In this issue:

Chairman’s Report 2

President’s Report 2

New Members—Everyone Wins

5

Are You Feeling Locked in?

9

Tourism Action Day Wrap-Up

10

Camp Good Days 16

Our VISION:

Campground Owners of New York (CONY) will be the model campground association by providing

professionalism and diversity in our programs, education,

services, advocacy and support for continued growth and collaboration within the outdoor hospitality industry.

Our MISSION:

Campground Owners of New York (CONY) is an association dedicated to the promotion, growth,

improvement and development of privately owned campgrounds in

New York State.

nycampgrounds.com campcony.com

Volume 35, Issue 2 Mar / Apr 2012

CONY is mobilizing smart phone tech-nology to help campers "Get Outdoors and Go Camping New York!”

Working with Syracuse-based Rounded Development, a leading agency for strat-egy, branding, mobile, and web, CONY has developed an application for use on smart phones and other like devices. The application - or "app" - provides screen-friendly information about New York campgrounds and RV parks, including distance markers and route mapping, and links to CONY members’ websites, emails, reservation pages, and phone numbers. The app officially launched on February 28, 2012.

The app is free, and available at Apple's App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and from Android's Market for Android devices and tablets. Find the app by typ-ing in “NY Campground & RV Park Guide” or use keyword searches for CONY, New York campgrounds, NY campgrounds, New York camping, camp-ing New York, camping, or RV parks.

Donald Bennett, Jr., President and CEO of CONY, thinks this will be a great tool for connecting customers with camp-grounds and the great outdoors. "More and more, I find myself and people I know using our phones to find informa-tion and make transactions. So it makes sense that CONY formats New York camping data to fit that trend in applica-tion use to connect with the public."

Eric Hinman, Business Development Manager for Rounded Development, likes CONY’s forward thinking. “CONY is the first camping association to deliver a curated state-wide mobile application. The app has a sophisticated filter helping

(CONY APP continued on page 6)

Check out CONY’s new APP for smart phones and tablets

Screenshot of a page from the new CONY app. You can make your park a featured listing and

also add coupons to your park page.

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Chairman’s Corner

As I sit here writing it is 7:00 pm and it is 75 degrees out-side, I am not sure if it is March or June. The peepers are singing and the flowers are popping out of the ground. It has certainly been an unusual year for weather with one of

the mildest winters anyone has ever experienced. It has been good for campground owners as we have been able to get a big jumpstart on the spring work. It has been good for campers because they are chomping at the bit to go camping…we have had numerous calls asking if we were open last weekend and this week. I don’t want to be a pessimist, but I believe Mother Nature still has one snow storm up her sleeve and I am patiently waiting to turn on the water, electricity and start to get things opened up until our normal early April turn on times.

Of course, I am not sitting idly by….we have contin-

ued to work in the park all winter and with this won-derful spring weather we are getting a lot of the work done outdoors as well.

As Chairman of CONY I am looking forward to the Zone Meetings. I will get a chance to spend time with many of you who I have either not had the op-portunity to meet or have spent little time with. I hope that as many as possible of you take the time to attend the zone meetings; they are a great resource for what is happening in the industry, as well as, an appropriate time to visit with vendors.

Now for something completely different…..

I have been thinking about what I should write in the Chairman’s Corner and have decided that there are some things that I find very relevant to life as a camp-ground owner but seldom see in print anywhere so I am going to tackle these things…

(Chairman’s Report continued on page 7)

Mike Papp

From the Desk of the President and CEO

Happy Spring! As I write my report it is the first day of spring in 2012. With such a mild winter we have to ask ourselves if we really had a winter. Having just returned from the Tourism Action Day and the Empire Tourism

Conference in Albany I couldn’t help feel bad for one of my counterparts in the outdoor hospitality indus-try. The trade association is called SANY, or Ski Areas of New York. With the weather his industry and members have seen one of the worst years on record. My hope is that the upcoming camping sea-son will be one of the best seasons when it is all said and done.

Speaking about Tourism Action Day in Albany, I have to thank our lobbyist Peter O’Connell of Han-non and O’Connell public affairs. He helped arrange over twenty legislative appointments for our group.

