on the outside looking in.

[Wharf Rats]

Say Debbie, We've been thinking about going to the springstream rally up in Georgia this April to experience the other side of the spectrum. I'm thinking it would be like the difference between a condo association meeting and an Alan Jackson concert.

[SwampBillies]

I was actually checking my schedule this evening to see if we could make that also. But alas, I work on the 21st. Stinking job getting in the way of my play time.
I will keep looking around though and see what I can find to mesh with my schedule. I definately want to go to something! And I think you are right about the atmosphere. After all you guys would be there along with the other cool people from the forum! And I Love Alan Jackson!

[Happycampers]

Do attend the Georgia Mountain Fairground Rally... we did and loved it.. wonderful people and a great lake for canoeing ... especially for the fall colors

[wheel interested]

I love Alan Jackson! One of the reasons I went to the mid-winter IBT in Perry was that his mother and sister were scheduled to perform as entertainment. They cancelled. Soooo disappointed.

[Wharf Rats]

We'll go if our schedules permit it. Meanwhile the wbcci didn't totally turn us off, it's an organization with a unique history and sounds like it needs support from AS owners. We've got no problem with being a MAL's until we have the time and/or the inclination to join a unit we like. Kinda like going to a public boat ramp on a holiday to see what happens next.

[Mac1]

Ok, the good night's sleep makes all the difference in the world. I agree with Debbie and Lewis' s remarks and observations. I think we all know that things don't always go as planned and Murphy shows up all too often.
When we arrived there was an elderly gentleman helping his handicapped wife into the car parked in front of the Roberts building. He greeted us with welcome, welcome, welcome, we are glad to have you here. Then he proceeded to help us and direct us as to what we needed to do next.
We too had a challenge with directions to the Fairgrounds - no address on the flyer (nor was it in the Garmin). We did a "breaker 19 for local information" as we were passing through Bradenton on I75 and received directions from a trucker right to the grounds.
We got parked ok (what spots/flags?) our parker tried to level us up the best he could and told us to park at an angle so our neighbor could get around a concrete barrier in front of his trailer - no problem.
Our neighbor wasn't there but the couple in the next trailer down was. I had a problem with our electrical plug and had to replace the plug on the end of the cable - took forever....then had to sort out the water. I went to hook up and there were two hoses already attached to my neighbor....what? No problem- there were a few folks and the couple we had met a little earlier who helped get the daisy chain straightened out and everyone had water. There was no animosity, raised voices or bitterness - just helpers and problem solvers.
The couple between Debbie and Lewis and us were first timers as well, had only been to the Forums briefly before. The four of us felt like youngsters (and we are close to retirement age but still very active in what we do). It was great getting to know them and their two golden retreivers. We had happy hour with them when the rest of our unit, who came to our trailer to get a group picture for the scrap book and then they went to the early sitting. (I got a little grief from our treasurer about not having numbers on the trailer - all in good fun.) As for the peacefulness and feeling of security, I second that...we were on the edge of the grounds left our new "happy hour" chairs out under the awning and they were still there in the morning - they would have been gone if we were at home.
We had a great time and took lots of pictures, especially of the Vintage Open House on Saturday - I will try to post some later today. We are really looking forward to soloing out to CA in May and the caravan with the Nor-Cal folks back to Perry.
As far as the stuff/people who have issues, well for the Vietvets - what are they going to do shave our heads and send us to Nam? (just chill, it will work out and be ok.) You find what you are looking for - positive or negative. My experience has been that life is not perfect (thank goodness for the challenges we have and not the challenges of others we see around us).
Lets go rally, I can't wait for our unit rally next month....
Mac and Linda

[LI Pets]

Originally Posted by jbond

This is the second biggest rally in the country ( ~500 units) and lots of volunteers. Its not run by the WBCCI officers, its run by the Florida Units.

There was a lot of passing the buck rather than resolving an issue.

Herb, can you post the contact info for anyone here to contact and voice there concerns and suggestions?

Perhaps the e-mails to for the committee chair persons etc.

Will the same people be running their respective committees or does that change each year.

Just one note here, it was a good rally for those of you that didn't attend don't take these comments to mean that it sucked, let's make it better by letting the right people know your suggestions.

Maybe the AS forums inner club can become the vehicle to help accomplish this.

Moreover, this if all agree should get going and organized before Perry GA in June, or we may have the same szituations there.

Herb, who would the contacts there be committee wise if you know?

[overlander63]

In the past, I have seen some (most) of the problems stated here. Last year, I became an "after hours parker" for a couple of days, and helped get everyone parked safely, got them electric and water, and gave them a verbal schedule with directions on how to get specifics. Several others have helped do this as well. Next year, now that y'all are seasoned veterans, maybe you can do something similar. You get a warm fuzzy feeling, and put a good initial impression on a first-timer's outlook.
About the parking on the flag thing... When I can't for some reason park over the flag, I just move the flag. Usually the parker starts laughing, and walks away chuckling.