Re: [VAL] RE: VAL membership dues and History of the VAC

["Wayne A. Moore" <wam52@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Gang,
 
Looks like is we need to digress a bit into the differences between membership, 
subscriptions, the renewal process and the club in general. For those that are 
interested in the detail, I offer the following:
 
As has been reported by a number of listees, the Vintage Airstream Club is a 
component of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International. This main organization 
dates back to 1955 when Wally Byam was still alive and those that traveled with 
him on Caravans throughout the northern hemisphere, wanted to create a 
nationwide network of more local regional organizations for the purposes of 
fellowship and travel adventure.
 
In 1993 a group of WBCCI members petitioned the WBCCI International Board of 
Trustees for a charter to establish the Vintage Airstream Intra-club, known 
outside the WBCCI as the Vintage Airstream Club. The requirements for 
intra-club membership were: membership in the WBCCI and ownership of a trailer 
designated by the club as an Airstream Trailer that is at least 25 years old. 
This includes all trailers designed and manufactured by Wally Byam and all 
trailers manufactured by Airstream Inc. 
 
Beginning in 1994 the intra-club began accepting WBCCI members who's trailer 
met the requirements (1969 and older). As time went on, Vintage Airstreams 
became more popular both nationally and internationally. Demand for the 
trailers skyrocketed and prices rose sharply beginning around 1997 through the 
present. The club began to see an increase in interest as non members searched 
for any an all information relative to ownership, repair and maintenance of 
these icons of American wanderlust. 
 
As a service to our members and an enticement to non members to join, the 
'Vintage Club" began to expand and produce a series of articles in our 
newsletters on how to maintain and upgrade these trailers. Interest in the 
newsletter, the "Vintage Advantage", began to take on a life of its own and 
widespread issuance on a subscription basis  began around the time the present 
editor Bryan Burkhart took over from Tom Howarth in late 1999.
 
In early 2000 there were nearly as many "Vintage Advantage" subscribers as 
there were members, this is where confusion started, regarding membership and 
subscriptions. We referred to subscribers as "friends" of the VAC, implying a 
membership of sorts. In fact the purpose of the subscription was intended to be 
a prelude to membership. Some of the uninformed attempted to explain this as 
being members of the VAC but not members of the WBCCI and it seemed to have 
perpetuated itself to this day. Even after an attempt by the VAC Board to 
separate subscriptions from membership the confusion persists. To compound 
matters, some subscribers believe that the subscription entitles them to 
unlimited participation in rallies and caravans without becoming members of 
the WBCCI. In part the Internet and the discussion list have helped to blurr 
the lines of distinction as folks associated with the list and website, not the 
club, attempt to understand how all these pieces fit together.
 
Let me be perfectly clear, everyone that owns a Vintage Airstream Trailer is 
entitled to come to any WBCCI Event, anywhere, anytime.......once! 
 
After you have had your initial introduction you will either be totally smitten 
or completely turned off by the experience. We give you a chance to come check 
us out and we are all betting you will keep coming coming back. Just give us 
the courtesy of notifying the event host of your desire to participate and pay 
the camping and event fees and YOUR IN for that event.
 
The VA list began as the VAC list, accessible from the original airstream.net 
website in the mid nineties. The site and the list were owned and maintained by 
then webmaster, Ewan McDonald. As the site and the list became more popular, 
The offerings on the site needed to be expanded to continue to entice new 
members and provide the public with a resource for Vintage Airstream media 
outside of rallies and caravans. The VAC board decided to purchase the original 
site and content and add our own webmaster, R.J. Dial. The list and site were 
managed by RJ with great success and we owe him a debt of gratitude for the 
countless hours he spent in adding content and maintaining the site. As the 
story goes, interests and involvement in clubs comes and goes. RJ needed to 
move on to what most of us who have been involved in the intra club any length 
of time have done, and that is attending to our trailers and getting back to 
those things that drew us into the club in the first place. Even Bud Cooper, 
our founder, has reduced his leadership participation and moved on to expand 
his other interests.
 
With respect to the Discussion List, RJ found our third webmaster Toby Folwick, 
as his replacement. Toby has been engaged in trying to expand our offerings 
such as on-line membership and subscriptions. From the beginning this has been 
one of his charters as new webmaster, so something had to give. The VAC board 
decided to find a third party to take over the VAC list and its management. In 
came Tom Patterson to the rescue. Since Tom had been maintaining an archive of 
past VAC List posts, he was the best candidate to become the new List Manager. 
 
In order to provide a measure of distinction and due to fact the VAC no longer 
owned the discussion list on our site, its name was changed to the VA List. At 
no time was there any cost or requirements to become a list member or use the 
public part of the VAC website as prelude to membership. VAC Officers and 
Volunteers still monitor and participate in the VA list and all of them and Tom 
need to be commended for their service to both the club and Airstream Community 
at large.
 
The issue of dues / VA subscription renewal has this history:
 
From its beginning, the VAC was engaged in yearly rendezvous of WBCCI members 
at the site of the WBCCI International Rally where they parked together and 
shared in the "Vintage Experience". Dues were collected at International 
between June 26 and July 4 and by our constitution and by-laws were closed 30 
days after the end of July or August 31. Unlike the main club where dues were 
open July 1 and were payable till December 31 (or November 30 to ensure being 
listed in the WBCCI Membership Directory). 
 
As the Intra-club began to expand, folks in the club wanted to enjoy the 
vintage experience more often and in 1996-7 the first of the Regional VAC 
Rallies took place and became an immediate success. In part due to these 
factors and the growing web presence it became obvious that we were no longer a 
one event organization. In 2004 the VAC Board voted to align the dues / 
subscriptions structure with the WBCCI, making dues payable till December 31. 
All members and subscribers that were current with their dues as of June 2004 
were automatically extended through December.
 
Prologue:
 
The charter of the VAC in addition to promoting good will among its members is 
the preservation of Airstream Legacy Trailers and their History. Since the 
intra-club is also part of the WBCCI, the Vintage Club by default is also about 
fellowship and travel adventure. The interpretation of the focus of the club 
had been the subject of debate in the past by the membership since its 
inception, and had been at the core of the argument over what makes a trailer 
vintage (25 Years old or Pre 1969). The debate was settled by a narrow vote in 
1993. Since that time the argument has surfaced a number of times and has 
proven divisive due to its implications. The facts are there are still those 
that wish the club to be more of a restoration network and less of a travel 
club. In addition, the really old Vintage Airstreams are now in the hands of 
non participating members of the VAC as well as collectors of antiquities. As 
the intraclub gets older and the value of the really old trailers continues
to rise it is of growing concern and contention that there will be less and 
less of these trailers in our network. By default we are becoming more focused 
on fellowship and travel adventure as we lose the association of the oldest 
trailers and their owners. From my point of view we need to rekindle the focus 
on restoration and preservation and find ways of enticing the owners of the 
really unique Airstreams into the club. This will be at the forefront of my 
focus as President of the VAC later this year. I solicit your thoughts and 
support, for what I feel is a worthwhile effort to regain the "Vintage" in the 
Vintage Club while continuing to support our larger mission of Travel Fun and 
Adventure! All Are Welcome!
 
To our members, subscribers and all, I hope that this has been informative.
 
If you have any further questions or comments please email me wam52@prodigy.net 
or post your question to the list if you feel others may benefit.
 
See Ya Down the Road! 
 
Wayne A. Moore (WAM)
1st Vice President 2004-2005
Vintage Airstream Club
VAC/WBCCI 15116