Improving the WBCCI to attract new members

[87MH]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Give me a local unit that has an evening meeting where I can grab a bite off the menu, a beer and the business stuff is over in :15 because the kids are hungry and the food arrived. Rotate the leadership thru the members on an annual basis. Anyone should be able to pIck a weekend and a campground that should be all that's required for a Rally. Pranks shouldn't be tolerated, they should be Scored. The mid summer meeting should involve a swimming pool, flowery shirts and coconut bra's.

Just a few suggestions...I can think up some more if you want.

They're out there...you just need to search them out!!!!

Picture below from a Texas Vintage Rally a few years ago.

[Gene]

To get the ideas—or the good ones—implemented, reformers have to take over the club. I know some are moving up through the cumbersome system apparently designed to restrict change, but it takes too long. You have to play the politics of the club to get enough reformers in office to make for real change. I'm sure there are some people working behind the scenes, but more are needed.

That is necessary before anything else gets done.

Gene

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by crabbey1

Can you search that map on a phone app while driving? If not, it seems that you might be the type of person who would say, "Why use TV? Radio works perfectly." Technology moves so quick, and if you don't keep up, you get left behind. That applies to WBCCI as well...

$155 fine for that in Ontario. Why not plan ahead.

[Castaway]

Originally Posted by Gene

To get the ideas—or the good ones—implemented, reformers have to take over the club. I know some are moving up through the cumbersome system apparently designed to restrict change, but it takes too long. You have to play the politics of the club to get enough reformers in office to make for real change. I'm sure there are some people working behind the scenes, but more are needed.

That is necessary before anything else gets done.

Gene

To get reformers , eliminate the Nominating committee. Why should 2 or 3 selected members get to decide who runs for office? If all interested parties have their resume and bio available for the March Blue Beret the units would have time to discuss and vote before the International.

Gary

[dwightdi]

I do the driving, most times, and the wife reads the maps, GPS, and phone calls(if we have to). We carry the printed WBCCI directory whenever we are on the road. I do not like having accidents because of diverted attention. For those who travel alone, park and take care of business.

[crabbey1]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

$155 fine for that in Ontario. Why not plan ahead.

What I meant was that my co pilot could navigate while I drive...

[Smartstream]

First I was a member of WBCCI back when all the expelling of members and law suits and other nonsense was going on. I dropped out because I did not want to contribute $$ to this kind of an organization. It was not the amount of money but where it was going and what it was being used for.

I have camped with members at official and non official rallies and have probably had more fun at unofficial rallies, less structure. I have also camped at forum rallies and had lots of fun. The people you meet at rallies are far removed from the politics.

I spend lots of time here on the forum because of the camaraderie and information and all else that the forum offers. By the number of threads and posts and the times they are visited, I am not the only one and it appears the forum must be doing something right.

That being said this thread is several pages long and it is only one of many on this subject. There are obviously many people passionately interested in the survival and growth of the WBCCI. It seems to me that there is more interest in saving the WBCCI here on air forums then at the WBCCI itself.

As I see it and I may be wrong, if the powers that be at WBCCI were to join in some of these discussions some ideas could be tossed back and forth and maybe some meaningful improvements could come out of that. As it stands now a great resource is being missed. I know it has been said that they read and follow the air forum but the benefit would be in participation.

Again this is just one mans opinion.

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by mcdowellc

...snip...
We attended the Florida State Rally our first year of owning an AS and the "pomp" and rules (no wine/alcohol at dinner) put us off the club.
...snip...

What?!?! I've been to some rallies where wine/alcohol ARE the dinner! :-)

It's like Tip O'Neil used to say - "all politics is local". I really have only experienced WBCCI locally so far and it's just a great group of folks. I don't know if they do caravans - and there are some rallies that sound great that we just can get to. But the advice, fun and insight (e.g., great little rally called "Diggin the Dead" which was about old local gravestones in Maine) have been well worth the price of admission for us. Everyone's mileage will vary. All WBCCI is local
:-)

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by mcdowellc

----------------- We have been to Alumapalooza 3 times and never got the sense that the club's office building was open, welcoming or acknowledged there were hundreds of members and potential members just down the road. I don't recall a national level officer standing out to me...------------------------
Nancy

I was by the office and did you see the big sign that says no overnight parking allowed in their big lot WhAAAT

[eubank]

Folks, please work on suggestions for improvement. Again, ugly stuff that happened years ago within the WBCCI is just boring crud, plainly irrelevant to the topic, especially given the rapid fall in membership across all of the major RVing clubs.

Lynn

[Shacksman]

Ok my suggestion for an improvement to the club. Let people passing through the area use the big lot, (with the dump station in place) at the office for overnight stays, while they are at the office with their ideas for helping the club grow.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by eubank

Folks, please work on suggestions for improvement.
Lynn

Run for office.

