Motorhome Rallies - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

We've now been to Newmar, AIM and FMA (Fleetwood) rallies. As past event planners, we enjoy seeing how others run their events. Last month, we attended the AIM rally in Chiefland, Fl (pre-Show), the Newmar Kountry Klub Rally during the Super Show and then the Fleetwood Rally post show. We've been to 4 Aim rallies and these are our favorites. We attended an AIM rally in Biloxi MS and the night we had dinner at The Reef restaurant, there was a 7 pc band that was outstanding. They re-appearred at the event in Florida. It may not be a pretty sight seeing a Bunch of Raisins on the dance floor trying to bring John Travolta back but it sure was fun. My only suggestions for the AIM folks are a) save the money on busses, everyone has a tow car. and. b) Chuck, when you say the microphone is having issues and many in the crowd say "Thank God". You are talking TOO MUCH. Other than that. AIM events are GREAT! On the the Super Show and the Newmar Rally. If you are a Newmar Owner, this is hands down the best value for Kountry Club Members. Newmar Rallies have a reputation for being "tame" but those factory techs can get a LOT fixed on your coach and the first hour is free. We love those guys. Being on the grounds of the Florida State Fair you can come and go as you please during show days so you will stay current on new products in the industry. On to Eustis Florida and the Fleetwood Motorhome Association Rally (we were a S.O.B.). The Fleetwood event staff did a GREAT job getting people to mingle. There were fun "Assignments" that had you mingling. They also did a BYO Happy hour. Both great ideas. We met a lot of people. The sites were tight but they had patience staff right there to get the 130-150 rigs parked. Nice group of people. Felt very welcome even though in a S.O.B. They had an excellent comedian / country singer there the first night. If you own a Motorhome, and you found your manufacturer user group boring after attending one event, check out AIM. We're Newmar owners and we rcvd a newsletter celebrating 4000 members after (how many decades?) while AIM has over 15000 members in just a few years, 3-4K of them are Newmar Owners (guesstimate) so they must be doing something right. These Rallies offer a social life with like minded people.