Improving the WBCCI to attract new members

[eubank]

Exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for! Keep it up!

Lynn

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by eubank

Exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for! Keep it up!

Lynn

So why the frown? ;-)

[wxbuoy]

Might I humbly suggest that the "many (new) buyers of (new) Airstreams who are not joining the club!" are not doing so because of the activities the club offers, but the experience

They live a life style. Independent, adventuresome, exciting. An airstream is just a means to an adventure it is not about activities but the experience. It doesn't matter really what the activity is, it is the experience you share with your significant other or close friends. It is a mind set...... not a place, or thing, or activity but the path. You have to focus on the experience above all else, not the activity.

I apologize if this is perceived as off topic. If you try and sell a dog to a person looking for a jeep, most will not buy it, and those who do will either love the dog and take it for a ride in a jeep they get elsewhere or take it to the pound and get rid of it. But most will not take the dog in the first place since they really were looking for a jeep. Laugh, but it is just that simple and absurd.

In my humble opinion trying to sell the ACTIVE market share who buy a new airstream on activities is just .. well it just is. Activities are secondary, friendship, adventure, experience is primary. To be close with their family, to have fun with their friends, to live. Wally knew this. Wally sold this, not aluminum but adventure. That is how the WBCCI started....from a marketing campaign. They met on a caravan (designed to draw attention to airstream) and they decided to keep in touch. But now a days everyone is in touch, real time,via FB, twitter, google plus, instagram, pinterest, etc. Why do they need a club to do what they already do everyday?

[eubank]

I don't think that's off-topic, Dave or Felicia (or Felicia or Dave). For many, it's only about the Airstream experience. Is there anything that you think the WBCCI could do that would enhance that experience or make the experience more intense for new buyers?

Lynn

[eubank]

MY BAD! I meant to use a smiley, but got it wrong.

Lynn

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

So why the frown? ;-)

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by eubank

MY BAD! I meant to use a smiley, but got it wrong.

Lynn

I know - I'm just playin with ya ;-)

[SteveSueMac]

Wxbuoy - that made me think about WBCCI video conferences for educational purposes, maintenance tips, historical insights, caravan superstars, etc (imagine a myriad of topics) available exclusively for WBCCI members say 2x/mo and rather than formal rallies - just camp wherever and with whomever you like using the knowledge gained from your video conference.

If local groups want to host rallies for other fun purposes (the NEU did a really cool one called "Diggin The Dead" which was a great field trip and tutorial on the symbolism and meaning of old New England headstones), then have at it. There is something to be said for camping with other Airstreamers (different experience than chatting here in the forum) and I'd love to do a weekend caravan or maybe a 2-week one when (if? ) I ever retire - and - I enjoy all the online interaction as well.

[az-streamer]

is seems that the WBCCI has become secondary to the "Airstream Experience". No-one buys an Airstream so that they can join the WBCCI. People who buy Airstream may, or may not, join the WBCCI for the real, or perceived, benefits, that the WBCCI seems to offer.

for us, the purchase of an AS was the objective and the goal. once reached we didn't look further; never thought about the WBCCI until we found a group we liked and had to join the WBCCI in order to hang out with the local group. we treat it like unavoidable overhead, or a cost-of-doing-business.

had it not been for the local group, there would have been no reason to join the WBCCI - it was just the cost of entry to the group, not a way to get involved with the national WBCCI organization.

honestly, there really is little the hierarchial [sp?] WBCCI has to offer us. we are just in it for the local experience and friendship of fellow Streamers. IMHO

so - light a campfire and pop-a-top my friend!

[eubank]

Seems like we could also "stockpile" these videos on the internet, available via membership username and password?

Some years back, I was thinking about organizing a caravan on the Ancestral Pueblans (aka the Anasazi) in the broad four-corners area and some of their presumed descendants a bit further south. Basically a focus on architecture, pottery, and history. Complete with lectures and tests. I think it was the tests that scared people that I told about it.


Lynn

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

Wxbuoy - that made me think about WBCCI video conferences for educational purposes, maintenance tips, historical insights, caravan superstars, etc (imagine a myriad of topics) available exclusively for WBCCI members say 2x/mo and rather than formal rallies - just camp wherever and with whomever you like using the knowledge gained from your video conference.

