By Chris Smith
Executive Director
December 2016
December 2016
Since I am not a writer by trade, deciding how to introduce myself via this column took considerable thought. First impressions are everything, so, of course, I want to make a good one.
I thought I would start off by sharing some information about my personal life. As many of you know, Family Motor Coach Association maintains its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was born and raised in Cincinnati. I earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Cincinnati. I met my beautiful wife, Jill, here about 10 years ago. We have been married for the past five and a half years and have two children. Our daughter, Lyla, is three and a half years old. Our son, Miles, is five months old. If you ever meet me and I look like I haven’t slept much, Miles is the reason. He likes to wake up every couple of hours throughout the night to say hi to me and Jill! We also have two furry children named Maisy and Raney.
I also wanted to touch on my professional career. After I graduated from college, I worked for a small company here in town as their credit and accounts receivable manager. You can imagine what a bigshot I thought I was being a manager straight out of college. The allure faded after a couple years. Calling people and demanding money was not my cup of tea. I decided that the world of financial accounting was my calling.
After applying for a few jobs, I was fortunate to find an apparel company that needed a staff accountant. Within three years, my role changed from staff accountant to accounting manager and finally to assistant controller. Each step up the ladder brought new challenges and knowledge.
I was very happy there until I received a message in my personal email account noting that an organization called Family Motor Coach Association wanted to talk with me about their director of administrative services/controller position. My first reaction was, wow, this sounds like a great opportunity. My second reaction was, who in the world is the Family Motor Coach Association? After some research, I decided it was an opportunity I needed to pursue. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
I remember meeting FMCA president Charlie Adcock at my second interview. He struck me as a warm and inviting person who had an excellent sense of humor and made me feel very comfortable. I was sold at that point. When the offer was made, I couldn’t accept quickly enough.
Once I was on board, there was a lot to learn about FMCA and the RV industry. With the help of our first-class staff, I was able to get up to speed. FMCA’s membership base and their motorhome lifestyles are very diverse. FMCA has members who own everything from the largest Type A motorhome to the smallest Type B van-style motorhome. We have members who are dedicated full-time motorhomers, weekend warriors, or the occasional adventure seekers. That is what puts the family into our organization: people from many different walks of life and different levels of involvement coming together for the love of the lifestyle.
I will do my best to serve the needs of FMCA members and make sure we continue to enhance the lifestyle as much as we can. I know all of you are passionate about it, and I will make sure I am just as passionate.
It is an exciting time for me to come into this role. From January through October 2016, as I write this, FMCA membership has seen steady increases. Many reasons for this exist.
First, our marketing consultant, Membership Corporation of America (MCA), has played a huge role. They have helped us do a much better job of retaining current members and recruiting new ones.
The FMCA staff also has played an integral role. They have executed not only MCA’s initiatives but also the many great ideas of our Governing Board and Executive Board.
Last, but not least, credit goes to you, our current members. You do a great job of waving the flag for this organization and recruiting new members. Without your word-of-mouth and grassroots efforts, we would not be where we are today. Thank you.
Moving forward, this column will be used to pass along benefits information and other FMCA updates. The interesting and creative storytelling will reside in Charlie’s “President’s Message” column. He is much more interesting than I am! I want to keep everyone abreast of what is happening behind the scenes. One month I may talk about a new and exciting initiative that FMCA will be unveiling. Another month I may give a refresher on a member benefit we have not discussed in a while. I want you, the FMCA membership, to stay in tune with what is transpiring in your organization.
It is a complete honor to serve as the executive director of this association. FMCA has been the gold standard for the RV industry during the past 53 years. My plan is to keep it that way. Please feel free to stop me at an event to chat. If you are on RVillage.com, please add me as a friend — my username is Chris R Smith. I want to meet and get to know as many of our wonderful members as possible. Enjoy the journey!
National Office Holiday Schedule
The FMCA national office will be closed from Monday, December 26, through Friday, December 30, in observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays. The office will reopen on Monday, January 2, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.