EDITORIAL

25 years and counting . . .

Reflections

What's the old saying -- time flies when you're having fun?

I can tell you publishing RV News for the past 25 years has been great fun and opened up opportunities that I had never dreamed possible. And it's hard to believe that it's been that long. Completion of that first issue, August 1975, was a real accomplishment.

My background certainly had not prepared me to become a magazine publisher -- I had been an inside sales person for Fred Ellers at American Recreation Equipment (ARE), a California-based wholesale distributor. While doing my job at ARE, I talked to a lot of dealers and service technicians. More often than not after they had successfully discovered a problem through troubleshooting, they didn't have a clue what the part number was or in a lot of cases what the broken part was called. I spent a lot of time on the phone helping them figure it out. With part in hand, they would describe it, and what it came off of, and I would finally discover what it was and was able to help them order the replacement.

That was the seed that became my inspiration. Obviously, there was not enough communication between those that manufactured parts and accessories and those charged with the responsibility of keeping them in good working condition.

My vision for RV News was to help build a communication bridge between these groups. I also believed that part of that goal was to give technicians something they could use and keep on file for future reference. With that very first issue, we started running exploded views of the various products in the field and for many years that service continued. Eventually, warehouse distributors started providing this information to dealerships, so the need for that service diminished.

When we started, RV News was a tabloid newspaper format and distribution was limited to California. After three months, we expanded into the 11 western states and by the end of the first year we were nationwide.

Had I known what lay ahead in this sometime volatile industry, I may not have had the courage to start RV News ­ in those early days, more often than not, I found myself at the pawn shop hocking personal items in order to get the money to get RV News printed and mailed. And during one of the oil driven recessions, my wife and business partner, Carmel, and I were forced to run the magazine from our home because we couldn't afford offices and the related expenses. That lasted for about a year.

But the rewards have far outweighed the sacrifices, and I'm glad I was able to go along for this ride.

In preparation for this issue, I sat down among all 300 of the issues we have produced during the past 25 years and browsed through more than 60. What great and fond memories came back.

There was the time in 1979, when Henry Ford came to me about the problem of non-RVIA members not being allowed to exhibit at RVIA shows in Louisville and at the Dodger show. We decided to start the Truck Camper Association, and the primary purpose of that association was to sue RVIA for restraint of trade. As it turned out, we didn't have to file the lawsuit. RVIA changed its policy to allow non-members to exhibit ­ a benefit still enjoyed today by many industry members.

I'm proud to say that RV News is the only industry trade magazine that has had the courage to speak out and take action on industry issues. That fact has not always ingratiated us with some company presidents and association executives ­ and even potential advertisers from time to time ­ but we have always worked under the conviction that we have a responsibility to tell the other side of the story. And RV News' agenda has never been about money.

It seems that RV News has always had a love-hate relationship with industry associations. More than 99 percent of everything associations do is positive and helps the entire industry as well as the particular association's members. However, only on those occasions when we believed a policy or direction was self-serving and narrow sighted have we gone public over an issue and expressed our opinion editorially.

Since the very beginning, RV News has always used one yardstick to measure what issues needed to be addressed publicly and it remains that way today. Whether it's a company or an association, RV News always asks "Is this in the best interest of the industry?" And if we cannot answer "yes" to that then we have felt an obligation to give an alternative view to whatever issue is being decided.

So forgive us if from time to time we question an association's decisions and challenge an association's motives, which at times we have felt have been self-serving and sometimes cruelly cold. Like the national press has the obligation to question government officials and their decisions, I have always believed that the trade press in this industry has a similar obligation to occasionally question the decisions of our internal "government," i.e., our industry associations.

Most readers know that RV News is not anti-association. Few companies have given more time and resources to help associations than RV News has over the years. And we have supported and been instrumental in helping form associations and believe there is a great deal of good things our associations have done for the industry in the past and can do in the future.

Those of you who recognize the names RVPSA (Recreation Vehicle Parts and Service Association), REPAIR (Recreational Equipment Parts and Accessories Industry Retailers Association), RVAM (The RV AfterMarket Association) will also remember our commitment to back and support associations for accessory and service professionals in the industry.

And one final comment on our "love affair" with associations -- like any grand excursion, there are joys and disappointments along the way, and while the journey of RV News over the past quarter century has been mostly joyful, I must admit I can recall a few disappointments as well.

One is that there isn't a national suppliers association. Suppliers are part of all associations and in my opinion shoulder an unfair burden of funding many of the industry's and company specific programs. Yet, this large and important group remains the only industry segment that doesn't have one strong voice to help define its own agenda and shape its own future.

And I've also always been disappointed that WDA has never allowed aftermarket dealers to be members of the association. The RV aftermarket includes suppliers, distributors and parts and accessory dealers. It never made sense to me that WDA's leaders wouldn't want to include the most important player in an aftermarket association.

Another disappointment is that while we have always been willing to risk a lot by taking a stand on a particular issue, it seems that too often we got little support from those whose cause we tried to champion.

But my passion for trying to do the right thing has never wavered. I'm proud that RV News stands alone as the one trade magazine involved enough in the industry to care enough to take stands on issues.

