Charlie/All
It is good of you to champion call for spurring the growth and membership of
BRHS ~ all excellent points and suggestions, more so I believe they are
critical.
It appears to me that BRHS has fallen into the difficult circular dilemma
wherein it needs a strong growth in membership and activity to sustain the
Society; however, the impetus of such growth is largely dependant upon the very
financial & volunteer support which comes from 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 stretched the
few volunteers/coordinators thin for some time.
There is no question in my mind that enhanced membership benefits 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, investment in the now 1/2" thick (&
quarterly) Milwaukee Railroader was quickly rewarded with greater membership
retention & growth. However, the ability for BRHS to follow-suit is very much
dependent upon the support which comes from 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 top 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
resulting from the same select few; however, it needs to happen somehow. Given
that points 1 & 2 would demand unreasonably more from a very few dedicated
members, in my opinion the foremost opportunity to energize the BRHS will be to
BUILD UPON THE RESOURCES OF OTHERS in a 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 ability to feature many more appealing events
that would not otherwise be possible. Railfans gain exposure to more material,
new friendships, larger swap meets, vast modeling ideas, varied 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 ~ such are but a few of the many
possibilities when pooling resources. Best of all, coordinating such a
monumental meet will energize the membership of each society and foster
sustained growth/participation which would in turn support these enhanced
operations.
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 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 who in recent years continue to put
together good shows with the limited resources at their disposal ~ just imagine
if there were greater membership & finances to support the event.
JOINT MEET 2010!!!
Thanks for sharing your soap box Charlie.
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