Even in the face of crisis, hope can be found.
Chris Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Smith
csmith@fmca.com
July 2020
The current pandemic has brought a great deal of hardship upon many people around the world. In the midst of this, I have been encouraged by the response and resilience I have witnessed. I have told myself all along that some good needs to come from this tragic situation. I can point to two things in particular within FMCA that have inspired me over the past couple of months.
One is our members. As is true of many other companies and organizations, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on FMCA’s operations. Both international conventions were canceled for 2020. With travel severely limited, we have noted an impact on our membership joins and renewals. We have many members who realized these realities and stepped up. Many donations have come in to help FMCA make it through these tough times. There is no doubt that FMCA not only will make it through this, but we will come out on the other side better for it. And a big part of that stems from the generosity of our members.
On behalf of everyone at FMCA, we cannot thank you enough for your kindness and support these past few months. If you haven’t heard about this opportunity, you can learn more here: https://www.fmca.com/donation.
The other is our staff. FMCA is headquartered in Ohio, and we faced a stay-at-home order late in March. That kept us from reporting to our corporate office. FMCA’s IT staff worked feverishly to get everyone set up to work remotely. I am amazed at how staff adapted to the new reality. I believe our membership has experienced the same level of top-notch service even as we worked from the makeshift home offices the pandemic dictated. I want to commend every staff member at FMCA for pulling together, even as we were separated, and getting the job done in the face of adversity.
We are now seeing more and more areas of the United States and Canada slowly opening back up. There is a strong sense that many people are going to prefer traveling in an RV over other forms of vacation travel in the coming months. Luckily, FMCA offers many benefits that will come in handy as our members begin to hit the road again.
One I thought I’d spotlight this month is the tire discount program. Members have reported saving hundreds of dollars via the program. Options include Michelin, Continental, and Hankook tires.
Years back, Michelin used the advertising tagline “Because so much is riding on your tires.” That rings so true. Tires are vital safety components on vehicles and can help to prevent property damage and even loss of life. On recreation vehicles, tires often age out before they wear out. So, it’s important to keep an eye on them. RVers need to keep tires properly inflated and to visibly inspect them for issues on a regular basis. Once tires are about 5 years old, experts recommend having them inspected by a tire professional on an annual basis. The DOT stamp on the sidewall of the tire indicates the manufacture date of each tire. Ultimately, tires need to be replaced.
Once you are ready for new tires on your RV or passenger vehicles, you’ll want to investigate FMCA’s tire program. Information about the program and how to use it is available at www.fmca.com/rv-tires-discounts.
Since restrictions are starting to loosen and members are beginning to resume their travels — regardless of whether the destination is close to home or more distant — I also wanted to remind members about FMCA’s Campground Connection. FMCA has hundreds of campgrounds within its commercial membership, and many of them offer discounts to FMCA families. To search for an FMCA commercial member campground near you or your next destination, visit FMCA.com/rvmarketplace.
As I write this, we are all still dealing with uncertainty. As noted, I’m encouraged by the news I’m seeing about RV sales and the growing interest in RV travel. The RV industry and RV owners are known for their resiliency. We haven’t dealt with anything quite like the current circumstances during our lifetime, but we have faced and overcome challenges. And as I’ve read news of all of the things the RV industry and RVers have been doing to support other people and businesses during this crisis, I’ve been more proud than ever to be associated with the RV lifestyle and FMCA.
Continue doing great things in big and small ways. Remember that one little pebble can create far-reaching ripples. Continue to watch out for one another, and be kind. Stay safe and well.
Help Us To Update FMCA Records
FMCA will be moving to new association management software this fall, and we want to avoid the old “garbage in, garbage out” syndrome. We need your help to clean up the FMCA database before we migrate data from the old system to the new.
For instance, we have quite a few bad emails in our database that we’d like to eliminate and update. Maybe you’ve changed email addresses and forgot to notify FMCA. We rely on email to share information with members, because it is the most expedient and cost-effective way to communicate. If we don’t have the correct email address for you, you could be missing out on vital information.
Please take a minute to visit FMCA.com, sign in, and look at your member profile — www.fmca.com/member-profile — to make sure your email address and all of the other information we have on file for you is correct: mailing address, RV type, etc. You can find your profile via the top menu bar under the Membership tab, or via the icon on the right side of the page that looks like a person.