Rallys OR just good ole state campouts

[bncinwv]

Well, even someone does not post a weekend retreat there, I have put that on the to be visited list. Thanks bkirk!! Nice park (checked them out on-line)
Bingo

[Glenn and Lorraine]

KISS!!!!

Sorry Rich and a few others but I do believe you are trying to make a whole lot more of this than it really is.
Pay close attention to what Carol has said below....

quote:Originally posted by Mrs. CountryGuy

Make it as formal as you wish, I was thinking of VERY VERY VERY informal, not calling a Rally, but a campout.

Maybe NOT even a State campout, just those who feel they want to attend, close enough type, area type campout? How bout, you don't even have to NAME it! Don't call it a Michigan State campout. Call it a "MOC - Walter J. Hayes State park campout".

No wagon master, just someone post, we will be here X weekend, inviting others to join you. Post this at least a month ahead of time, maybe 6 weeks.

Not talking group rates, just a few friends getting together. I would think you need more than 5 families to get group rates, ??????

Think DOWNSIZE here folks. There could even be MORE than ONE gathering on the same weekend, one in Northern Michigan, one in Southern Michigan, one in western Pennsylvania, one in eastern Pennsylvania.

No organization, cept maybe for a pot luck on Saturday evening.

INFORMAL!!!

But, if ya wanna do more, no one stopping you. However, many just love something informal, many want to attend but DO NOT want to organize. If it gets too formal, too organized, too complicated I fear that it won't happen. I can hear the cries now, I work all week, I can post something, but, I do not have the time to spend on a lot of foo foo.

We are wearing jeans, tshirts/sweatshirs and tennis shoes, right?? INFORMAL!

So, take it from here, think out of the box, think small, think fun, think MOC! Enjoy!

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This may be a good subject to be discussed at the Goshen rally and other rallies across the country. We will suggest that to the Goshen rally wagonmaster and the Gettysburg rally weagon master. In regard to the great lakes rally.. we did this a few years ago and This is s a good idea that should be pursued..

Discussing it at a rally is fine but getting the Wagon Masters involved is not at all necessary. They have enough to do. Discussing it right here, right now should be sufficient
As far as there is in fact no boundaries to the "great lakes region" Perhaps there should be??? WHY. If an MOCer wants to travel from NY to attend a Campout in VA that's fine. Why restrict it to any state or area?

There has got to be a bit of organization..as you well know rallies do not just happen. The issue can be discused here as well as at rallies over the country.
WHY I ask??? You start trying to get organized and next thing it's another full blown rally. Isn't that what we are trying to avoid?

Ok, to the group, what do you believe is a "distance" that is reasonable and you are willing to drive? Less than 100 miles, 100 to 150 miles, or approx. 200 miles? This is "one way"!
Distance has no bearing. It is entirely up the the individual MOCer as to how far he may want to travel to attend.
I think Carol is referring to is something like this...
Hey fellow MOCers, Al and I will be heading home from the RGV next week and in so doing will be spending a few nights in Topeka, KS at XYZ RV Park. Anyone interested in a Campout that weekend we'll see you there.
Nothing more organized than that and if someone wants to travel 600 miles to meet Al and Carol that weekend than so be it and if someone that lives in the Topeka area just wants to drive their car over for the day or evening that's also fine. And if there are 10 MOCers that in fact show up all the better but even if there is only one other MOCer that's also great.

Let's forget all this organizing nonsense, planning, etc and....

KISS!!!!

[richfaa]

Discussion brings understanding..understanding brings knowledge. Carol's idea is of course a good one as are all the others. These things can be as informal or formal as you wish them to be.The point of this thread was to discuss a "idea" In a open discussion all ideas and input should be considered.My point was..IF you are going to do a "rally" type outing then some organization and planning would be required.You can also say..We will be at XXX C.G the 4-6 of May..drop by for a visit if you are in the area..When traveling we like to know what hookups are at the C.G. What is the cost....Are the sites long enough for our 3400. If more than one MOC'er decided to come..how many..do we want to be together or scattered throughout the campground. It can certainly be that informal and we can do our own checking if we are so inclined...anything will work but it dos not hurt to have a open discussion on ideas.