I'm also proud to say that when we have taken a stand we have won more often than we have lost. I remember when an industry supported market expansion program was a controversial issue. And after the RVIA board of directors seemed to buckle under to a threat from a large manufacturer that they would resign if the issue weren't dropped, the idea of a market expansion program was all but swept under the rug. But RV News became a seemingly single, lonely voice pleading for an industry-wide market expansion effort and we kept grinding away with a dozen or more editorials trying to keep it on the front burner. And while the praise for all those who played pivotal roles in making the Go RVing campaign the success that it is today is well deserved, many remember it was RV News that helped shape that final outcome.

My trip back through time in the past issues of RV News also revealed some other interesting facts.

Many of the movers and shakers that helped shape our industry in the mid-seventies have long since left the scene, but it's interesting to see how many personalities that appear in the news today were starting their careers back then.

Gary Chancy, president and founder of Leisure Time Marketing, has the distinction of appearing in the very first issue and in the 300th issue as well. In an article entitled, "Inst-Awn Offers Three Full Lines of RV Awnings," Gary is mentioned as having recently been named general manager of Inst-Awn. Then, in the July 2000 issue, the same Gary Chancey is now president of WDA ­ the RV Aftermarket Association and was featured in an article about WDA's annual executive conference.

Another familiar name in industry news today is Tom Faludy, president of Carefree of Colorado and chairman of the Go RVing coalition. Tom was also in RV News in our first year as well. In a May 1976 story entitled "Carefree Unveils Colorful Promotional Packaging for RV Accessories," Carefree's director of marketing T. G. Faludy is quoted as saying, "The name of the game is profits . . ."

I'm not sure Tom knew where he would be in 25 years, but I admit I had no idea then that Faludy would be recognized as one of the industry's great marketing minds and he would have such a long-ranging impact on the future of the industry in the role he has played by successfully maneuvering through the political mine field and helped make the national market expansion program a reality.

As I look back, my most enjoyable memories are not from hardships survived, battles won or lost, but the people I've met along the way and how many of them have enriched my life simply by having known them. There are so many but I'll only name a few ­ Bob Levin (Rogers Distributing) who encouraged me and supported those early efforts through advertising; Ernie Jackson (A-1 Trailer Supply) a good friend and eventual columnist for RV News, Earl Jacobs (Jacobs, Hicks & Simms), who believed in what we were trying to accomplish and gave me a lot of moral support; Ken Fermoyle, our first editor; Max Todd and Oren Bates, who both provided us much needed editorial materials; Dave Burger, who although the advertising director of Trailer Life's publications, helped me meet people who should be advertising in RV News; and finally my old and dear friend John Stanton.

In the very first issue of RV News, John, who at the time was western vice president of RVIA, supported and encouraged us and authored many articles, both under his own name and pseudonyms, even though he took a lot of heat from the RVIA brass for doing so. Later John joined RV News as vice president of sales and marketing and helped bring RV News to its most successful period. I remember being amazed at how John's creative mind worked as he helped advertisers visualize a complete marketing plan for their particular product or service.

John's not with us anymore, having succumbed to cancer a few years ago, but hardly a day goes by that I don't think about him and reflect on what a joy it was to have had the privilege to know him.

And as far as accomplishments, I'm satisfied that RV News has had a positive impact on the industry. We were able to influence a variety of decisions that have improved the industry. But of things I am most proud, I would have to say it is our role in helping the industry mount the market expansion program and establishing the first successful aftermarket show. That show was eventually sold to RVDA and is their Expo portion of the RVDA Convention/Expo. Our commitment to the aftermarket and service has remained a top priority over the years and it was that commitment that motivated me to launch The Professional RV Technician, the industry's first and only paid-circulation trade publication and the only trade publication dedicated to the needs of the service portion of our industry. That was recently sold to the RVDA Education Foundation.

And finally, I'm proud of the role RV News has played in the successful transition into the Internet for many RV companies. We were the first trade publication to alert the industry of the potential of the Internet for RV industry companies, and it inspired us to set up an umbrella web site to help bring together companies with products or services to sell and consumers who wanted to buy these products and services.

Our launch of RV America On Line in early 1996 has given us the opportunity to not only serve a broad cross-section of industry companies by hosting web sites, but for the first time has also given us close communication with the RV consumer. RV America is the top RV related web site and continues to grow. Since our debut in February 1996 nearly 10 million unique visitors have come to the sites we host, including RV America. That translates into 60 million hits or page views and 2.5 million unique visitors a year ­ more than all RV consumer magazines combined. Thousand of RVers and potential RV owners have made RV America their home base on the Internet with hundreds coming back every day to participate in the various public forums such as bulletin boards and chat rooms. And thousands of them have purchased products or services from the nearly 200 companies whose web sites we host. I'm extremely proud of this accomplishment.

It's been a marvelous journey and yes the time has gone by more swiftly than I wish to admit. As I look back I can say that the industry today is very little like it was back when RV News started; however, so many things are the same too. It seems that many of the issues and problems facing the industry then are still issues and problems that concern us today.

The one phrase that comes immediately to mind as I think about all that has transpired through these 25 years is simply, thank you. Thanks to all the industry leaders who have given us such a wonderful place to work; thanks to all the unsung heroes who simply go about their business selling and servicing RVs and selling parts and accessories in local communities all across the country; thanks of course to all the advertisers who have supported us over the years; and thanks to those companies that have kept the recreational vehicle in tune with the consumers wants and needs. Thanks for letting RV News be part of it.

But most especially, thanks to you -- our reader. Without you, none of this would have been possible.

Dan

RVN