The Death of The Samboree?!

[HSVBamaBob]

So, at our last Good Sam Club meeting our president brought news from our state chapter that Good Sam Corporate was planning on changing the name of "Samboree" to "Camp Out" to better market the RV Lifestyle.

Anyone else out there hear of this?!

[Cloud_Dancer]

I'm not young either, but I've NEVER liked potlucks. I know what I like to eat, and I know where I can find it. I've got nothing against Good Sammers, but I'm with Escapees and FMCA and NRA. And, I have nothing against Marcus Lemonis. He's just another hard-working smart person trying to make more money. I appreciate that he sponsors NASCAR, and I appreciate that there's Camping World.

[John_S_]

I find the FMCA to be the same way, cliquish and unfriendly. We tried both Good Sam rally and a FMCA rally a couple times and found that they were not interested in new members.

[westernrvparkow]

> The Death of The Samboree?! "
May it rest in peace. I am right there with many others, it has outlived it usefulness by about 30 years. Like 4x4 Dodger said, today's RVer's are about activity, not potlucks. It seems everything Good Sam screams "one foot in the grave". 50s man logo, relentless snail mail, Samborees, they all chase my father's and Grandfather's generation, and I am not exactly young. Today, an RVers is more likely to have a toyhauler full of fun stuff than they are interested in sitting around a table covered with potluck salads talking about the old days. Evolution in a business is not controversial, it is necessary.

[HSVBamaBob]

qtla9111 wrote:
Sounds boring to me. We don't care much for organized events. It also reminds me of snowbird parks if you're younger and not a regular. You're constantly asked if you're supposed to be there or if you speak English.

To each his own, but potlucks make you fat and bingo and cards makes you sedentary.

Include some good outdoor activities with hiking, swimming, fishing, nature talks about identifying local flora and fauna and you might get my attention.

FULLY agree - and in fact one wag in our Good Sam chapter remarked "we are more of a eating club than a RV club"

I ENJOY pot-lucks but not the ones where there are 50 bags of chips, a pot of hormel chili and hot dogs. Creative cooking pot lucks are much more fun and rewarding (and generally healthier to boot 🙂

SPOT ON with the activities - shoot our group won't even play corn hole or ladder golf 😞

[rvten]

We only went to one. What a disaster. Found it disorganized.

[4X4Dodger]

It's surprising to read how many people found these events to be unfriendly, clique-ish and off putting. That's unfortunate. However after being on this site for months now I can definitely understand it. Those same cliques seem to exist here also.

But to the point of updating the Samborees and making them more accessible to more people and attracting a larger number of folks I think there are some things that should be considered and are obvious from just a casual non member perspective.

Get a New Updated Logo and dump the grinning Fool in the round sticker. It's dated, it doesnt relay any information about the organization and it's time for something new.

One poster suggested more activities like hiking. Your target group is the younger Baby Boomers. They are a bit more open, active, and less likely to want to sit around and play Bingo. News Flash! we're not dead yet.

The descriptions I read in this thread of many of the local chapters reminds me of Home Owners or Condo Owners associations. Run by a small group of folks who are hanging on like grim death to power and are resistant to change.

These could be fun easy going get-togethers but it sounds like it will take change from the outside..top down to make that happen.

More Burning Man less Lawrence Welk.

[qtla9111]

Sounds boring to me. We don't care much for organized events. It also reminds me of snowbird parks if you're younger and not a regular. You're constantly asked if you're supposed to be there or if you speak English.

To each his own, but potlucks make you fat and bingo and cards makes you sedentary.

Include some good outdoor activities with hiking, swimming, fishing, nature talks about identifying local flora and fauna and you might get my attention.

[HSVBamaBob]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:

Kit Carson wrote:
Supposedly there was a Samboree in Shreveport at the State Fair Grounds April 9-12. I never saw any advertisement in paper or on TV or radio. Son't know if it happened or not.

Yes, it happened and had good attendance according to some friends who attended. We were on the east coast in Delaware & New Jersey that weekend.

I've never heard of a state samboree being advertised in local media. Likely any advertising would cost significantly more than the event budget could stand.

States rely on local Good Sam chapters spreading the word. Some do put out flyers at area Camping World stores and RV dealers.

Here's what I do not understand, and quite frankly it irritates the HE** out of me!

The Good Sam club is essentially a marketing arm of Camping World.Yes, I know there is a very strong social aspect as well -- but without marketing and advertising, we are seeing the Good Sam Club turn into a Senior Citizens club (I think my wife and I are the youngest members of our chapter and we are 59!)

If Marcus Lemonis wants the Good Sam club to grow, he should take a bit of the $1.48 *Billion* revenue he makes off of CW enterprises and invest it in the Good Sam club in the form of subsidizes for the Samboree and advertising -- after all it WOULD be a corporate tax write off!

