FMCA Has Talent
And we want to tap into it! Read on to learn more.
FMCA National President
Jon Walker, F268778
jwalker@fmca.com
October marks the time of the year when summer activities come to an end at our home in Michigan and elsewhere in the northern parts of the continent. If you don’t have your docks and boat lifts out of the water by now, you better have a professional company take care of this, because the water will be too cold for the average homeowner to handle the task. We start the process of getting ready for winter shortly after Labor Day, with the goal of having everything done by the first part of October.
For FMCA, October brings a new fiscal year and a time to put into place new programs and procedures. I would like to share my vision for this fiscal year with you. It involves the following:
1. New Member Engagement Committee
2. Expansion of the FMCA University
3. Profitable FMCA Balance Sheet
The unique nature of FMCA among RV groups is that we are a not-for-profit association that truly is member driven and member run. In order to achieve the full potential of our organization, we must strive to find better ways of getting our 150,000-plus members involved and engaged in our affairs. We have worked very hard over the past four years to turn around the terrible loss of membership that occurred during the Great Recession. While revitalizing our association, we have installed tools that we can use to gauge and measure what we are doing for our members in terms of true benefits of membership. We also have made a complete push, full steam ahead, into the digital age. These actions by your Executive Board have resulted in 18 straight months of positive membership growth!
This is just the start of the revitalization process. In order for any organization to grow on a long-term basis, it MUST engage its members to see that they actively participate in the total affairs of the group. In order to achieve this, I have formed a new committee called the FMCA Membership Engagement Committee. Ken Carpenter leads this committee, with the help of members Tim Gerrity, Terry Whaley, and Tony Trimarco.
We know that the more our members participate in the affairs of the association, the more healthy growth we will achieve. I urge you to take a few minutes to complete the quick survey we’ve put together at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RMCBY2R. You also will be seeing links to this survey on our website and in your email inbox. And please take a look at the video I made to explain our vision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFRhyuUIxcE.
The Member Engagement Committee has found out already that members receive their information in different ways. Many of us still read Family RVing magazine from cover to cover each month (I am one of those). Some enjoy reading the magazine in its digital format so they have access to the magazine wherever they roam. Another advantage of the digital version of our magazine is that we can add much more content and reference material. Look for words or phrases highlighted in color. When you click these highlighted words, a whole new world of information magically appears!
More and more of our members are receiving their information via various social media sites. FMCA has partnered with RVillage, the social media platform created by RVers for RVers, and we have an expanding presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. In fact, the number of people following FMCA on social media increased from 8,900 in 2015 to 38,000-plus in 2018!
A growing number of our members are turning to the FMCA.com website for information about their RVs and the RV world. And since the reinvention of FMCA’s website this past fall, the number of people coming to the website and not clicking on anything — called a bounce rate — has decreased significantly.
We officially launched FMCA University at the 2018 summer convention in Gillette, Wyoming. Look for the FMCA University tab on the navigation bar at FMCA.com (you must be logged in to view). You can expect more and more educational material to appear this coming year. I would like to sincerely thank FMCA national secretary and Education Committee chairman Gaye Young and the members of her committee who have put in hundreds of hours on this project: Betty Brewer, Bruce Fay, Connie Jones, Steve Parks, Herb Vogt, and our newest member, Bert Henderson. Glenda Milner (wife of Executive Board member Gary Milner) also has played a key role in this project.
As we begin the 2019 fiscal year, we also are very excited about the real possibility that our financial health will improve drastically this year. Your Executive Board and staff are working very hard to reach the Governing Board’s goal of solid positive financial growth in 2019.
October also is the month when kids, young and old, look forward to Halloween. My wife, Sondra, also known as “Bad Nana,” has been dressing up and going trick-or-treating with her grandkids for many years. In fact, she has been known to build her own “spook house” to entertain kids who come trick-or-treating at our house. We now have kids of kids of kids coming to look for the “Bad Witch.” Her new costume won her first place at last year’s South Central Area Rally. Her biggest competitor was Glenda Milner, who promises a dueling rematch!
Sondra and I hope that you will say YES when someone asks you to do something for FMCA. The more involved we all are, the better FMCA will be.
