The Much Anticipated First Day for Non-TCA Members to Attend York has Arrived

I saw 2 women in the Orange Hall without name tags. Do the "public" that are not "guests" get a badge?

The public got a green wrist band.  I saw very few of them, and at about 10am, the public admission line was 3 people deep.  The TCA line in the silver hall at the same time was nearly out the door. 

The parking lot was filled about the same as in the past couple of meets. The halls were not crowded and lots of elbow room  in the Orange  and purple halls. I saw about 20 people with wrist bands indicating they were paying public. Maybe Saturday will be a better day for the paying public since it is not a work day.

An Ohio dealer l know said he saw a neighboring dealer sell an engine to a "public" for $10....(probably not a "Big Boy"). 

I was the first ever public member through the door!  It was $14 compared to the renewal of $50 plus the $20 entrance fee.  I couldn't be there all day so it worked for me.  My son was very paranoid because people kept pointing at us.  Lol.   There really were a lot of people pointing and whispering!  I only saw about 30 people with wristbands.

OGR's Jim Barrett had a wonderful conversation with a "public" father and son about building a layout. They had already purchased some Ross Custom Switches and we're seeking  advice about how to bring their ideas to the train table.

Good sign...

I find it very amusing how we are referring to these fine folks as "the public" like they are some alien species. Come on guys! 

Last year I went in October with a guest entry, and TCA hooked me for life! This strategy works for sure!

My wife went to Catholic school.  I was a Public.....LOL

Every vendor I spoke with was very positive about the turnout and volume of sales.  I didn't see many green wristbands on Friday.

Most venders I spoke with were selling their products. Traffic was a little bit busier than last April for the Friday morning. 

I saw one person with the green band and my friend saw 3. Judging by the cars in the parking lot attendance seemed to be good but I agree a lot of elbow room in the halls. 

I parked my car and there were two friends from the local N SCALE (!!!) club ready to walk the halls as the public. When I saw them again later in the day, it appears they put a significant dent in Scenic Express and other dealer's booths. 

Attendance seemed heaver than in past springs. I wasn't in much of a buying mood but I head lots of positive comments from sellers. 

Maxrailroad posted:

I find it very amusing how we are referring to these fine folks as "the public" like they are some alien species. Come on guys! 

 

You would prefer "Non-members"? Is "public" now on the "political correctness" list?

Joe Hohmann posted:

Maxrailroad posted:

I find it very amusing how we are referring to these fine folks as "the public" like they are some alien species. Come on guys! 

 

You would prefer "Non-members"? Is "public" now on the "political correctness" list?

Yes, from this point forward, let's just refer to them as "The Great Unwashed Masses."  

Oh.

Wait.

That might not help narrow it down...  

Steven J. Serenska

From the reports provided to me by a correspondent at York; public attendance was sparse. My solution to changing this would be to break York into two separate events and advertise it as such; one called the York ED/TCA Train Meet (as usual ) and the other called the York Gala Train Show. This would provide greater definition to the event, simplify the confusing admission rules and perhaps make it more profitable.   The final attendance numbers should tell the story but they are no longer being released.

Well, if the public/non TCA members don't know about it, how can they show up????   Like I've said in the past, this was set up to fail from the get go.  The Eastern division did NOTHING to get the word out.  It was  to humor the vendors/manufacturers who need to justify their expense going to this show and the lack of foot traffic on Saturdays.  Now Eastern division can say, see we tried and it didn't work.

Dennis LaGrua posted:

From the reports provided to me by a correspondent at York; public attendance was sparse. My solution to changing this would be to break York into two separate events and advertise it as such; one called the York ED/TCA Train Meet (as usual ) and the other called the York Gala Train Show. This would provide greater definition to the event, simplify the confusing admission rules and perhaps make it more profitable.   The final attendance numbers should tell the story but they are no longer being released.

Actually, there is already a "second York show". It's called the Greenberg Train Show, which is held in the Utz building (Orange Hall) every January. It's well advertised, well attended (I've been to 3), and offers the public lots of trains and products all scales. No, Lionel and MTH do not attend, but that is their call.

superwarp1 posted:

Well, if the public/non TCA members don't know about it, how can they show up????   Like I've said in the past, this was set up to fail from the get go.  The Eastern division did NOTHING to get the word out.  It was  to humor the vendors/manufacturers who need to justify their expense going to this show and the lack of foot traffic on Saturdays.  Now Eastern division can say, see we tried and it didn't work.

This event WAS advertised in a few markets by Eastern Division and by a couple of the manufacturers. Having said that, you have to crawl before you can walk, I can't imagine the Eastern Division had any intention of having 5-10,000 new people show up. I would think they would rather have fewer people go home with a positive experience than to have throngs of people that wait in long lines or some other unpleasant thing go home and report such.  I suspect they will review what went right and what went wrong, make adjustments and probably advertise heavier for the fall meet. I would even think that they may wait to all out advertise until the 2018 dates. My $0.02.

Steve

Joe Hohmann posted:

Dennis LaGrua posted:

From the reports provided to me by a correspondent at York; public attendance was sparse. My solution to changing this would be to break York into two separate events and advertise it as such; one called the York ED/TCA Train Meet (as usual ) and the other called the York Gala Train Show. This would provide greater definition to the event, simplify the confusing admission rules and perhaps make it more profitable.   The final attendance numbers should tell the story but they are no longer being released.

Actually, there is already a "second York show". It's called the Greenberg Train Show, which is held in the Utz building (Orange Hall) every January. It's well advertised, well attended (I've been to 3), and offers the public lots of trains and products all scales. No, Lionel and MTH do not attend, but that is their call.

