[Thursday] Two days?

Thu Oct 4 15:25:49 MDT 2018

I was pretty worn out after Steam-up this year, so I would have to give it some deep thought before signing up for a two day event. We don't seem to get a break all day. Just my 2 cents worth.

      From: Randall Snow <pleaseleaveamessage4me at gmail.com>
 To: Michael Thompson <michael.99.thompson at gmail.com> 
Cc: David Crowell <ka1edp at yahoo.com>; David Caldwell <david.t.caldwell at gmail.com>; Thursday Group <Thursday at newsm.org>
 Sent: Thursday, October 4, 2018 2:19 PM
 Subject: Re: [Thursday] Two days?

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
Lovements.com
New England Wireless and Steam Museum

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