​During last Tuesdays ‘Coffee & Connections’ we got the opportunity to hear from Brian Novy, a representative of the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation to learn about licensing content and ask him our questions concerning copyright compliance to find out what our members need to know. In case you missed it, let us fill you in on the details. 

As our world evolves and technologies advance, visual media consumption has quickly gone from waiting for your show to come on one a few select channels or hunting down VHS tapes to countless streaming services with unlimited readily available content. 

With so much content out there, coming from so many different sources it can be difficult to keep track and make sure that everything you are putting out for public consumption gets properly credited back to its rightful owners. 

With so many changes in the types of recreational vehicles on the road the question of the “code” has been a hot and often controversial subject.  On May 17th, CampCalNOW President and CEO, Dyana Kelley, hosted Mitchel Baker, deputy director of code at Housing and Community Development (HCD) and Michael Ochs, Director of Government Affairs for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), to speak during her weekly zoom, “Coffee & Connections with CampCalNOW”. 

To clearly understand the subject, we needed to be clear on the terms and definitions.

The RVIA refers to the “sticker” as a seal while HCD describes it as a label.  For all intent and purposes, the terms can be used interchangeably. 

The correct term for a towable type of unit is considered a park “trailer” whether it is a park model or travel trailer, according to RVIA. 

NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association.  They are a global, self-funded nonprofit organization established in 1896, devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards.
NFPA 1192 is the standard on recreational vehicles. 

NFPA 1194 is the national standard for recreational vehicle parks.  NFPA 1194 is superseded by the Special Occupancy Parks Act in California. 

ANSI is the American National Standards Institute.  Founded in 1918, ANSI is a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system. 

Our conversation began with Michael Ochs, explaining that the RVIA seal is designed to give the consumer confidence in knowing that the RV was built to a certain standard.  RVIA has a team of 6 inspectors that regularly inspect the manufacturing plants.  They do not inspect RVs.  The manufacturers purchase the seals from RVIA based on annual production. 

Last week (June 5-9, 2022) was RVs move America week in Washington DC and this year’s event brought with it the announcement of a huge win for private RV parks and campgrounds nationwide as they were officially granted “essential business” classification. Check out the following press release by the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds more information on this exciting feat! 

(Washington, D.C.) June 7, 2022 – Since the beginning of the pandemic, the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (National ARVC)  has been leading the charge advocating to get private RV parks and campgrounds classified as essential businesses, and on Monday that classification finally became official.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, officially transitioned RV parks and campgrounds classification in the Commercial Facilities Sector from Outdoor Events to Lodging and simultaneously classified all temporary lodging, including RV parks and campgrounds, as essential.
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This new classification allows RV parks and campgrounds to operate and continue serving Americans in a health pandemic or natural disaster, a time when they are able to provide a critical source of temporary lodging, social distancing activity, access to essential goods and services, and much more.
The decision to list RV parks and campgrounds as essential businesses resulted from a series of meetings led by National ARVC and its lobbyist David Ransom with McDermott, Will and Emery, with support from industry partners at Kampgrounds of America (KOA).

“This is a big win for our industry, and it’s been one of National ARVC’s primary advocacy focuses since March 2020 when the first campground was forced to close because of the pandemic,” says Paul Bambei, president and CEO of National ARVC.

CampCalNOW RV Park and Campground Alliance President Dyana Kelley traveled to Orangeland RV Park over Memorial Day weekend with a teardrop trailer to celebrate the park’s 50th anniversary, according to a press release.
 
While there Kelley promoted the travel planning website Camp-California.com.
 
Kelley celebrated Orangeland’s 50th anniversary with current and former Orangeland employees and guests, many of whom traveled to Orange, Calif., specifically to celebrate the park’s anniversary. Park owners on hand for the event included 102-year-old Virginia Welton. Virginia and her husband, Eldredge H. Welton, opened the park on Memorial Day 1972. Also, on hand were Virginia’s three children, Cindy Wimbish, Steve Welton and Janis Beghtol, along with several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
 
“It was a really fun weekend,” Kelley said. “Orangeland had a barbecue on Saturday night for current and former residents, guests and employees. They also did a raffle and served ice cream. On Sunday, we celebrated with a taco truck lunch and more raffle prizes.”

​Kelley donated two Camp California Coleman camping chairs to the raffle, one of which was won by Mrs. Welton’s great grandson, Jude. On Monday, they served coffee and donuts and had a Memorial Day celebration at the flagpole presided over by former employee and pastor Steve Durrett. Steve took the time to thank members of the armed forces for their service to our country. Several guests and residents were honored.