Lack of WIT Chapter Information

[vicsryd]

I am a WIT member and belong to a local chapter (Columbia River Rollers). We've had discussions lately regarding how difficult it is to get new members. Our chapter is dwindling in numbers mostly due to attrition by old age. As a group we've decided a major barrier is that the existence of local WIT chapters is not known even by the folks who buy new coaches and get a free years membership. My perception is this is especially the case for the younger (<50) Internet savvy owners.

I know when we got our coach and initial WIT membership two years ago we had to dig hard for local chapter information. Once we figured how to contact our state WIT group we ended up having to go to the President in order to get a list of local chapters. Frequently we come across other Winnebago/Itasca owners who belong or did below to WIT at one time who have no idea state or local WIT chapters even exist. The fundamental problem appears to be a lack of accessible information. And WIT magazine is part of the problem some of the folks we talked to seem to think it's all about signing up for rallies ($$) and rarely even opened up their copies.

This forum is a step in the right direction but I think Winnebago needs to do more. In this day and age I'm amazed to find that the WIT pages on the Winnebago Industries web site barely have any state level information and no provisions for the state groups to post their own web site there.

In comparison, FMCA and Escapees have lots of information for state and chapters on their web sites. Also, FMCA sent a complete list of local chapter information with the original membership kit.

I think Winnebago needs to do themselves a (marketing) favor and provide more on-line web support in this area.

Would it be possible to at least have a consolidated local chapter list permanently maintained and posted to this forum?

[vicsryd]

I am a WIT member and belong to a local chapter (Columbia River Rollers). We've had discussions lately regarding how difficult it is to get new members. Our chapter is dwindling in numbers mostly due to attrition by old age. As a group we've decided a major barrier is that the existence of local WIT chapters is not known even by the folks who buy new coaches and get a free years membership. My perception is this is especially the case for the younger (<50) Internet savvy owners.

I know when we got our coach and initial WIT membership two years ago we had to dig hard for local chapter information. Once we figured how to contact our state WIT group we ended up having to go to the President in order to get a list of local chapters. Frequently we come across other Winnebago/Itasca owners who belong or did below to WIT at one time who have no idea state or local WIT chapters even exist. The fundamental problem appears to be a lack of accessible information. And WIT magazine is part of the problem some of the folks we talked to seem to think it's all about signing up for rallies ($$) and rarely even opened up their copies.

This forum is a step in the right direction but I think Winnebago needs to do more. In this day and age I'm amazed to find that the WIT pages on the Winnebago Industries web site barely have any state level information and no provisions for the state groups to post their own web site there.

In comparison, FMCA and Escapees have lots of information for state and chapters on their web sites. Also, FMCA sent a complete list of local chapter information with the original membership kit.

I think Winnebago needs to do themselves a (marketing) favor and provide more on-line web support in this area.

Would it be possible to at least have a consolidated local chapter list permanently maintained and posted to this forum?

[glenda1908]

I guess it really depends on how active your state is with WIT. Here in VA we have 7 chapters across the state. We joined after our 3rd Winnebago about 6 yrs ago, and like you we had to seek out the local chapter in our area. My husband has been the chapter president for the past 1 1/2 yrs. and I the secretary. Our chapter, which is about 28 yrs old was also "dwindleing". When we first joined there were only about 5 members. We are now up to 19 members. About every 2 months we get a list of new owners from Winnebago. Now of course some of these are re buys and are already members of other chapters,but we call all those in our area and invite them to join us for a dinner or campout so they can meet us and see if they want to join. We picked up 5 new members at one event by asking them to lunch during the state rally ! I would check with your chapter president to see if they get such a list of new owners from Winnebago. I agree WIT is loosly organized in many areas, but if you have never been to GNR in July they do a real nice job. We went for the first time last year and are heading there again. Hope this helps with some of your concerns.

[vicsryd]

Our chapter is very active with meetings and outings all year long.

I will check with the chapter Secretary to see if we are still getting the list of new WIT members from the state chapter. No one has mentioned it in the last year so I'm not sure.

To me actively seeking new recruits is only 50% of the equation. Providing a means to letting folks find the local chapters on their own is just as important. It seems to me it would be a good investment for Winnebago to provide the web site infrastructure to link up state and local chapters since WIT in general does help build brand loyalty.

[glenda1908]

Good ideas...are you reading this Winnebago? You are correct about WIT building loyalty. We have had 4 RV's since 1997, all Winnebago's because we would hate to not be part of our WIT club, the Tascas. When we go to RV shows, we hardly even look at OB's for that reason. We met a couple at a campground who had just purchased an OB, but after spending the weekend with our group was seriously considering trading for a Winnebago or Itasca so they could camp with us all the time.

