RIV and price

[ronmarabito2002]

All:

I placed a call to Brenda Rogers today, but have not heard back
from her. Probably won't. She might not recognize me by name, but
that's O.K.. The purpose of the call is try and get an explanation
of the price increase this year. Not sure what she will have to
say, but I have some observations that I think should shed some
light on what appears to be a problem between Owners and the factory.

I have attended the RIV for the last 6 years and have seen the
attendance as high as 525 coaches. The last few years it has been
down to about 350 coaches. As one of our astute members pointed out
earlier today, we can attend a FMCA Convention for about 1/5th the
cost of the RIV. FMCS offers more seminars, more displays and more
vendors. Go figure. I predict that the attendance at this years
RIV will be down significantly if the trend I see keeps up. I know
right now of 17 coaches, people I know, who are going to miss the
RIV and most will probably attend our rally accross the highway. If
this trend covers the U.S., surely it would mean a drop in
attendance at the RIV of easily more than one hundred coaches.

From my point of view, $485 is completely out of line and makes
the RIV not worth it for the following reasons:

1. We want to visit with friends, but we can do that almost
anywhere, including across the highway for a lot less.

2. For many of us with experience and BB ownership for many years,
the seminars are simply not very informative and are mostly re-
hashing of old information. True, they are good for the newby.

3. Last year they cancelled the golf tournament. This was
important for my attendance.

4. Meals are O.K., but about 5 years ago they were significantly
better and the service was outstanding. We had wait staff at every
table. You didn't have to serve your own drinks.

5. The Town Hall Meeting, which has been held the last 2 or 3 years
has produced little or no results for the Owners. It appears, when
the meetings are over, BB simply throws the notes away and continues
on their path of ignoring the input.

6. They did away with the Donut Wagon. (Was a super morning event)

7. There has been a noticable drop in Vendor Participation.

8. There has been no coach service for the cast few years.

Are we destined to see the older coaches completely cut out from
any participation and support from Wanderlodge? Is the Family of
Friends to once again become the snob group they once were? Do we
all have to be millionaires to be recognized as important?

As I said above, it just isn't worth the price of admission and
my hope is, the factory will wake up and realize they are alienating
a large group of owners.

If I hear from Brenda Rogers, I'll give you a report.

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

[Jeff Miller]

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

[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