# What do you Want from a National Convention?



## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

As many of you know, the 2016 NGRC (National Garden Railway Convention) will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area. What you may not know is that I have been elected by the Board of the Bay Area Garden Railway Society to serve as Chairman of the Convention.

We're in the process of locking in the dates and location of the convention, but things are looking good for us using the Santa Clara Convention Center again and the dates being around the 4th of July (which is on a Monday in 2016).

Here's where I need some help...

What is the optimal number of days to hold the convention? We're currently thinking that outlying Railroads would be open on the prior Saturday and Sunday with the Convention starting on Monday the Fourth and running through Sunday the 10th. We would then hope to have more outlying RR's open on the following Monday and Tuesday keeping in mind that the Summer Steam-Up is most likely scheduled for the following weekend in Sacramento.

We have a large number of layouts that can be open for visiting. As an example, we had 50 open during the West Coast Regional Meet in 2011. What is the maximum number that you think would be feasible to visit in a day (open 8am 'til 3pm)? 

How many clinics do you think should be going on at the same time? It looks like we will have 3 large rooms available as we ran into space issues in 2006 with the smaller rooms. Should the clinics start on Monday? Should there be clinics on Sunday?

We're still looking at a Banquet on Saturday Night, BBQ on Friday (with maybe a Train Ride) and some sort of Social before the Vendor Hall opens on Thursday Evening. We are trying to lock in the halls that have the large roll-up doors so that we can hope to avoid the load and unload problems we had in 2006. We should have almost 50,000 square feet of vendor space with over 16,000 square feet being taken up by portable layouts...

What other Social Events would you like to see? Would an organized visit to the San Francisco Cable Car barn and Historic Trolleys be a good idea? Would a ride on the Niles Canyon Railway or the Wine Train in Napa be something we should schedule in? Any other events come to mind that you would like to attend? Or are a lot of nice layouts to visit enough?

Does everybody do online registration now or do we need to make mail in forms? We are thinking of having a really nice interactive Smart Phone App for the Convention, would you use it?

As you can see, I'm open to new ideas and suggestions so please fire away!
BAGRS wants to make this one of the best conventions ever!

Russ Miller
BAGRS President 2014
2016 NGRC Chairman


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

In attending the 2014 convention in Tampa, the one thing I really disliked was the 1pm cut off time for the layout tours. Especially with the layouts being strung out from Ocala, south to Ft Myers and east to Orlando.


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Agree with Randy, I like the three oclock idea,

Daily layout maps with layouts numberd so we can see where they located in relation to each other.

A model contest room with good prizes, to bring in good compition

Registration online

App for phone/ Yes

Keep the main focus, 3-5 days for the people that can't stay for extended time

Pre and post convention activities for people that can stay longer

An informative website, and facebook, little information provides little attendance.

3 clinics at a time is the max, with some running twice.

maybe more later
Dennis


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Just a thought but Monday thru the following Sunday sounds like a very long time to commit to particularly if your a vendor or exhibiting a layout at the convention hall, thats just MHO based on last years NNGC. It was four days, W to Sat, and they seamed to have provided alot of activities yet it wasn't so stretched out to become burdomsome to those coming to the show. If there are enough activities to fill out those days then I guess its justifiable.


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## catherine yronwode (Oct 9, 2013)

Stay in touch via Facebook as plans unfold.

Build a navigable and content-rich web site..

Lots of vendors, with a good online map of the floor plan.

Local outreach to the wider community via radio, internet, and print.

Healthy food choices at the venue.

Layouts into the afternoon.

"Free box" where folks can donate unwanted good stuff (we all have some).

Meaningfully nifty raffle or door prizes.


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## K27_463 (Jan 2, 2008)

In previous events at the Santa Clara venue, we had terrible union issues with drayage and restrictions. Has this issue been resolved? Vendor costs and union demands at the early 2000's event were out of control.


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## dms1 (May 27, 2010)

Lots of vendors.


