RIV and price

[ronmarabito2002]

Jeff:

I'm not out to criticize Brenda. She has been good and she is
only an employee, but she and management owe all of us an
explanation. We should not be expected to simply accept this cost
increase at face value.

The RIV is still advertised as a Factory Sponsored event, and as
such, I would expect them to pick up a major part of the tab.
Otherwise, simply call it another Family of Friends event and
exclude all the others.

You indicated that it appears that the attendees are to bear the
expense. The question is why. Where is the value?

From a PR point of view, this is the dumbest move I've seen
management make to date. In order to sell new coaches, one has to
have a market for the older units. By alienating the ownership,
this will not bode well with future sales. Even worse if we turn
against them and not promote the coach. Whether they realize it or
not, we probably sell a significant number of their coaches for them
and we don't receive any commision for doing so.

R.E. (Ron) Marabito, Dallas, TX 92WB40

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Miller"
wrote:
> Don't shoot the messenger.
>
> Brenda has been an asset to BlueBird for many years, and surely
can
> recall better times. She'd rather be introducing a RIV that is
free
> to all owners,...
>
> I'm sure that the cost of the fairgrounds rental has risen, as
have
> many costs.
>
> In '98, if I remember correctly, I recall paying $150 for a coach
> with two people, and that included up to $100 of rally service at
> BlueBird.
>
> It is my opinion, that in those days the RIV was mostly funded by
> BlueBird, and meals etc. were sponsored by dealers, as more of
> a "perk" for their owners/customers than a source of revenue.
Times
> were good with BlueBird and with dealers, and cash flow wasn't
being
> watched as carefully. Bluebird probably doesn't have the leverage
to
> force dealer participation that they used to either.
>
> The current pricing indicates to me that the RIV costs are to be
> borne by the attendees and not significantly by dealers and
BlueBird
> Coachworks. With the attendance dropping from around 500 coaches
> in '98 to 350?? last year, and possibly futher with the large
price
> increase, their cost per coach will likely far exceed any
estimates
> that BlueBird might be making based on a 300-350coach attendance.
> Vendors will similarly be unimpressed if there are less attendees
> (customers) and their fees increase (Perhaps they should be
invited
> across the street LOL).
>
> It is a shame to see the RIV become less of an annual event, it
used
> to be one of our favorite annual stops albeit at an inconvenient
> time. Advertising is expensive, RIV was great P.R. and a good way
to
> advertise and create sales and leads for BlueBird IMO, sorry to
see
> the cost get in the way of participation.
>
> One plus for this (proposed) new arrangement is that there will be
> more opportunity for BlueBird "wannabees" to attend as I don't
expect
> that the attendance across the street will be limited to current
> owners.
>
> I hope that however the participation is split across the street,
> there will be a large group descending on Perry this year.
>
> - Jeff Miller
> http://www.wanderlodge.net
> http://www.millercoachworks.com