A word of thanks to FMCA’s dedicated committee members and national office staff.
National President
Jon Walker, F268778
jwalker@fmca.colm
I just got home after spending all last week at the FMCA national office in Cincinnati, Ohio, participating in the preparation of the association’s annual budget. The Finance Committee, chaired by national treasurer John Reynolds, is responsible for overseeing the preparation of FMCA’s operational budget for the coming fiscal year. I am proud to inform you that the committee worked hard all week right along with our wonderful staff at FMCA headquarters. The budget that was produced for fiscal year 2022 is the best one I have seen in my eight years as senior vice president and national president. It simply was a pleasure not having to worry about how to balance the budget. This year, the main task was to make sure we allocated the money we expect to receive for all the right purposes.
John Reynolds’ committee must have done something right, because the Executive Board approved the budget by a unanimous vote! The Governing Board will have no problem approving this budget. It provides all the services we need; it has a $100,000 contingency fund in case COVID-19 causes us problems again; it adds a new staff member to serve as an advocate for our members when they have issues with their RVs or service-related problems; and it contains a good surplus. I hope we can continue to transfer more and more money into FMCA’s investment account to achieve the goal of having two times the amount of our annual operating budget in the account.
The key to FMCA’s financial success is to live within our means and to grow and expand our membership. We have done that by recommending budgets that are realistic, utilizing our staff to their maximum potential, and working closely with Membership Corporation of America, a marketing consulting group, and our marketing department.
I am also very proud of our Convention Committee, chaired by Steve Pickens. My charge to this committee was to find affordable places for us to have our summer and winter conventions — and to have the dates available to publish several years in advance. All of this has been done.
Our Membership/Member Services Committee, chaired by Jamie Erickson, has done a wonderful job this year in providing our members with more and more benefits. It seems as though every month Jamie is promoting another product or service that will help our members.
All our other committees also have done an outstanding job this year in fulfilling the charges given them. Our Member Engagement Committee continues to find very qualified people for Executive Board members to recommend for service on committees. FMCA is a member-driven organization . . . and it shows.
Left to right: Penny Gortemiller, director of chapters/governance; Doug Uhlenbrock, director of events; Anne Baumgartner, director of marketing; Brian Bacik, assistant controller; Aaron White, director of membership; and Pamela Kay, director of communications.
None of our progress, or surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, would be possible without the complete dedication and work of our national office staff in Cincinnati. I cannot take credit for what we have done in the past four years. All the credit goes to Chris Smith, FMCA CEO; the department directors; and all the staff.
As I wrap up my work as president, I would be remiss if I did not tell you about our staff and what they mean to me. For four years now, I have had weekly staff meetings with our directors and have spent many days and nights in our office in Cincinnati directly working with this fine group of people. In fact, this is the best group of people I have ever had the honor to work with — and I have worked with lots of people during my working career! As I express my thanks to the staff, I’d like to tell you a little about each director and department.
Team members in the Administrative Services and IT Department report directly to CEO Chris Smith. They are responsible for a number of key functions at FMCA.
It all starts at the front door. Receptionist Betty Jo Kunz greets all visitors who arrive at FMCA, as well as those who contact FMCA by phone. She has been employed by FMCA for 31 years and previously worked in the Mail Forwarding and Membership departments. She told me that she especially likes greeting members when they come in for a tour.
Assistant controller Brian Bacik has been with FMCA for seven years. He started in the accounts payable area and now oversees the organization’s day-to-day accounting functions. Brian isn’t just a ray of sunshine; he is the brightest of them all.
Margie Burwinkel has been handling FMCA’s accounts receivables and payroll for the past five years. Prior to that she worked in the Events Department 11 years, for a total of 16 years with our organization.
Dan Wulfeck, a 33-year employee, does all in-house printing, handles shipping and receiving, and assists in other areas as needed. Dan has attended about 60 FMCA conventions. Dan tells me that for him, FMCA is family.
Sherry Light joined FMCA in February as project manager, bringing with her 20 years of experience. She coordinates facilities-related projects, from costing to implementation. She works with each director to ensure that their projects are going as planned and staying on deadline. She also serves as the right hand to the CEO in day-to-day operations.
The FMCA information technology (IT) team is made up of four employees: Larry Pennington, Joshua Spurlock, Steve Tsai, and Brett Wulfeck. The team’s combined background in computers, software development, servers, networking, and the internet enables them to coordinate with each FMCA department to work through their various projects in a timely and cost-effective manner.
The IT team also maintains one of FMCA’s top member benefits, Tech Connect+, which includes an unlimited wireless internet plan from Sprint. Currently about 4,000 FMCA members use the Tech Connect+ benefit to enjoy unlimited internet on all their devices for social media, streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, and even working from their RV.
The Chapter Services/Governance Department is led by Penny Gortemiller, who has been with FMCA for 36 years. She and chapter services coordinator Danielle Powell administer committee activities, including preparing agendas, meeting handouts, and minutes for every committee meeting. FMCA has 17 committees, plus the FMCA Executive Board and the Family Motor Coaching Inc. (for-profit subsidiary) Board of Directors.
Chapter Services staff also facilitate the operation of FMCA’s Governing Board, which has oversight responsibility for the affairs, funds, and property of FMCA and carries out the purpose of FMCA in accordance with the Bylaws and Strategic Plan. The Governing Board approves the annual budget, votes for the four nationally elected officers, and approves FMCA Bylaws and policies and procedures fundamental to the operation of the association, among other duties. The Governing Board is made up of the Executive Board plus chapter voting delegates, and they provide guidance for the entire association.
