By Charlie Adock, F311374
February 2015
February 2015
Editor’s note: The Executive Director’s Commentary has been combined with the President’s Message this month in order to share an overall report regarding FMCA and the national office.
What happened to last year? I guess we were having so much fun in 2014 that it just flew past! It certainly was a busy year for FMCA. This month’s column is devoted to a look back at the accomplishments and changes of 2014, and a brief look forward to some great experiences that lie ahead for this new year. The bottom line is that the organization finished the year financially very strong; we have stabilized membership numbers; and we have added or improved several member benefits.
Of course, we can’t say enough about how much we appreciate all of you as members. It is with you in mind that the chapter officers, Executive Board, Governing Board, and national office staff work so hard to provide members valuable benefits. We also work hard to provide you with important RVing information, as well as opportunities for forming lifelong friendships and taking part in experiences that will keep you enjoying your motorhome for many more years. Now, for some details:
MEMBER SERVICES
With approval of the Governing Board, FMCAssist, the emergency medical evacuation and travel assistance program, once again became an association-paid member benefit, effective October 1, 2014. This benefit has an annual value of $105 per family and now is included with paid annual FMCA membership dues. For details, visit FMCA.com/benefits/fmcassist.
The FMCA RVinsurance program (www.fmcarvinsurance.com) was introduced to the membership early in 2014, and later in the year it became available in some Canadian provinces. This insurance program involves a multiagency, multicarrier coalition that was formed to provide better opportunities for FMCA members to save on RV, automobile, and homeowners insurance.
We are proud to offer a new roadside service program within our portfolio of member benefits. The FMCA Road Assist program (FMCA.com/roadassist) is administered by Vehicle Administrative Services. This highly anticipated program was researched and designed to fill needs requested by FMCA members and is offered for $99 per year.
After the decision was made to outsource FMCA’s mail forwarding service, we evaluated options to find a suitable partner for this program. That led to an agreement with DakotaPost of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The new FMCA Mail Forwarding powered by DakotaPost (www.FMCA.com/mailforwarding) was launched in the fall of 2014, and mail forwarding operations in Cincinnati have come to a close. DakotaPost was chosen because the company offered the balance of service and enhanced technology that FMCA wanted to be able to provide our members. And DakotaPost gives FMCA members an exclusive discount off its regular rates.
In 2014, the popular FMCA Tour Connection, powered by Fantasy RV Tours, offered members great rates on member-only caravans and tours involving some of the world’s most popular vacation destinations and events. The fun rolls on in 2015, with trips planned to the San Antonio Fiesta, the Kentucky Derby, and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, among many others. Reservations also are being taken for 2016 member-only tours. Fantasy RV offers FMCA members a courtesy discount on the company’s other tours and rallies as well.
For detailed information about all your member benefits, be sure to keep the January 2015 issue of this magazine in your motorhome as a good reference. In addition, that issue includes contact information for FMCA staff, areas, and chapters, as well as all sorts of good stuff about campgrounds, dealers, manufacturers, repair services, and even dump stations.
On a bittersweet note, we bid farewell to Margaret Keen, who retired from FMCA on December 19, 2014. Margaret was FMCA’s longest-tenured employee, serving 38 years as part of the FMCA Member Services staff. She accumulated a wealth of knowledge about Family Motor Coach Association and its history, and while we wish her well as she begins this new chapter in her life, she will be sorely missed.
In other national office news, this past fall, we relocated the FMCA call-center staff from the Round Bottom Road office to the Clough Pike office. We made this move because we recognized a need to improve communications and to provide proper training for the new Elan membership management and customer relationship software (more about that later). Among other things, these staff members are responsible for calling to remind members of the need to renew their FMCA dues. Since the move, call-center staff has been trained on the new membership software as well as some added duties.
CHAPTER SERVICES
The FMCA staff organized and implemented a Chapter Fair during the Perry, Georgia, convention. Chapter members seem to really enjoy participating in this event. The first Chapter Fair took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2004. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since this fun-filled tradition began.
We are scheduling a Chapter Fair for the Pomona, California, Family Reunion in March 2015, and a flier has been sent to encourage chapters to plan to participate and to give them time to gather any items they would like to display during the event.
Two new FMCA chapters were formed in 2014. One of them was the Racecar Fans chapter. This chapter will center its activities on NASCAR events but also will meet at other venues. The second was the FMCA Generations chapter. This chapter includes families who are second- and third-generation FMCA members.
The Spirit of ’45 movement would like to form a chapter with members who are interested in preserving the memory of the men and women who served in World War II. In 2015, they plan to honor those who served and to celebrate Spirit of ’45 Day on August 14, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on that date in 1945. Please contact the national office if you wish to be part of this chapter or simply to participate during the 70th anniversary celebrations around the United States.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
More than two years ago, FMCA began planning a massive project to replace the association’s outdated, custom-designed membership management and customer relationship software. Ultimately, new Elan software, provided by Media Services Group LLC, was selected and implementation began. I won’t bore you with all the details, but let’s just say that it probably was one of the largest undertakings in the 52-year history of this association.
