I just read a post elsewhere on the forums which neatly encapsulates all that is wrong with ACA.
1 The poster quotes one of the countless marketing emails from ACA:
"This Isn't Happening Without You"
2) And they offer their response:
"Then I guess it's not happening because you lost me
(and my substantial estate planning donation) a while ago and have not taken steps get me back.
And I feel the need to write that the shiftiness re: the sale is extremely concerning.
Really seems like something is rotten in Denmark. Shame on you."
<<<>>>
"Because you lost me"
And lost 31,999 other members - from 50,000 in 2020 down to 18,000 now.
I have been involved in the bike touring community and have been a member of ACA for 40+ years.
I started hearing comments similar to this 3-4 years ago and they have multiplied.
Quite simply, the leadership at ACA made serious mistakes over the past 3-4 years.
And they have been lockstep in their denial of any responsibility for the organization's massive decline.
The current leadership prides itself on its progressive views,
yet the primary reason offered in the initial vote notification was the "ageing out" of boomer riders.
That was not only ageist, but factually wrong, since 32,000 riders do not age out in 3-4 years.
It was also financially blockheaded since this is the cohort which primarily funds ACA.
I am also flummoxed that the current leadership chose to stonewall the SaveACA group
rather than find some sort of compromise - given the number of past leaders represented.
It appears to many that the decision to define the conflict as "old guard" vs. "new guard"
was made early on by current ACA leadership. Their language indicates as much.
And it was completely unnecessary.
I am not opposed to the sale of the headquarters building, per se.
I have visited ACA's headquarters many times and appreciate its history.
However, the sale of the headquarters will do nothing to change the decline at ACA,
unless there is, first, a serious inventory of past errors and, second, an effective plan for the future.
* This is not posted under "Building Sale" because the issue is far more than the sale of the building.
