I recently retired from the NKPHTS BoD where I worked on the strategic planning committee.

A big part of that work was thinking about what the society would look like in 10-20 years, and in doing so, I pulled this together

http://hobbypublishing.edkapuscinski.com/

I think my observations and recommendations apply far outside just the NKPHTS, so I put that site together to share it with anyone who might find it useful. I have a feeling quite a few folks here might, so I wanted to share it.

Let me know what you think.

I think you have the beginnings of something useful. I had long thought that the Sony Beta video format failed to gain traction in the consumer market because it could only record two hours of programming on a cassette versus up to eight hours for VHS. Your suggestion that Sony's prohibition of it's use for adult content was a major reason for it's failure is new to me, and an interesting proposition.

Also, I would encourage organizations increasing their use of Zoom meetings and discussions to keep and grow membership. My NRHS chapter meetings went to using Zoom during the pandemic, which allowed me to once again participate from out of state. Now, they only meet in-person four or five times per year in addition to the monthly Zoom meetings, and sometimes the coinciding Zoom attendance at those meetings outnumbers the in-person attendance, with interested parties signing on from all over the country. The same is true with my state's rail passenger advocacy organization, which is down to one in-person, state-wide meeting per year, in addition to monthly Zoom meetings and presentations, which only take an hour one Saturday a month.

Interesting observations.

I canceled my Trains subscription mainly because I wasn't interested in the longer articles. Some would catch my interest but there can be a very limited amount of additional info available. I get that it can take a couple of months from creating to distribution.

I belong to the Friends of the East Broad Top. They do a monthly on line publication that provides great info in a timely manner.

The Zoom meetings are a very good idea. Covid showed us that. Unfortunately some of the groups don't seem to want input from new members. They just want your money.

I still have some amount of Lionel. Every year I put some around the Christmas tree. A lot of the neighborhood kids have found out about it and want to see it. That's my excuse to keep looking for operating accessories! They love pushing buttons even though the train is basically a loop.

Very interesting read Ed, and spot on.

I want to add some observations to the whole content creator thing.

First off, I am all for it. I subscribe to several great youtube channels, and its really my primary "couch time" these days. There has been some fantastic videos (and also plenty of crap mind you), but one thing kind of irks me with the vast majority of these guys that do topic videos. They almost never cite sources, or credit anything. Be it from a magazine, article, website, etc. I know this has been an issue since time itself, and there is no real answer outside of the usual "well don't put it online", its just irritating.

I will use my own website as an example - I had a very well known youtube creator swipe 95% of one of the posts I did, and use it for one of his videos. Watermarked photos and all. Not a single credit, mention, link back, nothing. Silence when called out.

I have been seeing this more and more with these things. I think what burns me over it - these guys are making money off of other peoples research.

I will be the first to admit, I am not really sure where I am going here, its just more to add to the topic. I really look forward to the future. I am so damn tired of hearing the hobby is dying, (this is way worse in the model railroad industry, which is the best it has ever been, bar none, hands down), when its thriving, as you said, its just going a different direction.

I second this. Our membership meetings are in-person and zoom, and our board meetings are Zoom only. Works much better.

A video record of such meeting should also be created and saved. The costs of data have greatly decreased over the years. Video records are much more reliable than a Secretary's minutes of the meeting.

Video records can, on occasion, be just a bit too candid for the long term good of the organization. Archived minutes of our board meetings from the early days frequently include terse statements such as "a lively discussion ensued....." :^0

/s/ Larry
Lawrence G. Lovejoy, P.E.

Thanks for the advice. We'll keep our BoD minutes written.

Digitizing our programs might be an option as our comfort level with Zoom increases.

Reality is REAL, not a script

Nova55 - check your PMs.