Region One President’s Newsletter – January 2009
Published: January 28, 2009
By Franklin Sanders
Russ Melocik Reinstated as First Vice President
At your President’s invitation, Russ Melocik has rescinded his resignation as First Vice President of Region 1. This restores your Region 1 officer team to its full complement. We welcome Russ back.
Win an Airstream Trailer and Pickup Truck!
Sign up now for the 52nd International Rally in Madison, Wisconsin. When you register at the rally, you will be offered a free, optional ‘scratch-off’ entry in the raffle of a 2009 Airstream 31-ft., front kitchen, trailer and a Dodge or Ford ¾-ton pickup truck. (Raffle rules will be available upon registration.)
Sign up a new WBCCI Member for the 52nd International Rally, for the chance to win your 2009 Rally Fee Paid! (See Blue Beret, Int’l President’s Letter, September 2008.)
Region 1 Luncheon in Madison, Wisconsin
This year’s Region 1 Luncheon will be held at Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company, 123 Doty Street in Madison, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $17 per person; those who sign up and pay for their tickets before June 1st will pay only $15 each. Sign up with Dan Dureiko, Region 2nd VP. Send your check, and an SASE for your tickets, to Dan at 106 Whippoorwill Hollow Road, North Franklin, CT 06254, today.
Region 1 Rally 2009 “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
Cape Cod MA Unit plans a superb Region 1 Rally, to be held August 5-9, 2009 at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT. Support your favorite sports team! Enjoy a cruise on Lake Champlain! Learn how to lead a unit caravan! Just have fun with friends. In any case, you can find the sign-up coupon on the Region One website.
Rich Walbridge asks your help in achieving a successful rally: Donate a door prize – something useful for camping or traveling, or a gift certificate at a camping store. Knit or crochet a warm blanket or work of art. Volunteer to be the Youth Coordinator, Medical Aid Coordinator, or a part of the Welcoming Team. Contact Rich Walbridge, Rally Chair, at: Region1Rally09@Gmail.com, or by telephone: 781-254-6399.
33 Airstreamers at Region 1’s Palm Bay Luncheon
Thirty-three past and present Region 1 Caravanners gathered for the Palm Bay, Florida luncheon and social. Each had the opportunity to share travel experiences and light humor. As usual, the Golden Corral dessert table took a beating. All had a wonderful time. You can view all the snapshots in Picasa. Clicking on the Picasa link will open the page in a new browser window.
New Member Leads
Teressa Taylor-tenBerge, International Membership Chair, is arranging for Airstream Company to place postage-paid postcards in each new trailer. The postcards will offer to connect prospective WBCCI Members with a unit near the prospect’s home, based upon zip codes. Cards returned to Teressa will be forwarded promptly to the unit’s membership chairman for follow-up.
Units will be offered the same cards, and are asked to arrange with nearby Airstream dealers to place these cards in used Airstreams they have for sale.
Send Unit Newsletters to Members-at-Large and Gain Members
Region 5 has demonstrated that mailing newsletters to Members-at-Large in its region creates interest in joining its units, and brings in new members. We encourage units in Region 1 to follow this lead and mail unit newsletters to Members-at-Large shown on lists distributed by Headquarters to unit treasurers, and to ‘new’ MALs shown on the new member lists emailed frequently to unit membership chairs.
Use Media Kits to Promote Rallies – and Attract New Members
WBCCI units report good results from use of the Media Kits created by the Public Relations Committee and available on the wbcci.org website. The Media Kits are not only useful for inducing coverage by local media, but also through the increasing number of internet sites created by newspapers and other media which results in spreading the word far beyond local media markets. Imagine your adult child in a foreign country bringing a local (U.S.A.) Airstream event to your attention! It happened! Give PR a try.
Mid-Winter IBT and International Rally
Your International and Region Officers were joined by Airstreamers from all regions at the recent mid-winter IBT meeting hosted by Region 9 and its units. Cool but clear weather contributed to a productive atmosphere for the meeting.
Committee Reports
Budget Committee: Joe Bublis, Chairman, reviewed results for the six months ended December 31, 2008, expressing concern that declining income accompanied by increasing costs was causing increasing deficits for the International Club.
Constitution & Bylaws Committee: Darryl Ewles, Chairman, remarked upon the ongoing failure of several units to maintain up-to-date constitutions or bylaws. Ralph Forrester noted the risk to the not-for-profit status of the club presented by such failures.