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Wednesday through Sunday. Layout tours Wednesday through Saturday. Sunday Breakfast event. Able to get directions to layout tours before we leave home to help in choosing what we want to see.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

We have been a prominent dealer at the last four national conventions. From the stories we have heard about the Santa Clara facility, regarding expense of unloading our own trailers and moving our own product thru the hall to our display area, there are at least two of us from the Midwest concerned about the time and expense to vend at this convention. If we as vendors cannot at least make expenses, you cannot expect to see many of us at these national conventions in the future. We heard of one vendor in Tampa, who did not sell anything, after paying booth space and expenses. We question he will be back to one in the future! The hall in Tampa was open late 3 nites until 10 PM with very little late nite interest. We would suggest 3 longer vendor days to minimize vendor expenses, say from 1-8 Thurs-Friday and Sat. from 9-3. This would be more hours than open in Tampa. We would be happy to talk to someone re: further suggestions -just give us a call to discuss,515-984-6946 or e-mail us at [email protected] Thanks for listening.


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Thank you everyone for your input so far, please keep it coming.

The plan right now is for the layouts to be open from 8am until 3pm with the first Saturday and Sunday being outlying layouts for people driving in to be able to visit. This worked really well at the Tacoma Convention where a lot of layouts in Oregon were open the days before the convention and they saw many visitors.

We are securing 2 large vendor halls that have multiple entry points including 2 large roll-up doors for vendor unload. In 2006 we only had ONE door and ONE loading dock and this bottleneck caused a lot of problems. At 43,653 square feet we should have plenty of space for a large number of vendors. Controlling costs for our vendors is one of my top priorities. We hope to bring as many vendors to the San Francisco Bay Area as possible. Unfortunately, the number of vendors in large scale has shrunk but we will do our best to attract all of the vendors that we can. We hope to have the vendor hall open starting on Thursday afternoon following a social event and closing no later than 9pm. Friday's hours are still being worked on but figure Noon until 6 so that vendors can attend the BBQ and Saturday 9am until 5 so that some can pack up and some can attend the Banquet. Saturday will also be the only Public Day. We're still working out the exact hours. We'll have the hall on Sunday so vendors can take their time and pack up then with no pressure to have the hall empty by Saturday night.

Vendors have to understand that I come from 35 years of retail sales. Vendors are VERY IMPORTANT to us and we want to make them happy. Thank you Mike and Rene from Reindeer Pass RR for your input! I will push to have free water and easy access to food available to the vendors in the hall.

Catherine, a couple of things. The venue we chose has upgraded their selection of foods and they look and taste great! They definitely have some Healthy Choices, my wife wouldn't have it any other way. We really can't have a "Free Box" or swap meet as this would be unfair to vendors who have traveled far and paid to display and sell their products. I hope you understand.

Rich, because of the large number of layouts that we have we will be having tours starting on Sunday and running through the following Tuesday! The largest concentration of tours will be from Wednesday through Saturday though. We're still working out the details. I'd like to know how many layouts you think you can visit if your were driving from 8am until 3pm. The consensus in our club right now is a maximum of 10 as long as they are fairly close to each other. We will definitely plan on have a listing of all of the railroads to visit that will be available before the convention.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

10 layouts? Maybe if they are within a close proximity. In Tampa, we did good to see 4 in a 5 hours period, but they were all pretty well strung out. Also, the group I was with, being 4 of us, were driving a car. 
Thinking tour bus, 10 layouts in 8 hours may really be pushing it. That brings up a complaint I heard about in Tampa. The toilets on the buses filled up before the groups got back to the hotel. I think some consideration for potty breaks along the way needs to be worked out.


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

We have seen as few a five and a much as ten, depends on roads and traffic and distance. With a listing we can decide which ones are a must see and plan others around that.

Thanks for thinking of this. A list before the convention has been missing the last couple I attended (Chicago and Cincinnati)


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

catherine yronwode said:


> Stay in touch via Facebook as plans unfold.
> 
> Build a navigable and content-rich web site..
> 
> ...


I live in Florida in winter, and thought about trekking up to Tampa for this years event. No offense to the organizers of that event, but let me offer a few things to avoid!

The website did not have good information - it was difficult to navigate and tough to find what you needed.

There seemed to be a 'one size fits all' registration. No way I could make it for the entire convention, so I was stuck with paying full price for a couple of days visit.

Don't use Facebook as the sole communication medium. Many of us old-timers stay away from it completely. Use your email and respond promptly.

I did hear a comment from one attendee that expecting folk to drive 300 miles to visit layouts in one day was a bit much!