I suggest you contact someone at Winnebago and present your idea's to them. That way when folks are starting their research for buying a motorhome they can see what the benefits are for buying a Winnebago or Itasca. We have made some of the best friends we have ever had through our club. Along with the wealth of knowledge you can absorb from some of the older more experienced RVer's. I could go on and on with the benefits, but you get my point.

Be sure and check to see who gets the list of the new owners too.

[vicsryd]

What I've been told now is our chapter has been getting the lists for both Washington State and Oregon (our chapter spans both sides of the Columbia River) sent to us directly from Ruth Harms at Winnebago. However, it turns out Ruth was out on medical leave from November to February (no lists sent) and now there's a backlog.

We do occasionally send letters out with an invite to join our regularly scheduled meetings/outings. But the effectiveness is very low (about 5% ever show up even once). We should probably take a lesson from your chapter and have one of our non-outing meetings set to be a recruiting session where we buy the newbie's lunch or something.

I will look into contacting WIT/Winnebago regarding the web site infrastructure and brand loyalty ideas.

[Ellipse]

Go to WWW.winnebagoind.com key on Clubs. Once you are there you can select a state club. Some of the states have web sites, the web site will be listed below the name of the contact person for the state. Some of the web sites, Florida for instance list all of the chapters and some info about them. There is even a web site contest each year with the judging done during GNR. Sorry no one told you about this, but Oregon and Washington do not have web sites listed. So it wouldn't have mattered. Just thought I would fill you in on the fact that Winnebago has offered the opportunity to your State Club.

[AFChap]

When we bought our Winnebago, I searched out info on WIT chapters in our area and emailed the contact persons for two chapters. I did the same with a military group and w/Good Sam chapters. We were far more interested in using our rig than in just going to lunch at some local restaurant. (Offer of free lunch might have caused us to go, but I'm not sure about that). We got involved in weekend outings with the military group before we got replies from the WIT chapters, and never did get involved with the WIT chapters.

Now that we are fulltimers, we are still not members of any local WIT chapters, but we are members of two at-large chapters.

[JnGOnTheGo]

For more information about what chapter is camping you can go to the WIT website (http://www.winnebagoind.com/clubs/wit/clubs.php ) and they have a list of State Club websites which in turn gives information about who is camping when in a State. For example the Florida Winnie Gators website (http://www.winniegators.org/ ) list 15 chapters and each of the chapters have listed the dates and locations of their up coming camping trips.

[DSouthw524]

One of the probblems for states and locals to have a internet web site is where to host them. If there was aa ability for the sites to be hosted through WIT it would make giving out information to people seeking the data easier. Having a central listing for the chapters within a state could certainly be added at a nominal cost.

[vicsryd]

DSouthw524 gets it.

My point here is the WIT web site is very lacking when compared to other RV groups when it comes to support for local chapters. In fact if you notice the web site lists only the presence of state and specialty clubs and doesn't even mention that local chapters exist. So who would know to search for them in the first place.

If you Google "WIT" you get mostly "Women in Technology. If you search for "Winnebago Itasca Travelers" you get the main WIT site at www.winnebagoind.com and a couple of local chapters that have their own web sites. No state sites come up at all. The only web presence my state chapter (Wash-I-Bagos) has is in individual postings.

I believe it shouldn't be up to the local chapter to build and host it's own web site which is what it takes to be found on an Internet search. Most of them don't have the resources to do it anyway. It would be beneficial to Winnebago's brand loyalty to make investments in this area to bring WIT into the 21st century.

[DriVer]

We certainly would like to try and provide information regarding WIT rallies right here in this forum.

if you have any information, just start a separate thread with the title of the rally and post away!

[Outbumn]

I totally agree with vicsryd concerning website hosting. I am the webmaster for our chapter, Virginia Peninsula Winnies, and the site costs come out of our pocket.

It would be nice if WIT provided the webhosting service. One stop shopping is a whole lot easier then having to search the web for the information you want.

I also agree that changes could be made to the WIT Club News. It's good to hear what other clubs are doing and to get ideas for your clubs outings, but other information about Winnebago products and general motorhoming would be welcome.

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Outbumn:
I am the webmaster for our chapter, Virginia Peninsula Winnies, and the site costs come out of our pocket. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Outbumn, iRV2 has been here for quite a long time and we certainly do want to add value to the Winnebago Coach Forum by providing a WIT Discussion Forum.

We are open to suggestion if you have any ideas on how to make the Forum work better.

We are also looking for a "Forum Leader" who will have limited administrative rights in this forum only and it is hoped that the forum leader would be a person that can make the forum a nice place to visit for fellow WIT members.

The purpose of this forum is not to talk so much about the "box" but it's specifically geared toward personal communications between club members.

I certainly hope that we can make this forum the place to go to keep in touch with fellow club members for all things WIT.

W133150