NMRA Membership - wow!

[mcouvillion]

I've looked at joining the NMRA several times over about 20 years and never could justify the dues for what I would receive. Even their recent ad in Model Railroader does not present a convincing argument for membership. I know they are important to the hobby, but I don't think my contribution should be charity. I guess I'm just not a "joiner", as I don't care to get into a formal organization with rules, regulations, regular dues, and meetings. Most of my railroading friends are the same exact way. There is one guy who pushes for rules, dues, etc., and the rest of us roll our eyes. We reluctantly come up with standards after seeing the diversity of what constitutes "good enough" and realize most aren't close, but that is usually a last resort. I guess the NMRA and like organizations are for the "go-getters" who have to have everything spelled out in detail, and the rest of us are able to pick and choose what we need for our level of comfort. I don't know what the right answer is regarding the NMRA. I'll look again at membership in the near future.

Mark C.

[Big_Boy_4005]

One of the dues problems may be related to the fact that back in the early days of the organization, life memberships were fairly inexpensive. When I first joined in 1974 it was $100. I wish I had excersized that option. The dues increase had to be at least in part to compensate for all of the non paying lifers. I know a few.

Another huge chunk of it has to be for the publication. Personally I never minded the old black and white, and think it's a losing battle to have gone to the slick color format. It seems that someone along the way thought they needed to be more like the professional magazines.

I didn't join for the publication, I joined for the conventions, and other activities, and to support the standardization effort. I've definately had my share of fun over the last 30 years, even though I haven't always been active.

[Blind Bruce]

I'm just a newbie, butt.... Where would DCC be if it weren't for the NMRA? The standards created reduce the chaos of many systems and provide us, the modeller, with a less expensive product with interchangeable parts. That ladiers and gentlemen, leads to competition which than controls prices. The dues required to do these things is a small price to pay.
Just my $.03 (Canadian .02)
Bruce in the Peg

[AntonioFP45]

Uh, How much are the dues??

It would be a trajedy if we lost the NMRA. We can't forget that they help set most of the standards that we now enjoy as a result!

If we can remember, one of the sticking points that infuriated many of us O, HO, and N scale modelers in the MTH vs. QSI lawsuit was MTH's refusal to cooperate with the NMRA in conforming to the command control standards for HO. That speaks highly of the regard the NMRA has been held at, inspite of the problems it's experiencing just like any other organization.

I hope they do get their act together. I will check out their site as I'm already considering to join. We shoud also encourage our Newbies to join as well. Even if a local chapter isn't nearby, news of upcoming events, voting, and info are also valuable.

[Anonymous]

I stopped paying.......... TOO much!!!!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNJ831

..... This makes me wonder if perhaps it isn't time for some entirely new (entity)
to be created?
CNJ831

I think it would be a terible loss of a resource if we couldn't have access to the Kalmbach Memorial Library. If they provided on-line access to their reference materials, I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable fee. However, I'm sure that would be a huge undertaking requiring an incredible amount of man hours.

I've been a member since 3/6/93. I too droped the rag when dues went up. I also pay region dues although I haven't gone to meetings for several years. I just want to support the group so that they'll still be there when I have time for the meetings. Also my division will be helping to host the 2007 NMRA convention in Detroit.

[dehusman]

The cost is expensive, the bureaucracy is Byzantine and ineffectual. It hasn't clearly articulated why one should be a member. I think the SIG's have eclipsed the parent organization as more successfull. The LDSIG Yahoo group has 3000+ members and the OPSIG has 2000+. Those two SIG's have online membership of about 1/4 the NMRA. Maybe the NMRA needs to see what they are doing and emulate them. The problem I see is that for whatever reason the parent NMRA seems to have caused the SIG's to distance themselves to a certain extent and I don't think the NMRA will ever get them back in the fold. But clearly the mission of the SIG's is more effective than the NMRA overall.

Dave H.

[cmrproducts]

Well, Division 11 of the MCR region is doing very well and we are having our 5th Jamboree on April 2, 2005. Plans are being formed to do a HO car and our meetings are very well attended (usually 20 to 30 - which is about 66% of our membership). The real reason why there seems be no direction has to do a lot with the on line forums. This is where I spend most of my time learning from others experiences and using the ideas to build my railroad.

With our Div 11 meetings, most of our members have operating railroads and the word here is OPERATING (no roundy-round) and the membership come out to see what has been done and do operations. And the layouts range in age from over 15 years old to ones just getting started!

It is the local Divisions that make the NMRA not the National. If everyone could grasp this concept then the NMRA would be one of the biggest MRR organizations. But then most modelers are lone wolves and do not want to get involved! It is a loss both for the group and to the individual.

I was in the same boat way back in 1979 and thought is this all there is! Then I joined a Club and they then involved me in the NMRA. We then decided to start our own local Division as we did not want to travel over 80 miles to a Division meeting in Pittsburgh. The rest is history. We still hold the record in the Mid Central Region for having the largest percentage of membership increase in a year, ever 100% (but that was easy back in the early years with just over 10 members).

What I am trying to get at here is you, the individual, makes the NMRA not the NMRA doing things for you! If you get into the Divisions then the rest just comes naturally.

BOB H Clarion, PA

[red p]

of all the memberships i have the NMRA cost the most.
Do you think that would have anything to do with it?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomotive3

Members die.

Members die in organizations that are growing. It would seem the answer lies in recruiting new members, not stopping the aging process.

Wayne

[Anonymous]

Members die.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible the rise in popularity of online RR forums may have contributed to the decline? When one lives in an area far from a chapter's activities, it's easier to find a sense of "commmunity" with a group online than through a monthly newsletter.

Just a thought, but perhaps if the NMRA had taken the early lead in creating an online model forum rather than leaving the field open to the commercial companies, their membership may have grown. Their website, www.nmra.org is a wealth of information, but I don't get a feeling of "community" there.

Wayne

[CNJ831]

Yes, Bob, the figures are both interesting and troubling with regard to NMRA's future. The biggest drop, of course, occurred a couple of years ago when the organization raised its dues dramatically. A loss of 4,000 members (I was one of them because of this dues debacle) seemed shocking to me, too, until I was told under good authority that they had anticipated a 7,000 member drop in response to the dues hike! Thus, they seem to feel that things aren't nearly as bad as expected!

From my nowadays outsider's perspective, it would seem their recent re-organization and change dues structure hasn't done a lot of good for many of the Regions either. Here in the Northeastern Region there hasn't been a newsletter published in six months and more than a few of the local Divisions are on the brink of failure or are already history.

Obviously, if there is any significant further decline in membership numbers, the viability and any claimed influence NMRA says it has in the hobby will come to an end. As it is, they don't even represent 10% of all those in the hobby. This makes me wonder if perhaps it isn't time for some entirely new to be created?

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

I've belonged to the NMRA since 1983 or so. When membership dues went up several years ago I changed mine to one that does not receive the newsletter, now called "Scale Rails" as it was cheaper. I'm not very gung-ho on the NMRA, but believe it does serve a purpose. Where I live in eastern Canada I get very little by being a member, but keep on more or less out of momentum.

I did get a copy of Scale Rails yesterday, because there was an election ballot in it that all members must get. I was quite shocked to read the "membership thermometer" on page 52 - the NMRA membership as of December 2004 is down to 19,365 modelers! When I was getting the newsletter a few years ago I can recall the membership hovering around 25,000, sometimes more, sometimes less. That was 5,000 members ago!

Sure doesn't sound all that good for the NMRA. If it keeps on at this rate it will be down to nothing in about 8-10 years.

No other point to this post, just wanted to share my dismay at the membership decline in the NMRA.

Bob Boudreau