WBCCI MOHO Poll

[streamer23]

Originally Posted by micsupply

I'm with you Leo. At first I thought your rants were a bit over the top, but after seeing the news coming out of Perry today I am floored at the bold notions of these SOB lovin rascals. Infiltration of multiple SOB's is just too much to consider.

This isn't just about a Class A solution for a few who require that convenience. This has fast become an assault of white box SOB's on our club which was built around one thing - aluminum Airstream trailers.

This will be put to vote by the entire member base - correct? We need to all start communicating this issue at the Unit level now. This is gonna get ugly, that's for sure. I think the name change fight of last year will pale in comparison.

I'm glad I signed up for Perry. I want to witness the blood bath first hand.

--Dave

I find it hard to believe that the club is embroiled in another controversy so close on the heals of the name change issue.Maybe someone should tell the IBT that it was voted down last year.They either think it passed or are going against the membership and calling our club the Airstream RV Owners Association anyway...I don't think so.
Here's an idea.The IBT can call their club by that name and they can give Wally's name to us.
There are a lot of fantastic people in this organization.It would be great if everyone had a common goal...get out travelling,meeting new friends and camping in your "Airstream".
It will be a bloodbath in Perry and another challenge for the membership...those that are left that is.
Maybe this is what the club has to do.Be run into the ground and like the Phoenix rise again from the ashes.

[smily]

I concur that Airstream MOHOs have been historically "manufactured" by AS.
My point was that all things evolve in some manner and it seems that all products made by Americans or the initial party, were their own in the beginning only to come to a delta in a flowing river and have to choose a direction. Do I stay afloat and maybe even grow or stay here in my spring fed little creek holding on to a tree limb that will sooner or later rot away or wane under the stress of the flowing water.
Sooner or later, folks have to (sometimes unwillingly) let go of thier ideals for change.
Many auto manufacturers make many models at a plant. I see Thor as a Chevrolet or Ford who now makes another model, Airstream.
I understand that up till now Airstream stood tall and sovereign but it has come to pass, that they are no longer a solo act. They too have done what so many other American flagships have done, joined the crowd.
Sad but true, get over it.

[LuminumTraila]

Originally Posted by smily

Sooner or later, folks have to (sometimes unwillingly) let go of thier ideals for change.

Why should folks have to let go of their ideals, willingly or unwillingly?

Originally Posted by smily

Many auto manufacturers make many models at a plant. I see Thor as a Chevrolet or Ford who now makes another model, Airstream.

Thor doesn't make Airstreams; Airstream Co. makes Airstreams. Thor is the parent company. Chevrolet and Ford in their current state are not the best business models to aspire to. For a business/vehicle manufacturer model, Thor/Airstream might want to look at Toyota instead as they overtake GM as the world's top auto maker.

But the non-Airstream motorhome issue isn't about foreign vs. domestic anyway. It's about diluting the Airstream brand name and weakening it's position in its own niche market as the lone maker of the classic Airstream travel trailer.

Anybody who wants a Thor motorhome can buy one and there are many to choose from. But it's not in Airstream's best interest, and it's not in the WBCCI's best interest, to have the Airstream brand name attached to a motorhome that's not an Airstream.

[Jim Clark]

The only way I could explain this to my wife was with this analogy.
All the Officers of the Mustang Club decide that they are to uncomfortable in a Mustangs so they ask Ford to place a sticker on a Lincoln Continental calling it the Mustang edition. They then buy the Mustang Edition Lincoln Continental and stay in power over the members who still have Mustangs. She just shook her head in disbelief.

Jim

[azflycaster]

On the WBCCI forum an anouncement for the 2009 International in Madison, WI was made. In that post the following was stated:

WBCCI, the Airstream owners club, is the oldest and largest single brand recreational vehicle owners club in the world.
Last year was Airstream’s 75th production year of the distinctive aluminum, bullet-shaped trailer, an American icon. The trailer was designed originally by Wally Byam in 1931. Of three trailers made in 1935 one is still towed and shown annually at the International Rally. More that 60 percent of the manufactured Airstream trailers are still in use today.

If this amendment passes, we will no longer be the oldest and largest single brand revreational vehicle owners club in the world.