These are ..Ideas..just ..ideas... a exchange of information..anything goes.Or does it???

[msmoonsatx]

I am sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I agree in keeping it simple. I was only concerned that enough lead time be given so people can have a chance to come. Parks do fill up and I would be disappointed if someone said we are getting together to find that there were no spots to be had. I thought the idea was that someone would choose a weekend with enough lead time, check the park for availibility and then post a time and place.

[Emmel]

There was a mention of a great camp ground here a few posts ago. This place is Longs Retreat, however, it is only great if you can get a site. Yes, this place has over 400 campsites, but they do NOT take reservations. This is where some kind of planning ahead needs to be thought about. I know we want to Keep It Simple- Make It Fun (KISMIF to us old scouters,) but someone needs to make sure there would be sites for someone from MOC that wants to come.
I guess the post could say something like, We will be at ----- Campground for the weekend of------ and here is their reservation phone number if you want to come-------! That at least lets the MOC people call ahead to get their own sites reserved.
I'm using the name of a cg that I'm very familiar with as an example only, this consideration should be stated when posting about the cg yall might be at!
As Carol says, let's keep it to a "get together" for the fun of just getting together!
This is one of the best ideas I've seen here and I'm wondering if we have enough room for this topic to be posted by itself? Maybe have a list of states and a person posts under that state where and when. This could end up being a very big topic for weekenders!

[Sunshine]

I'm wondering if there could be an "Informal Gathering" thread. I've noticed there have been several instances where MOC members have posted that they will be spending a certain amount of time in a certain place and they have asked other MOC members to contact them if they'd like to get together for a meal, drop by the campground for a visit, etc. We did this at the rally in Redmond last summer - 6 couples met for an enjoyable breakfast one morning of the rally. Another time last summer a fellow MOC'r posted that they were at a local campground and we enjoyed meeting them for brunch. So, in a way, similar things are already happening - just maybe need a place to post, as Emmel suggests. Thanks Carol for throwing the idea out there.

[D and M On The Road]

This type of gathering is happening under the "Who, When, Where" Topic.

I see this sort of gathering (invitation) being posted there and we have posted it ourselves a few times with campground name, location and dates we'll be there. We've met some other MOCers that have shown up and camped because of us posting the invitation. We've even had one MOC couple who lived within an hours drive come out for the day.

It's a great idea Carol had to help folks who might be considering meeting up with you to post the campground's phone number and amenities.

[exav8tr]

We held a mini rally (state rally for AZ?) in Mesa Last month. We did as Doug and Margee did and just posted our whereabouts under the who, what, when thread. Of Course I also sent invites out to non Mocers and Mocers alike. HOWEVER, I like the idea of posting a meeting place well in advance so others in and around the area might want to attend. The only problem I see is who gets to pick the spot for a particluar state? Sounds like it could get territorial. Do we need to establish "State Chapters" like some other clubs and let the chapters pick the spot? Please keep in mind, these are just my thoughts and not meant to persuade anyone to get too formal. I think a little bit of formality would be nice. Just a time and place with no set agenda. Otherwise there could be several rallies within a state.....Not bad either I guess.

[sreigle]

Excellent idea, Carol. As fulltimers we often are paid up in a park for a fixed period of time, a week, a month, etc. So we might not be able to work out the timing to actually park amongst the gathering but if the gathering is published on MOC and we're within reasonable driving distance we might be able to pop in for an evening or something. And maybe sometimes our travel days timing would work that we could park our Montana there, too.

[Parrothead]

I so agree with this idea. Except for the national rallys I think the others should be casual, do what you want. Here's your name tag, if you want to know more about someone or their rig or their or their pet or hobbies, go visit and get acquainted. Actually this just gave me a great idea for the Shasta rally and it will be a surprise! Wagon masters should not be expected to entertain everyone. When someone is in charge, there is always someone who disagrees and wants to change things. The White Elephant exchange is a perfect example. Rules are posted and someone always says "well we did it this way at my office, family party, etc." The more complicated the rallys become, the less volunteers we will have.
JMHO
Happy trails........................

