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NOTES ARISING FROM THE CHAPTER FORUM MEETING HELD
AT
TASMANIAN RALLY – 17th
March, 2010.
The Meeting opened at 10.30
am.
In attendance were 120 representatives of 45
Chapters, all Club Board Members and John Osborne, the Club CEO.
Vincent Moran
addressed those present, thanked them for
their presence and did request that in future their RSVPs would be appreciated, as the
catering volunteers needed advance information.
Vincent then spoke to the following
subjects:-
Statistics
He read the latest Club Statistics, the main
features of which are:-
- Present Membership – 57,000
- New Members per month – 700
- Member vehicles – 26,500
- Chapters – 93
- SIGs – 5
- RVFTs – 107
- RVF Locations – 12
- RVF Destinations – 14
- LNT accredited vehicles – 5,200
- CMCA/KEA Dump Points – 174
- CMCA/Qld Govt Dump Points – 23 (approx 40% of all national
dump points).
He then read two notes from Colin Thompson, Club Member Services
Manager:-
"Maybe the committee members of the Chapters
might care to take notice of the expiry date on the membership card, when completing the
"Attendance Sheet" at their meetings, and remind Members if they a falling due shortly. We
might not have so many to follow up with a phone call."
This suggestion follows on the very successful
efforts of Colin’s staff in conducting follow up phone calls to expired Members.
His second note (from Colin, The Peacemaker) is self
explanatory:-
"The main topic I consider important is the politics
that sneak into Chapters and SIGs.
It would be much nicer for the members (and everybody
involved) if the personal disputes / grievances were left at home.
The representatives at the forum need to take back to
the Chapters the need to enjoy the Club lifestyle and abide by the Wanderers Pledge; "To unite the
chapters in bond of friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding".
There have been, on a number of occasions, instances
where personality clashes cause grief to those having the squabble, the committee members, the
Chapter members and staff at NHQ. If these people left their egos at home and took part in the
meetings to only have a good time and not get into any he said/she said feuds, they might enjoy the
outings a little more.
The "drink wine and tell a few lies" philosophy could
be practiced more often and the Laugh More Live Longer theory can be firmly implanted into the
behavioural patterns of the few who seem determined to make the get-togethers some political
platform to voice their opinion and ignore the views of others.
It is good to note that there is only a very small
minority in the Club who upset others, but those present at the forum should be made aware of the
few problems lurking out there and, hopefully, will control any flare-ups as they rear their ugly
head."
These matters are very important to the ongoing
enjoyment of our lifestyle and petty (not always, of course) issues should not be allowed to
interfere with our Chapter enjoyment.
There followed discussion on just how Chapters might
promote new memberships.
Some of the ideas canvassed
were:-
Prepare and publish an Agenda of Activities at
Meetings; to emphasise that each meeting is aimed at having fun and camaraderie; that Chapters
might canvass other Club Members in their post code areas.
Contrary to some expectations, the Club numbers
continued to grow very rapidly. It is also obvious that as the Baby Boomers and those who had
delayed retirement because of the recent detrimental effect on Superannuation will soon retire;
many of them will join our ranks and take to the road.
Volunteers:-
There have been major moves to re-organize
the Volunteer structure to provide a more effective Representation of the Club’s
objectives.
State Representatives now are:-
QLD Gary Rebgetz and Ken Kipping
NSW Diana Worner and me
VIC Keith Moxham
TAS Graeme King
SA Don Eldred
WA Phil Chadd
Two new State Co-ordinators have joined the Member
Benefits Team:-
QLD Noel Roberts
WA Bevan Martin
All those present were invited to attend the Member
Benefits Team presentation later that day.
LNT:-
Vincent particularly appealed to all present
to either join the Leave No Trace® Scheme or to encourage others to do so – as
a matter of great importance.
Councils and other government bodies, when approached
for RVFT status, dump point installation or other favours, like short term, low cost parking, are
always impressed by the implications of the LNT Scheme. In some locations it is even being
considered that special areas will be dedicated to LNT certified vehicles only.
Publicity:-
Publicising the Club is an ongoing endeavour
from NHQ.
The appropriate staff is continually issuing Press
Releases, contacting Councils and others and trying to keep our supporters up to date with all Club
developments.
However, the point must again be made that NO ONE has the
authority to speak on behalf of the Club unless they are authorised to do so in writing.
Suggestions:-
In response to our request, a number of suggestions
have been put forward by Members.
- That "Happenings" should be reduced? Overwhelming
NO!
- That Chapters might have their own pages within the Club web
site.
- That the Club should run safaris in addition to its support
for The Charity Safari. An investigation into this proposal is already under way.
- A new idea for "low cost" parking has been a Coin Operated
Water (COW) Stop Spot device, which has been developed and is currently being tested by Member,
Bruce Reimers.
Particular thanks to Clarence Valley Ramblers and
Leisure Coast Wanderers for their contributions; but more, please.
Finally Vincent asked all Members to be sure that
they are aware of the importance of the CMCA Club Insurance Scheme.
