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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2020 15:00:52 GMT
I agree with all of the posts here. Some of you have known each other for quite a while while others may be starting out on a forum. Everybody starts somewhere. The OGF puts people first and thus has created a welcoming place to be and and a comfortable place to be. Having met some of you last October I can attest to this firsthand. I am sure that others will realize this in time and will join in on some of the discussions. As long as the Mission Statement holds true the realization will come. Gary.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2020 16:33:06 GMT
Mayhaps I was misunderstood. Yes of course everyone is welcome to read or join. My post was about those that join but never participate. I understand your comment. We have 381 members. If you go into the member list and sort by "posts". You will see that 223 members have not made one post, 68 have made less then 10 and 90 have made 10 or more posts. A little more research will show that of those 90 making more then 10 posts, 47 members have made more then 100 posts. Believe it or not, that is a really good sign. We are the people who like to share our shtick. Many forums have less then 10-15 people who keep it alive. We have many members who love the hobby, believe in helping others and are proud of their accomplishments. You also have to take into account that many individuals do not have the courage to post on a forum. You gotta remember we have been doing this for a long time. When I joined my first forum, I did not post for several months and when I did, every post was a question. "How did you do that?" "Where did you buy that?" "Why does my 2020 derail on the switch?" It takes time and we hope some of those members will learn enough to grow in the hobby and replace us as one of the "Big Boys" in the fuiture.
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Post by Adam on Sept 30, 2020 16:44:58 GMT
We also need to take into account those members who visit and, hopefully, login on a regular basis. Just because someone doesn't post doesn't mean they don't participate. Reading and following threads is a form of participation. Not everyone is comfortable posting. Casual visitors is important to the forum as well as it generates interest in the hobby.
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Post by mrmeep on Oct 1, 2020 1:05:53 GMT
Read a lot of the posts here before I put up something myself. Hopefully, this board will provide a sounding board for exchanging ideas, stories and information for the ENTIRE model railroading hobby!
And, YES, I DO believe this hobby can be made appealing to the younger generation! What with all of the new tech and special effects coming out almost daily! Right up there with the latest Play Station stuff! Only in REAL time and REAL life! Not just on a screen!
That means MORE interaction and MORE fun and MORE learning!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 1:34:56 GMT
Read a lot of the posts here before I put up something myself. Hopefully, this board will provide a sounding board for exchanging ideas, stories and information for the ENTIRE model railroading hobby! And, YES, I DO believe this hobby can be made appealing to the younger generation! What with all of the new tech and special effects coming out almost daily! Right up there with the latest Play Station stuff! Only in REAL time and REAL life! Not just on a screen! That means MORE interaction and MORE fun and MORE learning! I am sure it will MRMEEP. A lot of our members model multiple scales. You may cringe but the Bride and I have started to buy HO stuff to use as Christmas Tree Ornaments!! Gary.
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Post by mrmeep on Oct 1, 2020 2:16:03 GMT
For several years Hallmark had a series of "N"Scale ornaments.
They were EXACTLY in scale! Even flanged wheels that matched "N" Scale track! I bought several, took off the hanger loops and now have a nice shelf model train! The wheels even roll in their trucks!
There are so many different scales and types of trains because there are so many different types of modelers and operators! Do what makes you feel good!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 2:39:05 GMT
We have some of the HALLMARK Trains as well. They are great!!
Gary.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 7:54:27 GMT
Mayhaps I was misunderstood. Yes of course everyone is welcome to read or join. My post was about those that join but never participate. I understand your comment. We have 381 members. If you go into the member list and sort by "posts". You will see that 223 members have not made one post, 68 have made less then 10 and 90 have made 10 or more posts. A little more research will show that of those 90 making more then 10 posts, 47 members have made more then 100 posts. Believe it or not, that is a really good sign. We are the people who like to share our shtick. Many forums have less then 10-15 people who keep it alive. We have many members who love the hobby, believe in helping others and are proud of their accomplishments. You also have to take into account that many individuals do not have the courage to post on a forum. You gotta remember we have been doing this for a long time. When I joined my first forum, I did not post for several months and when I did, every post was a question. "How did you do that?" "Where did you buy that?" "Why does my 2020 derail on the switch?" It takes time and we hope some of those members will learn enough to grow in the hobby and replace us as one of the "Big Boys" in the fuiture. My concern is with the member who has never signed in since joining. We have a very significant number who have not done so for over six months. It seems to me that it is a responsibility of the founding members to revisit this topic and make a decision as to when names should be deleted. I feel that after six months of not signing in we should send an e-mail asking if they are interested in remaining and that if we hear nothing, they will be deleted in thirty days. AND WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE SAY. Hopefully more will participate over time but that is their decision. I welcome everyone but names with not signing in benefits nobody except to increase the number of members. When we started, we agreed that this was not going to be done. I believe that this issue needs to be revisited and action taken. Right now our total membership number is meaningless and is like counting names from the cemetery as members. Why should we continue to carry these names and pretend that they mean something? If you join and never sign in, we do not have a member, we have a name.