The fact that we hold Samborees on a shoestring budget with NO sponsorship from Corporate is a bad marketing decision from a company that is trying to grow the Good Sam Club. Other RV clubs that are outgrowths of a corporate entity are supported by the company (cf WInnebago & Forest River) - Good Sam Enterprises should look to those companies as a model for membership growth and loyalty.

I know that this list is monitored by Corporate employees -- perhaps ya'll would be good enough to carry the water up to good 'ol Marcus and clue him in 🙂

[Geobiker]

Totally agree with PawPaw-n-Gram. Signed up for local chapter Samboree, and mind you we aren't all that young so it wasn't a matter of us being too young to fit it. With the exception of one gal manning the check-in desk, no one, I mean no one, was friendly. Tried to participate, but the message was clear. No outsiders wanted. So glad the RVing community outside of the GS Samborees are just the opposite; friendly and sociable. Happy travels

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Kit Carson wrote:
Supposedly there was a Samboree in Shreveport at the State Fair Grounds April 9-12. I never saw any advertisement in paper or on TV or radio. Son't know if it happened or not.

Yes, it happened and had good attendance according to some friends who attended. We were on the east coast in Delaware & New Jersey that weekend.

I've never heard of a state samboree being advertised in local media. Likely any advertising would cost significantly more than the event budget could stand.

States rely on local Good Sam chapters spreading the word. Some do put out flyers at area Camping World stores and RV dealers.

[wannavolunteerF]

Dandy Dan, have only attended on Ga State Rally, because I am younger and still have to work, so it usually doesn't work out. I did attend the Natl Rally in Atlanta. Georgia is lucky in that we have a great location, centrally located in the state and on I75 for easy access. I think there are a number of snowbirds that plan their north or south bound trips to catch the GA one.

[Dandy_Dan]

GoodSamFamily wrote:
Thanks for your comments!

One of the challenges many of our chapter members have voiced to us over the last several years is “to help us get new and younger members into the club”.

At an annual meeting of the Good Sam Club Regional Directors we brought this challenge to the regional directors. Each of these 9 regional directors are long-standing chapter members and most of them are former state or provincial directors. As we were discussing how we might be able to help chapter members attract younger families at the samborees, it was brought to our attention that a lot of people don’t really know what the term “ Samboree” means – unless they have attended one.

It was decided at this meeting that each of the regional directors would poll the state/provincial directors and ask them how they would feel about possibly changing the name of Samboree. The overwhelming response was that they would like to try changing the name Samboree to Good Sam RV Rally (Samboree). Of course, the state or province name would be in the title as well. For example: The Kentucky Good Sam RV Rally (Samboree). The goal was to begin introducing this in 2016.

If you would like to voice your concern regarding the name change or have any other ideas, I strongly encourage you to make you voice heard. Please reach out to your state/provincial/regional director so that your opinion can be registered. You can find a listing of all state directors on the chapters web site at www.GoodSamClub.com/chapters. You may also reach out to me directly at the email address listed below.


Stacey Rabung
staceyrabung@goodsamfamily.org
Manager, Club Support and Marketing
Camping World and Good Sam

Stacey, My wife and I attended the National Rally in Albuquerque a few years back and unfortunately that was the worst planned Rally.
You had to prepay for a fresh water fillup as well as a dump which would have been fine if they would have done it. We had to be out by Tuesday and our friends and us ran out of water on Saturday and they never came around to give us our prepaid fill even after passing the request along to the organizers.Our Friends were the first Camper of the Year folks and they were treated no better. You had to stand outside in inclement weather to wait on busses to take you over 5 miles downtown to look at the new equipment and "trinkets and trash". We traveled a long way to have this kind of "enjoyment" Figured if this was the way the National Rally was going to be operated then there would be no National Rally in the future so I guess it is a moot point what you are going to name it. I must give a great shoutout to the Georgia State Rally. This was by far the most organized and enjoyable Good Sam Rally we have ever been to.

[Rollnhome]

I tried a couple of these. My finding is if you over 70 like potlucks, bingo, and card games this maybe for you. The ones I attended were very "clicky" and not very welcoming to new comers. The longterm attenders had their group plans before arriving and were not interested in letting someone new join in. They would say hi and smile but for sure you were not to be part of the agenda. Some were down right rude...but that is just some peoples way.
My wife and I are fairly pleasant people. Made lots of friends as camphosts and several lifelong friends on a caravan we took. But we now steer away from GS local get togethers. I don't care what you call them.
Are all GS local events like the two we attended. I don't know. Will we go to another no. Actually after the last national in Phoenix I think we are done with GS Rally's.

[Kit_Carson]

Supposedly there was a Samboree in Shreveport at the State Fair Grounds April 9-12. I never saw any advertisement in paper or on TV or radio. Son't know if it happened or not.

[NRALIFR]

"Samboree" is a play on the word "Jamboree", as in the Boy Scouts of America National and International gatherings of Scouts.

The word is used so seldom outside of Scouting, I imagine there are quite a few people who have no idea what it means.

:):)