[Thursday] Two days?

Thu Oct 4 12:19:15 MDT 2018

Interesting,  that is likely the day that I stopped in for the first time.
You all had me hooked right from that rainy day!

On Thu, Oct 4, 2018, 11:55 AM Michael Thompson <
michael.99.thompson at gmail.com> wrote:

> We had a very rainy day for Steam-Up a few years ago so attendance was
> very low.
> Bob decided to extend the Steam-Up for another day to see if we could get
> more people to attend when the weather was better.
> We did get more people to attend on Sunday, but it was tough on the NEWSM
> staff.
>
> On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 11:27 AM David Crowell via Thursday <
> thursday at newsm.org> wrote:
>
>> As I recall, we did run Steam-up for two days once several years ago. I
>> think it was a spur of the moment thing to open on Sunday per Bob. I think
>> Saturday was a crummy day weather-wise with lots of food left over and Bob
>> said lets do it. I don't recall much about this, but I think attendance was
>> sparce. Warren or Mike may remember this. It probably wasn't advertised. As
>> you mentioned, Sunday at CAMA had very few modeler's. How was CAMA
>> attendance on Sunday, otherwise?
>>
>> Dave Crowell
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* Randall Snow via Thursday <thursday at newsm.org>
>> *To:* David Caldwell <david.t.caldwell at gmail.com>
>> *Cc:* Thursday Group <thursday at newsm.org>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 2, 2018 8:49 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Thursday] Capacities
>>
>> This is something that has been on my mind in light of Saturday's success
>> as well.  We can only hope to keep the momentum going and build it further
>> next year, and need to be ready.
>>
>> There is one very big consideration that may alter the equation a bit.  I
>> think we need to consider whether we should make this a 2 day event.
>> Perhaps that change doesn't happen immediately, but perhaps in the very
>> near future.  I realize completely that would be asking significantly more
>> of the volunteers, and perhaps too much, but it needs to be discussed.  We
>> have all of the arrangements made, and all of the components in place. A
>> second day would hopefully alleviate some of the load on one day and allow
>> more people to come who may have had a scheduling conflict on the
>> Saturday.  Ideally it would equal more revenue and a less crowded
>> experience on either day.
>>
>> Barring that. I would agree that we should begin clearing part of the
>> racetrack.
>>
>> Admission ticketing is a problem.  We could simply eliminate the ticket
>> tent along the driveway, get the cars in and parked, and then put a ticket
>> booth at the head of the walkway.  It would have worked well for this year,
>> but might be problematic if the sawmill is ever operational and visitors
>> are back and forth a lot to see that.  I don't know if Warren and Dick had
>> any Boy Scout assistance out there, but perhaps some younger hands would
>> help speed it along in the configuration it's in now.  Walkie-talkies may
>> help coordinate efforts among the parking crews in particular.
>>
>> It's absolutely true that we would have been dead without the Boy
>> Scouts.  They did an excellent job in both the parking field as well as
>> with food service.  Steve has already made notes on how the layout and
>> process of food service can be modified for next year to speed it up with
>> fewer hands.  I have no doubt he will have that operating infinitely
>> smoother next year.  That should free up some Boy Scouts, assuming we have
>> them, for other tasks.
>>
>> We may have lost a few exhibitors to CAMA due to the scheduling overlap.
>> Ernie and I went there on Sunday and I can say they had virtually no models
>> on their tables.  The one guy who was there attending to his model was, I
>> believe, a typical attendee of NEWSM.  Ryder was also there operating an
>> engine, and the gentleman with the orange GMC truck and his steam engine.
>> It was Sunday, we may have missed the bulk of it on Saturday, but from what
>> we saw there wasn't a significant detraction.  Car clubs would be a great
>> addition.  We may get in touch with some local clubs simply to see if they
>> would like to piggyback on the day.
>>
>> I'm so glad that we're thinking through some of this now.  We have time
>> to plan, we may as well take advantage of it.  The interest and enthusiasm
>> that I heard from some of the visitors was amazing.  I really think we can
>> continue to build upon this years' success with a little careful planning.
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 7:22 AM David Caldwell via Thursday <
>> thursday at newsm.org> wrote:
>>
>> In the middle of the night I got to thinking about Steam-Up, what size we
>> want it to be, and the our current capacity limits. Here are a few
>> thoughts--please add more.
>>
>> Parking. It looks like we just touched our current max parking capacity
>> this weekend. Several of you have suggested clearing more space around the
>> racetrack. In the short term we might get a little more visitor space in
>> the parking field by parking all the volunteers in the north end by the
>> exhibitors gate.
>>
>> Admission gate. If we're backing up cars out to Tillinghast Rd, moving
>> the ticketing a few feet up the road won't make much difference. We either
>> need to move ticketing all the way to the top of the hill (at the entrance
>> to the parking field) or broaden the lane where the ticketing is currently
>> so the line could divide into two 'toll booths' for speedier processing. Or
>> we could pre-sell tickets and open a gate (the exit gate) at the bottom of
>> the parking field for people with tickets just in the morning. Or?
>>
>> Bathrooms. It seemed like we had enough, but still had a big line in
>> Mayes Building sometimes. We need sign and map there to direct people to
>> the portables. Also, a few years ago, instead of hiding the portables
>> behind the Massie Station, we placed them 10 or so feet farther north, so
>> the first ones were visible across the grounds. That and some Big Friendly
>> Signs would help people find them.
>>
>> Food. The food line moved right along, never seemed to get out of hand.
>> This a tribute to Steve and the Boy Scouts.
>>
>> Food tickets. We've trained our visitors so well that they lined up in
>> the Mayes Building for food tickets. The new ticket station at the Food
>> Tent was busy but not overloaded--we should promote it, to take some
>> congestion out of the Mayes Bldg.
>>
>> Volunteers. We would have died without the Boy Scouts. As has been noted,
>> we could use a few more knowledgeable adult volunteers for the Wireless
>> Building. If we change the admission ticketing, we'll need extra coverage
>> there. Anywhere else come to mind?
>>
>> Exhibit space. Seemed like there was still space on the model tables. Was
>> steam and air adequate? There was open space for exhibitors along the rope,
>> and we could have handled more old cars.
>>
>> Other thoughts?
>>
>>
>> Dave
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Randy Snow
>>
>> Snow Findings Company <http://www.snowfindings.com/>
>> Lovements.com <http://www.lovements.com/>
>> New England Wireless and Steam Museum <http://www.newsm.org/>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Michael Thompson
>
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