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Post by laz57 on Oct 1, 2020 10:44:25 GMT
Well stated BILL, I totally agree with everything you stated.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 15:32:20 GMT
Bill you are right in what you wrote and I agree. The flip side, and there is always a flip side is this. During our Annual Fundraising Campaign this past summer while contacting train dealers to become potential Corporate Sponsors our membership numbers came up in conversation. One dealer out west in particular said we had a ways to go before $300.00 was given. Especially since we had such a low membership count compared to another train forum. At that point I knew the conversation was going nowhere. I was able to get my 2 cents in though regarding how truthful membership rolls really were compared to ours and the high thread count we had achieved in roughly 10 months. I ended the phone call by wishing this person well and also knowing that I would not hear back from them. I also made a conscience decision to never spend any of my money at this hobby shop because quite frankly their attitude blew bigtime!
Fast forward to yesterday. I had tracked down the VL Conrail #4800 GG1 that was very high on my wish list. I called Brady's Train Outlet and talked to the owner John Brady hoping he still had the "little darling" in stock as they had just finished up with one of their Tent Sales. Now, I had spoken to John a couple of years ago and we had a great conversation about anything and everything. Unfortunately John had the staples removed from his recent knee replacement surgery yesterday morning and was in great pain and had to head home. So he passed me on to Anne, a very nice lady by the way, after telling me I would receive a 20% discount, free shipping and that I had 60 days to pay for my GG!. They are also sending me a t-shirt. All without me asking for anything. After Anne and I completed the money thing I mentioned that I would be posting on our train forum about our new acquisition in a thread set up for this. I also told her that I would say how well I was treated by BRADY'S. She asked me what forum I belonged to and I told her. Since she didn't know about the OGF she immediately jumped on Google to check us out. She read a couple of posts and commented on how attractive the OGF site was. She also checked out our Corporate Sponsor page and noticed that her very good friend, ALLABOUTTOYTRAINS is a sponsor. She wanted to know more so I answered her questions as best as I could. Bearing in mind I did not call BRADY'S as a representative of OGF in any way, shape, or form. The lady was impressed. No mention at all of a membership count. Amazing. People first. The OGF is quite capable of selling itself. Who knows, Maybe BRADY'S TRAIN OUTLET will want to become part of the OGF Family.
The moral of the story is this...a little respect and common courtesy goes a long way. John and Anne made me feel that I am a lot more than a dollar figure to their bottom line. I made new train friends yesterday and that makes me feel good!!
By the way BRADY'S is having another TENT SALE at the end of October during Halloween Weekend. If I see something else I have been searching for this Halloween could be quite scary indeed!
Regards,
Gary.
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Post by laz57 on Oct 1, 2020 20:37:24 GMT
CONGAS on the GG1 GARY!!!! Glad you found it and had a great conversation and experience with BRADYS. They also go to YORK and have a large booth.
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Post by trainsintheattic on Oct 1, 2020 21:38:03 GMT
66 years without making any mistakes. Lord, it's hard to be humble.😇
Bruce
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2020 0:21:41 GMT
Bill said: I feel that after six months of not signing in we should send an e-mail asking if they are interested in remaining and that if we hear nothing, they will be deleted in thirty days. AND WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE SAY.
Bill this has already been discussed and will happen in the near future. It is a little bit of a challenge and a big job of sorting the members. We have several members who are Sponsors and do not post. We have several daughters, sons and wives of members who do not post. And, to determine when the last sign-in occured you have to look at each person's profile. Then, to send an email we have to group them in a spread sheet, access their email account from the internal spreadsheet and then send out a mass email. I assure you I will take on this project and "gither done". Patience my fiend....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2020 0:58:57 GMT
Bill said: I feel that after six months of not signing in we should send an e-mail asking if they are interested in remaining and that if we hear nothing, they will be deleted in thirty days. AND WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE SAY.Bill this has already been discussed and will happen in the near future. It is a little bit of a challenge and a big job of sorting the members. We have several members who are Sponsors and do not post. We have several daughters, sons and wives of members who do not post. And, to determine when the last sign-in occured you have to look at each person's profile. Then, to send an email we have to group them in a spread sheet, access their email account from the internal spreadsheet and then send out a mass email. I assure you I will take on this project and "gither done". Patience my fiend.... Just who I was getting ready to e-mail. I just reviewed the 8 pages of members, specifically looking for those who have not signed in since before 3/31/20 (6 months). I came up with an inexact total of 159. There are another 30 (again, close) who have signed in less than 3 times since before 3/31/20. There are a large number who have joined after March 31, 2020 and have never signed in. I ignored these (there are a lot). This does not consider whether or not someone has posted, simply whether or not they have used their passcode and signed in. I hear you about the letter, etc and appreciate your being on it. I am concerned when we start talking about posting. I do not think that we should require people to post. Certainly it would be nice if they did. My other concern is that we take in a new member and don’t require anything. How about new members being probationary for 6 months and having to sign in three times or whatever the founding members decide? I think that there should be some contact when a member has been here for 5 months and has not signed in. It would be nice to try and save someone as a member if they want to be and maybe get them interested. I would do this every month or two to prevent the large backup that we now have. It would probably be easier. And you might need some help. Almost everyone now shows as a new member. We may need some bylaw work to add member classifications. I would keep that very simple. Probationary (6 months), new (6 months), and regular, plus the others that we have. Thanks Wood for all that you do for the Forum. Without you, Emile, and Brian, there would not be a forum. I hope that this is understandable. Knee meds can cause some problems, just ask Paula.
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Post by mrmeep on Oct 2, 2020 3:01:21 GMT
Some members join to just observe and read and learn from the comments, pictures and stories of others.
Not everyone lives on the internet full time. But they do comment when they feel they are wanted.
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