Page 4 - January Februray 2009
P. 4

President’s Car... Tim Rudge
  Another year has passed, and I wish all our members a belated Happy New Year. Now that it is 2009 we can look forward to another year of interesting and varied events. The Winter Meet at Benson is now in the past (even though I write this before Christmas!), and hopefully it was an enjoyable event for those of you that attended. We can look forward to Ardenrail in late June and of course the annual Convention at Swindon in October. Look forward to seeing you there.
I have the pleasure of introducing Mike Hughes, who has accepted the post of Marketing Officer, which is to be an expanded and improved Pub- licity Officer role. On behalf of the Board of Directors I welcome you to the team, Mike; we look forward to working with you.
As you all know there were three bids for the 2010 Convention. The BOD was tasked with selecting the most suitable bid for the 2010 Convention, which will be a celebratory year, as it is the 75th anniversary of the NMRA, and indeed the 65th anniversary of the British Region. After much deliberation, and accepting viewpoints via the AGM at this year’s Convention, and a poll of the web group, we decided to carry on with the bi-annual meet at Kegworth and hold the 2010 Convention at the Yew Lodge Hotel. The team is already working on the format of the Convention which, because of its special nature, is being planned to be bigger and better. Please submit any ideas you have for the event either directly to the team, or via the BOD. This should not dissuade the teams who placed the bids at Bournemouth and Barnsley; we look forward to re- submissions of these locations for sub- sequent years, particularly as venues for 2011 and beyond have not yet been filled.
As further celebration of the anni- versaries in 2010, the BOD has been talking to the organisers of the Warley NEC Show. It is intended that the 2010 Warley Show will have a partitioned- off segment which will purely show US-based layouts and trade stands etc. This could be something to look forward to, and should be good pub- licity for the NMRA and the British Region. Further information will be released nearer the event. I am sure that layouts and demonstration stands will be needed, so please contact the BOD if you are interested in helping to develop the event.
The BOD has called a meeting of all the Division Representatives and Region Officers for 21 February 2009, and hopefully they are already aware of this. If you have anything you think should be raised at this meeting, please let your Division Representative know. The minutes of this meeting will be published in the April edition of Roundhouse.
By the time you read this, as discussed at the AGM at Kegworth, the BOD should be close to publishing the mem- bers’ handbook. Full details about the contents of this document should be available elsewhere, but if you feel there is something that should be included in the handbook, that you feel we may not have included, please contact a member of the BOD. We are continuing to look into whether or not we can obtain cheaper layout and model insurance for our members. The Region will continue to fund the insurance of any official Meet or Convention.
We have completed the reorganisation of the Region, which essentially has entailed describing in writing a policy on what essentially has been an accepted practice. The definition of an Official Region Modelling Group, what-
ever its title, has now been placed into a policy document; details should be published in Roundhouse.
I understand from Terry Wynne that there were a record number of entries into the contests at the Kegworth Con- vention, and that the quality of the entries was very high. Now you need to be thinking forward to the Swindon Convention and that next entry. Those contest models need to be planned well in advance and construction always takes longer than you think, so start planning! Additionally, have any of you considered the Achievement Programme? The Achievement Pro- gramme is a way of developing your modelling skills, and other NMRA- related skills and knowledge. Please talk to Steve Park or Terry Wynne about what you need to do to enter into the Achievement Programme and start working your way towards the Master Model Railroader title.
Have Fun!
   Communication
Communication is the key to keeping us all informed. In today’s fast-moving electronic world we can sometimes miss the latest information, particularly in our chosen hobby.
The NMRA British Region has methods of communicating daily, weekly, (bi)monthly and annually, keeping you informed and up to date. Some forms of communication are printed, giving you a more permanent record. There are also electronic forms of communication which are often used to give ‘breaking’ news and form the basis of two-way communication. Here’s what is on offer for you: bi-monthly communication is the excellent Roundhouse – you’re probably reading from it now.
Annual communication is the Directory, giving you the contact details for your fellow modellers. Weekly communication comes to you via the website at www.nmrabr.org.uk. The site has ‘public’ areas which anyone can look at, but there is also a ‘members’ area which is exclusive to our members. It’s so easy to join, just click on the website, then the members’ area and finally ‘Register me’. It is very simple. In a short while you too will be able to access the members’ area and find out the latest news.
Daily communication takes the form of the Yahoo Group started by Atlantic Director Nobby Clarke. This is often where ‘breaking’ news is first posted. What’s more, you can express your views – discussion can sometimes be lively! It can be found at http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/NMRABR. Again, joining is very simple and you can choose how you want to receive your message. Let’s make communication two-way! Mike Hughes, Marketing Coordinator
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