[baldeagle]

Is the escalade a cadillac?

[munimula]

I see this move as being motivated in two or three ways - 1. the IBT and WBCCI muckity mucks need Class A's to continue to travel in 2. this is a way to help bolster the membership numbers 3. and possibly - it rolls all or most of Thors top brands into one convenient RV club for the Corp.

Membership - here is a quick and timely membership story - a good buddy and his wife just attended the Can Opener Rally and had the time of their life. The Rally ranked high as one of their best Airstream Rally experiences. The met a new friend who had owned his trailer for a week. They invited him over to the Daytona WBCCI Rally the next weekend. The new friend followed and was prac ticvally acosted upon arrival by the local WBCCI "membership chairmen". The MC told him that because this person did not have numbers 9on his rig that he was an insurance liability as was not really welcome at the Daytona event. The new Airstream felt bad about this and was gone from the Rally before daylight and has suggested he now probably never join the club.

This is a true story that happened a week ago and deserves it own thread. I've been sitting on it not to steal Howie's thunder should he ever get home and want to share the ordeal. This is a good example of why membership is dwindling. People don't want to put up with this bullsh-t when they are RVing. They want to go out, meet new friends, and have a good time.

2 and 3. I could see the forums Rally filling a void in my Airstream experience. As suggested, we'll probably see a lot of trailer owners talking with their feet this coming year if this become a white box club.

[Pat370]

All of what I have just read is the reason that WBCCI is all but DEAD.

Pat370

[LuminumTraila]

Originally Posted by 65GT

Join -- get on board -- have fun with the locals -- have some fun! It's the international stuff that gets people riled. It's rare (but it happens) that the local stuff gets people upset. If you find a group that wants to have fun -- you'll have fun.

This is a really good point, and one that we should start a whole thread on. Oh wait, there already is one, it's here.

I was talking earlier today to someone about the difference between the larger WBCCI and its politics, and the local unit. As a member of the New England Unit, these are two almost entirely different things.

Some people shy away from controversy, others dig in and get dirty up to their necks. For the ones who don't mind getting involved in the controversial politics, who are willing to get into the mud to make things better in WBCCI, I'm extremely grateful. Other members shy away from it and avoid it all cost and these members are just as valuable to the club and are often the ones doing all the behind the scenes work at a rally, making it happen! Both types of members can still enjoy the fun of the local unit. But even if your local unit isn't as good a fit for you as my unit is for me (and I recognize that there are many waning units out there that just don't get it), you can be a part of the history and tradition of WBCCI as a MAL, or, even better, join up with a unit that takes distant members and help make change, with your voice, with your vote, or with a pie in the window of an SOB MoHo (did I say that?). The more voices, the better!

-Jamie

[Silvertwinkie]

Ken may be right, but it is in fact a sad day and one that I would offer NOT simply get over and take quietly. One of the things that made an Airstream an Airstream was the fact that it was unique among the crowd. As the years have passed it's been diluted back and forth. With the ending of the boxy MoHo line, Airstream had a chance to regain what it was all about, the shell design, but even if they kept the boxy MoHos, at least they were built, not simply assembled in Jackson Center. Months of work building the roofs, walls, woodworking, etc all were done by the same folks that built some of the shell Airstream components and done under the supervision of the Airstream factory.

It's true that Thor is the GM of the RV industry, but, I think even the automakers learned a lesson when they tried to mess with some of the iconic vehicles. It's just bad policy to do so. Remeber when Ford wanted to kill the Mustang and the Thunderbird? The recent info on a possible 4 door Mustang?? A rose by any other name is still a rose, but a turd is as well.

Besides all of this, the current issue does not seem to be Airstream initiated, it's a small group of WBCCI leadership from what I understand, the same group that didn't want to allow Basecamps, Argosys, etc, making this even more sad...... but again, I say this from the outside and if numbers were dropping before year to year, I wonder what the next two years will look like.

Don't get me wrong, I'm far from an Airstream snob, though I could see how one could think that with the tone of my post, but being a rabid car nut, you don't see the Ford car clubs letting rebadged Chevys (with a Ford logo) into them...same holds true for Chevy clubs, letting rebadged Fords in....it's just not done and I could see clearly what would happen to those clubs if they did. They would slowly cease to exist as new clubs came to be to refill the niche that was lost.

