RCI and member advisory board

[lshpak]

I just received this email from RCI and I am not sure if it a scam or for real. What do you think?


Congratulations!

We would like to formally invite you to participate in the 2016 RCI Member Advisory Board. The Member Advisory Board meets once per quarter in the RCI office. It is a great opportunity for us to talk about our products and services with you and gain feedback. We will even talk about product concepts that we are working on so that you can help us shape how they look and work.

The exact dates for next year’s meetings have not yet been determined, but we will likely be ironing that out in December. Each meeting lasts from roughly 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with lunch provided by RCI. It is a great opportunity to interact with one another and RCI leaders. I’m sure you will find the discussions interesting and fun. We like these discussions because it allows us to have two way dialogue about our programs that you can’t capture with survey’s or focus groups. We hope you will agree to participate with us in 2016.

Please respond to this email to let us know if you accept our invitation. If you agree to join us in the 2016 Member Advisory Board, we will share more details with you in the near future. In the meantime, keep traveling!

All the best,

John

John Sloat, RRP
RCI
Sr. Director, Global Product Development

 

[MuranoJo]

May be for real--typical of a focus group type of arrangement.
I'd wonder, however, why they didn't spell out how they'd handle the accommodations and travel, etc. Assuming you have to travel to get there and it appears you're from NY; and even if you don't, there are expenses related beyond lunch.

But perhaps they're waiting to see if you'd be open to doing this.

 

[silentg]

May be for real--typical of a focus group type of arrangement.
I'd wonder, however, why they didn't spell out how they'd handle the accommodations and travel, etc. Assuming you have to travel to get there and it appears you're from NY; and even if you don't, there are expenses related beyond lunch.

But perhaps they're waiting to see if you'd be open to doing this.

They want to pick your brain, it may be ligit, but why the secretive location ? BTW why didn't I get invited? Huh RCI?
Silentg

 

[Pat H]

Did they call you by name? If not, then I think it's a scam. I have gotten a couple of emails asking me to take a survey/share opinions from RCI and all address me by name.

I also noticed that surveys is incorrectly written as survey's and to me the wording is off. I would have expected that a phone # would have been provided so you could call and ask more questions.

 

[geekette]

May be for real--typical of a focus group type of arrangement.
I'd wonder, however, why they didn't spell out how they'd handle the accommodations and travel, etc. Assuming you have to travel to get there and it appears you're from NY; and even if you don't, there are expenses related beyond lunch.

But perhaps they're waiting to see if you'd be open to doing this.

Yes, very strange on the travel issue. "In the office" should be spelled out as to exact location as for most people, RCI just exists on the internet...

Can't see as "lunch provided" is enough motivation to travel for a short meeting. If it were RCI, there would be more goodies to dangle.

 

[jacknsara]

location of corporate HQ

https://www.google.com/maps/place/R...ata=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xab87cf27a4f9e465

 

[MuranoJo]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/R...ata=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xab87cf27a4f9e465

Yep, that's why I wondered about the travel hassle, cost of getting from NY to their Corp. offices.

When we held focus groups in a previous job, we always went to a specific city and invited current/past/targeted customers within the city so they didn't have to travel. But we always paid a fee + lunch, etc.

They claim it's not a focus group, but sure sounds similar to me. But again, could be they're just checking to see if you're interested before they offer the travel costs. Or maybe RCI has an 'office' in NY.

 

[pedro47]

Are they paying for all your travel expenses (mileage, meals,& parking in New York)? I cannot see a face to face meeting liked this to a corp. office in New York. I can see a conference calls for focus group members.
Be careful.

 

[HudsHut]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-sloat-47194a7

RRP is Registered Resort Professional
apparently a certification by ARDA

 

[lshpak]

Recently I received an email from Mr. John Sloat, RRP ( apparently they monitor this sit and he assured me that this is not a scam. I am going to go for it, so if you have anything to add I will bring it up during our meeting. Thank you all.
Laura.