WBCCI Survey

[Silvertwinkie]

Smily,

Thanks for the post, the great info on WBCC and for being persistent in getting us all to participate!

Eric

[LuvSub]

As a card-carrying member of the CFG group (36 yrs old with a '02 International AS), I would have the following comments:

1. The Blue Beret needs to redefine itself so that receiving it each month is "almost worth the cost being a member". It therefore becomes a tool whereby reluctant new members eventually become involved in the club over time. I once read a post that said the Blue Beret consists of 6 issues dedicated to talking about the upcoming International Rally and 5 issues dedicated to discussing the previous International. If the VAC can put out a quality publication like The Vintage Advantage, than WBCCI can do the same.

2. Quit making Members-at-Large feel like second class citizens. Because of the current demographics of the units, being a Member-At-Large is appealing to me. Eventually, enough MAL's will begin filtering into the units on their own to change the membership profile to a more diverse age grouping. That will not happen overnight so WBCCI needs to insure they are keeping MAL's, not trying to drive them into unit membership. As an example, I've signed up for the International Rally but have no communication as to what events are planned or what to expect. Yes, in a unit I would get that but as an MAL, I have no clue.

Luv Sub
WBCCI #1062

[Silvertwinkie]

That is very good information. Being new to the WBCC, I had no idea it was kind of terrirorial.

Eric

[thenewkid64]

A short (I hope) explanation of why MAL(member at large) is treated as it is. BTW I was a MAL for 3 years, and I do not agree with the way MAL in general are treated.


MAL (member at large) came into being in the last 10 years. It was done to accommodate members that are fulltiming and do not have affiliation to a local unit. To allow membership of new owners that may not know what unit they want to join, but want the benefits of WBBCI.

Up until the 80's you had to be sponsored by a unit member to apply for membership into the WBCCI. This meant attending a buddy rally; meeting the unit members and having a member say I will sponsor this new member. Sounds kind of like a country club, doesn't it?

In the last two years WBCCI has given any new owner of an
Airstream product new or used a one year WBCCI membership free. The club does not "stick" you into a unit, but designates you as a MAL. All of the local units get a list of new MAL to contact so that we can extend the invite to a unit event. This is all well and good, but some of the long time members seem to resent the MAL. I have overheard discussions regarding this and feel it has to do more with unit revenues than anything else. You are correct in the statement regarding MAL filtering into the units. You will see unit membership grow based on how this issue is handled. Making the MAL feel welcome and not pressuring them to be a unit member but to get a chance to know your unit is the first step. If a unit does not appeal to the MAL then I agree, why should they join it? Each unit has a personality; you have to find the right fit for you.

There are benefits to unit membership, and you can be a member of more than one unit. For some MAL is the way to go.

As to the issue of International and the planned events we had no clue what to expect as "first timers" to the International even while we were members of a unit. Each member has their own "to dos" at the rally. I will say this, the International has so much to do, that if you try to do it all you will be exhausted at the end of each day.

[jcanavera]

Smily,

Thanks for the great feedback information. I'm going to clip this and post this on our unit's web page. There are things there for everyone to be attentive to.

Regards,

Jack

[Pahaska]

At age 70 and wife 60, we are some of the younger members of our unit. I find that our unit is actively trying to interest and attract a younger group of owners.

We recently held a vintage rally and brought out a lot of younger folks and quite a few joined our unit. This was so successful that we are discussing a repeat of the vintage rally next year.

[Don in E Texas]

In the last two years WBCCI has given any new owner of an
Airstream product new or used a one year WBCCI membership free <snip>

We're new members of WBCCI and are "At Large" members. I paid $60.00 for my membership, not free.

In a few weeks we will attend our first Airstream Rally here in S Texas - and we're looking forward to it. We are clueless as to what to expect! We have attended Escapees, Bus Nut, and FMCA gatherings in the past.

We have yet to spend a night in our trailer! We are in our 40' bus conversion at the current time and will use the trailer for the first time at the Rally. I've installed a central vac system and a satellite antenna on the roof - have not tried either one yet (trailer in storage - no AC power available).

If someone sees an old man (67) that is wandering around his trailer looking somewhat confused, stop by. Have a brew and give a hand.

Should be fun at the Rally.

:>)


Don

[jcanavera]

Don,
If you are a first time Airstream owner, then somebody screwed up or you didn't provide them a copy of your bill of sale for your trailer when applying. You should be given the first year of membership for free. You might contact WBCCI headquarters about this. You can put that 60 bucks to better use.

Jack

[smily]

I would definitely contaqct Kathy Adams @ WBCCI. She is the membership chairman at WBCCI. You can find her link at www.WBCCI.org.

Man, what I could do with sixty bucks!

Have you seen all of the Airstream stuff at EBAY?

Smily

[Tinovations]

Ken:

I have to say I do enjoy reading your posts.

We live just to the north of you in the Raleigh, NC area. My passion for Airstreams grows each time I pop on the Airstream Forums.

For about 3 years now I have been restoring a 1955 Airstream Overlander purchased off Ebay. I never regret making the purchase.

Keep up your great posts ! Hope our paths cross in the near future.

Tim

[pjtaia]

Very interesting results.

We are new Airstream owners. We paid the fees before we knew of the first-year-free offer. When we contacted WBCCI we were promptly issues a refund.

We have been extremely pleased with our local unit - South Coast California. They have done just about everything the survey says they should be doing. Rallies are on weekends, locations are generally less than 150 miles away, there is one activity or outing and mostly group meals, but there is no pressure if you decline to participate in anything. We were welcomed at our first rally and the "old-timers" continue to be very friendly and inclusive.

We are 51 and 52, and we are not the youngest members, In the last 6 months 3 other couples about our age have joined.

Our unit is small and still struggles to get 10 couples at a weekend rally (necessary to get the group discount). There are several other southern California units with the same problem, and there has been talk of joining each other's rallies, but all the other units hold their rallies mid-week.

I guess we just got lucky and picked a unit with weekend rallies.

I think all members need to review the survey and start to make changes. Most members of our unit have been members for more than 10 years and they have great friendships. This is what WBCCI offers. I hope it can be extended to the future generations.

As members age units may need to consolidate. We need to open to new people and new methods or the whole thing will collapse.

[Andy R]

I just removed the "sticky" status of this thread because no one had posted to it in 6 weeks. This message is to bump it back up the list.

[Torpedo Family]

Will not work for me? Any suggestions, I am not using AOL, I am on cable modem. Would love to fill out the survey. We attended the International in Springfield this year and see some improvements needed. Let me know what to do if you still want participants.

[uwe]

Looks like the survey went down over 2 years ago.

Glad you picked this up, though....did anything change since then? Were official steps taken to "improve" the WBCCI?