"Club" membership and CT

It is just possible that the older members have now realised that the "club" has become nothing more than a big business concerned with the holiday industry and that the intention of the "management" is to make as much money as they can without any sort of care for those that joined in order to meet like minded persons and have all of the benefits that The Caravan Club was set up to provide.The "it" department is an absolute joke!If it were not for access to cl type sites then I for one would move away after almost 50 years of paying my "subs"

NTH,  I agree with you that the original purpose of this forum was for members to pass on useful helpful information to others, and to share experiences  - and notably it still serves that function in some areas  - for example in the Overseas Section.  I have no objection to non members joining in if they can offer helpful advice in that way 

Sadly some of the other sections of the forum have been taken over by those who just wish to argue and to criticise what others have said, and by those who simply.wish to complain. And my goodness how they do complain!  I know of no other external forum where contributors of that sort are so dominant. 

I don’t think contributors drop out of this forum because the Club’s attitude or because of the new booking system. I  think they drop out because of the tone of many posts which they read . And I am sad that things have gone that way.

Best regards.

Nellie

I think what has happened in the last 10 years since this forum was established is the explosion of other Social Media opportunities such as Facebook. Most forums of this type I belong to have seen a massive drop in posts in recent years. Forums like Caravan Talk and UKCampsites you are lucky to get half a page of posts a day when a few years ago it would run into several pages. On the other hand people are more likely to use Facebook because its immediate and often on peoples smartphones. It's clear from the new booking system thread that many people now no longer use "proper computers" which have been replaced with phones and tablets. Whilst I have a tablet which is perfectly OK to read posts but I find replying is slow to using a laptop or desktop computer. That could just be personal as since the 90's I have been using computers both at home and at work. 

I have some sympathy with ET's views on some posts. A little too often some play the player rather than the ball. We only have a very limited number of moderators on this forum and we can't be here all the time so things can get out of hand before we can get to it.

I don't think the original idea that accepting non members onto the forum would encourage them to join the Club really exists. Being a bit controversial I wonder if it's time not to allow non members to post on the forum any longer. I think it would be fine to allow what I call "Retired forum members" to continue to use the Social Room as a way of keeping in touch. Obviously that is not up to me but just my thoughts.

David

 

I don’t think contributors drop out of this forum because the Club’s attitude or because of the new booking system.

ET, but this is exactly the reasons given for at least one of the regulars to hand in/not renew their membership, and I think there are others that have done similar. I too am sad of the way things have gone, but it has been a steady decline for a while now.

Fluffy one, we too are heading towards 50 yrs membership, and this is certainly not the "Club" we joined, much is the pity. We too will continue our membership but only because of the CL network, and whatever others say about club sites they are no better than many other commerce sites out there.

I don't think the original idea that accepting non members onto the forum would encourage them to join the Club really exists

David, that was one of the reasons stated by Ro, if I remember correctly, when there was a lengthy discussion on the merits of allowing non-members to post on here. I think that it is only ex (retired) members that post as non-members these days, as I think you are right in that the FB page is more open to all, whether that is a good thing or not is up to each who post on there to decide. The attitude of those at HO who developed the new booking system have obviously no idea about what equipment those that tour for extended periods take with them, as they obviously have developed the system for laptops and not hand held devices, which betters belief from a touring "club".

That’s a great idea it’s a really good way to continue the whole elitist charge that CAMC have tried hard to lose. Plus it would result in you getting even more bored🤷🏻‍♂️. Maybe even getting CT itself cancelled due to it just attracting Tumbleweed. I think you over aggrandise posting on CT, it’s mainly a social outlet not a bargaining chip🙄

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

Good post David.👍

I wasn’t in right at the very beginning Nellie, I took an interest a few months after the set up, and did indeed think what a good idea it was for folks who liked to tour to share ideas and help. Back then, it was very active, and had a lot of volunteer Moderators, some of whom if I recall correctly didn’t particularly get involved in sorting out any posts that didn’t adhere to the posting rules, but had some specialist knowledge of some sort, such as lots of overseas experience. I think of people like ValDa and Dianne to name two. The fact that it was open to non Members as well was a plus as far as I was concerned, as it provided a balanced view of topics, ideas and suggestions, different, but nonetheless relevant and informative. I do recall that it could get very “feisty” at times, and there were some serial offenders who had to be tackled in certain ways at times. 
But I sort of ask myself just how much of an effort does the Club actually dedicate to the forum nowadays? No criticism of Ro, as I have no idea of her full role. But it’s lost a lot of impetus in a variety of ways. There appear to be only three active Moderators, which frankly isn’t enough. The few people who do post try at times to add some useful threads, helpful hints, welcome new posters.

There are some very very useful threads still. But it’s only human nature that some of the big changes, new ideas, ongoing developments will take centre stage every now and then, and let’s face it, like it or not, these past couple of years have seen some of the biggest. Such will polarise opinions, and sometimes it can be hard to to get some sort of “middle ground”. The Club don’t particularly help by hardly communicating at times, and it gives the impression of “so what, it’s done, get over it” which isn’t the attitude many folks expect from an organisation with “Club” in its name. Hence some of those that do post aren’t best pleased, some of those who might post once in a while rather than read aren’t getting their thoughts or suggestions given much credence?

So, indeed, all sorts of folks are either walking away, or not posting as often as they once did. After 10 years, lots of folks will be giving up the hobby as well, for a variety of reasons. 
CT forum has brought a lot of folks together in one way or another, and I value all those who I have actually met up with, and the other help and advice that some of those I have yet to meet have provided. I think it’s actually a few posters who do contribute stuff that are the lifeblood of a dwindling fraternity, but I don’t think the Club has the forum aspect of CT high on its “must keep” list. 

Nellie

You are correct that in the early days the Club actually said that they had quite a few new members recruited through Club Together. From my own observations over recent years I see little evidence of new non members registering and contributing to the forum. The vast majority of new posters are actually members before they post. The majority of non members that post on the forum have previously been members and for various reason have dropped their membership, in the main because they have stopped being active in the hobby but like to keep in touch. What none of us can see, of course, is how many people who are not members actually view Club Together. The Club might have that information as I expect they have web stats that show how many looking at the forum are actually logged in?

David