FMCA Wraps Up 108th Annual Convention & RV Expo – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
Highlighted by over 1,100 RVs registered in advance and many more people were drawn to the event from the surrounding areas, the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) hosted its 108th Annual International Convention & RV Expo at the Pima County fairgrounds in Tucson, Ariz.
In particular, noted FMCA Director of Events Doug Uhlenbrock, on Friday and Saturday, “we really had a good number – we really made an effort to get day passes to the community.”
The day-pass outreach for the convention was designed to attract prospective attendees who may not have attended an FMCA event in the past. There were passes given to local partners, including RV dealerships, so people could attend at no cost. With the number of snowbirding RVers in the Tucson and nearby Phoenix area, this made a great deal of sense.
One of those who attended their first FMCA Convention were full-time RVers Melissa Fulton and Chuck Sberna.
“We had a great time talking to several exhibitors. We got some answers to questions we had about our Jayco equipment. We shut the place down at 5 o’clock,” said Fulton.
“We will definitely recommend that RVers attend any FMCA conventions that they can,” echoed Sberna.
The vendor booths also drew a big crowd with RV-specific products and services available, including some repair services as well as other things RVers might find useful.
In another effort to attract new members, the organization is reaching out to prospective RV owners as well as part of a new program called the Pathfinders program. This is a membership program designed for prospective RVers and enables them to access the FMCA’s web-based learning library as well as attend the convention. Attendance included all the workshops and seminars the FMCA has planned.
In the past, attendees who didn’t stay in RVs on the fairgrounds were about half RV owners, half prospective owners. Among the various reasons to attend the convention include the various RVs for sale that attendees can tour.
But one of the largest and most intangible benefits for attendees is meeting other RVers and sharing stories, tips and adventures.
One of the things members also can participate in is a 1-mile walk to benefit a local charity. In this case, that charity was the Candlelight Childhood Cancer Foundation, and walk participants ponied up $8,059.50 for the charity.
FMCA, which accepts motorized and towable RV owners as members, has chapters all over the country that cater to special interests, specific types of RV, hobbies and more, and there are regional chapters that hold meetings across the U.S. The next nationwide convention for the organization will be Aug. 14-17 in Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond Ore.
Additional information can be found athttps://www.fmca.com.
Peggy and Tony Barthel are veterans of the RV industry and use that experience to create StressLess Camping, a podcast, website and resource for new and experienced RVers and campers alike to learn more, spend less and turn every adventure into a StressLess Camping experience.