The continuing success of the Scheme is vital to the
prosperity of the Club and all Members should make themselves familiar with the unique features of
CMCA Assist and of the extraordinary level of service that is provided by Ken Tame, Gary Hughes and
their team.
Ken Kipping
took the floor and he began by echoing
Vincent’s remarks in regard to the Club’s Insurance. He said that he had previously been an
Insurance Agent and he assured all that the bottom line is always in the treatment of claims,
when the fine print is brought into play.
He was delighted to be able to announce that, as a
result of his and Gary Rebgetz’s efforts, the Queensland Government had just announced that they
will provide CMCA with another $150,000 (in addition to the $100,000 already granted) to provide
dump points throughout Queensland.
Ken’s background is in the area of consumer services
and he was well on the way of combining our 57,000 Members with several other similar sized
national organizations (one being defence personnel) so as to be able to procure some really
worthwhile consumer benefits for Members. He and John Osborne had held advanced discussions with
several major national companies and were expecting to be able to make an announcement in the near
future.
Ken’s present position on the Prime Minister’s
Veterans Affairs Compensation Commission was of great help to him in this regard.
Ken is a Fellow of the AICD and as such is
championing the cause of appropriate commercial education for Board Members and relevant Club
staff. Already this process was well in hand and can only serve to enhance the prospects of the
Club into the future.
Another project that he is promoting is to do with
developing a special deal with phones and communications that will hopefully be of benefit to all
Club Members.
Karen Griffin
took the floor to discuss the Banner Parade
in its new format. She was congratulated by the forum on the introduction of the various
Chapter Logos. Karen asked that those Chapters who had not yet participated might do so as
soon as they can.
Karen asked Chrissy Eustace
to explain the Banner Quilt Project. In
2004, all Chapters were invited to submit their Logos in the form that could be suitably
included in a Quilt Project. Of the then 80 chapters, 61 did so and these were made into the
Banner Quilt that graces one of the walls at NHQ.
Chrissy asked that all the rest, including the newer
Chapters might contact her so that the project might be brought up to date. John Osborne assured
the meeting that the Banner will be displayed at Major Rallies whenever a clean and dust free
environment can be assured,
It was suggested to Karen that the Chapter Banners
with their Logos run as a Power Point presentation during the morning tea sessions. Karen was
enthusiastic with this idea and will investigate.
John Osborne
took the
floor.
He spoke of the continuing and projected
growth of the Club and the need to plan for the future. As the membership grows, so does the
need for staff to service their needs and benefits. The
Wanderer, The
Wanderer’s Mate, the Web Site, GeoWiki, the various member
benefits, the growth in Member Benefits Team members, the continuing marketing of Club
activities and representation at Local, State and even Federal Government levels all required
constant and increased effort and support from NHQ, which was fast approaching full
capacity.
The provision of adequate and competent staff and
executives who were conversant with the Club’s particular and often peculiar requirements were all
issues for which the Club must plan its path forward.
The various surveys that the Club conducted from time
to time gave a picture into the future and it was incumbent on the Board and Management to plan
accordingly.
He asked that Members be mindful of the Great Aussie
Campout, that was planned for 17th April and that we all should support this
initiative to promote camping as a national activity.
He then asked David Mowat to update the meeting on the suggestion that
the Club develop an Antennae Up WARNING Device for use by RVers. David described a brightly
coloured plastic beer coaster size disc with the word "CAUTION" written across its face in
large red writing. On the other side were a number of pieces of essential advice – such as
"put your antennae down, close your hatches, etc". The idea was applauded and the discs will
be issued FREE to each Membership via The
Wanderer.
John then asked for a show of hands of those chapters
who were using "Chapter Chat" and updating their information on line. Many members need help in
this regard and John assured them that help was available at NHQ by phone – ask for Kerry or
Rachel.
He then distributed some explanatory leaflets and it
was made known that Arthur Bugden would conduct a session later in the day to
instruct Members on how to update The Wanderer’s Mate
and GeoWiki.
Vincent addressed a number of questions from the
floor, thanked everyone for their attendance and asked Diana to please close the
meeting.
Diana Worner
addressed the meeting and re-iterated the
necessity for Members to be vigilant as to the conduct that they displayed to the public and,
in particular, to report to NHQ any Member they witnessed doing things that might discredit
the Club. However, there is no point in making a complaint that is not in writing and does
not identify the offending vehicle.
A prime example of such conduct is the dreadful
practice of allowing grey water to trickle onto the road whilst driving.
It was suggested from the floor that "staging areas"
might in future be signed as such. John will look into that.
Diana also emphasised that CMCA does not advocate
that councils levy a charge for overnight parking, but that in lots of circumstances it is not
prudent for us to oppose it.
In answer to a question about non-current data in The
Wanderer’s Mate, Diana pointed out that the new version will be published and distributed shortly,
but that GeoWiki should always be up to date if Members played their part.
Vincent Moran N14036
(Director)
May, 2010.
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