If local groups want to host rallies for other fun purposes (the NEU did a really cool one called "Diggin The Dead" which was a great field trip and tutorial on the symbolism and meaning of old New England headstones), then have at it. There is something to be said for camping with other Airstreamers (different experience than chatting here in the forum) and I'd love to do a weekend caravan or maybe a 2-week one when (if? ) I ever retire - and - I enjoy all the online interaction as well.

[az-streamer]

Originally Posted by that made me think about WBCCI video conferences for educational purposes, maintenance tips, historical insights, caravan superstars, etc ....available exclusively for WBCCI members say 2x/mo
and using the knowledge gained from your video conference. [QUOTE

- not interested


If local groups want to host rallies for other fun purposes (the NEU did a really cool one called "Diggin The Dead" which was a great field trip and tutorial on the symbolism and meaning of old New England headstones), then have at it. There is something to be said for camping with other Airstreamers ....and I'd love to do a weekend caravan or maybe a 2-week one.....

- count me in!

although when i first read it i really though it was a rally based on the music of the Grateful Dead (and i would also have been interested!)


just the way I see things.....

[eubank]

Good points! I really don't think the uppermost layer of the WBCCI offers that much at all for new folks -- or for many of the existing members! The International and the IBT Winter thing are primarily business meetings for people who are into that sort of thing.

I'll add two additional points here:

First, not everybody is a joiner of groups or wants to socialize face-to-face. In the past, I think these people have simply been ignored. By offering these people some kind of alternative enhancements to the club, we may be able to interest them with non-group stuff.

Perhaps we could involve them and ourselves with group stuff that doesn't involve heavy doses of beer-hoisting, face-to-face socializing. We used to take part in road rallies, for example. A group? Yes, the Sports Car Club of America. Face-to-face stuff? Precious little, mainly just us and the MGB. I could imagine similar group/non-group stuff for fly fishing, hiking, birding, photography, and more.

Second, for folks who are interested in socializing, but not in business meetings, I'll reiterate that I think both the International and the Winter IBT need to be turned into real rallies, where the business meeting takes second seat to having fun or getting educated or whatever.

But really it's about the local units. If the quality of experience -- in all of the ways that this might be realized -- is not present at the local level, then, well, hang up the hat.

Even here, at the local level, I see improvement at the upper level, which seems to recognize that local units change, some for the better and some for the worse, in terms of attracting new members. Taking action, the IBT's permitting new units with alternative visions of what it means to be club members happens more and more. And that's a very good thing, I think.


Lynn

Originally Posted by az-streamer

is seems that the WBCCI has become secondary to the "Airstream Experience". No-one buys an Airstream so that they can join the WBCCI. People who buy Airstream may, or may not, join the WBCCI for the real, or perceived, benefits, that the WBCCI seems to offer.

for us, the purchase of an AS was the objective and the goal. once reached we didn't look further; never thought about the WBCCI until we found a group we liked and had to join the WBCCI in order to hang out with the local group. we treat it like unavoidable overhead, or a cost-of-doing-business.

had it not been for the local group, there would have been no reason to join the WBCCI - it was just the cost of entry to the group, not a way to get involved with the national WBCCI organization.

honestly, there really is little the hierarchial [sp?] WBCCI has to offer us. we are just in it for the local experience and friendship of fellow Streamers. IMHO

so - light a campfire and pop-a-top my friend!

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by eubank

Seems like we could also "stockpile" these videos on the internet, available via membership username and password?

Some years back, I was thinking about organizing a caravan on the Ancestral Pueblans (aka the Anasazi) in the broad four-corners area and some of their presumed descendants a bit further south. Basically a focus on architecture, pottery, and history. Complete with lectures and tests. I think it was the tests that scared people that I told about it.


Lynn

Yes - stockpiled and password protected. Maybe I can virtually caravan if I can't go live. Some live feeds from caravans might be cool too. Say a Thursday night live broadcast from some cool exotic location....

I'd enjoy such things. Not sure it would attract anyone to membership though...

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by az-streamer

- count me in!

although when i first read it i really though it was a rally based on the music of the Grateful Dead (and i would also have been interested!)

just the way I see things.....

Well - many of the gang wore tie-dye stuff :-). I thought there was going to be some Dead karaoke but that didn't pan out :-)

[SteveSueMac]

Lynn - I agree the local experience is strongest...

[dwightdi]

Airstream asked 12,000 potential buyers what they wanted 4 years ago and reacted to it. How about asking potential members what they want, instead of continuing to blindly guess. There are plenty of free internet based survey systems available (Mail Chimp for one).

