Print

[Luminumtraila]

Don't know if this is the right place to write on this, so feel free to move this post if you think it's better placed somewhere else.

New leadership is clearly needed if WBCCI is going to move forward, for all the reasons that Leo and others have gone over and over.  But to increase membership the club really needs to figure out what it is that all these new Airstream owners want in a club.  In another thread at ASForums, some people suggested a refocusing on the unit (rather than regional and international clubs and rallies), but I would take it one step further.  To hold on to new members the club has to get focused on the individual member, offer something for the membership fee that is worth the price of admission, even without joining a unit.   The units can sink or swim on their own -- that's up to the members in the unit to take care of.  Some units aren't even fit to join right now.     

Right now I'm a unit member for the vote, but I'm new to my unit so I'm not active yet in attending rallies, planning, leadership, etc.   So what are the things I'm getting for my $55?  The numbers and membership in the historical club of Airstreamers, the ability to join VAC and receive the VAC newsletter (which I can read at home and enjoy much more than Blue Beret), the Airstream parks (like Penn Wood) that are open to me when I'm traveling.  Right now the club offers little or nothing for the younger members of my family, or for family Airstreamers (especially via rallies, caravanning).  And before you poo-poo that and say so maybe WBCCI is just not for you, please consider that many new and used Airstream owners are just like me and my family -- younger couples and families who are shelling out the big bucks for family togetherness, travel, and camping experiences on limited vacation time.  How does a WBCCI membership enhance that?

The little that is currently offered for $55/year (or more?) is not going to get new members and retain them.  And encouraging new members to join up in the units that are in place now won't help either.  Even the units that are supposedly the better ones still have their cliques and squabbling, the big-High School atmosphere that some people just don't want any part of.  I can imagine that many new Airstreamers leave the WBCCI after their first year because they just don't like the unit/local rally experience.  Do we really expect these people to go off and start a new unit they would like better?  Come on, people.  Get real!

Bottom line for me is this: The club has to refocus on the member, get it's individual (or family) membership package together first.  Membership growth starts with members, from members you can grow units, from units an international grows.

[Dwight]

Two years ago Jim Franklin wanted the club to be all things to all people.  If that were possible, everybody would have a great time and renew their membership and the only people dropping out would be those who are too old to travel or come to the luncheons. The club was originally structured as a caravan club offering traveling adventures to those who had the time and money to participate in them. It can still do that, and does. The actual number of members who actually take a national caravan trip each year is pretty small. They have a great time and form friendships that last for years.

The next step in the evolution of the club was the start of the Big yearly national Rally.  People from all over got together and had a big 4 or 5 day party. It was great fun. We still get about 18% of the members to come to the International.  After a while they started adding features the members and the leadership would draw more people.  The number of features continued to grow until it took 7 days to do them all.  The number of members and the number of people coming to the International kept growing to the point we needed a lot of infrastructure (power, sewer, water, communications, buildings, stage drops, bands, etc--- and we needed alot of volunteers and time and big fairgrounds with air conditioned halls support them. 

About 1964 the club was getting so big they thought they needed a three level structure to manage it.  Regions were formed and big Region Rally were started to give a benefit to those who could not travel all the way to the International.  The region rallies were like mini-Internationals. At about the same time National special event rallies started.  They were another benefit to those with less time available than the people who were participating in the caravans.  The total number of people participating in the International, Special Event, Region Rallies, and Unit rallies now greatly exceeded those participating in the caravans.  We had evolved into a Rally focused club rather than a Caravan club.  The club was still successful and continued to attract and keep members that enjoyed what the club had to offer.  Like the Detroit auto companies we had a successful product and were building a legacy of how we operated and more and more rules were developed to control what went on. 

A new generation of "campers" was growing in the wings and slowly moved up to own Airstreams.  They were more interested in camping and doing things with their young children on short weekend because they were the working class who still had to make a living 5 days a week.  They owned Airstreams so we tried to recruit them. Surprise, they found they did not fit in and the people with senority ruled the roost locally and even more so at the Region and International level because the leadership was set up based on senoirty.  Then restoring old Airstreams became a fad.  We tried to recuit these people and they even allowed them to form their own interclub VAC but were told they had to adhere to all the old folks rules and not talk back to your elders.  Naturally, they did not take that lightly and started to talk back to their parents even more. 

