We hope this finds you all in good health and enjoying your travels.
As many of you know as Members At Large our position has us attending as many rallies as we can to get input about the Klub from our members to take back and share with the International Directors, Duane Paige & Laurie Hunt as well as the other Newmar Kountry Klub Board Members. Often the subject of locations and timing of the International Rally is raised. We try to share some of the things we as a Klub look for in an International Rally location. There are more than you may think.
First, we need a site that we can park up to four or five hundred coaches. The sites need to be as level as possible, hard packed surfaces with electric (preferably at least many being 50 amp), water and if all goes well a sewer connection at each site. As you may imagine this tends to mean a fairgrounds.
We need to consider Newmar’s needs as well, they support our rallies in a big way. We need to have a place for their service department, parts department and display coaches of the next years models. As you know, Newmar also brings many Techs from Nappanee to the rally location. We partner with local dealers to sell coaches at the event; some states have restrictions that prohibit selling coaches any place but a dealer’s lot. We also have to consider which dealer has that particular sales area. Newmar divides the country into areas where a dealer has exclusive sales rights. The coaches that are shown at the International Rally come from that dealer. We want to be able to have the entire Newmar line available to view so the dealer must carry the entire model line. Time of year also comes into play since we need the next model year coaches available.
As part of our International Rallies, we have always had meals shared by our members as an important part of the Newmar Kountry Klub Family. So, a space large enough for all our attendees to gather and enjoy a meal together is also required. This requires a caterer that can prepare food for and serve close to one thousand people. We use that space to provide entertainment and conduct our Annual Newmar Kountry Klub Business Meeting.
We need room for our vendors in our market space. This requires a pretty good size building.
At the International we have seminars available for our attendees. This requires many individual rooms where we can have our presenters pass valuable information in a quiet, preferably air-conditioned location.
These are some of the most important considerations in choosing a site. As you can imagine there are many logistical challenges that also come into play. We try to move to different parts of the country as much as possible. Unfortunately, there are not many locations across the country that can accommodate our event, so you will see us going back to some locations more often, but the leadership council is always on the lookout for new opportunities.
We have been asked for many years to have the location of the next International Rally out sooner so people can make their plans. Your request has been heard and as you know by now Duane & Laurie have announced the locations of the next four International Rallies. This is a very important accomplishment. We applauded them for their hard work and determination in making this happen.
Please keep passing your great ideas on to us so we can continue to share them with the Board. Who knows what else we can accomplish.
Safe Travels.