Oh, and by the way, I DID officially get up from deep water on one water ski this summer. Unfortunately, Sondra was so excited that she dropped the camera in the lake, meaning no real proof exists.
Remember, it still is all about having fun!
New Health Plan
FMCA has introduced a health insurance plan for RVers not yet of Medicare age. Plus, you are invited to come have a “peachy keen” time in Perry.
Executive Director
Chris Smith
csmith@fmca.com
Chris Smith
As many of you know, because of printing deadlines, this column must be written more than a month before you read it. So, even though I am preparing a column for the October issue, the calendar says it is August. Two major milestones occurred for me in August that I want to mention briefly.
First, I celebrated my five-year employment anniversary at FMCA. This has been the most fulfilling and fun job I have ever held. When I came in as director of administration, times were very lean. FMCA was experiencing decreasing membership, event attendance, and financial figures. Through hard work and collaboration between our staff and the Executive Board, we have righted the ship. It has been a pleasure to be part of the turnaround and to serve our wonderful members. I hope to write about my 10-year anniversary in the future!
Lyla Smith, daughter of executive director Chris Smith, gets a big hug from dad on her first day of kindergarten.
The second milestone was putting my daughter, Lyla, on the school bus to attend kindergarten. When I started working at FMCA, she was only four months old. As you can imagine, her first day of school was bittersweet for our family. There will be a hole at our house every afternoon this school year. My middle son, Miles, worships Lyla. Luckily, he naps most of the time she is gone, as does my youngest, Brody. As time goes on, I am sure my wife, Jill, will come to appreciate the afternoon break. It is amazing to look back over the past five years and see how much Lyla, our whole family, and I have grown.
Now, let’s get down to business. In August, FMCA unveiled its newest member benefit, a health insurance plan that will help many of our members. We are excited to give members another option in a very important decision. RVers looking to enjoy the freedom of the open road before they reach the age of Medicare eligibility face the dilemma of where to obtain affordable health insurance so they can travel with peace of mind, knowing that potential needs are covered. FMCA has formed a partnership with RV Insurance Benefits to provide the coverage RV travelers desire at reasonable rates offered exclusively to FMCA members.
In a press release FMCA issued about the new plan, FMCA national president Jon Walker noted: “RVers under age 65 face the challenge of finding health insurance that will allow them to travel the country and still be covered. And FMCA members have been asking for an affordable plan that will enable them to enjoy their travels without worry about coverage in the event the unexpected happens. I’m happy to be able to introduce this plan created to meet these needs.”
The FMCA Health Plan is a zero-deductible, preferred provider organization (PPO) plan designed with RVers in mind. The plan uses the MultiPlan PHCS network —a group of contracted providers, specialists, and hospitals that have agreed to accept the insurance — so participants will be able to use this policy in all states and be considered in area. This means RVers on the plan can contact the insurance plan concierge service for assistance in finding a doctor and visit a provider in or near their location all across the United States. The plan includes more than 900,000 providers.
The FMCA Health Plan also provides RVers a resource to help them sort through the confusion that can come with selecting a health insurance plan.
Coleen Elkins, managing general agent, and an RV owner and FMCA member herself, has more than 24 years of experience in the health insurance industry. She has been an active RVer for a decade and has witnessed firsthand the difficulties RVers face in insuring their health. She and her team of licensed insurance agents, most of whom also are RVers, will help FMCA members to find health insurance solutions tailored to their needs.
For more information about this plan, visit https://www.fmca.com/fmca-healthcare-plan.
The FMCA Health Care Plan is fully insured by New Era Insurance and underwritten by Philadelphia Life Insurance. To obtain a quote based on your individual needs and circumstances, visit http://www.FMCAHealthPlan.com or call (888) 337-1705. (Note: plan does not meet Affordable Care Act requirements.)
Have you heard? FMCA is making a return trip to Perry, Georgia, next March. Please make plans to join us for FMCA’s 99th International Convention and RV Expo, March 13 through 16, 2019. Events at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry tend to be our most well attended and to receive the highest ratings from attendees of any venue. The theme this year is “Peachy in Perry.” The registration form appears in this issue. You can register at FMCA.com, by mail or fax, or by calling the FMCA national office at (513) 474-3622 or (800) 543-3622. We hope to see you there!