I guess that is where we are now.  "The campers", the "caravaners", "the rally folks", people who do their own thing most of the time a travel quite abit", "the leaders" and "the restorers".  Maybe I do not detect any theme here except they all own Airstream products. On a limited budget, are there a few things the club can offer that they will think it is worth $70 per year to all of them?  Right now we offer: National caravans, International rallies, Region Rallies, Local Unit Rallies, a so so magazine, an opportunity to climb the political ranks, lots of rules and pomp and circumstances, some "birds of a feather" Interclubs for special interest groups, local luncheons for old friends to get together and talk about old times.

I guess we have become "all things to all people" but we are still losing more members than we are gaining because the people do not think they are getting their money's worth and many couples do not want to hang around with that "other type of people" that are in the club.

If you read all that and thought I have the magic answer, I do not. 

The best I can offer is to make your local unit meet its membership's needs and wants and maybe that will be good enough to justify in their minds contributing money to the International so they can fund and lead the needs of the few that have the time and money to participate in the national events.

[Pahaska]

The sad truth is that a club of this size doesn't need 4 full-time employees and a fancy headquarters property.  Some cutting back earlier would have made the dues increase unnecessary and retained at least some members.  With computerization, two employees should be able to cover all the bases.

[Luminumtraila]

I see what you're saying, Dwight, but I was thinking more along different lines.  For now, put aside the unit experience, the caravans, the rallies, the intraclubs, the International Rally and all similar things that are only taken advantage of by some members of the club.  Let's look just at what comes with each membership.  And I'm not saying I have all the answers either, but some ideas of what could be added are:

- a Campers World membership, and a discount at Airstream Co. store included in the price of WBCCI membership
- a really good bi-monthly WBCCI magazine (focus on quality over quantity)
- free first-night stay at Airstream-only parks (first-come, first-serve basis)  This would also be a nice way to support and promote our Airstream parks.
- equal membership rights, voting and representation, whether MAL or unit member

Like I said, these are just a few thoughts to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.  The point is that maybe if we start at the single membership level, make it worthwhile to be a WBCCI member whether or not you ever join in any of the optional units, events, rallies, caravans, etc., then maybe we can build from there.

Sorry if I'm being confusing here.  I didn't mean to imply I had any easy or obvious answers to solving the clubs membership problems.  I  was just trying to approach from a different angle.

[Dwight]

Lumina,

It would be difficult for the National organization to offer some of the indicicual benefits you are proposing.

Campers World is a "for profit" corporation and is not associated with WBCCI.  We would have to buy the memberships and add the cost to our dues.  Many members are not convieniently located to a Campers World and may not wish to pay dues to become members. The campers world membership with increased WBCCI dues would likely be seen by many as a negative.

A discount at the Airstream store might be capable of being negociated. 

I agree a better magazine would be appreciated but it appears the existing in club volunteers lack the training and experience to accomplish it.  The leadership has not alloted money to hire an outside consultant after repeated pleading for years.

The six remaining Airstream parks are owned by the individual units not the WBCCI.  HQ could approach them with your idea but their participation is not garrenteed. 

With our current structure of units and regions, there is little a MALl can do to affect change or become an officer. By spending $1.00 you can gain the same voting privileges as any member by joining WDCU or 4CU and save $19 over the cost of a MAL membership.

The way I see it, membership in WBCCI is worth very little unless you participate in the events and caravans the International and the local Units offer.  The WBCCI website lists a full page of "features" the club offers but they only become "benefits" to the member when he uses them. "Features" vs "Benefits"  is a marketing mindset thing. The club can only offer features which can only turn into benefits if the member thinks they are of value to him and uses them.

[none]

I think Jamie has some great ideas on making membership more appealing to a new individual that may not be availing themselves of the WBCCI activities and I think there are many who join primarily because it is an Airstream club and has the history.  I also think there are many who do not join because of the high cost and do not think the activities are for them at all.  Increasing the value of membership with real benefits would help a lot I think too.
 
Dwight it is always great to learn more of the club's history and follow the direction the club has moved in your comprehensive posts that I always enjoy and learn from, thanks.
 
