[VAC] WBCCI MEMBERSHIP

["Richard P. Kenan" <as5368@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:01 PM 1/18/2001 -0700, you wrote: 
>
> Dick, you have misinterpreted my comments. The 'younger' Airstreamers aren't
> interested in creating an "elete clique",


No one, especially me, ever accused them of that.  I did say that an
unforgivable sin was forming exclusive cliques in a WBCCI club; that comment
did *not* refer to the VAC.  And I referred to the perception of VAC by
many in
the WBCCI as arrogant and elitist, and attributed that perception to a common
perception of youth by older persons.  It's not fair to re-arrange my words to
make something you disagree with.

>
> they want an organization that helps them understand the history,
> engineering, how to repair, etc their new/old trailers. 


They have one - the VAC.  These things are not the mission of WBCCI, although
that organization does not denigrate them.

>
> My point was that the WBCCI has focused so much on the newer trailers, which
> have grown in size and weight, that they have drifted away from Wally
Bayam's
> original creed, that they should be used to travel, not live in. A 34' ,
> tripple axle a/s is not something younger, more active folks will own, even
> though many can afford one. Witness all the Yuppies in their $50k+ SUV's and
> BMW's. If Thor offered say a new Bubble, configured in contemporary interior
> with sports attachments, i.e. bike racks, etc, and sell them for $20-25K,
> they would sell like hot cakes (I'd buy one for sure). For example,
Bicycling
> Magazine last year featured an ad with an older Bambi with three young women
> relaxing after a hard mountain bike ride from their wilderness campsite.
This
> is the appeal that a/s offers more active lifestyles, which only the older
> a/s', or new Bambi's offers. This market segment is the future of Airstream
> and my point was currently only VAC seems to be meeting the needs of this
> market segment. But VAC requires WBCCI membership, so that relates to the
> barriers I cited. This is not a bash-the-elderly comment, since I'm +55 and
> perceived by those much younger as part of the old generation. Thor can sit
> and wait, like Cadillac and Lincoln, to change their models to suit the
newer
> generations, but it will be too late because someone else will have filled
> that market niche.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a Bubble coming from
Japan
> in the not too distant future.


Lots of truth in that  - the WBCCI leadership is certainly older, and there
are
a lot who do live in their trailers - as do fulltimers.  And, I agree that
Airstream should move towards the trailers that younger people want and will
buy if they want to survive.  WBCCI has nothing to do with AS's decisions,
however.  But, membership in WBCCI does not present any barriers, that I'm
aware of, to VAC.  I believe I expressed my dismay in the aging of the club. 
It appears to me that it's my comments that are being misunderstood.  That
would be my own fault, as I tend to be literalist, and don't mean anything
more
than I actually say - sometimes not even as much, when I get careless.

- Dick
(5368)