Merger of GS CW makes Rally an infomercial

Moved from the Rallies Forum to the Good Sam forum so perhaps "The Rally" organizers will consider the suggestions mentioned in this thread.

As I mentioned in my post to this thread, times are changing and these venues should have some activities and entertainment that appeals to all ages.

While many of us tenured individuals would prefer to attend an event or entertainer from our time, there certainly must also be events geared to our younger members desires and taste.

I haven't been to a rally, but was described is what I would expect. If you have been around here or a member of Good Sam for at least a year or so, you should know all this to be true. No different than the RV shows with the vendors and seminars there. It is put on by Good Sam, you should expect them to be selling you more Good Sam. As far as price for the rally goes, they are offering discounts. A life member gets half off and if you bought an RV from them, then it's free as an Elite member. Even at $199, I think that is a fair price to pay to see Stars such as Reba McEntyre and coming in October in Atlanta it will be Vince Gill. Have you gone to concert lately? It will cost you $50 a ticket easily. Granted country is not everyones favorite, but it does attract probably the majority of the crowd. Yes most of them are older.

I do agree about the part of attracting the younger crowd.

I've never been to the "Rally" but I am not surprised about the infomercial comment. Good Sam by whatever name has always been part of a for profit company. The club was started by an RV magazine as a way for readers to identify each other on the road. Sort of like an RV.net T-shirt or sticker.

To be fair to Good Sam it is not their fault that it is an old farts organization. Demographics are changing, younger people aren't camping much. I belong to a large motorcycle club and it is almost exclusively blue hairs also.

Good Sam is trying to bring in younger people. At our state meetings and with our regional representative it is often stressed that we need to attract younger members.

I suggest that anyone disappointed in the "Rally" attend your state Samboree. Our Ohio Samborees are held three times a year. We are a totally volunteer organization and the Samborees are operated as a benefit to the attendees, not as a sales tool. Also get involved in a local chapter. The real club is out there, it just sometimes gets lost under the commercial banner of Good Sam.

At our chapter campout this past weekend I met a young couple with two children. They asked about our group (33 people this trip) and said it looked like we really had fun together. I told them we are a local Good Sam chapter. They responded that they had just joined Good Sam. They really expressed a lot of interest in joining us until they asked the dreaded question. "How many families with children are in your chapter?" I had to be honest and tell them that sometimes our grandchildren camp with us but there are no young families in our chapter. They totally lost interest at that point and anything else I said fell on deaf ears.