009 News Competition - What we can do better

[Graeme Dunbar]

Hi Alan,
What used to work fairly well, given that 009 Society members are spread quite thinly in Scotland, was to arrange to meet up at exhibitions. It helps of course if there is an 009 layout being exhibited! We had some good meetings at Model Rail in Glasgow. Perth was another good exhibition for 009 layouts.
Graeme

[MickT]

Hello Alan and welcome to the Society!

I'm just a member, don't have the key to the executive car park at 009 HQ or anything, but I've been a badge holder for loads of years and until someone with more up to date knowledge than me comes along and answers your query authoritively, then please put up with mine!

This is an old chestnut that surfaces quite regularly I'm afraid! There are a number of Society members in Scotland but appear to be spread throughout the land and probably mainly for geographical constraints some previous attempts to set up area groups in your part of the world over the years have not matured.

The recipe is simple - there needs to be sufficient members within reasonable distance from each other to make it viable (that is subjective - I've seen area groups with only 3 members at the start which have become very successful groups); and someone who is prepared to volunteer to set up the group and coordinate it etc.

There is a very active section of the Edinburgh and Lothians MRC that models NG and I believe the group has a large 009 layout, but I suspect that might be too far away from you to consider joining?

The other alternative, which I think has also been floated before, is for some willing person to set up a regional on-line group particularly during current times. There are several area groups in the Society who have continued to hold regular "virtual" meetings which appear to be very successful and also several who continue to produce regular newsletters, where online usage involvement doesn't depend on where you live.

If you want to get a feel for how many members are in your area, obviously the Society is not allowed to disclose names and addresses, but if you email Brian Ellsmore, the Membership Secretary, and ask, I believe he is able to give you a steer by telling you how many members live within a defined radius of your own address - good idea if you do the defining in your request - eg "how many members live within 20 miles of me" etc!

Good luck and I hope you do manage to make some useful contacts. I live 400 miles from Glasgow so can't join in I'm afraid!

Hope this helps at least a bit

Mick

[Hobby]

From what's been said previously when numbers were given with rough locations it would seem as if it would be possible to have a local group based in the Central Belt of Scotland. Round here we have several groups where people travel 25 miles or so from different directions to get to a meet (usually in a hired hall), so a meeting say in Falkirk would be feasible. The issue is that someone needs to bite the bullet and try to set one up, but people seem to be reluctant to try. It's a shame I don't live that way any more, I'd have given it a go! ;)

It's also worth opening it up to other NG modelling groups such as the 7mmNGA to get the numbers to make it worthwhile.

[Alan Pollock]

Hi Alan,
What used to work fairly well, given that 009 Society members are spread quite thinly in Scotland, was to arrange to meet up at exhibitions. It helps of course if there is an 009 layout being exhibited! We had some good meetings at Model Rail in Glasgow. Perth was another good exhibition for 009 layouts.
Graeme

Hi Graham

I've been attending model rail in Glasgow for the last 5 years as a paying customer unfortunately it won't happen this year however I'm hoping to say hello to anyone that's there next time I visit hopefully next year Perth is a bit of a no go due to traveling by public transport and cost but maybe I'll get one visit sometime

Thanks
Alan

[Alan Pollock]

Hello Alan and welcome to the Society!

I'm just a member, don't have the key to the executive car park at 009 HQ or anything, but I've been a badge holder for loads of years and until someone with more up to date knowledge than me comes along and answers your query authoritively, then please put up with mine!

This is an old chestnut that surfaces quite regularly I'm afraid! There are a number of Society members in Scotland but appear to be spread throughout the land and probably mainly for geographical constraints some previous attempts to set up area groups in your part of the world over the years have not matured.

The recipe is simple - there needs to be sufficient members within reasonable distance from each other to make it viable (that is subjective - I've seen area groups with only 3 members at the start which have become very successful groups); and someone who is prepared to volunteer to set up the group and coordinate it etc.

There is a very active section of the Edinburgh and Lothians MRC that models NG and I believe the group has a large 009 layout, but I suspect that might be too far away from you to consider joining?

The other alternative, which I think has also been floated before, is for some willing person to set up a regional on-line group particularly during current times. There are several area groups in the Society who have continued to hold regular "virtual" meetings which appear to be very successful and also several who continue to produce regular newsletters, where online usage involvement doesn't depend on where you live.

If you want to get a feel for how many members are in your area, obviously the Society is not allowed to disclose names and addresses, but if you email Brian Ellsmore, the Membership Secretary, and ask, I believe he is able to give you a steer by telling you how many members live within a defined radius of your own address - good idea if you do the defining in your request - eg "how many members live within 20 miles of me" etc!

Good luck and I hope you do manage to make some useful contacts. I live 400 miles from Glasgow so can't join in I'm afraid!

