Re: Good Sam Question

Hi Janet,
I'm not all that familiar how the Good Sam's Club works, their chain
of
command so to speak, though I belong to Good Sams :) I only do it for
the camping discounts and magazine and other stuff which requires you
to
be a member. The local chapters and clubs are independent but do they
have a say on the national board if there is one, or is that controlled
by the corporate owners?

I don't know about your demographics. There are a LOT of people
belong
to Good Sam's. They take in the full spectrum of RV'ers, from truck
campers to Class A's from weekender's to full timers. As you said they
have probably the largest rally every year. Most of those folks travel
a pretty good distance to get there. There are many, many more Good
Sam's who don't belong to a chapter or attend rallies, but belong
because of the services offered, some of which require you to belong to
the club if you want to use them.

That's why I said IF they come out with any position it will probably
be on the side of the RV'ers because there are LOTS of members, lots
more then there are campground owners. The members spend lots more
money on their services they offer to members then the campground
owners
contribute to the bottom line. The Good Sam's Club is a very good
business for AGI for sure.

I am sure they will try to straddle the fence as long as they can
trying to stay out of any controversy, as they have shown with the
letter/e-mail you posted. But if this issue gets any hotter and others
like the Escapees and FMCA make a stand then Good Sam's will have to
too, sooner or later.

Individual members writing in will influence them I'm sure. But if
they are truly a club, individual chapters and clubs input should count
a lot too. FMCA is one example where this happens :)

Rich,

I just don't think Good Sam is prepared to take a stand. Perhaps if and
when the membership innundates them with letters they will. My contact
fully comprehends the issues so I am sure that the club does, too.

Affinity Group Inc, the parent of Good Sam, Camp Coast to Coast,
Trailer Life Publications, Woodall's and Camping World does not own any
campgrounds.

They publish several directories, they manage the business of supplying
members of affiliated Camp Coast to Coast resorts with information and
a central reservation system, but they own no campgrounds.

That said, would they really lose a lot of revenue if they took a stand
on overnight parking in a merchant lot? Personally, I don't think they
would. RVers are going to continue to use their directories for the
times they aren't ONP in a Wal*Mart. Their listing reps are still going
to "shake down" campground owners for bigger ads, because that's where
the revenue from campgrounds is, not in camper nights. Once they make
this money, they could care less where RVers park. It does not effect
their revenue stream.

Why are they on the fence? I really don't know. I do know that when
Joe and Vicky Kieva stated their opposition to municipal bans on ONP,
they did not edit it. The answer I was given is that they permit their
columnists the freedom to express their opinions.
I've been in the RV publication business too long to believe that. I
think letting the Kieva's statement stand in the (Dec 05) magazine was
pretty close to an endorsement. I was unable to get my contact to admit
it.

I don't know what FMCA is doing, but I was copied in on correspondence
between Good Sam and Escapees and Good Sam is not ready to take a
difinitive public stand. Will they ever? I can't answer that. I can,
however, tell you that it is not a revenue issue.

.

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