Speaking of our CONY contingent, we had 15 atten-dees from CONY, the most of any statewide tourism organization including the hotel association (NYSHTA). I would like to thank all of the partici-pants for attending and I know that they are recog-nized in the legislative report found on page 10 of this newsletter. If you happen to see them please thank them for attending and representing our inter-ests in Albany. Participation is vital in getting our in-dustry recognized and on the radar screen of the leg-islators. Hopefully next year we can grow the number of attendees even more. Peter O’Connell has been working hard and we have a new bill that will be in-troduced into the legislator very soon. Having been stymied on a combined eviction and property lien bill the Legal department of the legislator asked us to un-couple the bills. As soon as we have the bill numbers and text I will let you know.

(President’s Report continued on page 8)

Donald G. Bennett, Jr.

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News from the Governance Committee, by Kimberly Foro, owner of Whispering Pines Campsites & RV Park, and CONY’s Region 10 Director

You may be asking how you win when a new campground joins the fold…sit back, continue read-ing and let me tell you how.

As co-chair of the Governance Committee, I can tell you that our number one focus is to increase membership. Building a bigger, stronger industry-leading organization is an integral part of CONY’s long-term goals and as the adage goes, there is strength in numbers.

In case you didn’t know, a new campground can be recruited into CONY by anyone, not just the admini-stration of the organization or by a board member. In this business of hospitality and outdoor recreation, all of us are in contact with other campgrounds in our respective regions of the state. Some of them may already be members of CONY, but some may not…and these are the ones we need to target.

The benefits of joining CONY are well known to its existing members:

1. Listings in the CONY directory with a circu-lation of 170,000

2. A strong website presence with listings on CONY’s consumer website as well as top re-gional websites and a specially built CONY app for Smart phones

3. Access to top-notch marketing opportunities, including the brochure distribution program and cooperative mailings

4. Representation through advertising and multi-ple PR partnerships

5. Contacts with industry-related suppliers with exclusive money-saving offers and preferred services for CONY campgrounds

6. Educational and networking opportunities at regional zone meetings and the annual expo…. the list goes on!

What many of you may not know is that when you help to recruit a new member into the CONY family, you benefit as well. Anyone who gets a campground to join CONY receives $100.00. Not a bad payout for your efforts! More importantly, with each new member that joins CONY, it represents the opportu-nity to meet other campground owners, assist them in their business endeavors and at the same time, it ex-pands the network that we all draw and learn from. We take an important step further to secure CONY as an industry leader in the state organization arena. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?

The new member campground also stands to bene-fit…and almost immediately. Not only are they now a part of a state campground organization that other states look to as an industry role model, they are also given the opportunity to attend their first two educa-tional events at a reduced cost. All new members are given free registration to their first zone meeting…a minimum savings of $30.00. Even better, they are given free registration and a one night’s free hotel stay at the Annual Expo…another significant savings. Saving money while gaining valuable information on how to run your campground is a double bonus no matter how you choose to look at it.

Having said all of this, the ball is now in your court. I challenge each and every one of you to make your CONY membership work for you…. bring a new campground into CONY, attend a Board of Direc-tor’s meeting, your zone meeting, your regional meet-ing or the Annual Expo. There is a wealth of knowl-edge in the approximately 200 campgrounds that be-long to CONY and it is up to you to take advantage of that. Whether you have been in this business for 6 months or 50 years, there is still something to learn… but you can only do that by reaching out and experi-encing it first hand. There is camaraderie among campground owners unlike any other industry and your membership and participation in CONY is the best way to appreciate it.

Editor’s Note: Look in your CONY member binder to find your “New Member Recruitment Incentive” form, and see how you could earn an easy $100.

When CONY Gains a New Member Campground, Everyone Wins…. Even You!

Kimberly Foro

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CONY APP

even the most discerning camper find the perfect destination. A loca-tion-based directory searchable by region, makes it a breeze to find each campground in New York State.”

Mike Papp owns West Canada Creek Campsites in Poland, NY (and is CONY’s Chairman), and he is very excited about the new CONY app. “Our campers use their smart phones for everything, many as a GPS to get to our park. Because our address does not come up in the standard GPS units, people will be able to find us easily by clicking on the link for directions in the app.”