As John said and the last lines of Dwight's post point out there is that portion of the membership dues that is going towards running the club and providing the needs of a smaller segment that can take advantage of special events.  Downsizing or cutting back would be the solution I would persue before raising dues or grabbing desperately at straws with wild ideas on increasing membership with a name change or losing the single brand identity of the club.  But I don't think it is even considered as a viable solution to those with the power to make those kinds of decisions.  As the IBT has repeated it is about friends.  They are not about to give up or cutback on things that they and their friends are in line for.  In fact it seems almost the opposite is true that they are ever expanding to include more volunteers and officers to share with.
 
I also wonder if it may be a matter of pride to uphold the structure and use it as a testament of glory and that giving parts up would be the last thing they would want to consider.  And I think there it will get worse with the budget before it gets better, and don't anticipate that getting much better until new members get up there and can make some changes.  Until then I think membership will continue to drop and costs will continue to climb.

One never knows how persuasive an agent can be.  Giving away a little as a freebie to get more revenue and customers and advertising, really isn't a bad deal at all.  Many places offer the first night free.  I would never use the gas to go out of my way for a 10% discount at the listed parks but a night free would be different.  Same with Camping World running promotions all the time.  The club needs to be advertised and promoted to members, nonmembers and sponsors alike. A campaign to better the image and get it in circulation would probably be the very best change the WBCCI could make immediately.

[65GT]

"...and many couples do not want to hang around with that "other type of people" that are in the club."

OUCH!!  Is that a general statement (that applies in all directions) or is there a black sheep group here somewhere?   

"The sad truth is that a club of this size doesn't need 4 full-time employees and a fancy headquarters property."

I disagree.  First, I don't know under what circumstances the building exists.  Joe probably knows that answer but doesn't participate here.  Was it a Beatrice gift before the WBCCI was given its total independence?  Regardless I think that building is a pretty valuable club asset.  The club operating costs are posted here somewhere (can't get out of this and go look for them).  I thought the office staff of four and our total overhead expenditures were extremely reasonable.

As for a staff of two handling a club of 7K -- I doubt it.  You've got one full time on the Blue Beret with Cindy doing a big part too (that's two people and for a monthly pub - very reasonable).  You've got a membership person and a member services person.  I don't know how you could do less than that.  We get 1000 new members a year -- 20 a week and that's just new members.

I can't attest as to how busy that office is -- but given the proper direction as to what needs to be done I can see 4 exhausted people at HQs.  Maybe they already are - I have no idea.

4 people running a 7K member club -- far more than reasonable.  I can't imagine it being done by three.

[Luminumtraila]

The way I see it, membership in WBCCI is worth very little unless you participate in the events and caravans the International and the local Units offer.  The WBCCI website lists a full page of "features" the club offers but they only become "benefits" to the member when he uses them. "Features" vs "Benefits"  is a marketing mindset thing. The club can only offer features which can only turn into benefits if the member thinks they are of value to him and uses them.

This is exactly what I'm talking about, Dwight.  Some of the historical activities of WBCCI are what doesn't fit the lifestyle of many of today's new (or new-vintage) Airstream owners and they are of no value to them.  So why would they join? What will we do to attract these people?  The suggestions I made were just examples of some things that might be of value to today's Airstream owners.  I'm not married to any of these ideas, just brainstorming. 

So maybe WBCCI will have to take a good hard look at where it's money is going.  It might take a business/for-profit mindset to help with this.  The Blue Beret is one place I think some cuts could be made, and there's probably some room for cuts in expenses and perks for officers, money that should be redistributed to the entire volunteer membership in the form of benefits.   Cleaning up and eliminating some of the activities of International that are no longer relevant (like Teen Queen) might also save a few bucks.  Again, these are just some thoughts.  I'm not writing in stone.  (You're not writing SaveWally forums to stone are you, Leo?  )

Thanks, Carol, for your input here.  You have some great ideas for cutting back too.  It's a matter of moving the money away from the red-jacket past of WBCCI, and putting the money into re-invigorating club benefits and forward thinking ideas.  Just as Airstream Co. was able to bring the old silver tube into the 21st century by giving it the interior and exterior facelift it needed to compete and excel in today's market.

