FMCA ballot to abandon motorhome only requirement

[Drifterrider]

and in other news.... Looks like the Boy Scouts of America will admit Girls soon.

Same news, different channel

When I was a Boy Scout I would have supported this: as would have all of the boys in my Troup.

 

[Rene T]

When I was a Boy Scout I would have supported this: as would have all of the boys in my Troup.

It's called BOY Scouts (all boys) for a reason and GIRL Scouts (all girls) for a reason.
Those jamborees could get pretty interesting, don't ya think?  : :-X

 

[Lou Schneider]

So, what do you get when you cross a motorhome with a towable?  8)

 

[kdbgoat]

This:

http://cheezburger.com/4193731328/something-seems-backwards

 

[Oscar Mike]

Well now, I've changed positions. After a lot of soul searching, I could not think of a single reason why trailers/5th Wheels shouldn't be a part of the group. My vote is being cast in favor of the measure passing.

 

[Mile High]

I've decided not to vote - with only a year in the FMCA and not ever have been to a rally I don't want to cast a vote against others with a higher passion and history.  If it goes to trailers I'll drop membership and move on.

 

[Isaac-1]

You should vote, this is being sold as must pass to gain membership, if you are going to drop out if it passes that does not help anything.

 

[kdbgoat]

I don't want to cast a vote against others with a higher passion and history.

And that makes your opinion less valuable than anyone else's? Why give up your right/privilege to vote?

 

[Bill N]

FMCA leaders are focused on the fact that there are a lot more towable owners than motorhome owners. They seem to ignore that the absolute number of motorhome owners is still increasing while their membership continues to decline. The organization has lost over 40,000 members in the last 10 years, something like a 35% decline even though there are more motorhomes than ever on the road. To me that says that the organization has failed to remain relevant to the motorhome community. The RV industry ships over 2000 new Class A motorhomes every month, yet very few of those buyers become FMCA members. That's what FMCA needs to fix somehow.

Sorry for the late reply Gary but you hit the nail on the head. I had never even heard of FMCA until about a year after I bought my used motorhome in 2014.  I have never been approached by them via any medium to become a member.  I belong to several other state and national RV organizations which seem to sell my name frequently to others  who want to solicit my business.  Funny that FMCA has never approached me and I assume that they are not approaching a lot of new motorhome owners (either new or used coaches).  It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Bill

 

[ArdraF]

We got our one-year "trial" FMCA membership when we bought our first NEW Monaco.  Doubt it's included with used units.  There are several Monaco chapters within FMCA, so perhaps there's one for your RV too.

By the way, ALL members should vote.  We will although not decided which way.

ArdraF

 

[Arch Hoagland]

Better hope the Russians don't get wind of this vote or they'll hack into the system and destroy everything!! 

 

[garyb1st]

FMCA leaders are focused on the fact that there are a lot more towable owners than motorhome owners. They seem to ignore that the absolute number of motorhome owners is still increasing while their membership continues to decline. The organization has lost over 40,000 members in the last 10 years, something like a 35% decline even though there are more motorhomes than ever on the road. To me that says that the organization has failed to remain relevant to the motorhome community. The RV industry ships over 2000 new Class A motorhomes every month, yet very few of those buyers become FMCA members. That's what FMCA needs to fix somehow.

After attending the National Rally in Chandler this past March, it's hard to believe membership is falling.  We've only been to two Rallys.  The Western Conference two years ago and the National.  The Western Conference was fun.  The National was not.  The turnout, apparently much larger than anticipated, led to major parking issues and for many, long walks to classrooms that were full.  As a result of our experience, I have no interest in attending another National Rally.  While it's not likely we'll drop our membership, if the fee increased significantly, I'd have to rethink that decision.  Not because of the money.  But really, there's not much value that I see.  The tire deal never really appealed to me.  I purchased a set of Sumitomo's for less than $1,700 installed.  They ride as well as the Michelins that were on our motorhome.  And while they were 7 years old, the Michelins only had 5 or 6,000 miles on them.  Never checked the price of the Michelins but I'd be surprised if they weren't at least another $1,000 more.  I get both the hard copy and the electronic edition of the monthly magazine.  I've asked FMCA to stop sending the hard copy.  It still comes.  I would think a hard copy would be sent only if and when a member requests one.  Other than introducing new RV's, the vast majority of the magazine is a rehash of prior months articles.  Seriously a gross waste of money.  While the Med evacuation program makes sense for seniors, I doubt it has the much appeal to young members. 

Gary RV Wizard is correct.  FMCA needs to fix its dwindling membership.  However, I doubt FMCA has a good handle on why membership is declining or why new owners are not signing up.  That would be a good starting place.  To simply invite non-motorized RVer into the club, increases membership but does nothing to address the reason membership declined in the first place.  FMCA needs to ask owners who have dropped their membership to let them know why.  They also need to reach out to new owners.  Do new owners even know about the FMCA?  And while there may be 2,000 new motorhome sales every month, how many are sold to coach owners who are upgrading.  And not to offend anyone, but how many younger owners who are purchasing for the first time want to connect with a group of typical FMCA members who generally are retired seniors. 

I don't know enough about the history of the FMCA but suspect it grew significantly as the Baby Boomers were cashing in their high valued homes and moving to areas where they could purchase a comparable home and have a significant chunk of money remaining which allowed them to pay cash or at least a large down payment toward a pretty nice motorhome.  That well is drying up.  The next generation is not as flush.