Now a Shortage of Programs and Presenters?

[mxdata]

Looking through the recently arrived newsletters from railroad enthusiast organizations, I am seeing an increasing number of open calendar spaces for programs, as well as pleas for members to volunteer to be presenters. One group this month published a request for suggestions of people to contact to be speakers as too many of their meetings are now being spent viewing commercial videotapes. A friend who is organizing a model railroading event tells me it is very difficult right now to find people to do clinics or programs.

Are the chickens finally coming home to roost? Are the combined effects of high travel costs last summer, the declining economy, and increased security trackside, now drying up the supply of programs and damping enthusiasm for putting them together? Are any of the groups you attend having similar problems? Any observations as to why or why not?

MX

[njmidland]

I have told multiple groups in NJ/NY/PA of my availability to do a show on the history of dining car operations on the DL&W/Erie/EL and have never heard back. In one case I see the person who is in charge of programs at his NRHS Chapter 2 or 3 times a year and I offer each time, yet their website show 3 open nights in the next 6 months.

[Otto Vondrak]

Without getting into details, I've been burned doing presentations at my own expense for a group of eight (on a good night) who are more interested in the social aspects of the club versus actual railroad history...

[Gerry6309]

BSRA is filling its slate and its meetings, but that may be due to the broad variety of material we tolerate: Stagecoaches to Acela to Novabus and everything related. I don't want to see any group fail, but the tighter you restrict the material, the fewer programs, and attendees you will get. Sometimes you have to be open-minded, even if you don't care a lick about Erie dining cars.

[mxdata]

Relative to njmidland's posting, yes I have seen that too. I know of several NRHS chapters that have had trouble getting presenters but when offered a program they frequently do not follow up on it. Sometimes it seems like you have to be an "insider" with the group for them to take any notice.

Otto's post about his experience exactly parallels a comment that was made by another well known program presenter when I was talking with him. He commented that recently there have been far too many events that require long distance trips and then turn out to have a much smaller attendance than the sponsors predicted, largely wasting the efforts of the presenter. He had agreed to help out with a convention where they scheduled his program in competition with a fan trip, leaving an audience about the size that Otto described. That might be fine if the convention organizers were paying for your time and travel, but if you are volunteering and financing it out of you own pocket, why bother doing anything for them?

MX

[Otto Vondrak]

By contrast, I know our Rochester Chapter hosts a variety of presentations, many by our own members. Topics are not restricted to Rochester or New York State as our members have many varied interests. Our meetings are generally well-attended and you'll find a most appreciative audience.

-otto-

[mxdata]

Yes, and that would seem to be one of the keys to helping out the groups that report they are having problems. There are organizations like Rochester that have a nice variety of programs and are able to attract presenters easily. Amherst Railway Society is another one that comes to mind. Seems like the groups having problems would benefit from taking a look at how the successful groups are doing things (provided of course that they are willing to learn and make changes).

I won't get into specific group names, but I can tell you one of the groups that published a plea for presenters this month is pretty well known for letting the audience interfere with the program, and it is the same few people in their group who do that, month after month. Putting a damper on those folks would probably help them out a lot.

MX

[Steamtown Observer]

...Seems like the groups having problems would benefit from taking a look at how the successful groups are doing things (provided of course that they are willing to learn and make changes).
-snip-
MX

You just hit it on the head -"willing to learn and make changes". I think many NRHS Chapters are run by an old guard click that sees nothing wrong with what they do and how dare us youngsters (that would be the under 55 crowd) to tell them how to do things - it's always been done this way and always will be. Over the years this got rid of people with vision and drive so we have a new phenomenon: those who were willing to be ignored and follow these cult of personality types are now starting to run these groups as the former presidents for life die off. The results are even worse because now the lack of speakers takes a back seat to the fact that now even running the organization is in doubt due to the shear incompetence of these former hangers-on.

It didn't help that we had at least 25 years of National NRHS "leadership" that encouraged this kind of behavior - as long as you ran your Southern/NS Steam excursions you were a-ok.

[RAS]

Putting together a good ProShow or PowerPoint program or clinic is a lot of work for something that may only get shown a few times and gets very little notice. People tend to remember well written magazine articles and books, sometimes years after they have read them, but how many people remember who all the presenters of programs and clinincs were, at a convention or an event they attended two or three years ago?

[Otto Vondrak]

How many people remember who all the presenters of programs and clinincs were, at a convention or an event they attended two or three years ago?

I sure as heck remember them. IF the content and presentation is good. I also remember very very bad ones, too. You don't have to be a professional speaker to have a successful slide show, you just have to put a little extra effort in- it is appreciated!

-otto-

[RAS]

Unfortunately I tend to remember the people who continually question and nitpick the speakers at events, probably because it consistently tends to be the same few individuals that behave that way event after event, or at least it seems to be the same few people.

One speaker at an event last year had a good way of handling that. After tolerating a few disruptions, he responded to a particularly irrelevant question by a disruptive audience member, asking the person: "Was that your twin brother at the place I visited last week? He looked like you, he talked like you, and he asked all the same questions. He must have been your twin brother."

It wasn't done rudely at all, and it took the guy totally by surprise. He shut right up for the rest of the program.

[mxdata]

Looking at the economic projections and considering all the things that could potentially cause more chaos if they continue to "slide", I think that 2009 is going to be a year of belt tightening and getting along with less, for individuals as well as organizations. It will be a good year to stay near home, and if you are going to do any programs, do them for the groups that you know well so that you do not get into the kind of long distance adventures that Otto described. I realize that may not be good news for the promoters of events, but that is their problem to deal with.

MX

[chuchubob]

The West Jersey Chapter-NRHS has consistently had good programs. However, they scraped the bottom of the barrel for their January program, having a Chapter-menber presenter who has never before presented. Everybody within reasonable distance is invited to come and jeer. The program will be photos taken at the 2008 Fort Worth NRHS convention, and some photos to and from Fort Worth.
Monday Jan 26, 7:30 PM at Haddonfield (Camden County) Borough Hall. The Program Chairman probably picked the January meeting for this marginal presentation in the expectation that inclement weather would canel the meeting.

[mxdata]

I think the last time I went to a West Jersey Chapter meeting was back around 1983, but it would almost be worth the very long drive to see Bob give his program.

MX

[RAS]

Maybe the guys with the video cameras who shows up at events to "pirate" the programs will film it for sale on eBay.