-J

[RideAir]

Not to steal a line from the time that "Wally" was growing head of heels, but here it goes:

"Ask not what Wally can do for you, but what you can do for Wally"

Bottom line is this guys, "most" people will travel less than 250 miles to use their Airstreams on the weekends.
So, whats this tell ya, it's local! The Blue Beret is the Blue Beret. If you want some "real" good reading, step up and help out with a kick-*ss newsletter for you local unit! If you want to add a "Camping World" membership, do it at a unit level. Most of what everyone wants/needs out of the club can be done at different levels, Unit/Region/International. Bottom line, it takes either money or time. So, which on are you willing to give up? I think it's worth dues just to go party with my friends in the WDCU. I'd pay double just to  continue to hang out with our members in the WDCU. Many of us spend more time talking about the things that are wrong with the WBCCI than we do stepping up to the plate to make the club better. If your not doing something to make the club better, I wish you would. One would think with 7000 members, their should not be a whole lot we can not do. I work a full-time job, I have a full/part-time biz on the side, a wife and 5 1/2 yrs daughter that takes most of my time, but I still find time to help out. I'm sure if many of you look, you could fine one hour a week to do something. In the words of "NIKE"

"Just do it"

Waiting for flames and arrows,

Paul Waddell
WDCU Prez (In the words of Richard Nixon "I'm not a crook") I'm out of office in 2months and 3 weeks, but who's counting!

[none]

No flames and arrows from me but I am not stepping up. People telling people they are not doing their duty is wearing thin.  What is the dynamic to be a member of the WBCCI?  The answer we have always heard is step up and do it and 101 reasons why suggestions will not work.  JFK and America this is not.  It's a camping club.  No reason in the world members should not have input into the running of the club without personally holding office.  You will pay double to hang out with your friends in the club, so that shows exactly 1. your level of commitment, 2. your expendable cash, 3. your friends are worth every penny you can pay to be with them???  And with the spirit of this thread, you offer the benefit of what to members?  Oh wait I get it you punted the ball with going up to the plate.

[Luminumtraila]

Paul --I hear what you (and many others) have said about "stepping up" and and doing the work at the unit level, for healthier units etc.   And I agree that it takes all of us working to make units and rallies be successful.   But that's different from what I'm talking about here.

What I'm talking about are the Airstreams owners who have not (yet) joined, who have joined and left after a year, or who are new members (one year or less) that we don't want to lose.  It's unrealistic, and just a bad idea, to ask new members to begin volunteering in ways that I have seen and experienced.  For example, asking a new member who's been to maybe one or two rallies to take on hosting a rally the next year, or filling a leadership role, is just asking for them to become disenchanted right away.  Especially if the unit does not offer support or guidance, or have a process in place for helping volunteers learn the ropes.  It's admirable that so many members are able to take on as much as they do, but not everybody who joins will be able to do the same right away.   We have to avoid making people shamed into leaving the club, or never joining, because they can't pull their weight. 

I commend you and many others for taking on the roles you have and for encouraging others.  But how do we attract new members, especially those who don't have local units/events to get involved in, or who aren't interested in any units or rallies?  And how do we hold on to new members who joined and found their local unit experience a real turnoff?  The club is about people, but it's not just about the current members.

I really hope I'm not coming off as a complainer because, honestly, I'm really trying to be constructive.  I hope we can keep the conversation going.

[65GT]

I view Paul's message as one for folks who have been around for a while.  The committed (or the should be committed  ).

I hear Carol whining (can you feel me getting whacked off the head? ) Carol is most certainly a doer -- whether she wants to step up or not, she does, even if she doesn't think she does ( ).  Carol's efforts have been club efforts, or local group efforts (men hater's no less!), but Carol has put in a tremendous amount of effort here -- more than many members put in at their local unit.  Carol is ultimately about fun and if you can point her to fun she works (even if she doesn't think she works).   

There are probably three types of members overall.  Those that regardless of their intentions, wind up doing more than they ever should.  Those that will help out, but prefer not to hold official positions.  That same group will usually put in a tremendous amount of time as long as you don't ask them to.  The third group -- well, they believe that joining and showing up is what they're supposed to be doing -- joining to benefit -- and they're in the minority (I believe).

Increasing membership value is easy for current members.  They're already here and what percentage of members are 3 year members?  5 year members?  10 year members?  20 year members?  Yeah, it would be really nice to know that wouldn't it?

I'm shooting off an email to HQs to see if they can create an anniversary page in the Blue Beret somewhere in a slim month (January?).  But I'd like to see some membership stats.  Maybe Frank Carson could get us those.  It would definitely be interesting.