[Imp]

Carol, I think this is a great idea. It would get people together more often with minimal work. When we lived in the NW, we camped with a group that met twice a yr. The agenda was almost nil. The usual plan was do as you like and meet for potluck dinner every night. Some did campfire and others did games or whatever. During the day we kind of floated in and out of everyone's rig or territory. The only set thing was spaghetti dinner on Sat night. 2 of the guys did the sauce,(from scratch, Sat afternoon) and the rest of us brought whatever else was needed. We did kind of plan that meal. Other than that nothing was coordinated and we had interesting meals. No one went hungry and usually they were quite healthy!!! relatively speaking.

We did have a park planned ahead, but everyone made their own reservations. That and the Sat. night dinners were the only thing planned. Sometimes the grandkids were there and sometimes just the retired folks. It was fun.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Myrna, and others,

Yep, that is what I was trying to stumble around and say, YES!!

Like Glenn Said (and others)

KISS!

Organization can be fab, it can also turn into a thorn.

Great ideas, thanks for sharing!!

Course for those of you who just really need organization, hey, go for it! We appreciate all your hard work, really we do. Thank goodness for organizers!

[PartyCrashers]

I totally agree with everyone here. I enjoy being able to get together with other RVer's.
I do like the informal get togethers, but being realistic when you have 3 or more families coming together, you do need to organize some. It needs to be decided are you having a pot luck dinner, a campfire gathering etc.... Someone or someones need to get that information out to all interested party's.

This takes place in any gathering, rather it be in your home, community place or RV.
No matter what you do, communication is the most important aspect. And it needs to be done at all gatherings.

To me "Rally's" are the big gatherings with vendors planned.
"Mini Rally's" are the small gatherings with no vendors. Just a group of RVer's getting together to MOC around.(Maybe some activities planned)
"Campout" would be...we are here on the nights of.....stop by if you wish"

This is all new to us, so please excuse me if I have not understood the points being made here.

All I know is we have only been to (What I consider) two "Mini Rally's" Both being at Mt Shasta. These events have been very relaxing and fun. At these events, they usually last over a Holiday weekend....with a few events planned (if you want to attend). Most events have been around dinner. This year we are doing it again, with Parrothead being the one to get the information out to all. If it wasn't for people like her to take on this responsibility then we may not have the great gathering that is coming up. I am glad that someone steps up and plans their personal time in to help me plan my weekend, so I can say "count us in!".

So let's MOC on!

[Glenn and Lorraine]

For what amounts to a "good ole [s]state[/s] campouts" and nothing more this thread is getting very complicated and so I'm going to post here exactly what I feel is the needed info to get a gathering at one of my destinations....

From May 20th to May 27th Lorraine and I will be at the Two Rivers Campground just north of Nashville, TN and just a couple miles from the Grand Ole Opry. Anyone interested in a gathering let me know via an email or PM.

Now, you have the CG name and link with all the CG and area info included. As far as I am concerned all that is now needed is for anyone planning to stop by is to contact me for the best day(s) and time.
Ity's about as simple as that. Nothing complicated at all.

[Delaine and Lindy]

Hi Glenn, will come by and say Hi to you all. We will be getting ready to go to Branson for our Rally that is in June. So will drive DW's car we live about a 100 miles from Nashville. I seen you in person in the parking lot of Camping World last year. GBY....

[VanMan]

Delaine and Lindy, I sent you a PM. The Branson Rally is May 15 -> 18 (not in June).

[D and M On The Road]

I think I have to agree with you Glenn...

For "Camp-outs"....... someone should just post in the "Who, Where & When" topic with their stay dates and campground info (location, phone# & amenities). If a "Camp-out" is going to occur from it, then interested folks can check the campground & make a reservation and contact the MOCer who posted the info in the first place. Any organization will naturally evolve.

We posted it before and we've had others show up and on other times we've had no one interested.

This is exactly how the first Lake Siskiyou get together occured, and look at it now....