[mistral blue]

Please don't hurt me. I only throw this out to help stimulate the thinking process. And perhaps it has been suggested previously. I apologize if it has.

What would happen if an entire unit or two seceded? Is it even possible?

[moosetags]

This whole thing is really sad. We are new to Airstreaming and WBCCI, and have seemed to have entered in the middle of a s--t storm. We just want to enjoy our Airstream and the company of like-minded people. We have been to only one rally (the Florida Can opener last week) and thought that it was really great, and met a bunch of really great folks. It's really a shame that all of the events can't be like this one. The story on this string about the incident at the Daytona meet is almost unbelievable. I would think that WBCCI would want to welcome a new Airstreamer as a potential member, and not throw him out the door. I guess there are fools at the helm. It makes us cautious about ever attending a WBCCI event.

[STREAMTEAM]

NO---NOPE----NEVER----Either it's an Airstream or it isn't...

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by STREAMTEAM

NO---NOPE----NEVER----Either it's an Airstream or it isn't...

If we're not careful you may be saying, "Either it's an Airstream or it's an Airstream Edition!" (or maybe it should be a if it weren't so sad and angering!)

I say vote in new leadership! (humph, lots of exclamation points in this post. maybe that means something!)

I'm a new member of the WBCCI so I don't know the voting process, but when are the next elections? When do we vote on this issue?

[rickandsandi]

Long live the ACA!

As long as there are units out there like New England all is not lost, till one of those big ugly square peices of %^#$# show up!

Fortunatly we have an awsome local WBCCI unit and will continue to support it as best we can.

This whole thread gets me mad enough to pay my dues and join again. If for nothing else but to fight from within. All the arguments in the world won't change the fact that the WBCCI is AN Airstream Club. To allow a rebadged motorhome in just opens the door to a faster downward spiral of this Club. Feels like the French Revolution... time to storm the palace and oust the aristocrats.

[rickandsandi]

Originally Posted by Craftsman

This whole thread gets me mad enough to pay my dues and join again. If for nothing else but to fight from within. All the arguments in the world won't change the fact that the WBCCI is AN Airstream Club. To allow a rebadged motorhome in just opens the door to a faster downward spiral of this Club. Feels like the French Revolution... time to storm the palace and oust the aristocrats.

Join back up and join the fight, because it's a good fight. WBCCI is worth saving. These folks can't live forever and then we can have our club back!

[TIMEMACHINE]

First off, I believe the original club was intended to help market the Airstream trailer (The Icon) as well as expose the members to a different way of life. Politics has played a part in morphing the original club into a power tool for some and an extended marketing tool for others.

The Icon will be dilluted if the present direction of the WBCCI leadership and Thor's management continues to make poor choices as to the use of the trademark and the membership of the club.

In todays world, intellectual property is highly valued. The challenge for the Thor management is to what degree can they profit from the Airstream name without dilluting its value. Trust me, if Ford or any other big player wanted to license the Airstream name for what is refered to as "free money" (doesnt cost Thor anything, just pure profit), no one at Thor is going to give a hoot about the WBCCI.

In conclusion, the current membership should vote in the leadership that will fullfil the desires of maintaining a pure club (real Airstreams only) and not worry or speculate about what Thor is going to do for making a profit.

[rickandsandi]

OK, here is a question either I missed or has not yet been posted; what the heck does Thor have to do with WBCCI? Is the far reaching hand of the Board of Directors so long that it can infiltrate a private organization? If so, to who's benefit? Not mine thats for sure. Yes, I understand there are all sorts of allinaces between Airstream and the club but come on.

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by Craftsman

This whole thread gets me mad enough to pay my dues and join again. If for nothing else but to fight from within. All the arguments in the world won't change the fact that the WBCCI is AN Airstream Club. To allow a rebadged motorhome in just opens the door to a faster downward spiral of this Club. Feels like the French Revolution... time to storm the palace and oust the aristocrats.

That's what I am saying!!! What a message to join WBCCI just to fight this stupidity off! I hope you do join again.