Hope this helps at least a bit

Mick

Hi Mick

Thanks for your response anything out with Glasgow can really be a nightmare especially when using public transport and even the cost of it has been a problem at times although what I would propose for people to think about is if their can be a list of interested parties then why can't we get together locally and approach a local club to see if they would be willing to accommodate it until it gets on it feet although this is just my thoughts on it I'm not sure how to make it happen tho

Thanks
Alan

[Hugh Norwood]

The NW and Oldham groups have a monthly joint on-line meet-up. It's not the same as a face-to-face of course but it is very much better than nothing, and I think it has encouraged one or two members to get back their modelling "mojo" - so that's a big plus!

One member hosts the Zoom session - he uses the "free" version, so every 40 minutes or so we are all kicked off (as that is the limit for a free session) but he starts it up a gain and we get back on withing a minute or so... The host goes round everyone to check if they have anything to "show and tell" and can host slideshows.

You do need to know folks' email addresses to send out the invitations, and the members do require (in addition to a PC) a web cam and speakers or headphones (a tablet has these built-in)

[Stan Williams]

Alan,
There are a number of successful 009 soc. groups in England including our own based in Rainford, Merseyside.
Well it was until covid hit,before that we had regular get togethers attracting 50 plus people each time.
We only held between 6 and 8 meetings a year and always on a Saturday, this helps with peoples travel costs and we found that
people are often reluctant to travel any distance on a weekday evening especially during the Winter.
As Hugh has said, the NW groups are still in contact via zoom,  a North West Newsletter and by e-mail contact.

It maybe worth while contacting Brian Elsmore and asking would he contact people in your area by e-mail asking them to contact you.
You would then get an idea who would be interested,but it maybe sometime before we get back to normality.
Good luck to you with your efforts, but it is true that someone has to take the bull by the horns to make it happen.

Stan.

[Hobby]

As Hugh has said, the NW groups are still in contact via zoom,  a North West Newsletter and by e-mail contact.

It maybe worth while contacting Brian Elsmore and asking would he contact people in your area by e-mail asking them to contact you.

So does the West Mids group, also by both methods. The M5/M50 also do it via a very good newsletter.

With regard to trying to start up a group how about the old fashioned method of advertising in the News with contact details. Not everyone has an email, Stan, so the only way to guarantee getting everyone is the News.

But that assumes someone is willing to have a go, seems a bit cruel to put it all on a new member when several people have posted before about doing it who are also based in that area?

Alan please read this thread where we discussed it last time (but one!). Perhaps PM each other!!

https://www.009society.com/forum/index.php?topic=4094.15

[Graeme Dunbar]

Another model railway group to which I belong has 'Special Interest Groups' as well as keeping the local area group meetings going by Zoom.  I'm not sure if SIGs would work in the 009 Society or what form they might take.

The other group also have  paid-for access to Zoom, without the time limit, which is a bit of mixed blessing. A 40 minute session is a good length and if there is plenty of material a 10 minute comfort break and opportunity to boil the kettle for a fresh cuppa is welcome. At the other end of the scale, a small group of us from a university model radio control flying club have a weekly natter on Zoom to talk about model building and flying (or in my case the lack of it - though I should have a model to show next week).

[Julian Evison]

Sorry not to get to this topic sooner to give some kind of 'official' answer. However, Mick has given an admirable summary of the position.

One of the the biggest holes in area groups is in Scotland and the Society would be delighted to see one formed and thrive. I'll repeat something I wrote in 2019 after attending the Perth show.

QUOTE

We have about 60 members in Scotland located all over the country, but there are a fair proportion in the Central Belt. To get an area group going, we need one local volunteer to co-ordinate the activity. If someone is willing, they should contact Brian Ellsmore (Membership Secretary) who can e-mail members in the relevant postcodes and ask those interested to get in touch with said volunteer.

The Society is happy to underwrite (reasonable) costs of the first couple of meetings (hall hire, etc.) so there is no financial risk in trying this out. (If in doubt, contact me or Geoff Bowyer about what is 'reasonable'!)

Obviously this isn't just about Scotland, but applies to any other area currently not covered.

Being a part of an area group is not for everyone, but many get a lot of pleasure and help from meeting others in this way.

UNQUOTE

All the above is still valid, except of course for the affect of Covid on physical meetings. However, this may also prove to be an opportunity as a Scottish area group set up (at least initially) on the basis of Zoom meetings (or any other platform) gets over the problem of geography. As Stan and Blair have meniotned their area groups (and others) are working with Zoom at the moment. It's very simple to set up and use.

If anybody in Scotland (or elsewhere) wishes to form a group, virtually or otherwise (when permitted), please contact me and Brian the Membership Secretary so we can let relevant members know who is taking the lead.

Thanks for raising this important topic again.

Julian Evison
Chairman