In addition to the committees and the FMCA Governing Board, the Chapter Services staff facilitates activities for FMCA’s nearly 325 chapters and 10 area associations. This includes chapter officer changes, roster updates, annual chapter and area association certification, chapter rally insurance, chapter formation, guidance for chapter officers, chapter recruitment, advertising, chapter directory, educational opportunities, and chapter anniversary celebrations.
FMCA has an abundance of materials available for chapter officers or for anyone who is interested in becoming a chapter officer. The staff is here to help guide new chapter officers with their roles as chapter leaders and to assist chapters any way they can.
The Communications Department maintains responsibility for one of FMCA’s first — and perpetually most popular — member benefits, the association’s monthly magazine, Family RVing. Department members also provide graphic design
services for all FMCA departments, as well as assistance with various written communications.
Led by director Pamela Kay, who will mark her 38th year of employment with FMCA on July 11, the department currently has seven other employees. Combined, department members have 160 years of service, a number bolstered by FMCA’s longest-tenured employee, sales manager Ranita Jones, who started work full-time at FMCA 43 years ago; before that, she worked part-time while attending college. Years of service for other department members are as follows: 35 years for Robbin Gould, editor; 22 years for Bridget Lynn, production/classifieds coordinator; 20 years for Ayanna Luney, assistant art director; and 2 years for Lindsay Prince, graphic designer. The newest members of the team are associate editor Skip Tate and graphic designer Heather Kruse, both of whom were hired in the past six months. The longevity exhibited by the members of this department is unusual these days!
These staff members oversee the production of FMCA’s magazine from its conception to its arrival in mailboxes and inboxes. Other projects include artwork and layout of convention programs and related material, membership brochures and flyers, content for The Mile Marker and Tech Talk e-newsletters, area rally ads, and much more. The Communications Department also maintains responsibility for FMCA’s public and media relations efforts.
Doug Uhlenbrock, director of the Events Department, came to FMCA in the summer of 2001 as an associate editor of Family Motor Coaching magazine (now Family RVing) and worked in that position until April 2014 when he packed up his desk and moved to the other side of the building as the events manager. He remained in that position until April 2017 when he was named director of events. Since then, Doug has planned and presented six FMCA International Conventions and RV Expos, along with two events that were canceled during the planning stages because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doug oversees a staff of five employees who are responsible for a wide range of duties related to the staging of conventions. They are events manager Barb Feiler; event sales rep and coordinator Tina Henry; and event coordinators Brooke Grow, Allison Perry, and Amy Rohrich.
A great deal of time and effort go into preparing for a convention, including attendee and exhibitor registration; production, assembly, and mailing of confirmation packets; scheduling of seminars, entertainment, and activities; arrival, parking, and security plans; distribution of information to those attending; and much more. Once at the convention location, the Events team implements the plan and provides first-rate service to attendees who may need assistance during their stay.
In addition, the Events staff provides support to the area rally groups by handling registration, providing supplies, and creating and printing the area rally program if requested.
The FMCA Marketing Department consists of three team members: Anne Baumgartner, Michael Stegner, and Kieley Doll.
Anne Baumgartner started with FMCA in August 2018 in the Membership Department as the campground/store assistant. She was promoted to project manager in January 2020 and a year later, in January 2021, to marketing director. Anne is a 2021 graduate of the University of Phoenix, with a Bachelor of Science in business.
Michael Stegner, marketing assistant, started with FMCA in April 2019. Michael has been instrumental to our marketing department. Along with streaming our Facebook Live videos for the Events Department,
he creates content for our social media platforms, captures amazing video footage at our events, produces member benefit videos, and works with bloggers for fresh content. Michael holds a bachelor’s in English with a minor in journalism from Northern Kentucky University.
Kieley Doll, marketing intern, started with FMCA in July 2019. She does a great job keeping our Pinterest and Twitter accounts active with FMCA content while working on her degree at the University of Kentucky. Kieley is due to graduate in May of 2021.
The Marketing Department is excited to grow FMCA’s membership and brand. You will find them busy promoting our events and bringing awareness to our member benefits. They are always active on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, RVillage, and YouTube.
Aaron White is director of the Membership Department at FMCA. He was hired as the membership manager in June 2017. In that position, Aaron worked closely with the staff in the Membership Department, assisting with the daily duties, and he played a major role in the training of the Membership Department staff upon the release of our new association management system software this past October.
Aaron has had the opportunity to represent FMCA at a few RV shows in Tampa, Florida; Quartzsite, Arizona; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He also has attended the Great Lakes Area Rally and seven international conventions. You may have seen him during the events waving and welcoming the attendees. With his big beard and smile, Aaron is easy to pick out of the crowd.
In January 2021 Aaron moved into the director of membership position. Since his change in roles, Aaron has motivated the membership team to push through some challenges and continue the growth of the association. I am excited to see ongoing success for his department and for FMCA as the membership continues to grow!
Among the other Membership Department staff members is Kathy Gebhart, another long-tenured FMCA employee, with 41 years of service. Other team members are as follows: Jenn Carpenter, Alexandria Murphy, Paul Walker, and Diana Wood.
My hat is off to the fine staff members who keep things humming at the FMCA national office and contribute greatly to the association’s success. Until you are actively involved with the staff, you cannot appreciate the scope of what they do and all that goes into the things they accomplish on an ongoing basis. My eyes have been opened during my time in office, and Sondra noted the same thing. We’re grateful to each of them for what they do for FMCA
The mission of FMCA is to bring together RV owners who share similar interests in congenial traveling, recreation, and social activities in order to preserve and perpetuate the traditional ideals and spirit of friendly and wholesome family fellowship as manifested by the founders of FMCA.
Contact An FMCA Chaplain
Chaplains Connection Line:
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Email: chaplains@fmca.com