Papp praises CONY’s efforts to stay competitive in the outdoor hospitality indus-try. “Statistics tell us that more and more people are using their smart phones to ac-cess the internet for research, directions, so-cial networking and other reasons. CONY’s board of directors is constantly developing new ways to provide value to our member parks and the camping public, and this app provides a lot of value at no cost to CONY parks and app users. There sure aren’t many other state or national associations offering a similar app on the market yet!”

According to MobiThinking (TM), in its com-pilation of statistics on mobile phone usage

(issued Nov 2011), consumer mobile behavior indicates the most popular mobile destinations are news and in-formation, weather reports, social networking, search and maps. Mobile searches have quadrupled in the last year. And, the number of people ac-cessing the mobile Internet is grow-ing fast and is expected to overtake the PC as the most popular way to get on the Web within five years. (mobithinking.com)

The New York camping app features capabilities to:

Search for nearby campgrounds

Search for campgrounds by geo-graphical region

Search for campgrounds by amenities

See a map of campgrounds by region

Get turn by turn directions

Make a reservation online or by phone

Save campgrounds to a favorites list

See detailed pictures, amenities and con-tact info for each park

Share your experience with friends on Facebook, Twitter, or via email

Access coupons and specials, so you can show your phone and save.

CONY encourages its members to share news of the app on their own social networking pages and on their websites.

(Continued from page 1)

Address to CONY APP page on iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ny-campground-rv-park-guide/id501135708?mt=8 Address to CONY APP page on Android: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.roundedco.cony&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5yb3VuZGVkY28uY29ueSJd CONY’s App store icon

Top: QR Code for iPhones.

Bottom: QR Code for

Android.

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I own West Canada Creek Campsites. A little over 7 years ago my wife and I purchased the park with some financial backing from some family members and a bank. We put our life savings into this property and hope to realize a nice tidy retirement fund when we finally decide to retire. The first few years were tight, particularly when we had a major flood in our second year, but we were managing, but looking for ways to cut down on our expenses.

Health insurance – a necessary evil with two young boys – was costing our business in the neighborhood of $12,400 per year. This was third only to taxes and insurance which to be honest are two areas you have little control over. After looking at these and trying to figure out how to reduce or remove the health in-surance, we decided that I would take on a job over the winter months to subsidize the cost of the health insurance. Now let’s be honest….what employer is going to hire someone for 4 – 5 months? I worked one winter as a contract purchasing agent for Rem-ington Firearms. While very interesting, it had no long term or possible repeat opportunity. While talk-ing with a friend about my dilemma, he mentioned that the local school was hiring school bus drivers. As I thought about it, they work 10 months a year, have most of the summer off and the hours are not overwhelming and did I mention that health insur-ance is afforded to full time drivers? Full time is de-fined as working 4 hours per day at this particular school. So I applied, got trained, and after subbing for a couple of years got hired full time. Now that I have this job, how do I juggle the campground and job?

I work early in the morning bringing the kids in, so that has very little impact on our operation, in fact, I get home just in time to do a quick morning walk thru on the bathrooms and then open the store. I can just about get a few hours of work done, and then it is time for my afternoon run which takes 3 hours. I get back and am able to finish up any pro-jects I have been working on. I won’t lie, many days

it is very difficult to manage both, and a few times I have had to call in because of an issue in the park that requires my attention longer that I would like, but I do manage and Sandy is great at handling issues while I am gone.

The benefit of doing this is a $12,400 savings on the business expense line and I even make a little extra money causing us to draw even less off the business and allowing us to get a few extra projects done each year. A win-win for the business.

The cost of doing this is I have to work a few hours longer each day and this does take some time away from my family. I have lost some of the freedom to tackle other opportunities during the day as I have to stop and go drive the bus.

Since we are not “retired” from other careers we had no benefits to fall back on. The cost of Health Insur-ance in something that is completely out of control and while I don’t think that Obama-care is the an-swer, I certainly think that this is something that needs to be “fixed”. It has been a number of years since we purchased our own health insurance, but the school business manager tells me that it costs ap-proximately $20,000 per family for health insurance. This is outrageous and something certainly needs to be done to bring these costs back under control.