Support those reformers who do.

It is old fashioned grassroots organizing. It is work, takes time, has frustrations involved, but it isn't going to happen otherwise and the eventual rewards should be worth it.

Gene

[eubank]

Gene, in case you're unaware, there are good people in office now and good ones forthcoming.

But good people in office or changes to the constitution is not what this thread is about. It's about the fall in membership across all of the major RVing clubs and about what additional offerings we can come up with to change the situation within our club.

By the way, I should add a note about another possible indication of the wide-spread nature of the changes happening among RVers: The drop in numbers of people in RVs heading for the older traditional winter "snowbird" locations in Arizona, Texas and Florida. This change commenced in earnest around the turn of the century (well before the recession) and is evidently continuing today. Of course, I have no direct evidence that this change is directly related to the change in membership in the major RVing clubs like the WBCCI, but the co-occurrence is just too obvious to ignore.


Lynn

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by eubank

Gene, in case you're unaware, there are good people in office now and good ones forthcoming.

But good people in office or changes to the constitution is not what this thread is about. It's about the fall in membership across all of the major RVing clubs and about what additional offerings we can come up with to change the situation within our club.


Lynn

Lynn there may be good people in office and more forthcoming but isn't it set up so that they are the ones that make the changes to the club and make additional offerings to change the situation in the club? Members have no control what so ever other than a proxy vote for those officers presented.

We can come up with the greatest ideas in the world but it does no good if nobody is listening. I just think it would be much better if those good people in office showed an interest in these ideas and joined in to expand, improve and maybe implement some of the good ideas.

[eubank]

Dan, the matter that Gene was thinking about involves the nominating committee, which he believes will skew future elections. Quite apart from the fact that the IBT is mostly populated by region presidents, over whom members have a lot of say, he also ignores the "other side of the coin," namely, that the nominating committee is tasked with begging for people to step forward to leadership positions, much as is seen at the unit level as well. All fine and good, but irrelevant to the present discussion.

The fact is that doing things like belonging to RV clubs (and very likely more) is just no longer attractive to as many people. This applies across the board to the WBCCI and to the other major RV clubs. The purpose of this thread is to address this situation with suggestions for ways in which we can accommodate newer or different interests. Get real with new ways to get new people interested in joining our club.


Lynn

[Castaway]

Gary

[Castaway]

The Treasurer is hand picked by the incoming president. This is a fact told to me by the current office holder, in that same conversation a member from Texas commented that must by why someone from their unit was not approved that year to run for the Treasurer position. If it is done for one who knows how many others. All members are eligible to run for office, but has any ever been elected from the membership? Has any woman ever run for 3rd Vice Presidents office? If not why not?

Gary

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by eubank

Dan, the matter that Gene was thinking about involves the nominating committee, which he believes will skew future elections. Quite apart from the fact that the IBT is mostly populated by region presidents, over whom members have a lot of say, he also ignores the "other side of the coin," namely, that the nominating committee is tasked with begging for people to step forward to leadership positions, much as is seen at the unit level as well. All fine and good, but irrelevant to the present discussion.

The fact is that doing things like belonging to RV clubs (and very likely more) is just no longer attractive to as many people. This applies across the board to the WBCCI and to the other major RV clubs. The purpose of this thread is to address this situation with suggestions for ways in which we can accommodate newer or different interests. Get real with new ways to get new people interested in joining our club.


Lynn

I understand the nominating committee, how the officers are chosen and the difficulty in finding people to step forward to leadership positions. I also understand that the club is very structured and the constitution and by-laws are quite long and specific.

The region presidents are to represent members of their regions but there are also unit presidents and delegates with no really direct vote. Motions from the units have a very long and difficult journey to become implemented.

My point is that the region presidents and the rest of the IBT are the ones who must approve and implement any changes and improvements to the club. Any discussions and brilliant ideas that might come from this thread would have a much better chance of being implemented if those doing the voting have an interest in and are part of the discussion.

[crabbey1]

Where can I find this constitution? I would love to read it. And in a side note, I want to admit, I find it silly that a group of adults needs a constitution to get together and enjoy their airstreams...

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by crabbey1

Where can I find this constitution? I would love to read it. And in a side note, I want to admit, I find it silly that a group of adults needs a constitution to get together and enjoy their airstreams...

You can find it here http://www.wbcci.org/club-informatio...info-and-forms

Look under WBCCI Blue Book, I counted 213 pages. July 2013 treasury balance was in excess of $1,250,000. which is why they need a constitution. The control of that treasury I would guess is the source of many problems.