Didn't see that coming.
It should have been changed to all day Thursday and all day Friday. No one needs Saturday.
Well, I haven't attended an April meet yet, but still want to definitely do it. Just have to adjust to the times I guess. Sure it will conserve some vacation time, but I'd rather burn it on more days of fun than less.
eddie g posted:It should have been changed to all day Thursday and all day Friday. No one needs Saturday.
Eddie
It sounds like they polled the vendors and members with tables and this was what was best for the majority. It won't work for everyone. I suspect Friday will be a 9am open.
I'm sure everyone here has a better idea of how York should be scheduled, ran, and administered. Thankfully it's up to the EDTCA and their membership. As a guest I will let them make the hard decisions and adjust accordingly.
I don't dispute what many are saying on this thread. My only complaint is the quickness that this decision was made and implemented. I know that running a train show is a thankless job. I sit on the board of directors of probably the biggest 2 day train show in Northeast Ohio and if we discuss any changes they will never go into effect for the current year. The reason being is we attract vendors and attendees from all over the country and many book hotel rooms and vacation time a year in advance. If they were to do this I just wish it would have gone into effect April 2021.
All,
I like the change back to Friday and Saturday.
IMO that was the best configuration, Friday was always the big day, and Saturday was ok for the first few hours, with free donuts before opening, and some good “I am not hauling all that home” pricing.
Thursday diluted the Friday crowd and made both days look sparse, also the noon start left covering the meet in one day hard. Plus, Friday was nice to make a three day weekend. Glad Thursday is gone, hopefully for good.
The joint will surely be jumping on Friday’s in April with both (previous years) Thursdays and Fridays visitors combined into one day. Put curb feelers on your scooters!
I hope Fridays is members only.
MYGA!!!!
(Make York Great Again)
Bryan in Ohio posted:I don't dispute what many are saying on this thread. My only complaint is the quickness that this decision was made and implemented. I know that running a train show is a thankless job. I sit on the board of directors of probably the biggest 2 day train show in Northeast Ohio and if we discuss any changes they will never go into effect for the current year. The reason being is we attract vendors and attendees from all over the country and many book hotel rooms and vacation time a year in advance. If they were to do this I just wish it would have gone into effect April 2021.
Without knowing the details, we have no idea why this change was made in this time frame. It could be there was incentive from the fairgrounds or some other outside influence that made this change happen when it did. It could be a simple as a money thing. We can discuss it to the cows come home but unless the EDTCA wants to explain it, we can only guess. I don't care enough to guess. I'll still be there. I imagine the room reservations can be altered for many. Travel not so much. I sympathize but it is what it is.
Craignor posted:I hope Fridays is members only.
I'll be very surprised if they make Friday's members only.
Without knowing the details, we have no idea why this change was made in this time frame. It could be there was incentive from the fairgrounds or some other outside influence that made this change happen when it did. It could be a simple as a money thing. We can discuss it to the cows come home but unless the EDTCA wants to explain it, we can only guess. I don't care enough to guess. I'll still be there. I imagine the room reservations can be altered for many. Travel not so much. I sympathize but it is what it is.
Agreed Marty and I was one of the lucky ones in that travelocity and my hotel allowed me to change my nonrefundable reservation from Wednesday night to Friday night. (I had only really planned on spending Thursday and Friday in York this April so never booked a Friday night room) I called back about 30 minutes ago to confirm with the hotel that travelocity was able to do this and there wouldn't be any fees and the lady at the front desk said they have had 4 cancellations for Wednesday April 22 already that morning. I explained to her what was going on and she said she knew something must have changed for so many cancellations to come in for the same night in such a short time.
I agree there should have been a longer notice. I thought the cost savings would be avoiding the weekend fairgrounds rental by having a Thurs-friday show.
This looks like a sharp death spiral to me. More long distance buyers and vendors will have to rethink the commitment. Probably no effect on people with a 2 hour drive.
I think York will quickly go back to being a great but much smaller, local meet. The size and length of the usual York meet (including hotel meets) made York totally unique. Now one has to consider other one day meets that are much closer and maybe go to York every three years.
BTW, where are all those public attendees that were going to bust the attendance numbers wide open?