International Rally – 2009: Jerry Larson, International President, reported 686 units signed up for the 52nd International Rally in Madison, WI, of which 471 had selected 30 amp. electric service.
International Rally – 2010: Tom Collier, International 1st VP, reported plans for the 2010 Int’l Rally in Gillette, WY were on track.
Planning Guide and Merit Award Program: Jim Haddaway, Chairman, proposed that qualification for a Unit Superior Merit Award be conditioned upon the unit showing a net increase in membership for the year. The proposal was rejected by the IBT based upon objections of the region presidents that such a requirement was contrary to the objectives of the program related to unit planning and operations.
Electronics Committee: Charlie Burke, Chairman, presented a proposal for updating the WBCCI.org Forum, including prescription of Terms of Service for the site. The report received favorable comment, but was returned to the committee for refinement prior to formal adoption, likely at the IBT Meeting on June 26th.
2020 Long Range Planning Committee: Bill Schrader, Chairman, summarized its lengthy report, which has been widely circulated via e-mail and internet postings, and has received widespread recognition for the quality of the committee’s work. An action item, to create Vision and Mission Statements for WBCCI was presented. (See below.)
New Business
International Marketing Committee: The International Executive Committee approved formation of an International Marketing Committee with the purpose of increasing internal and external awareness of WBCCI through the Blue Beret and the Web. The committee, which presently has six members, chose Fred Richardson, currently President of the Texas Gulf Coast Unit, as its Chairman. The committee has been asked to confer with the WBCCI webmaster, 2020 Committee Chair, Bill Schrader, Blue Beret Chairman Theda McGrath, and Corporate Manager Cindy Reed to formulate a plan of action for recruiting and retaining members.
Delegates Meeting Representation: Four similar motions, asking the IBT to propose to the 2009 Delegates Meeting that units be permitted to appoint delegates who were not their regular members, were filed for consideration at the IBT meetings.
At the request of President Larson, the authors met, revised one motion, and presented it for consideration; the other three motions being withdrawn. The motion presented permits a unit to appoint an Alternate Delegate who must be an Affiliate Member of such unit and a Regular Member of a unit in the same region. The revised motion also proposed necessary changes in the Bylaws, to address voting restrictions otherwise affecting Affiliate Members so appointed.
The IBT approved the revised motion and forwarded it to the 2009 Delegates Meeting.
Dues Increase: International Treasurer Ralph Forrester’s motion to increase International Dues from $55 per year to $70 per year received no support at the Seminar, and was withdrawn before the formal IBT Meeting. The difficult financial situation of the International Club was recognized by all, but the consensus was that increasing membership deserved further attention, and that increasing dues would be counterproductive.
Travel Expenses: Int’l Treasurer Ralph Forrester’s motion to clarify that an international or region officer’s personal car expense was acceptable in the same manner as rental car expense, and that rally meals with separate charges were acceptable expenses – so long as they were an integral part of the rally, was adopted by the IBT.
Conflict of Interest Policy: Ralph Forrester proposed that the WBCCI Bylaws be amended to adopt a “conflict of interest” policy applicable to all officers and trustees of WBCCI, and that the policy, which tracks IRS-suggested wording, be set forth as Appendix 16. The IBT adopted the motion. The conflict of interest policy will be incorporated in the Model Unit Constitution & By-laws at its next revision.
WBCCI Badges: Region 2 President Don McKelvay presented three related motions, proposing revised identification strips in badges for Teen Queens, Past Region Officers, and Past International Officers, to emphasize the unit affiliations of these persons, and reduce misperceptions that past region officers were past international officers. These Bylaw modifications were adopted by the IBT.
Unit Territories, Names and Flags: Several motions were adopted, which would (1) extend Region 10’s territory to include the Northwest Territory of Canada (where Airstream owners have been observed); (2) rename the Tri-County California Unit as Central Coast California Unit and approve its new flag; and (3) approve a new flag for the Virginia Unit.
Vision & Mission Statements: International 2nd VP Norm Beu presented a motion to adopt Vision and Mission Statements proposed by the Long Range Planning 2020 Committee. Following thorough discussion of the Statements, it was agreed that they should be included in Article III of the International Constitution, be made more concise, and be forwarded to the 2009 Delegates Meeting for adoption. The revised Statements were so approved.
International Convention/Rally 2011: International Second VP Norman Beu was authorized to contract with one of three proposed sites for the 54th International Convention/Rally, namely: Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, VT; DuQuoin State Fairground, DuQuoin, IL; or State Fair of West Virginia, Lewisburg, WV.