Bingo -  How many "general purpose" train shows can one venue support?

TCA runs a collector's meet, Greenberg runs a public show.

If there was truly support/demand for a second public show somebody would have noticed by now.....

ohhh boy.... did those "public" things come in by UFO?  man they just ruined the secret club of "members only"

they probably don't even know the lingo or secret hand shake huh? 

Dennis LaGrua posted:

From the reports provided to me by a correspondent at York; public attendance was sparse. My solution to changing this would be to break York into two separate events and advertise it as such; one called the York ED/TCA Train Meet (as usual ) and the other called the York Gala Train Show. This would provide greater definition to the event, simplify the confusing admission rules and perhaps make it more profitable.   The final attendance numbers should tell the story but they are no longer being released.

Maybe you should re-join the TCA so you can submit solutions like these directly.

Steven J. Serenska
TCA : 78-13181

superwarp1 posted:

Well, if the public/non TCA members don't know about it, how can they show up????   Like I've said in the past, this was set up to fail from the get go.  The Eastern division did NOTHING to get the word out.  It was  to humor the vendors/manufacturers who need to justify their expense going to this show and the lack of foot traffic on Saturdays.  Now Eastern division can say, see we tried and it didn't work.

I hope that isn't / wasn't the case.  I didn't see any public advertising for the event, but it seems to me that is absolutely required for a successful outcome.

George

It was busier Friday then Thursday   Every vendor I talked to said sales were up. 

It will take a few shows to see if the public will show up on a consistent basis so let's hold our negative opinions until we know the facts.

G3750 posted:

superwarp1 posted:

Well, if the public/non TCA members don't know about it, how can they show up????   Like I've said in the past, this was set up to fail from the get go.  The Eastern division did NOTHING to get the word out.  It was  to humor the vendors/manufacturers who need to justify their expense going to this show and the lack of foot traffic on Saturdays.  Now Eastern division can say, see we tried and it didn't work.

I hope that isn't / wasn't the case.  I didn't see any public advertising for the event, but it seems to me that is absolutely required for a successful outcome.

George

I hope I'm wrong to.  I want this to succeed 

Btw the unwashed masses arrived Thursday afternoon. The first person I ran into in the Orange hall smelled worse then some cow dung along the roads getting to the train show. 

Aparrently he did not see my pre York posts on bathing.

Maybe all those "public" folks signed in as one time guests, so they'd get badges instead of wrist bands.
Better yet, maybe most of them joined the TCA on the spot!

I the words of ROCKY BALBOA,

You telling me that this meet was open to the GENERAL PUBLIC or just to everyone?

C W Burfle posted:

Maybe all those "public" folks signed in as one time guests, so they'd get badges instead of wrist bands.
Better yet, maybe most of them joined the TCA on the spot!

Exactly Burfle!

As I walked around the orange hall two or three different times throughout the day on Friday I saw probably about 20 people with wristbands, but I did start to notice guest tags and eventually I saw an acquaintance I knew who wasn't a member and looked at his badge. He was a guest of Nancy. He showed up and went to the orange hall to enter through the "public entrance" and when he went to pay they offered the many different options that have been mentioned on the forum and obviously he took the onetime guest option as the best value to see the whole show. 

Just arrived home. I left the Orange Hall about 1230.

 I saw many more families with arm bands today than Friday. I engaged a few of them in conversation. They were having a wonderful time. Most had already  enjoyed the wonderful layout in the Black Hall.

As I was leaving I saw group after group of families coming in with armbands. 

We should all remember, this is the first time. It's really just a dress rehearsal. The main train time is the Fall. That's when I think we can really tell if this is going to work.  I think we should give it a chance. 

 I am pleasantly encouraged. I look forward to seeing what happens in October.

Peter

My experience started on Wednesday when the waitress at Round the Clock Diner asked me about the public hours. She was planning on taking her 5 yr old and 7 yr old boys and was very happy it was now open to all.

Today I went back to Orange Hall after member halls closed to get some Sinbad glue and ran into friends from the Baltimore area, with their 7-year old,  up for the first time because of the new policy. They were in awe. 7-year old now has his first locomotive, a Lion Chief Plus BNSF diesel.

I was encouraged  like Putnam Division.  Good move, Eastern Division TCA!

Did the dealers actually stay until 4 Saturday?

Saturday was DEAD...DEAD...DEAD!  We started packing about 3:15, and the public was a no-show! 

No major influx of people wearing wrist bands because we were already there wearing badges. Is there a potential to make Saturday York into an Allentown? They have a long way to go.

I hope it worked out great for the dealers and vendors. This is a very long week for all of them. I personally could not do it. I attend Thursday and Friday and that does me in. I hope they all sold thousands of dollars of items.

Rod Miller

From what I saw and heard from dealers for both days, MINIMAL impact. On an extremely light Sat. one needed to really search for scarce wristbands. 

The Friday count of wristbands was, I believe, 109 total!  That's hardly a dent in the show attendance!

Now that the meet is over, I think it's safe to say that the much-ballyhooed public attendance at this show was a total flop. It's painfully obvious that there was nowhere near enough publicity to get the word out about this.

109 people on Saturday? Really? Add two zeros to that number and we'd have something to talk about.

I wonder how much of the 109 were ex-TCA members versus being totally new?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The Friday count of wristbands was, I believe, 109 total!  That's hardly a dent in the show attendance!

Does anyone have a count of the number of people who were "guests" of the registrar?  I'm guessing that a lot of people opted for that choice, although I still doubt that the number was significant.