Were the "Public Welcome" banners the wrong color?
gunrunnerjohn posted:Well, I'm glad I didn't make reservations for April yet.
I wonder what hours they'll have on Friday, if it's a short day like Thursday is now, that will influence some people considering attending.
Of the options presented, these seem to be the ones that won the survey (of course this is just the April hours - technically it was "Option 3" that is the combination of 2 days in April and 3 in October, but the hours breakdown remains):
DEALERS - FRIDAY 9AM to 6PM & SATURDAY 9AM to 3PM
SET-UP THURSDAY ONLY 9AM to 7PM
MEMBERS - FRIDAY 9AM to 5PM & SATURDAY 9AM to 3PM
SET-UP THURSDAY ONLY 12NOON to 5PM
-Dave
The big dealers left the spring meet. How long until they leave the fall meet?
What big dealers? What did the Lionel display sell?
I like the change. Since York is only a 2-1/2 hr. drive for me, and not being interested in the member halls, I could never justify the expense of staying overnight and so would only attend on Fridays when it was a full day to shop the dealer halls. Unfortunately that meant some of the best items would have already been purchased by the Thursday attendees but fortunately, albeit selfishly for me, that will no longer happen 
Dave45681 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:Well, I'm glad I didn't make reservations for April yet.
I wonder what hours they'll have on Friday, if it's a short day like Thursday is now, that will influence some people considering attending.
Of the options presented, these seem to be the ones that won the survey (of course this is just the April hours - technically it was "Option 3" that is the combination of 2 days in April and 3 in October, but the hours breakdown remains):
DEALERS - FRIDAY 9AM to 6PM & SATURDAY 9AM to 3PM
SET-UP THURSDAY ONLY 9AM to 7PM
MEMBERS - FRIDAY 9AM to 5PM & SATURDAY 9AM to 3PM
SET-UP THURSDAY ONLY 12NOON to 5PM-Dave
Hopefully Friday and Saturday will be both Members and the Public! 
richabr posted:The big dealers left the spring meet. How long until they leave the fall meet?
What big dealers? What did the Lionel display sell?
Well there was that infamous boxcar a few years ago. And various Lionel promotional stuff that didn't sell via dealers.
ogaugeguy posted:Hopefully Friday and Saturday will be both Members and the Public!
For dealer, halls, that would make sense.
For member halls, that's been rehashed many times (here and elsewhere), and these hours won't change the situation there. (really a different topic, so I hope we don't go down that path in this thread)
-Dave
Look at the positive side. Take the $100.00 you’ll save on the Wednesday night room and spend it on train stuff. Everybody wins.
Well, I guess when I pop back to my LTS I'll have to inquire with them about this. I'm sure they haven't made April plans yet, but you never know.
I applaud the change. The show is smaller now, and 1-1/2 days is plenty of time to see it all. Also. perhaps more of the vendors will come if the time commitment is less. (There is plenty to do in the area if you have reservations that can't be changed.)
Perhaps a three day fall event and two day spring event would have been a better alternative, but the ED-TCA Board has the numbers to make the prudent choice.
Standard Gauge fans: Plan to attend the Standard Gauge Module Association "dutch treat" breakfast Friday morning 0730-090 in the Fairgrounds restaurant! Everyone is welcome! Bring "show and tell"!
Kirk Lindvig
The move to Thursdays years ago killed the bandit meets. I usually only spend only one night and that was Thursday. That didn't change when the days changed. Before I went to the bandit meets on Thursday then to the museum and the Thursday's at Fridays. Friday morning opened at 9:00 and I was ready to go. The biggest problem I had when the meet was set-up this way was I didn't always get to all the halls on Friday. If the change helps the dealers and manufacturers then I am all for it.
Scott Smith
I will most likely still arrive on Thursday late afternoon to get there when they open on Friday. Hopefully, there will still be some folks gathering somewhere for dinner. At least I'll save a day off of work as I can arrange to work 6:30/7:00 to 2:30/3:00 to still arrive around dinner time (about a 2 hr drive).
The biggest downer for me at this point is the potential impact this will have on the usual Thursday morning and evening social gatherings (Peter's breakfast and OGR dinner). Hopefully, they can be moved to Friday.
-Greg
