Public

Hopefully but I doubt it. With no promotion there hardly seems to be a public presence. Many venders I spoke to mentioned this.

That aside, I question whether the majority of beginners / young families would be interested in what the typical vendor has at the show (higher end, vintage, specialized etc.)

If the public did attend, items like starter sets and “the basics” would sell (and attract new hobbyists.)

Just my impression, but it seemed like there were more wristbands than last time, especially on young wrists.  Since I'm not from the area, I have no idea what kind of promotion was done.    

And York is THE place to get a deal on a starter set.

I don't understand why people look at wristband's.

FWIW, I walked every inch of the meet on Friday, over six miles, and didn’t see one wristband.

I can't say I saw any. 

Dave

Didn't see any wristbands in the member halls at all!  

I wasn’t looking for wristbands. I was looking for trains!  

There’s no way to know the impact of public attendance at this early date. Not until the Eastern Division folks tally it up at some point. 

The Round the Clock Diner did have a TCA, TCA Museum and York Meet advertisement on their placemats. 

How much of the "public" does anyone expect to come from the greater York area?  Closest big town is Baltimore.  At a 3.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh I doubt they are coming for a trains they can get online.  I think the impact of the public will be small.  Advertising has little to do with it IMO.  Location of York itself and the surrounding area to me seems to be the biggest hurdle.

I didn't see any wristbands, but I wasn't really looking for them either.

I just don't see the York Meet as an attractive event for those not already involved in the hobby (meaning TCA members in this case). Train events most receptive to the public are those such as Trainfest in Milwaukee and most any Great American Train Show, among others. Those are events where entire families can see trains operating on layouts in various scales and where vendors, for the most part, offer products of most interest to new participants in the hobby. Also, York--the city itself--is not a particularly great attraction to visitors in its own rite with the heavy traffic and confusing street navigation.

I saw a family with two young children by the Lionel booth all with wrist bands.  So, my scientific observation is "yes" there were "some".

I brought my BROTHER and  a friend to the show Friday as they have come to enjoy going to YORK since it was been open to the Public.  That's now for the past four shows, and they will continue to come to it.  They LIKE it lots.

First off: How is the public expected to know about "York" with zero advertising? Second: the family with kids that are out for the day will have a hard time finding inexpensive Thomas the Tank Engine do-dads. Third: The majority of the public that IS into trains would be looking for HO and N (which leads me to think that the former Brown Hall could be used to sell just the smaller scales...which could result into some O or S converts). 

Joe Hohmann posted:

First off: How is the public expected to know about "York" with zero advertising? 

Leading up to York my Facebook feed had several posts from various manufacturers, the TCA, LCCA, and other factions advertising the meet / show.  There was an attempt to get the word out via social media. 

I saw a few wristbands and significantly more kids than past meets.  That being said, the total number of kids I saw was probably in the 20-25 range in number, so by no means a large presence.

One thing I did notice which I hadn't before this meet was the large number of attendees with "guest" badges.   I'm curious how many of these folks and those from the general public were former TCA members vs new to the meet.

-Greg

I did see allot more kids around the layouts. Not including the big ones. But no recognizable "public" traffic was really noticed. Friday was a tad more crowded, but nowhere near as crowded as years past. There was hardly any lines at the doors 20 minutes too the opening bell.

First York I did notice that if you snoozed you loose... many items I passed on and came back for a second round were snatched up quickly!

I saw a few people with the wristbands, one even came back to the booth a second time and bought some passenger car lighting kits.   They were around, but not in huge quantities.

MartyE posted:

Joe Hohmann posted:

First off: How is the public expected to know about "York" with zero advertising? 

Leading up to York my Facebook feed had several posts from various manufacturers, the TCA, LCCA, and other factions advertising the meet / show.  There was an attempt to get the word out via social media. 

Hey Marty:

Remember, FB ads are targeted.  So while you got ads about York, chances are someone else on your block who isn't into trains nor goes to train websites,  didn't get those ads.

i WAS IN THE ORANGE HALL LOBBY ABOUT 845AM ON FRIDAY AND I NOTICED A FRIEND ON LINE FOR A WRIST BAND. THERE WERE ABOUT 20 OR PEOPLE ON THAT LINE. NOT OVERWHELMING AT ALL.

EscapeRocks posted:

Hey Marty:

Remember, FB ads are targeted.  So while you got ads about York, chances are someone else on your block who isn't into trains nor goes to train websites,  didn't get those ads.

I know but anyone that has an interest in trains would most likely get those same posts.  Saying there was zero advertising is just not correct.

MartyE posted:

EscapeRocks posted:

Hey Marty:

Remember, FB ads are targeted.  So while you got ads about York, chances are someone else on your block who isn't into trains nor goes to train websites,  didn't get those ads.

I know but anyone that has an interest in trains would most likely get those same posts.  Saying there was zero advertising is just not correct.

I totally agree with that.   I guess I was thinking in the general sense, a la, letting people who may not be aware that the hobby is still going know.