Oregon’s Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center is hosting the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) 109th International Convention & RV Expo. The club has been struggling with a declining membership, which may have been reflected in statistics coming from the rally which opened up yesterday, August 14, with about 700 RVs on hand.
FMCA rally attendance one-third off
In a story carried by Woodall’s Campground Magazine, the turnout for the “Adventure Peaks”-themed rally is far less than anticipated. More than one-third fewer rigs have turned up for the big show as had been expected.
Doug Uhlenbrock, FMCA Director of Events, was quoted in Woodall’s: “We would like to see a whole heck of a lot more (coaches),” he said. “We were counting on maybe about a thousand.’” But Uhlenbrock was quick to add a positive spin. “But the 700 families who have decided to come and join us are going to be treated to a great time. We’ve got all kinds of fun things planned for them including about a hundred seminars plus exhibit halls and RV displays.”
The last time FMCA hosted an international convention in Redmond was in 2014, when more than 1,400 coaches were hand.
The club had reported in July that a low turnout of 700 would amount to a loss of more than $400,000. FMCA has been losing members in recent years, in part because many of the members are “aging” out in their 70s and 80s. Membership has declined more than 6,000 so far this year.
Smoke gets in your eyes
It might be good if those seminars are at inside venues. Smoke from California wildfires was a problem early on. Uhlenbrock reported to Woodall’s on Tuesday, “Unfortunately, we got a little smoke from the wildfires out here, but the weather’s really nice right now so everything’s kind of moving along just as we expected.”
The FMCA rally runs through August 17th.
Meanwhile in Elkhart, Indiana, the annual FROG (Forest River Owners Group) International Rally is now underway. The turnout is reported to be about 380 coaches and 750 people.
##RVT1170b
I don’t think that the smoke is coming from California. Oregon is having a very busy fire season and some of the fires are near Redmond Oregon.
Not sure why everyone wants to bash FMCA. We are at the FMCA Rally, and the weather is AWESOME! Some of the best in the country. Unless you look hard, there is very little smoke. We are having a great time, and while it would be great to have a larger number of coaches, everyone is having a good time.
I attended an FMCA Northwest Rally and even though I was in my late 50’s it was way too fuddy-duddy for me. I have continued to be a member though because I like some of the benefits and enjoy associating with other owners of similar rv’s in a chapter club.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 We are members of FMCA, but rarely go to rallies. We tend to do our own thing, mostly traveling alone and going to places that we pick. Thanks again, Russ and Tina, have a great day, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
There’s been very little smoke here, even had some rain over night and a slight drizzle this morning, so the air quality has been great. Plenty of great indoor seminars and the vendor alleys had some new, welcome to see products. It’s the first national rally we’ve ever been to and are pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
It’s the economy for me. Not willing to fork over the bucks it would take to drive from the gulf coast to Oregon just to attend. If I was full timer and in the area, well maybe. But like a previous commenter, we tend to do our own thing too. It’s the nature of our society anymore. People, and even families, are polarized. Younger people don’t physically meet and do things together. Instead they go online to meet. IMO, FMCA might have better used that $400,000 loss towards building a small low cost campground, similar to Cincinnati, in a different part of the country. There FMCA members could meet each other as they travel.
We attended the Rally in Tucson this past March, with over 1000 RV’s of all types and sizes. It was very well organized and we had a lot of fun. While there they began promoting the next one in Redmond, Ore. We weren’t interested in attending another one so soon after the March Rally. For us one a year is fine because they are not cheap, takes a lot of planning, and it was too far away this time.
Lowering the price to camp and attend the rally could help. They want a heck of a lot more than I’m willing to spend to attend.
We attend FMCA at Perry for years. Also, volunteer to assist on the parking crew. Looking forward to next Spring. Perry, Georgia, Spring, 2025.
You’ll come and have fun.
I joined for a year, during that time I emailed them and asked for help finding a trucker to transport a TT from Washington state to Pa. No response from FMCA. They send too many emails from companies trying to sell things. Their dues are too high and they want too much money for their rallies. Didn’t renew my membership.
Wow, only 700 rigs. In the old days there would have been thousands.
That’s what happens when your shenanigans of the past catch up with you. They had a cancelled Rally and would not refund the money to those who made reservations. I wouldn’t have made a reservation either. You reap what you sow in business. We used to be members until that fiasco happened!
FAKE NEWS. Refunds were given to those who paid for the rally cancelled because of Covid. ALL funds were returned to those who signed up for it.
Hi, Vanessa. That did occur in 2020, when FMCA canceled their Tucson rally and did not refund the registration fees. Instead, the club offered certificates good for a future rally. Here’s a link to our post regarding that: Why FMCA did not refund registration fees for canceled rally. Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
See Diane McGovern’s response above!
We attended the Adventure Peaks, our first FMCA event. Most of the educational seminars we attended were indeed beneficial while some others were nothing more than a blatant sales pitch for an extremely over priced product (shooting fish in a barrel?). Our most evident take-away from this is the average age of attendees had to be close to 80, more than 20 years our senior. Management has clearly failed in keeping up with societal shifts and has not done much, if anything, to adapt to a younger age demographic. I don’t see us renewing our membership and I don’t see this organization lasting too much longer unless a very serious awakening happens in the leadership’s vision for the future.
After being here for almost a week now, my opinion seems to match yours more closely than it did earlier in our stay. We’re finding most of the regional groups are keeping to themselves and not reaching out to any of us newbies to join any of them. The weather has remained pretty mild and enjoyable though !
I can’t think of one reason I would want to pay money to a FMCA rally…Packed in too close to others, probably too much noise, etc.
The Fairgrounds in Oregon are swell to visit most of the rest of the year, priced right, modern hook-ups and clean..
Quite a lot of space in those other times too.
I’m surprised that it hasn’t appeared in this newsletter yet. FMCA has changed it’s name to Family RV Association because they accept all RV types and want to attract those that tow and are younger.
If you want to join a club FRVA is one. Harvest Host is not a club…it is a business. I wonder how they are going to ruin the club they bought, Escapees? Good Sam is not a club, it is a discount card for camping world.
FRVA offers discounts on insurance including insurance for full timers. There are health insurance options for RVers. Discounts on roadside service, internet service, warranties, tires and other things RVers need and use.
Assist will get you to the medical care you need when injured or sick on the road. Get your rig home, get your remains home. All included in the annual dues.
Unfortunately, dues had to increase to keep the benefit and are now $100 a year.
Hi, Vanessa. The last time someone mentioned that FMCA changed its name to Family RV Association I tried looking it up. All I could find under “Family RV Association” was the website for Family Motor Coach Association, and no reference to a new name. I just tried it again, thinking maybe their website has been updated by now. It doesn’t look like it, because all that I see when I Google it is for FMCA. If you have a link to the updated website for the Family RV Association, would you please reply to this comment with it? Thanks! BTW, I’m sure we would have posted something about the name change if we had received notification of it.🤔 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
It was overwhelmingly approved at the Governing Board Meeting on Wed Aug 14. Since the convention didn’t end until Saturday evening and staff were still there packing up until Tuesday or Wednesday of this week they haven’t had time to update the information. There is already a marketing campaign set to go. But I am surprised they haven’t done a press release.
It was pretty common knowledge that it was approved immediately after the meeting so I am surprised that the author of the article didn’t hear about it.
It is a DBA but the underlying company is still Family Motor Coach Association.
Thank you for the update and explanation, Vanessa. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane