CMCA news?

[T1 Terry]

There were certainly a lot of forums between the CMCA forum becoming "Non user friendly" to me at least and it appeared to be similar for those who disagreed with those in control and that forum.
Some of the forums in between for me were Caravaners, Nomad, Grey Nomad, OZeRV, the truck driver from the Caravaner forum who set up an alternative forum for those who weren't happy with the direction the Caravaner was heading ... Mick the Mongrel might have been his name, and I'm sure there were others as well.
The rebirth of the CMCA forum wasn't quite the same as the old CMCA forum, I guess times changed and the wants of the membership of old differed from the wants of the CMCA board, they were paying the bills so I guess they considered the forum should be theirs to achieve the goals they deemed appropriate, either the activity was poor so they couldn't justify continuing the forum or they considered a FaceBook page would achieve a better out come for them.
Good luck to them, they fill a requirement in the RV market and while that continues they will continue, well until something better appears and offers more attracting the membership away I guess.
It was great as a club, didn't transition well into being a company in my view, so after 15 yrs membership I considered their aims did not meet the expectations and I let my membership lapse. Each to their own

T1 Terry

[native pepper]

As this is a closed forum, where outsiders can't view posts, it would only be if someone posted something from this forum on a public site, that problems could arise. I believe defamation laws require public or wide spread access to comments to be defamatory.

The original CMCA forum if I remember correctly was also closed to non-members and in my opinion, the executive bullied people to stop posting about the competence of the executive . If my memory serves me correctly, was told by a legal friend of mine back then, they would have had a huge problem trying to prosecute someones comments from a closed non publc forum as they would not be public comments, but private and that rules out defamation.

Anyway, it's pretty irrelvant as nothing has changed there so it will probably disappear in the near future as members begin to realise there are now virtually no benefits from being a member now. There are now many more dump points around the country which have no association with CMCA, many councils and small communities are beginning to provide facilities for travellers without any CMCA involvement.

A true representation of a MH or caravan owners club, would be one where everyone has an individual and also a chapter say in all decisions. In this day age with our technology, running a club along those lines would be the 21st century way to get true consensus, keep the club progressive and members satisfied.

Humans rely upon discussion and communication, it's only logical to step out of the past and dump the elitist approaches to clubs and organisations of the past. I introduced this method to our gun club as secretary, to begin with there was a lack of interest and some negative comments. But we have a small private forum and after a few months, every member was registered on the forum, discussing and voting on everything we do that interested them. We still have the same executive as we had 5 years ago, each year when it come to election time, members nominate the same comittee because there is no reason to change as the executive only handles the accounts and club dealings with the outside world. We are just figure heads they can hide behind when dealing with authorities and other clubs, even have our annuual general meeting on line, as we have to satisfy the law regarding incorporated bodies having annual general meetings, as everything is available to members online, everyone seems happy. I put up any correspondence as soon as I get it and the members take it from there, pretty easy secretaries job and members know exactly whats going on and where their money is being spent in real-time.

In my probably warped opinion, we have entered an age where individual responsibility is paramount for our individual and species survival, along with most other species. The age of the elitist and ideological driven control over societies and the future, is over and we see that in every aspect of our societies rising up, no matter what race or ideological system they have. We either take responasbility for our footprint on the planet, or we suffer the consequences. That goes for organisations as well. You can't higly educate those you want to control and expect them to not want a say in their lives and future.

As far as the future of travellers and how they are viewed by the authorities and communities, all boils down to a few basic things. The future may not include international tourists, Aussies will more and more holiday in Aus and more and more people are walking out of society and hitting the road, young and old. The most logical thing for the authorities and business to do, is to promote more and more self-contained camping areas close to small communities. That will drive a rural revival to a degree and make businesses change their approach to tourism and travellers, as well as drive the local and countries economy. If caravan park owners association had half a brain between the lot of them, they would see that supporting that direction, would have a definite economic advantage. Not everyone likes to camp outside society, lots enjoy the closeness of van parks. Can't stand them myself, but have used them.

My apologies, bored, been raining since yesterday afternoon. My new little dog took a trip to the local transfer station just up the road from us yesterday and has been sick all day spewing everywhere. To wet to leave her outside and it's the second time she's done it with the same results. Well, it's time for new carpets anyway

[native pepper]

Much better way of putting it than me T1.

[Vik351]

Yep the board and executive are so far up themselves, when they open their mouths, you can see their middle finger

Please explain ...???

vik...

[BernieQ2]

NP you need to say your piece in less words..
So I would read it.
Nothing against you I don't read long post's...I probably would agree with you.
If I read it.
Sorry.
Bernie.

[Cuppa]

Same as Terry except I hung on for longer. Being phoned by the CEO & threatened with legal action was one of the final straws along with him threatening another who is also another member here.

The original CMCA forum was a wonderful forum, the best I have ever been part of, providing great support & friendship right around the country. It did precisely what a club should do for all the members not interested in the regimentation of the rally/chapter side of things. The move from club to company highlighted the autonomous nature of the forum & the so called rebelliousness arose in response to attempts to control.

The only bitterness I harbour is not about individuals, but about the loss of something so good.

Short enough for you Bernie?

[supersparky]

Thats a two thumbs up post Cuppa.

[homeless]

I got browned of wit the MH vs caravan mentality on the road. Was often requested to move away from caravans and join the MH's I prefer to park where I want and when club or chapter try to run a camp area or park it really got up my nose.
Many times I was approached to explain why a person in a a MH would park near caravans. I would reply "because they are better people". Also the insurance was no good as I made a claim and was rejected when my bus broke down. Plus they put my value down and my premium up. I changed companies straight away.

[Dot]

Well I can better all your gripes I had visits from no less than 2 of the forum members (one a big wig) to come and suss that woman Dot out Who can guess who those 2 were? one still with us and the other is not. Back then I don't think a lot of the forum members really liked females speaking up let alone saying coons

[Shirley]

Agree with Cuppa the original CMCA forum was great, members could organise get togethers, George arranged one at Kendall Showgrounds & invited anyone that wanted to attend, we attended & enjoyed same.
Members could also arrange tag alongs & attendees only had to pay their own way not huge fees to follow an organiser, we went to the Boulia Camel races with a group, really enjoyed the trip.
Think when I first joined the forum, it felt like a family, I know several folk are still members but very seldom see them post anything these days, guess that they are disillusioned with the direction of the club too.
Yes it's definitely not the club that we joined.