Well this is Mike signing off and wishing you all a great summer season and I look forward to visiting with you all at the Zone Conferences.

And remember…..it’s all good!!!

Mike

(Continued from page 2)

Chairman’s Report

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President and CEO’s Report

Another issue that we continue to monitor is the ADA swimming pool lifts. Recently a 60 day exten-sion of time has been granted by the attorney general along with a new comment period. CONY has sent a survey to members asking for their input on certain questions. We will then take the results of the survey and formulate an appropriate response during the comment period.

I want to let you all know that I have received many positive comments on our new CONY app. The app has been downloaded by many people already. As always if you have a change or an adjustment that you would like to make to your listing on the app please let us know and we can get it taken care of immedi-ately. Upon the many seminars that I have attended recently I heard some facts that say if your business is not associated in some way with a smart phone app in the next 2 years that your business will suffer mightily. Well as long as you are a member of CONY you can cross that one off of your list as your park is prominently listed. You also have the option of hav-ing a logo and 2 pictures for images. I want to thank Rounded Development, a company that Eric Hinman is a principle in, for their help in developing such a great tool for CONY and their members.

As our industry constantly struggles to obtain valid data I want to take the time to thank those that re-sponded to our occupancy surveys in the past. The program will continue, and new this year parks can opt out of mailing and submit their information via electronic survey. Unless you opt out you still will receive the paper copies to send back to us. This in-formation is vital in assisting our message within the sector of the outdoor hospitality industry. This is an area that I would like to see CONY put more empha-sis on in the future.

It is an exciting time to be a CONY member. We are currently working on many projects from new mem-ber benefit providers to more public relations and activities that you can host at your park. I am excited for the new program with Camp Good Days that will

be rolled out at the upcoming zone meetings. What a great organization to partner with serving children that are afflicted with Cancer. Since the inception Camp Good Days has had over 43,000 campers through their program. More information can be found at www.campgooddays.org as well as calling the CONY office to obtain more information as to how you can participate in this wonderful program while generating some great public relations for your park.

With the camping season upon us Suzanne Bixby and I look forward to visiting with you at your park and showing you all the great programs and opportunities that you are able to participate in as a CONY mem-ber to showcase your business. We also have a great conference planned that I am hoping you will mark on your calendars and make sure that you attend from November 1-3, 2012 in beautiful Lake George, NY. Details will be forthcoming but as I look at the tentative schedule and activities that will take place this event is a must attend for 2012.

I want to thank our Chairman Mike Papp for his great leadership of the CONY board. Your board works very hard to advance the mission of CONY an association dedicated to the promotion, growth, im-provement and development of privately owned campgrounds in New York State. Campground mem-bers are always welcome to attend any CONY board meeting and I would urge you to do so I think you would have a huge amount of respect for the dedica-tion that is displayed at each meeting. I also want to thank you, the members of CONY. Always keep in mind that this is your organization and like anything else in life the more you put into something the more you will get out of it. If there is something that CONY can do to help you please do not hesitate to let me know. Thank you again for allowing me to be your President/CEO I am honored to serve you and wish you the best for the upcoming camping season.

Respectfully,

Don

(Continued from page 2)

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by Brian Schaeffer, CEO of the Texas Association of Campground Owners

With the recent innovation explosion taking place, it’s a chal-lenge for any business to stay relevant. They must constantly improve their product and service, sometimes at dizzying rates, in order to outlast the competition. Whether it’s the lat-est piece of technology, laundry equipment, a guest guide at your park or even associations you may join, they must con-stantly work to keep your business.

However, our members have reported a disturbing trend of companies from all sectors attempting to lock in their cus-tomer’s long term business without offering much in return. Maybe you’ve wanted to try a new product or upgrade a ser-vice only to find out you signed a long-term contract and promptly received a notification that you would violate or breach an agreement that probably wasn't explained in its entirety in the first place. You might wonder where the promptness and attention to detail was during the course of your ‘contract.’ At the end of the day, it’s almost as if some companies use long term contracts as insurance policies for inferior service or product!

