[Thursday] Steam up wrap up

Mon Oct 1 16:16:05 MDT 2018

A few thoughts:
Steam-up this year was great. The past few years have been well attended, but this year was fantastic.

I had lunch with a friend today who came to Steam-up for the first time. He thought Steam-up was great, but he didn't find me. I told him I was on the second floor in the Massie Station. He didn't see the stairs and didn't realize upstairs was open. Next year, maybe a sign pointing to the stairs would be good. Regardless, I was very busy upstairs and never got out and about until 4:30.

There was no trash can at the red sink behind the Massie Station. Somebody came inside and took the waste bin from the first floor. 

Keeping hands off the radios, etc in the Wireless building has always been a problem. That is one reason why I have always said we needed two volunteer docents in there all day during Steam-up. Being upstairs in the Massie Station this year, I wasn't able to check on the Wireless building to see if it was "manned". I thought there was going to be two people in there, but I saw both of the people I thought would be in there outside. I didn't see or hear anything about assignments for the two "wireless" buildings. Next year?

 Lou, that telephone mouthpiece has come off before. It could have fallen behind something, but I bet you already looked. A Plexiglas wall to isolate the displays could be put up, but then nobody could take decent photos. A bigger problem (IMHO) is the already narrow aisles in the Wireless building would be even narrower. A new Wireless building, anyone?! Or remodel / expand the present one?

The old Yankee Tune-up radio meet had pretty good attendance at times (100+ souls), but our location is far enough away from the Massachusetts northern border to keep folks north of there away. The other problem is the $15 admission fee. The N.E. Antique Radio Club in NH has two meets (Spring and Fall) and admission is $5 from 7:00 AM to 10:00 when it drops to Free. It used to be higher, but they reduced the fees to get more people to come.

Bob stopped Yankee Tune-up because he felt nobody was really interested in the Museum, just buying and selling. We also setup tables in the Mayes building to sell radio items from the basement, but the prices were higher than anybody wanted to pay. I can't remember when the last Tune-up took place.

Some last thoughts: 
The exhibitors are mainly steam modelers and antique vehicles. I mentioned to a couple of "radio" people they could be exhibitors if they had "notable" radio or wireless equipment to display. Is this valid? Do exhibitors pay an entrance fee? 

The "Save the Date" postcard needs to have "Ham Radio Station and Wireless Displays" (or something similar) printed on it.

Should we be open the last Saturday morning in May as well? Is May too early?

Respectfully submitted,Dave Crowell

      From: Louis Vertefeuille via Thursday <thursday at newsm.org>
 To: pleaseleaveamessage4me at gmail.com; Thursday at newsm.org 
 Sent: Monday, October 1, 2018 3:43 PM
 Subject: Re: [Thursday] Steam up wrap up

I asked a lot of people how everything was going for them and if they were enjoying themselves and I received very positive results. I think we did it all right.  I noticed that the benches we built were extensively used and I asked the users if they were comfortable and again the results were positive. We should build more for next year and place them mostly in the shade as that is how I perceived them to be used.  The trash cans were not placed as they should have been In an effort to cover a lot of ground. The cans should have been placed in pairs..one for trash and one for recyclables. We will need more cans for next year with holes in the covers indicating that they are for bottles and cans.  We should consider the arrangement of the tables under the food tent. I noticed it was crowded when I went to eat and it was not the rush time. Maybe long tables would be better than the round ones...needs some thought.  We definitely need to isolate the displays in the Wireless Building. While I was there I noted a lot of people were reaching out to touch the displays and had to speak to a few people about " No Touching ".  We need to have some "PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE DISPLAYS" signs for the near future and something permanent especially on the radio shelving. I noticed that the mouthpiece for the old wall mounted telephone went missing...something we may have in the basement storage of the Mayes Building to use as a replacement but that we have another doesn't change the fact that we need more security.  We should give some thought to the erection of the Cathedral Awning so it will be easier to accomplish next year...take down too.  I agree that the "race track" should be cleared for parking space. Since it is "museum property" we do not have to worry about any future changes that may occur. If we are fortunate we may be able to get someone to clear the land in return for the rights to the lumber that is cut down. If not, it would be a subject for a grant next year.  A few people I spoke with were interested in Paul's truck which was difficult to get around in the close space in the shop. Maybe we could build a shelter for it like the one we have for the oil engine at the rear or the Massie Station which would also give us more room in the shop.  I spoke with several people who were interested in returning the "Tune Up" portion of of our annual meetings. One man in particular who was a participant at former tune ups was very interested and stated he would be happy to give us his expertise in restarting the event and how to set it up. We got his name for future use.  I noted the "sponsors" portion of the steam up flyer...an excellent idea and a means for additional revenue!! Space could be sold for events that bring in lots of the public and maybe a flyer to cover the rest of the year that would be a generic handout for any day that we are open.  That's all I have for now....I have to get back to the Village People!!
-----Original Message-----
From: Randall Snow via Thursday <thursday at newsm.org>
To: Thursday Group <Thursday at newsm.org>
Sent: Mon, Oct 1, 2018 9:25 am
Subject: [Thursday] Steam up wrap up

Hi Everyone, 
What a great year at Steam up!  
All of the volunteers, our own crew, the Boy Scouts, Tom Day and his friends, and our new head chef Steve all deserve a great big pat on the back and a thank you for helping out with such a great day!  Thank you to everyone who helped clean up and break down the day too, we're really blessed to have such a dedicated group.
While it's all still fresh in our minds I'd like to try and collect any data possible from the day as it will help with planning for next year.  We have great data on exactly what was sold for food. Knowledge on exactly what came and went in the way of coffee and donuts is much less certain.  I don't know exactly how many donuts were purchased and left over.  Jeff, if you know what the count of boxes was, or simply the dollar amount of the order it would be helpful.  Ken, if you could check with Claudia on how many dozen were left over, and which varieties seem to sell out quickly that would be helpful.  Also, I should have turned the counter function of the coffee pot on so it would keep track of how many pots were brewed. I didn't.  If the new larger cups were used almost exclusively then I could count how many are missing from the case.  Suzy, it would be helpful too to know what you had bought for cream and milk to have that info for next year.
Also, any comments that anyone has about what needs improvement or anything particularly good or bad from our visitors would be great to hear about.
Thanks,-- 
Randy Snow
Snow Findings Company
Lovements.com
New England Wireless and Steam Museum

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