I'm sure there is more the club could do in the way of discounts, negotiating things with other cross-marketing type companies, but it requires another dedicated volunteer (Member Benefits Chair) or another body at HQs -- at least a partial body.

I'm also going to shoot an email off to Linda Amme to see if there was a document on the kids schedule at Perry.  I know there's a program -- I know there were about a hundred kids there.  I'm very sure that if you bring kids to the International not only do they get adopted by many neighbors, but there are functions for them to attend.  I believe Colin's kids were engrossed in their 12'x4' pool (hey, you've got a water hook-up, you can have a pool!).

Locally I think it's going to be the responsibility of a group of parents of young kids to make sure they're entertained and safe.

From a club point of view I don't know what can be officially offered beyond what we've got -- surely it's open to thoughts and ideas -- I think the more important part is where can you channel those thoughts and ideas and get results?  The club does move slowly.  A ten(?) year RV Parks program providing camping discounts to WBCCI members costs the club $10K per year to print those 125 pages (x7000).  The benefit to members?  I'd never even looked at those pages until after I heard this.  With so few listed I don't believe I'd use the Membership Directory to find a park to use.  So now we charge $25 to the campground for a listing to give us a discount.  What do you think will happen to that RV Parks program now?  If they just wanted to intentionally kill it they should have done that.  I think their $25 listing fee effectively did just kill it.  We'll see what 125 pages drops to in the '08 Directory.

Bill Schrader has made an incredible difference this past year.  As PR Guru he's not only sent messages outbound, but also enacted internal improvements.  How he's getting these past an IBT that only meets a few times a year is beyond me -- maybe he's just not telling anyone and just doing it?     Yeah, I didn't think so...

Well that's the effort behind our Unit Guide -- it does nothing for a current member unless you're getting ready to jump (unit) ship, but it should help out 650 MALs, okay, maybe 600 MALs (I think we converted about 50 in the MoHo campaign) find a higher value membership at a much lower cost.  Ultimately that is being put together to attract new members though. If the WBCCI doesn't want to pick this one up from us (it should be a part of the WBCCI membership tab when you're signing up online) we'll just have to publicize the tool ourselves.  I'm sure we can influence the google search engines to put us on an even par with a WBCCI search, airstream club search, Wally Byam search.  Shouldn't be too hard and we'll get our tool out there and get it used.  Sometimes the big behemoth moves way too slow -- sometimes when it makes sense you just have to do it...

So benefits suggestions to be channeled where?  That's the only way we can move forward...

[Luminumtraila]

From a club point of view I don't know what can be officially offered beyond what we've got -- surely it's open to thoughts and ideas -- I think the more important part is where can you channel those thoughts and ideas and get results?  The club does move slowly.  A ten(?) year RV Parks program providing camping discounts to WBCCI members costs the club $10K per year to print those 125 pages (x7000).  The benefit to members?  I'd never even looked at those pages until after I heard this.  With so few listed I don't believe I'd use the Membership Directory to find a park to use.  So now we charge $25 to the campground for a listing to give us a discount.  What do you think will happen to that RV Parks program now?  If they just wanted to intentionally kill it they should have done that.  I think their $25 listing fee effectively did just kill it.  We'll see what 125 pages drops to in the '08 Directory.

Huh?    What RV Parks program are you talking about? 

[65GT]

Ha!  See what I mean?  I didn't even know about it or ever even look.  Saw the state maps, saw camgrounds -- oh well...

Page 262 - page 385 in your annual membership directory.  What a waste huh?   

[RideAir]

My point is this, when some asks the question:
"What should WBCCI offer as benefits to its members?"
I first ask myself the question "Whom is the WBCCI?"
The answer: "Me" I'm the WBCCI. I'm 43yrs, wife, kid.
OK, "What should I offer myself and others that may have the same interests?"
I like camping, having a few beers, relax and try to build good memories for my
5 yrs old daughter to be able to look back on when she grows up.

So, what do "I" the "WBCCI" have to offer new, current or soon to be members?
A rally that's just camping, a campfire(when ever possible), a few cold ones and
kids playing and having a good time and some good food while relaxing.

I guess, I'll just continue to live that other line on TV,

Instead of "An Army of one" I'll be "A WBCCI of one"


Paul Waddell
aka:
The guy always looking for a good place and reason to have a laid back rally.