We have more than one member that won't sign any agree-ment if it doesn't contain a 90-day 'out' clause. That may be a bit extreme but whether you work in or outside the RV indus-try, you should have no obligation to keep your current prod-uct or service, especially if they’re not satisfied. There is no excuse for any company to lock you in and force you to keep their sub-par service. If anything, companies should con-stantly strive to provide amazing products and services, thus creating a culture of competition that breeds innovation.

The bottom line is you should make a company earn your business. Review the agreements you have in place and get those long term agreements paired down to annual commit-ments. If you want to make a change to a better product or service, you shouldn’t feel intimidated by long-term contracts (some of which can't or won't be enforced) and hollow threats. There is no substitute for constantly im-proving a service or product just as you would do the same for your park or business.

Are you feeling locked in?

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CONY members visit legislators during Tourism Action Day March 6th A big “thank you” to the CONY members who at-tended the Tourism Action Day at the State Capitol on March 6th. Throughout the day over 20 appoint-ments with legislators and staff were conducted. I don't believe that we have ever had this much partici-pation in Albany for a tourism action day in the past. Many statewide agencies that took part in the legisla-tive day commented that CONY had by far the largest representation of any organization. Great Job in get-ting our message out.

Also thank you to Peter O'Connell and his firm Han-non and O'Connell for their tireless efforts in keeping us abreast of what is happening in Albany as well as how it will affect our industry, writing or bills, and setting up the many meetings that took place while we were in Albany.

Here are current bills of interest to CONY members:

A00148 / S00342: Prohibits the Adirondack park agency from implementing any rule or regulation re-lating to campgrounds which is inconsistent with de-partment of health rules. {CONY supports this pro-posed bill}

A00151 / S00345: Redefines "campground" for the purposes of the Adirondack park. {CONY sup-ports this proposed bill}

A02031 / S00157: Relates to the right to cancel a membership campground contract. {CONY supports this proposed bill}

A05561 / S04024: Provides for the removal of persons from campgrounds by the owner or operator thereof, or his or her agent. {CONY supports this proposed bill}

A07667 / S05591: Authorizes certain camp-grounds without dumping stations to provide a list of dumping stations. {CONY is against this proposed bill and Governor Cuomo vetoed this bill in the last legislative session}

In the last few weeks we have introduced a new bill that would create a separate classification of the lien law to help give us guidance once passed on aban-

doned vehicles, equipment and possessions that are left on site. The bill is still at the legislative print shop and will be introduced soon. Thank you to Tourism Chair Senator Betty Little for agreeing to sponsor the new bill in the Senate and Assemblywoman Addie Russell who will be sponsoring the bill in the Assem-bly.

Bill Search: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg

Every effort is made to print accurate information. CONY, along with con-tractors and advertisers will assume no liability for errors or omissions.

We will gladly reprint any corrections.

The CONY Newsletter is published by the CONY office, providing its mem-bers with industry-related information. For information, article suggestions or advertising inquiries, call: 800-497-2669 or 585-586-4360. Or e-mail us at:

info@nycampgrounds.com

Campground Owners of New York, 1 Grove St. Suite 200, Pittsford, New York 14534

nycampgrounds.com (consumer website) campcony.com (corporate website)

CONY members pose on in the Capitol Building in Albany, NY, during legislative office visits at Tourism Action Day. Pictured:

Kelly and Gregg Nicholls, Lake Bluff Campground, Ed and Carmen Marden, Camp Bell Campground, Vanessa Leto, Brook n Wood Campground, Kimberly Foro, Whispering Pines Campsites

& RV Park, Gil Paddock, Deer River Campsite, Rachel & Rob Kaiser, Medina / Wildwood Lake KOA and Houghton / Letchworth

KOA, Donald Bennett, Jr., CONY President and CEO, Carl Carlson, Cheerful Valley Campground, Janine Paddock, Deer River Campsite, Mike Papp, West Canada Creek Campsites.

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The camping season in New York is off to an early start – at least online, that is. A number of CONY parks are seeing reserva-tions roll in using Adventure Sys-tems, a system created in partner-ship with Corporate Communica-tions.

