One of the oldest owner’s groups in the RV industry, the 58th Rally of the Coachmen Owners Association (COA) took place this week (from June 21-27) at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds — and it was well attended, with 118 camping families gathering.
RVBusiness was on hand last night (Thursday, June 25) for the Coachmen company appreciation dinner which included a steak dinner with all the fixings, camaraderie and laughter as the president of Coachman Industries, Bob Dumm, addressed the COA crowd of close to 300 people.
“This is the 58th Coachman Owners Association Rally,” he stated to the gathering. “The company is 62 years old, so we have almost been doing this since the start. This rally has been a good one with the weather cooperating with us for the most part. One of the big highlights of this year’s rally is that we have 40 new first timers with us. Speaking with some of our veteran COA members here, numbers are slightly down because of the gas prices about the country. The COA is 20,000 members strong, and we are very pleased to have 10% of that membership with us this year.”
David and Betsy Lundeen, retired and hailing from the Tampa, Florida area, are an example of some of the first time COA rally participants.
“We owned a Coachmen Beyond for a year and recently traded it in for a Galleria this last October,” said David.
“This was the key point of our vacation this year and we arrived on Sunday,” added Betsy.
“The rally is beyond our expectations,” said David. “We are having a really good time and the Coachmen service team has been just aces. We’ve had a lot of service done on the b=van and everyone has been really friendly, helpful and the Class B seminar was great and I just can’t say enough good things about this entire experience. And we made a bunch of new friends and dogs.”
Dumm implored that the COA is the creation of the RV owners and that they should have an active role in forming the agenda, topics, activities and leadership of the group to assure the needs of owners are being met. He reported that as of that night over 60 units had been serviced that included 38 trips back to production facilities in the area for parts. He said that 70 of the 108 campers present had had roof inspection and repairs, savings thousands in warranty claims and out-of-pocket expenses.
After recognizing all of the Coachmen Division General Managers present that night, as well as administrative, marketing and event staff, Dumm gave special thanks to Jason Brewer, executive director of the Coachmen Owners Association/Owner Relations at Coachmen RV, and all the volunteers and sponsors for all they do to organize and make the COA event happen.
“But the biggest thanks goes to you,” Dumm addressed the owners directly. “Our loyal customers of Coachmen and the RV lifestyle. Our goal is to have customers delighted. And if we are doing things right, chances are that will happen. But if we are not doing it right, please let us know. This is your rally. Tell us what you need and what you want.”
Jason Brewer shared with RVBusiness the state of this year’s COA rally.
“It’s going very well,” he said as he poured keg beer for members lined up. “We’ve got 108 units. This is our customer appreciation dinner tonight and we are pulling out all the stops with a steak dinner. This if for them. With the gas prices I completely understand why our attendance this year is down about 20%. But the intensity is the same. We have some here from Calif.! We have 40 units that are first timers. We want them to know that we are not just the name on the side of their coach but we are people like everyone else, but here to make their experience the best.”
“Coachmen COA is actually the oldest active club in the RV Industry,” stated 17-year rally veteran and Coachmen Council member Larry Danner along with his wife Nancy. “2007 was the 50th year rally and we had over 300 units here. We usually have about 150. We love the fellowship.”
