The time has arrived- NRHS renewal

Well, I got my NRHS renewal notice yesterday. It is $45 for the combined national and local membership. What really irked me is that they included a 2008 NRHS membership card which seems a bit presumptuous to me. It is like they are saying, "well we GAVE you a card already... so just send us a check!"

Also got my latest bulletin - yet another story about ATSF if the southwest (YAWN) and a story about Ohio railroading. Absolutely nothing of a national interest in it at all nor about any type of preservation. Just another railfan photo outlet. Give me a break already.

Sorry, but I put my NRHS money to another RR museum; one with a publication I enjoy.

I got my renewal notice too.
Great improvement compared with past years of inept renewal process.
I got my Bulletin, too. Three more are in the works and should be mailed before the end of the year (2007).
I'll pay my $46 at the Chapter meeting Monday night.

According to the presentation and financial figures that Greg Molloy showed at Tri-State Chapter, there is a need for another almost immediate increase of equal or greater magnitude.

As far as the publications are concerned, I don't expect anything significantly different in content than the slide shows at the typical monthly chapter meetings.

Other organizations are now the leaders in the presentation of railroad history and equipment and operation related topics.

[quote="gp80mac"]Well, I got my NRHS renewal notice yesterday. It is $45 for the combined national and local membership. What really irked me is that they included a 2008 NRHS membership card which seems a bit presumptuous to me. It is like they are saying, "well we GAVE you a card already... so just send us a check!"

Also got my latest bulletin - yet another story about ATSF if the southwest (YAWN) and a story about Ohio railroading. Absolutely nothing of a national interest in it at all nor about any type of preservation. Just another railfan photo outlet. Give me a break already.

Sorry, but I put my NRHS money to another RR museum; one with a publication I enjoy.[/quote]

NRHS now mails dues renewals directly to *all* members, not just the "At large ones" saves the chapter membership chairmen time and saves the chapters money.

Sending the cards with the dues renewal notices also saves time and money.

Also, the second article in the latest issue of the Bulletin was about Crown Point, INDIANA, not Ohio.

Bob H

BobH wrote:
Sending the cards with the dues renewal notices also saves time and money.

Also, the second article in the latest issue of the Bulletin was about Crown Point, INDIANA, not Ohio.

Bob H

I never had another place send me a card before they got my money. Indiana - ohio, really shows how interested I was in it.

Hey, GP80Mac: I suppose you don't belong to AAA or the NARP, since they also send membership cards at renewal time. Sending a card that has an easily traceable number saves a stamp for the organization, and few people try to pull a fast one, since cards are not necessary at a local meeting.

With the money raised from the 2007 Convention in Chattanooga, and some other unexpectedly good financial news, the need for another increase is put off by a couple of years. Right now, the NRHS has 16,000 or so members. Sure, this is down from the 22,000 in 1994, but which other organization is still as large? Every organization has some conflicts, and setbacks, but the NRHS is far from being as close to dissolution as some on this board may think. All rail organizations are aging at the same rate. Some chapters are refusing to draw new members, and are close to collapse. I think that MXData's chapters he reviles so much may not last unless they rethink what they want to do to truly preserve what they love so much.

Indeed, some of the chapters that I visit will be self-terminating. They aren't making any effort to tell anyone outside their membership that they are there, or what they are doing, so they will disappear as the current members pass away.

The chapters that turn every meeting into an all evening business session and the ones that expect members to drive long distances to watch commercial videotapes they could view at home are likely to become a part of railroad history too.

MX

[quote="tellu_whut"]Hey, GP80Mac: I suppose you don't belong to AAA or the NARP, since they also send membership cards at renewal time. Sending a card that has an easily traceable number saves a stamp for the organization, and few people try to pull a fast one, since cards are not necessary at a local meeting.

-- snip --

.[/quote]

You can add SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) to the list that sends out cards with the dues renewal information.

Bob H

That 16,000 membership estimate for the NRHS is one of the reasons that there was discussion at the recent Association of Railroad Museums convention about the need to court the model railroad establishment for future support and volunteers.

If I remember correctly, the 16,000 NRHS membership figure is about 5,000 less than the number of people who attend the Amherst Railway Society (a group that has never been affiliated with NRHS) train show in West Springfield, Massachusetts each year.

About 21,000 people in central New England are interested enough in trains to drive long distances to a train show in the middle of the winter. No wonder the NMRA is turning into a leader in the study and presentation of railroad history.

An interesting side note:

The local NRHS has established a "friends of" group. The friends group gives you all the same benefits except you can't hold office or vote on chapter items. Basically a chapter membership without having to be part of the national. I wonder if others will follow suit, and how long before the NRHS bans the practice...

That sounds like a great idea because around here the practice for NRHS meetings is to show up 45 minutes to an hour late so that you do not have to endure their tedious business meeting. So a reduced price non-voting membership fits in perfectly with that. If all the members traded in their regular membership and became "friends" of the chapter, maybe they could do away with the business meeting altogether.

Just kidding!

The independent outfits like Amherst and the 470 Railroad Club seem to be consistently able to do their business meeting quickly and host two hour "double clinic" type programs and even have enough time to take a break. The closest NRHS chapters have difficulty leaving the speaker 60 minutes to present a program after their business meeting runs far overtime, and sometimes want them to finish in 45 or less. There are standard program lengths used by groups in this hobby for events (NMRA with their double clinics for example) and people have done nice programs that fit those time slots. It is very difficult to show programs done to standard lengths at the NRHS, since they frequently run over with the business meeting and then want to shorten the program. It is really insulting to speakers who have driven a long way at their own expense to have the president of the chapter come up to them and say "How long is this program going to take, can you make it shorter"? Yet I see this happening over and over.

Maybe have the business meeting after the program?

The officers would be left there performing to impress each other.

I see they are pumping out the bulletins now like water out of a fire hose, trying to get caught up.

MX