Since its genesis, several enhance-ments have been made to the sys-tem such as:

The ability to add offline reservations information

Breakout of offline reserva-

tion totals in the transaction report

Addition of “Day of the Week” pricing to accommo-date parks with more complex fee structures

If you are currently using Adven-

ture Systems for your online res-ervations, we thank you and wel-come your feedback. Improve-ments and modifications are made based upon their feasibility. If you are not currently using Adventure Systems for your online reservations, now is the perfect time to give it a try. Sign up is free for CONY members so you’ve got nothing to lose. Sign up today!

~ Traci Adedeji Executive Assistant

Adventure Systems can give you a head start to a successful camping season

Learn more at adventureystems.net

As I write this, I am attending the Binghamton Camping and RV Show, the last show on the Spring circuit for the CONY booth.

The exhibitors, RV dealers and show attendees were all cautiously optimistic for winter weather to stay away, as the temperatures are in the 70s this weekend—IN MARCH! IN NEW YORK!

If I had to find one word to sum up this year’s show season for the CONY booth, it would be “brisk.”

Overall, at least at the shows I’ve attended, traffic to the CONY booth during these RV shows has been brisk and satisfying, helped in large part by the availability of a handy CONY plastic bag for filling up with campground brochures! Anecdotally speaking, I am confi-dent our show participants will find that a considerably larger number of brochures were placed into the hands of prospective cus-

tomers this year compared to re-cent years, and the CONY bag has played a role in that uptick. We will have a final accounting of bro-chures distributed at a later date after the Zone Meetings.

Since I last wrote, CONY had its booth at RV shows in Syracuse and Montreal, both very “brisk” again (Montreal is busy enough for me to conscript my husband Mi-chael into helping me out). Syra-cuse was especially fun as we kicked off CONY’s promotion for the 1st annual “Yes We Can!...So They Can!” Campout: Supporting Chil-dren with Cancer at Camp Good Days. CONY campgrounds at the RV show displayed colorful balloons at their tables, and Camp Good Days, sold paper balloons for $1 each toward the cause (see back page for more details).

I risk missing someone in my “thank you’s” for their help with

shows, and if I do miss you, my apologies! But, I am grateful to these folks for lending a hand at various shows or for taking signifi-cant numbers of cases to other shows: Bill Perry, Rosemary Curtis, Traci Adedeji, Carl Carlson, Vanessa Leto, Laurie Bulluck, Dr. & Mrs. Shim, and more I’m sure.

This is the paragraph where I usually make my appeal for your shows enrollment form for next year, and remind you that early birds save $50 if enrolling by July 15th. In keeping with that, I want to mention, for those of you who are no longer budgeting for Woodalls advertising, please consider allocating just $400 to be a part of one of CONY’s corner-stone marketing programs, and see w h a t i t d o e s f o r y o u . Happy Spring!

~ Suzanne Bixby Marketing & Communications Director

On the road with the CONY shows program: “End of the Road!”

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. De-partment of Justice yesterday is-sued a 60-day stay on enforcement of controversial new rules that re-quire campgrounds, RV parks and hotels to make their pools handi-capped accessible by installing per-manent lifts that aid people into and out of the water.

The regulations were included in sweeping changes to the Ameri-cans With Disabilities Act imple-mented by President Barack Obama in 2010. The new rules re-quire that pools have two accessi-ble means of entry, such as a ramp or wheelchair lift. Spas (or hot tubs) must have a lift system to help handicapped people enter the pool.

In the RV industry, many camp-ground owners were confused by conflicting opinions offered by the Department of Justice. A ruling issued last year allowed camp-grounds to install portable lift sys-tems that could be utilized in the event a handicapped person wished to use the pool. However, earlier this month, another official with the Justice Department ruled that portable lifts were not appro-priate and that fixed lifts must be installed.

That prompted multiple com-plaints by hotels and campgrounds worried that fixed systems would be open invitations for children to climb on the equipment, which meant pool owners risked serious liability should a child fall off the equipment into the pool or onto the concrete decking. Many estab-lishments indicated they would be forced to permanently close the pool if that requirement were al-lowed to stand.

According to a story in the Wash-ington Times, many people opera-tors referred to the new rules as "pool-mageddon" in that it would shut down hundreds of thousands of pools across the country. Oppo-nents to the new rules noted there weren't enough pool lifts available in the United States to accommo-date the demand for fixed systems, the paper noted.

Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, both South Carolina Re-publicans, were trying to speed a bill through the Senate on Thurs-day to lift the regulations on pool operators. However, no action was taken before the Senate adjourned until Monday, the Washington Times reported.

A statement released by the Justice Department noted, "Requirements for existing swimming pools will be extended for 60 days. The de-partment will also publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with a 15-day comment period on a possible six-month extension in order to allow additional time to address misunderstandings regarding com-pliance with these ADA require-ments."

"DOJ have been forced to admit they made a big overreach and are now retreating with a two-month delay on this unnecessary regula-tion," Wesley Denton, a spokes-man for Sen. DeMint, told the Washington Times.

To read the full story in the Washington Times, click the link at the bottom of this page.

To read a pool accessibility advisory is-sued by the Department of Justice, click the link at the bottom of this page.

(Source: Article reprinted with permission from RVdailyreport.com, Greg Gerber, Editor-in-Chief, editor@rvdailyreport.com. Content copy-right 2012 by RV Daily Report and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved.)

Industry News: Justice Department issues 60-day stay on pool regulations

Resource Links as referenced above:

Link to Washington Times article: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/mar/15/pool-mageddon-avoided-now/

Link to DOJ Pool Accessibility Advisory: http://www.ada.gov/pools_2010.htm

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MEMBER BENEFIT UPDATE:

Earn Cash Back Rewards with your energy service

Sign up to receive all your electric-ity and natural gas from CONY Associate Member Energy Plus, and earn cash back while still re-ceiving the same reliable service from your local utility company.

Save for your business and your home! Energy Plus provides elec-tricity and natural gas to both homes and businesses throughout New York so you can sign up all your electricity and natural gas ac-counts.

Benefits for electric service in-clude:

Earn 3-5% cash back every year on the supply portion of your natural gas bill*

Receive $50 activation bonus for each account you sign up*

No lock-down for a long-term commitment—get a month-to-month rate plan.**

Cancel any time without paying a termination fee.

Benefits for natural gas service in-clude:

Earn 3-5% cash back every year on the supply portion of your natural gas bill.*

Receive a $25 activation bonus for each account you sign up.*

Just like the electric account, you’ll enjoy a plan that offers the flexibility of being able to cancel at any time without a termination fee.**

To read more about this exclusive offer (including the additional in-clusions/exclusions information where asterisked (“*” and “**”), visit CONY’s member services website at www.campcony.com, and find Energy Plus on the “Current Associate Members” page. There you can link to the latest details and sign up informa-tion.

Don’t forget to use Camp-CONY.com to look up all our current associate members for your business needs.

***

2012 Member Binders: PLEASE READ AND ACT ON

TIME-SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS

The 2012 edition of the CONY member binders will be distributed to members at the Spring Zone Meetings, and the balance mailed out after.

The binders include all you need to know about CONY services and benefits , as well as forms to use for enrolling in various marketing programs and corporate events, such as the 2013 CONY shows program (discounts for early birds!) and the Fall Exposition.

Your member binder also includes your 2012-2013 CONY dues notice. We encourage you to take a moment before the busy season begins to send in your dues.

Member News

Providing Quality Protection 

for your Campgrounds 

 

800‐836‐7860 

www.calbranch.com  

Jane Peers 

Jenelle Ademovic  

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with Camp Good Days because it has an outdoor theme with a New York-based charity. The kick-off started at the Syracuse RV Show March 1 – 4, 2012.

The Kick-Off

Camp Good Days had a booth next to the CONY booth at the Syracuse RV Show. Staff and vol-unteers handed out information about Camp Good Days and gave out helium balloons with the CONY logo on one side and the Camp Good Days logo on the other. Paper balloons were also sold for $1.00 each. When atten-

dees purchased a paper bal-loon, it was displayed on the booth with their name on it. A cash donation container was also placed on their ta-ble. The promotion has begun! I would like to thank all of the workers and volunteers that manned the Camp Good Days booth. My special thanks to Claire McKenney , Family & Pro-grams Coordinator from the Syracuse branch of Camp Good Days. I would also like to thank Jim Kring, a CONY supporter and show promoter for donating booth space to Camp Good Days.

