What is your club ideal?

[wheel interested]

I just signed on to start a thread about club expectations. Let's discuss what members would like to gain from membership in a travel club. What are the priorities. I have heard over and over that people want to meet with people with similar interests (i.e. Airstreams) and have a fire and talk about experiences. Well I say we raise the bar and I want to hear what you would like to gain or share with others in our club. What excites you? What do you want in the way of stimulation? What do you want to accomplish logging in x amount of hours? Is the club about relaxing, sharing, being ambassadors? Is it about ownership and collecting? Traveling caravanning, rallies? Does anyone join to be Miss Airstream or walk with a flag down the aisle? Is the Pledge and prayer a priority to you? Let's hear from you. Name change is superficial, let's talk...

[2airishuman]

"trust no club that would have me as a member"

[dwightdi]

The club needs a continuing dedicated team of professionals to lead it. Our leadership and directions change yearly. It takes a min. of eight years to get to be a voting member at the IBT and you are only there for two years. It takes min. of twelve years to rise to the level of president and you are only there for a year. Your biggest goal, time expenditure, and legacy is the one International you are responsible for. It takes three levels of approval before a member idea to be brought up to the IBT and usually is voted down. Average age of IBT is in the 70's with little commercial experience. Good Sam (being a commercial corporation) has the benifit of long term market analysis and strategy. Good Sam is gaining membership and WBCCI has not. Seems like copying a winner might be a place to start: Better magazine (better articles written by professionals, color, pictures, good organization, professional layout), professional leadership, more benefits, efficient organizational structure, good use of internet and other technologies, young ideas, less expenses on publishing unread material, (Good Sam sees no benifit in publishing a directory(list) of its 1,000,000 members to its 1,000,000 members), professional market analysis of what draws and and retains members.

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by dwightdi

The club needs a continuing dedicated team of professionals to lead it.

Very well put. The essence of the issue.

[Uberlanders]

Units need a web site and update that website regularly. There were no websites that had been updated in the last year for Washington units. It took a member of this forum to do some searching to find an old out of date website.

Then the website needs to be linked to the International website so that when you buy your trailer you are able to connect quickly with those in your area. We sent an inquiry through the International site about information on joining a local unit, the local unit took 2 months to contact us. When they did contact us it was about where to mail our check and that their unit was probably dissolving.

[Buttercup]

WOW! That is really a good point. Region 12 (ours) has only 2 or 3 working web sites. Some regions don't even have a web site at all. Each region should be working with WBCCI to get that infrastructure going. Each unit should be working with the region to be sure the information gets shared.
As an example the Astronomical Society of Nevada hosts web sites for each of its sister clubs in Las Vegas, Tonopah and of course Reno. I know - I run that site. But it is simple to include these areas and help them get started. Once up and running they take over. We also set up a general forum structure (like this one) to allow the groups to share information. Granted we have a combined membership of less than 200 around the state but we are well connected and growing. We started out with 65 members a few years ago.
WBCCI should facilitate that same sort of connectivity.

I think the age and experience of the leadership doesn't understand the internet technology enough to see the value it has in doing this cheaply. Or how effective it can be for the club overall.