For example, the process required that we convert more than one million member records dating back to the last conversion of FMCA’s computer system nearly 20 years ago. Many long hours were spent working with the Media Services Group team to resolve the challenges of moving FMCA’s data records to the new system. The conversion was complicated and complex, in part because of FMCA’s tradition of allowing all our members to retain their original membership number should they leave the association. If they later decide to renew, their number is reactivated. Also, family members — sons, daughters, grandchildren, and even parents or grandparents — are allowed to adopt that membership number with the addition of a suffix (S for son, D for daughter, etc.).
After months of conversion work, meetings, testing, and training, Elan went “live” in July 2014. Since then a number of refinements and programming changes have been made. More fine-tuning remains to be done, but this new system will allow the staff to be more productive and efficient.
Several improvements to FMCA’s IT infrastructure were made this year. A bandwidth upgrade through our Internet provider greatly improved connection speeds and also made telephone conversations more clear. Many of the computers at FMCA are beyond their life expectancy and beginning to fail. They are gradually being replaced with updated workstations. Though some staff members are still trying to figure out how to use the vastly different Windows 8 operating system (I heard someone comment about “teaching old dogs new tricks”!), most find that the new, faster workstations have greatly increased their productivity. We hope to have the remaining workstations replaced by the end of 2015.
To help us get the best from our new systems, we recently added a new member to the FMCA IT team. Michael Hall brings a great deal of experience in writing reports and creating test cases for new systems. He already is up to speed on Elan’s Informer reporting software and will prove to be a great asset to the department.
WEBSITE UPDATES
The transition to the Elan system also required major changes to integrate the software with FMCA’s websites — FMCA.com and FMCmagazine.com. Since the websites were running on a very outdated content management system, it made sense to update that application at the same time. The updates have resulted in more secure websites that also give staff the flexibility to continue to make needed design changes so that the sites are simpler to use. Work is being done to improve the appearance of the sites, the ease of navigation, and the FMCA branding in order to better serve existing members and to attract new ones.
We also moved our Web hosting to a more reliable host and implemented a content delivery network, which is a network of servers that has resulted in much quicker page load times for users. Our websites continue to attract more traffic. FMCA.com is visited by 66,000-plus unique visitors each month, with more than 275,000 page views. Its sister site — FMCmagazine.com — has more than 18,000 unique visitors each month and approximately 80,000 page views.
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
Many positive events took place in the Accounting Department this past year. The Elan system now is being used for all of FMCA’s accounting needs. The Finance Committee, the Executive Board, and the national office staff worked collectively to provide a balanced budget to the Governing Board at the August 2014 meeting in Redmond, Oregon, and it was approved. Our financial position also continued to improve as we saw considerable gains this past year in the investment account. The Windsor Group managed this account with oversight by our Finance Committee. In 2014, we hired a new auditing firm, BKD, in an effort to improve our financial reporting and analysis. BKD conducted its first audit in November 2014.
MARKETING INITIATIVES
It has been said that FMCA is one of the best-kept secrets in the RV industry. We need to change that — so our Executive Board approved a major marketing initiative that began in the latter part of 2014 and will continue into 2015. We have contracted for the services of an experienced membership marketing firm to guide these efforts. We are looking forward to spreading the word about FMCA to motorhome owners.
FMCA EVENTS
The year 2014 marked a return to two Family Reunions per calendar year. The Events Department, which focuses on overall planning of FMCA’s Family Reunions and also registrations for area rallies, processed more than 7,500 family registrations in 2014. More than 3,800 were for the Family Reunions in Perry, Georgia, and Redmond, Oregon. Area rallies totaled more than 3,600 registrations.
Initial reports indicate that the 2014 Family Reunions generated an operating surplus that exceeded the budgeted amount by 27 percent. This was due in great part to the incredible team involved in the Reunions. That team includes five department members working to take registrations, mail confirmation packets, create seminar opportunities, contract with venues and suppliers, secure entertainment, create fun activities, identify local tour offerings, and assure that attendees have a safe and fun experience at the Reunions. Support of the Family Reunions actually requires a team that goes well beyond the Events Department staff at the national office. The sales team, artists, editors, printer, and systems support staff were all part of the success we experienced in 2014, and
they stand ready to support FMCA events in 2015.
These international events also would not be possible without the tireless support of hundreds of volunteers. We know that they, too, stand ready to help in 2015. In addition, we are grateful to the many companies that support the association by participating in events and via their advertising.
The next opportunity to join the fun and attend a Family Reunion will be March 26-29, 2015, when we gather at Fairplex in Pomona, California. This is an awesome facility with hard-surface parking for everyone and great buildings for all of the fantastic activities that are planned. Don’t miss out! Register now at FMCA.com or by calling the FMCA national office at (513) 474-3622 or (800) 543-3622. The early-bird discount ends February 3!
So, as we take a look back at what we accomplished in 2014 and look ahead to 2015 with great anticipation, stay tuned . . . and remember, “It’s all about having fun!”