There are a lot of Airstream, travel, and RV "You Tube" videos. How about making a series of WBCCI Caravaning and Rally feature presentations that also advertising the potential advantages of WBCCI membership as a sideline. Airstream already uses "You Tube" to advertise their product. "You tube" is available to all potential members free. We need to show our new "activity oriented" rallies to potential customers. The work of putting them together could be done by an International level committee funded by our International dues. It could be done under the current marketing and publicity committees that have the responsibility and the money, but have not taken the lead in this area, so far.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by eubank

Good points! I really don't think the uppermost layer of the WBCCI offers that much at all for new folks -- or for many of the existing members! The International and the IBT Winter thing are primarily business meetings for people who are into that sort of thing.

.................

Second, for folks who are interested in socializing, but not in business meetings, I'll reiterate that I think both the International and the Winter IBT need to be turned into real rallies, where the business meeting takes second seat to having fun or getting educated or whatever.

But really it's about the local units. If the quality of experience -- in all of the ways that this might be realized -- is not present at the local level, then, well, hang up the hat.



Lynn

The problem with the upper echelon gatherings is not that these meetings are uninteresting, it's that they are a window into how the club is run, and the mindset and life orientation that drives it.......and where those hefty dues go, as not a dime goes to your local unit.

I think attrition is going to be a huge part of the answer to reversing the demise of the WBCCI.

Maybe this could be expedited. Maybe some of the old-timers could relinquish control to the next generation, in the interest of increasing appeal and therefore membership.

It's going to be exceedingly difficult to implement any of these excellent suggestions until the next generation actually takes the wheel.

Maggie

[eubank]

I disagree, Maggie! There is just tons of evidence that folks, especially new people, who go to the International find themselves with nothing interesting to do. It's a business meeting; it's not a rally and has no business calling itself one. It's a dud and one of the very best ways I know of to turn off new/prospective members.

Of course, if you don't know what's happening at the IBT, it's also tempting to look at "those people" as self-centered CEOs who drain the club's checkbook on themselves. Fact checking reveals that this scenario just doesn't happen.


Lynn

[Lily&Me]

Well, Lynn.....not to pick a big fight, and with all due respect....I disagree.

We were WBCCI members for 2 years, and went to two consecutive Winter IBT meetings, first in Louisiana and then the following year in Texas. We wanted to see for ourselves what was going on. What we observed was not pleasant or encouraging, and not a group we wanted to support, be a part of, nor associated with.

Our concerns and impressions after those meetings have been posted in other threads, and I am not going to repeat them here.

There have been many concerns expressed by many people about the International, only some of which have had to do with the lack of rally-type activities. This is definitely an area which needs improvement, and I think you are on the right track there.

Members and former members of the WBCCI have said over and over again (in other threads here) that the fun is at the local level, with a unit you have something in common with, and the root of the club issues are with the elderly, rigid, upper echelon who hold the reins at the IBT.

It doesn't seem to me that there is time to wait for attrition to allow the course of the club to change. Those in power at the WBCCI who are stuck in the old ways need to step aside and hand over their positions to the next generation of leaders.

There are some really great folks coming up thru the ranks. We have met them, like and respect them.

It is disingenuous to simplify these issues by focusing on the lack of fun activities, excluding the well-documented problems with the IBT.

Great rallies and great people can be had without WBCCI membership. There has to be something substantive and systemic that the WBCCI offers, which make those hefty dues worthwhile.

It starts and ends with the IBT. Those who are stuck and unable to change need to step aside.


Maggie

[HowieE]

We can sit here forever and toss ideas back and forth. If you really want to see how a rally should be run and enjoyed you still have time to sign up for the 2014 CanOpener.

This link will give some idea of the interest leading up to the rally and the video will show last years results.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f288...-a-100346.html

Skip to the end to get an idea of how we eat.

Canopener 2013 Medium - YouTube

[eubank]

Maggie, I don't disagree that there are other changes that need to be made with the WBCCI. However, there are good leaders now in place to address these matters (a stark contrast to the leadership of only a few years ago), and there are plenty of members here on Airforums and elsewhere with suggestions for improvement in these areas.

But that's just not the point of this thread, plain and simple.

This thread is about what additions we can come up with to attract Airstream owners into this club. As much as I try to resist the idea, observations do nevertheless indicate that a significant number of a younger generation of owners -- and these are owners of practically any brand of RV, not just Airstreams -- are just not that interested in the group/club activities of older generations.


Lynn