The issue of bringing 'unwanted good stuff' is worth exploring a bit more. I can understand the vendors concern, but a 'bring-and-buy' sale (as we used to call them in the UK) is helpful. Maybe make it a (silent) auction for a good cause ?
Diamondhead calls it a 'flea market'. The Great Scale Train Shows call it a "White Elephant Table--sell your old stuff while you shop".


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Russ, nice for asking, and hope the Denver folks are listening for 2015  

For me:
- Ask prior 3 convention organizers what they did right and what they wished they'd done different. What was the biggest hit? biggest bust?
- Clinics (Hands on clinics are the best - get to actually try some things)
- live steam (basics, advanced, fuel types - things I'd like to know before buying my first live steamer)
- dcc
- loco battery installation
- automation
- switching
- 3d printing
- model building (trains, structures, bridges, etc.)
- newbie things (dc vs dcc vs battery; track laying, etc.)
- advanced topics (what's coming with dcc, etc.)
- Vendors 
- RR tours
- Do a good job of promoting the days the "public" can access vendors - get new folks involved.
- lots of free parking at convention - last one in Denver I had to pay to park and that was if I could f ind a spot.
- easy access to convention off of main route (like interstate)
- lots of space for clinics and vendors - and all together (last one in Denver was split up)
- vendors, model contest, clinics need a secure area to store items.
- look at alternatives to hotel for hosting the convention. For example, Denver has Merchandise Mart, Convention center, National Western Complex, etc. I know this convention is not big enough to fill those venues but they'd probably be open to partial renting. I have no idea myself how rates compare to hotels, just another idea 

Actually just reread what you posted and sounds like you are not at a hotel, nice!

-Jim


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## catherine yronwode (Oct 9, 2013)

If vendors really kick about a free table then selling donations of excess and wrong-scale items to raise money for a worthy cause would work, but would require a coordinator to take the money.


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Well we talked with a representative from the Santa Clara Convention Center today. Here is a link to their facilities: http://www.santaclara.org/conventioncenter/floorplan.cfm …

We are locking in both back convention halls, C & D on the map. They are not "front and center" but they have the best access by far for the vendors from the loading docks. It also looks like we will be taking the Great America Ball Room and the Great America Meeting Rooms upstairs for clinics. At the far left of the map is the Hyatt Hotel. We still have not locked in the number of room nights and we are negotiating the best rate. Because the hotel is in the heart of Silicon Valley, the rooms are actually cheaper on weekends, in fact, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the highest rates, go figure… Hopefully being there during the 4th of July week will give us lower Holiday rates. Like I stated, we're working on it…

Parking has always been FREE at the Santa Clara Convention Center but my gut tells me that that is going to change. The new State-of -the -Art LEVI Stadium, new home of the San Francisco 49ers is right across the street and opens later this year. In fact, Super Bowl 50 will be hosted at the Stadium in February 2016! They have to charge for parking during events at the stadium or they will be overwhelmed with freeloaders and kicking themselves over lost revenue. I asked that if a charge for parking comes to fruition, that hopefully hotel guests and convention goers will receive discounted if not free parking privileges. We'll see what happens…

Once all of this stuff is locked in we will announce dates and get our webpage online. We will also be on many different Social Media outlets. My wife and I just returned from a 2 hour meeting on using Social Media to increase awareness of your event. We'll see if I learned anything…

Russ Miller
BAGRS President 2014
2016 NGRC Chair


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

We'll were locking in the Hyatt Santa Clara, which is attached to the Santa Clara Convention Center, as our host hotel for the 2016 NGRC. Here is a link to this 4-star hotel's website: http://santaclara.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html .
We are trying to lock in a special rate of $149 per night with in-room internet included.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Just some thoughts. Best Ice Cream social was in Cincinnati in 2002. A real event, not an "It's It" while standing in line outside the vendor hall!

Places for our older folks to sit and rest.

Vendors and retail spaces.

Model Contest

If you can group layouts in small geographical areas, then ten could be done in a day! Seemed we spent the entire Arizona convention driving between Phoenix and Tucson!

Clinics and workshops should be in larger and better ventilated rooms. It might be useful to think about videoing the sessions and making them available to convention goers. Also, if possible, schedule them so you can see nearly all of them if you wish. (That's why videoing would make sense.)

Don't think we need a banquet AND a BBQ, it's not a progressive dinner!

If you can't get free parking, roll the cost into the Registration fee -- make it simpler for guests.

