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Miscommunication may have lost Moscow $100,000 from RV conference
Communication and contract issues may have led the University of Idaho and Moscow to lose the business of Life on Wheels — an annual conference for RV owners and potential buyers that has been held at UI for more than 10 years.
The conference, which is estimated to have brought more than $100,000 to local businesses, began at UI about 13 years ago with around 80 people, said Peggy Waterman, conference coordinator for the now national organization. It is the brain-child of Gaylord Maxwell, who came to UI’s community programs office, where Waterman worked at the time, with the idea.
“He feels really strongly that people who spend this much money for a machine need to know how to use it properly,” Waterman said.
When she retired in December 2006, Waterman joined Life on Wheels as the conference coordinator. Last year the event brought around 450 people to Moscow. It has five national conferences each year, in Idaho, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Kentucky and Iowa.
Life on Wheels announced over Spring Break that it would be moving its event to Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston. UI’s Vice President of Finance and Administration Lloyd Mues said the announcement came as a surprise to the university.
“We were caught unaware by this decision,” Mues said. “The first problem we had was the press release saying they were going to Lewiston. We were planning on them coming here.”
Waterman said there were problems before that.
“I was planning on having it at UI and I thought we had a contract with them,” she said, but she was told the contract was “null and void.” Waterman said she then immediately tried to find a new location in the Idaho panhandle that would allow the conference to keep its dates of July 6-11.
The problem seems to have been poor communication. Mues said UI hadn’t even reached the point of discussing a contract with Life on Wheels when the change of venue was announced.
“There was never even a discussion on an agreement,” he said.
What happened, Mues said, was Life on Wheels received an e-mail suggesting what price might be available for the conference from a person not authorized to give that kind of information. When the supervisor became aware of the problem, he contacted Waterman, Mues said, and informed her that the amount was not authorized and she would need to negotiate with him. Mues said he is not aware of another contract being offered.
“In fact that is exactly why the right office contact Life on Wheels — to ensure they understood the unofficial communication they received was null and could we please enter into discussion with those that are directly responsible for the contract part,” Mues said. “As we knew, Life on Wheels was already advertising the dates and booking attendance — without any agreement.”
Waterman said she had attempted to work out a contract last fall and finding out they didn’t have one came as a surprise.
“There are new people at the university and they don’t have the history and the background for this,” she said. “I think people just have different agendas. … We weren’t part of the agenda.”
Both Mues and Waterman said they regret that the relationship between UI and Life on Wheels had problems this year, but Mues has hope for the future.
“I have great respect for the whole crew,” he said. “We’d like to have them back. The Palouse will miss their presence.”
Waterman said Life on Wheels will probably stay at LCSC for the next two years.
“I think next year we will be at LCSC because they’ve been so gracious to us,” she said. “We have loved being at the university. It’s been a great place. The people in Moscow have been so good.”
While the conference wasn’t a money-maker for UI, Mues said the university will do its best to get the conference back in Moscow in the future.
“It’s a good program, this is a great place for them,” he said. “We’ve truly tried to do what we can to make this a great stay for them. … This is a long-term relationship and we’d like to keep that.”
For more information about the Life on Wheels conference, visit www.lifeonwheels.com.
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