Details

The three tiers for partici-pating in this partnership

with Camp Good Days are as fol-lows:

Tier #1 – Generic Promotion (that all CONY members can eas-ily support)

Tier #1 campground participants will receive a promotion “kit” for the 2012 camping season. The promo kit includes a small tabletop cash donation barrel and a promo-tional counter card that is dis-played with the cash donation bar-rel.

Tier #2: includes:

Tier 1 cash donation barrel

Paper Balloons: the paper bal-loons are filled out with the do-nor’s name each time a donation

is made. We recommend selling the balloons for $1 or more of course. Each participating camp-ground/RV park can decide how and where they want to promi-nently display these balloons to maximize exposure and effec-tiveness. Everything needed to manage the promotion will be provided to CONY members thus making this an easy to man-age/implement promotion.

T-shirt Promotion: T-shirts will be designed and produced for this joint promotion with CONY, CONY members and Camp Good Days. The t-shirts will be sold at participating mem-ber locations (with each respec-tive CONY member having their own name/logo imprinted on their t-shirts as well as the Camp Good Days logo). The proceeds from the t-shirt sales will be do-nated to Camp Good Days.

Tier #3: includes:

Tier 1 cash donation barrel

Tier 2 paper balloons and t-shirt promotion

Holding fundraising activities at your campground. Some sugges-tions for other activities are as fol-lows:

Dance marathon Walk-a-thon Auction Bottle / can drive To help you determine your par-ticipation level in this summer fundraiser, Taylor Communica-

(Continued from page 16)

(Continued on page 15)

Camp Good Days

Laurie Bulluck, CONY’s 2nd Vice Chair, and Claire McKenney of Camp Good Days, standing with the balloons decorating the Rainbow Shows Campsite booth at the CNY RV Show in Syracuse.

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Camp Good Days

tions will produce a document that provides CONY members with an extensive array of ideas to use to develop their own custom promo-tions. The title of this document is “101 Win-Win Ideas for CONY Member to Promote Camp Good Days in 2012.”

In addition to all this….

CONY will provide members with statewide media coverage for the promotion via a CONY website, our newsletters, general news/press releases, RV shows and any opportunities that arise;

Camp Good Days will provide media coverage for the promo-tion via their website;

CONY and Camp Good Days will showcase the promotion and highlight opportunities for CONY members to participate during the zone meetings in March;

CONY and Camp Good Days will celebrate the success of the program by having a special presentation during the CONY 2012 Annual Expo/Conference when a check will be presented to Camp Good Days by CONY,

Special recognition/presentations will be made acknowledging CONY members who made sig-nificant cash contributions for this important cause. There will also be special recognition given to CONY members who created in-

novative customized promotions that made a difference in their abil-ity to raise funds and awareness for this promotion.

I invite everyone to check out Camp Good Days’ website, www.campgooddays.org and strongly encourage you to attend our zone meetings to learn more about this program.

Our goal is to raise at least $50,000. We can do this with 100% participation! Get excited!!! Be committed. Support this CONY/Camp Good Days partnership!

“Yes We Can!...So They Can!” Campout

Supporting Children with Cancer

(Continued from page 14)

Supporting Children with Cancer

By Laurie Bulluck, Owner of Rainbow Shore Campsite, CONY 2nd Vice Chair and Marketing and Communications Committee Chair

On February 13, 2012, at the CONY board meeting, the Marketing and Communications committee set three goals for 2012:

Get CONY directories in all RV dealers in New York

Spend less time trying to discount camping at CONY parks and use methods to increase camping nights (examples are packaging, free items, free site delivery of a prod-uct, etc. We are trying to get away from camping discounts. Camping is already affordable.

“Yes We Can!...So They Can!” Campout: Supporting Chil-dren with Cancer – working in partnership with Camp Good Days. The CONY Board of Directors approved this partnership

(Camp Good Days continued on page 14)

CONY’s 1st Annual “Yes We Can!...So They Can!” Campout

1 Grove Street, Suite 200 Pittsford, New York 14534

Laurie Bulluck

“Sky’s the limit!”