FRVA/FMCA Concludes ’25 Convention with ‘Great Vibes’ – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
PERRY, Ga. – The Family RV Association (FRVA) concluded its 2025 convention in Perry, Ga., with just under 1,500 RVs – of which 352 were brought by first-time attendees. As usual, feedback was mixed by some but the overall vibe and feeling by many was overwhelmingly positive. FRVA is the new name for the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA), which started in 1963 to serve members with motor coaches and has grown to some 55,000 members at present.
“I feel this is one of the best conventions we’ve done in a few years,” said FRVA President Paul Mitchell, “I really got some great vibes out of everyone I’ve talked to.”
In fact, RVBusiness stopped quite a few first-time attendees on the various pathways during the convention – and there wasn’t one who was disappointed that they attended. One individual stated, “this is much, much more than I could have imagined.” First-time attendees were easy to spot as they had a red ribbon on their badges.
The FRVA has seen a decline in membership in the past few years, not unlike many other membership-based organizations, but Mitchell indicated that the management recognizes this and is working to stem the tide. Among the actions being taken is simply telephoning those whose membership has lapsed. According to Wayne Cernie, Western Area vice president, “Some of the people we’ve called didn’t even know their membership didn’t just automatically renew.”
FRVA Vice President Bob Weithofer told RVBusiness that he’d like to see the membership rise, and the organization is working on affecting that change which inlcues events like the 2025 convention. “They’re great for getting the word out about the FRVA,” added Mitchell.
One of the bigger changes to this year’s event was having the hosts from the TV show “RV There Yet,” Patrice and Kevin McCabe. The duo was given an entire hall and filled it with RV demonstrations and various product examples that the couple endorses.
“We were delighted that they gave us an entire building,” said Patrice McCabe. “We brought our entire (film) crew here.”
“It was a tall task but we’re so glad we did it,” said Kevin McCabe. “We’re getting great feedback from the vendors and from the members of the FRVA.”
On the subject of vendors, RVBusiness spoke with several and, while some weren’t pleased, most had positive feedback, including repeat vendor Jim Metry from Soft Cell water softeners who has been to Perry multiple times. “My business is having a presence – if they don’t see you they don’t know you,” he said.
Rob Case from RVOvernights was equally happy, stating “The show’s been great.” RVOvernights is a company that matches RVers with places they can stop overnight, and Case announced a partnership with the FRVA to offer a reduced rate to FRVA members of $29 per year with that number being good for life.
Magne Shade founder Roger Hunckler said, “we were slammed from the moment we opened our doors.” Magne Shade is a fixture at many of these RV shows and has recently added more of their magnetic window covering options for towables, putting them in line with the FRVA.
Adventure Genie debuted its travel planning service at this convention two years ago and, “We have had three of us doing demos the whole time. It’s been really good,” said Scott Lengel.
Bernie Culliton of Camper’s Inn RV expressed a positive outlook on the people who had taken tours of the Tiffin RVs he was showing, but were cautious about spending the money here. Most were hoping to be able to move into a change once things settle down, he said. Certainly, the roller coaster that has been the news from Washington is causing some buyers to put a lot more caution in their spending, at least for the short term.
“Typically we see a lot of trade-ins here,” said Culliton. “The people at an FRVA Convention are generally RVers so they’ve already arrived with something, but not always.”
Back to working on growing the organization itself, a number of plans are in place to stem the number of people jumping ship. There is a Pathfinder membership for those who might be RV curious and the club has instituted a monthly payment option for the $99 dues price. But as to that price, there has been push-back as costs of running the organization has forced the price to go up.
“I am committed to not taking any more out than we have to,” continued Mitchell, “This is your money.” During his seminar, he detailed a lot of steps the organization is taking to reduce internal costs and make changes to either better serve members or eliminate expenses. One consideration is moving the organization’s print magazine to all-digital format. In fact this has been a step a number of other RV-related publications have moved to.
The organization has seen a number of changes in recent years, one of which is that they have gone from only admitting motorized RVs to accepting towables as well. The organization started in 1963 with a group of bus conversion owners forming a club. Today the organization offers all sorts of discounts and benefits to members, including a medical assist program that can spirit home an RVer’s rig and family members if there is a medical emergency while they are on the road.
This program has gotten much more expensive in the recent past and is a component of why the dues has had to be raise, but Mitchell indicated that the insurance provider wants the program to be for all members or for none.
The FRVA has two major conventions per year with the second one scheduled for July 16-19 in Gillette, Wyo. In addition, there are regional and special-interest chapters across North America with gatherings and organized caravans.
