Well Otto, since you asked, here are my thoughts. We have discussed some of these before. From my perspective and based on the experience with the chapters in my area, they really need to get their act together and appeal to a larger group of people. A good start would be to recognize that the demographic of the potential membership pool is changing and try to appeal to a wider range of interests, particularly diesel enthusiasts. 
They have done a little more of that lately with the recent issues of the Bulletin (very nice diesel photo feature in the latest issue), but I wonder how much of that was intent and how much was desperation to try to catch up the years-late publication schedule by using the resources available, which now are primarily diesel stories and photography. Perhaps it is a good thing though, that it is finally forcing them into a world that includes diesels. The Railcamp and membership flyers remain almost totally steam, and younger railroad enthusiasts who see them tend to laugh at them. The themes and focus of their national conventions remains steam oriented, apparently the management likes it that way, but they are missing a big portion of the members interests. I recall a review of the presentations at their national conventions over the last ten years that found numerous steam and specific-railroad programs, and very little appealing to diesel fans.
Beyond that, as was mentioned previously, a number of the older members of the local chapters have commented that they hate the midsummer conventions and the overheated fan trips that nearly kill them. The NRHS obviously isn't appealing to families, you can see that in the chapter meetings, so why not put the conventions later in the year after the kids have gone back to school and get some liveable temperatures and decent weather for photography, particularly since photography often seems to be the primary aspect of railroad history that gets attention in the organization.
And then there are the legendary business meetings. Maybe they should consider setting a limit on the amount of time for the business meeting and limiting every person who wants to get up with a news item to one or two minutes. If you can't say it in that amount of time then practice a while and come back and see if you can say it in that amount of time next month. Cut the trivia short rather than having it waste the evening with foolishness. The business meeting overruns make it very difficult for any guest speaker that has an organized program that tells a story, the speaker can never be sure how much time is really going to be left for the program. So and after investing their time and effort to visit, they often get rudely asked to cut their program short. As a result the NRHS has an absolutely terrible reputation among presenters in the enthusiast hobby and the railroad industry, for their lack of respect for speakers.
And how about making an effort to get the word about meetings out beyond the immediate membership. Most public library speaker programs do a better job of announcing their events to the general public than the NRHS chapters do with the backing of the national organization. Get a notice in the local newspaper, maybe even print some flyers and drop them at local hobby shops or railroad theme restaurants. And how about cleaning up the many dead and dying chapter web sites, perhaps by having the national host a site for each of the chapters that does not have the talent to manage their own site. Provide contact and meeting information that is at least somewhat up to date. In recent years their directory and internet listings for the chapters have contained lots of inaccuracies.
They also need to reach out to the model railroaders and the NMRA organizations in their area. The NMRA isn't attracting a particuarly young crowd either, but they are usually a generation younger than the NRHS. And they could learn a lot from the NMRA folks, they are usually much better organized and more public oriented than the NRHS.
The problems are not universal within NRHS, they vary from chapter to chapter. There are a number of chapters whose meetings I have attended, that are extremely well organized and do a fine job with their activities. Unfortunately the chapters all seem to function within a vacuum. The national organization has not made much of an effort in past years to help improve the groups that are NOT working well by providing guidance based on the experiences of the groups that ARE working well. They are the only ones that are in a position to be able to do this. The recently published article by one of the officers about membership issues and concerns was the first thing on this topic I have seen them print in many years. It was certainly a step in the right direction. With membership dropping rapidly you would think there would have been a bit more concern shown before now.
It is a matter of their own survival, and of having future members to take care of the collections and artifacts they have acquired. If it continues to be an organization of old men, then they are finished, it is just a matter of time. "Steaming to Oblivion" will have become a reality.
MX
They have done a little more of that lately with the recent issues of the Bulletin (very nice diesel photo feature in the latest issue), but I wonder how much of that was intent and how much was desperation to try to catch up the years-late publication schedule by using the resources available, which now are primarily diesel stories and photography. Perhaps it is a good thing though, that it is finally forcing them into a world that includes diesels. The Railcamp and membership flyers remain almost totally steam, and younger railroad enthusiasts who see them tend to laugh at them. The themes and focus of their national conventions remains steam oriented, apparently the management likes it that way, but they are missing a big portion of the members interests. I recall a review of the presentations at their national conventions over the last ten years that found numerous steam and specific-railroad programs, and very little appealing to diesel fans.Beyond that, as was mentioned previously, a number of the older members of the local chapters have commented that they hate the midsummer conventions and the overheated fan trips that nearly kill them. The NRHS obviously isn't appealing to families, you can see that in the chapter meetings, so why not put the conventions later in the year after the kids have gone back to school and get some liveable temperatures and decent weather for photography, particularly since photography often seems to be the primary aspect of railroad history that gets attention in the organization.
And then there are the legendary business meetings. Maybe they should consider setting a limit on the amount of time for the business meeting and limiting every person who wants to get up with a news item to one or two minutes. If you can't say it in that amount of time then practice a while and come back and see if you can say it in that amount of time next month. Cut the trivia short rather than having it waste the evening with foolishness. The business meeting overruns make it very difficult for any guest speaker that has an organized program that tells a story, the speaker can never be sure how much time is really going to be left for the program. So and after investing their time and effort to visit, they often get rudely asked to cut their program short. As a result the NRHS has an absolutely terrible reputation among presenters in the enthusiast hobby and the railroad industry, for their lack of respect for speakers.
And how about making an effort to get the word about meetings out beyond the immediate membership. Most public library speaker programs do a better job of announcing their events to the general public than the NRHS chapters do with the backing of the national organization. Get a notice in the local newspaper, maybe even print some flyers and drop them at local hobby shops or railroad theme restaurants. And how about cleaning up the many dead and dying chapter web sites, perhaps by having the national host a site for each of the chapters that does not have the talent to manage their own site. Provide contact and meeting information that is at least somewhat up to date. In recent years their directory and internet listings for the chapters have contained lots of inaccuracies.
They also need to reach out to the model railroaders and the NMRA organizations in their area. The NMRA isn't attracting a particuarly young crowd either, but they are usually a generation younger than the NRHS. And they could learn a lot from the NMRA folks, they are usually much better organized and more public oriented than the NRHS.
The problems are not universal within NRHS, they vary from chapter to chapter. There are a number of chapters whose meetings I have attended, that are extremely well organized and do a fine job with their activities. Unfortunately the chapters all seem to function within a vacuum. The national organization has not made much of an effort in past years to help improve the groups that are NOT working well by providing guidance based on the experiences of the groups that ARE working well. They are the only ones that are in a position to be able to do this. The recently published article by one of the officers about membership issues and concerns was the first thing on this topic I have seen them print in many years. It was certainly a step in the right direction. With membership dropping rapidly you would think there would have been a bit more concern shown before now.
It is a matter of their own survival, and of having future members to take care of the collections and artifacts they have acquired. If it continues to be an organization of old men, then they are finished, it is just a matter of time. "Steaming to Oblivion" will have become a reality.
MX
"We Repair No Locomotive Before Its Time"
