Charlie,
It is good of you to champion call for energizing the growth and membership of
BRHS ~ all excellent points and suggestions, moreso I believe they are critical.
In my humble opinion, BRHS has fallen into the difficult circular dilemma
wherein it needs a strong growth in membership and activity; however, the
impetus of such growth is largely dependant upon the financial & volunteer
support of increased membership ~ ie. "need money to make money." That said, I
respectfully submit that development of an E-Zine must be done in a manner such
that it does not divert time and resources from the Bulletin, Zephyr, calendar
& Meet planning, which have have been stretched thin on volunteers/coordinators
for some time.
There is no question in my mind that enhanced resources/offerings will add
great value & appeal to existing and new BRHS members. The Milwaukee Road
Historical Assn recently went out on a limb and invested considerable funds to
grow their publications ~ as hoped, the now 1/2" thick Milwaukee Railroader
quickly awarded the investment with greater membership retention & growth.
However, the ability for BRHS to follow-suit is very much dependent upon the
support of a greater membership base.
In my humble opinion, the first step in accomplishing this must be to shore up
the existing publications & events:
1) Make timely publication a foremost priority
2) Enhance (increase) the already exceptional content of publications
3) Revitalize Meets w/new locations & activities
I recognize this too requires a greater dedication of resources, sadly, often
from the same select few; however, quite simply, it needs to happen in some
form.
Given that points 1 & 2 require increased effort from a very few already
exhausted volunteers, in my opinion, the foremost opportunity to energize the
BRHS will be to BUILD UPON THE RESOURCES OF OTHERS to focus on point 3 ~ ie.
JOINT MEETS.
For the life of me, I do not understand why the idea of sharing expenses &
doubling the size/attendance/offerings of a Meet with another group of fellow
railfans consistently falls prey to nay-sayers, even when several members from
each organization have volunteered to take the reigns and make it happen.
A joint meet is simply a WIN-WIN ~ attendance is multiplied and costs are
shared, thus resulting in the opportunity to offer many more attractive events
that would not otherwise be possible. Railfans gain exposure to more material,
new friendships, larger swap meets, many more modeling ideas, many clinics etc.
Just imagine the Hill Road societies combining resources for a joint NP/GN/Q
meet in a common city such as Twin Cities ~ reserve SPUD, charter an
observation or Dome in/out of Chicago are but a few of the possibilities when
combining resources. Best of all, coordinating such a monumental meet will
energize the memberships of Societies and encourage increased participation.
WHY NOT!?!?
As one of the youngest participants in BRHS, I'd like the Society to be around
for many more years. I hope that those at the helm will take take notice and
schedule a big & exciting joint meet in 2010 to get the boost BRHS needs.
Lee Edgar
PS: My compliments to the Meet organizers of late who put together a good show
with very limited resources at their disposal ~ just imagine if there were more
membership & money to support the event.
JOINT MEET 2010!!!
Thanks for sharing your soap box Charlie.
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