Your tour booklet should include zip codes to help navigate between sites, and might make grouping the layout tours together better.

We tried less-than-full registration, but thought it too difficult to keep track of and police.

We like on-line registration. Sure slick and painless. Paypal can be your friend!

If the best rate for a convention hotel is $149, better find some others for those of us on fixed incomes. Denver gave us several choices in the immediate area of the convention center.


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

OK...so I just lost a huge post I was going to make...so I'll start over.

1. I've been to 4 or 5 of the BAGRS events....they're fantastic IMHO. Keep up the good work. I gotta say Russ...you really bit on a big one this time.

2. At the last nationals at the SCCC, the vendor treatment was terrible IMHO. Never seen anything like it. Because it was a union based convention center there were all kind of fees that they had to pay that were NOT expected. Fees to move their stuff in. Limits on how much time they got at the loading dock. Horrendous fees for extra tables. Fees for extra chairs. Fees for an electrical hookups even if the floor plug was in their booth. Fees to move their stuff out. Etc. Vendors were nervous losing site of their stuff as some grunt rolled it away towards some loading dock...pilferage and damage are always on vendors minds. You need to work HARD to reinsure them...and explain to them...what they're getting into...and what it costs...and what they can do...and can't.

3. You definitely want to invest in a GOOD web site...with:

a. A registration page...to select all the options...bus, BBQ, banquet, T-shirt, convention car, extra for mailing a program (more later), etc. The page should include a way to sign up with an email address so that update alerts to the web site can be sent by email to potential attendees. That way, folks can sign up to see how it's coming along before they register...and those that are registered can be kept up to date.

b. A map by day on where each of the layout are...just a colored dot on a bay area map...so folks will understand the flow of the convention tours. This year in Tampa we had NO IDEA where we were headed till we got to the convention and got our packet...and it spanned an area 200 miles north south and 70 miles east. I can't express how important that is to someone like me....in determining what day's I'm going to attend.

c. A list of vendors attending...and what they sell or display...and url

d. A list of portable layouts that will be there...with scale and size...and url if they have one

e. An events schedule...with all events listed...ice cream social, vendor hall open/close by day, gravity race, BBQ, banquet, tour times and general location (i.e. San Jose area), clinic schedule and room, etc.

f. A list of clinic contents...who, what they're going to talk about, photos, etc

g. Other stuff to do...for wives. Ya know, my wife didn't go on all the layout tours. She hooked up with other wives to have a gals day. So include a page with other stuff women like to do...ask some wives up there. Think bus tours, winery tours, shopping center locales, etc. URLs if possible.

h. Other stuff to do...family. This is going to be a LONG convention...and there's lots of other stuff to do in the Bay Area. I'm thinking two lists...general and RR related...like train trip to SF and back, cable car museum in SF, Niles Canyon RR, Roaring Camp, Amtrak ride up and back to CA Railroad museum in SAC, trolley riding in SF, etc. For general stuff...bay ferry ride/tours, Alcatraz, bus tours of SF, etc. All with URLs.

i. Photos...LOTS of photos of the layouts on the tour...on all pages. BAGRS has a wealth of great looking and mature GRRs...get photos from the members...and put em everywhere on all pages.

j. Driving issues...the bay area bridges are going toll-booth-less soon. How to get around the bay area over these bridges needs to be explained to those attending from elsewhere...because they might need to register with the toll authorities to get billed properly..versus getting a fine mailed to them. This has become a huge PITA for those of us in CA that don't have FasTrak gizmos and accounts.

4. The App...well, for registration I don't see much value. However, if an app hooked to Google Maps on a cell phone to navigate you to a GRR layout...that would be cool. If you're not on a bus tour of the layouts, this would help a lot for those driving. Secondly...the app could connect with the Calendar app on a cell phone to remind you of the events schedule.

5. The BBQ...well, by Friday, I'm pooped usually. So my recommendation is to keep it at the hotel...outside somewhere...and combine it with a gravity race. One of the recent NGRCs did that...and it was the first time I realized how cool the gravity race was. Had a super time...and appreciated not having to drive someplace else. And...considering that all the freeways in the Santa Clara area are in gridlock from 4 to 6PM, keeping it close...if NOT at the hotel...is a good idea.

6. Convention centers....it seems to me that getting from Santa Clara to north of the Bay...is a huge PITA. If you are having layouts in the north bay area, you might consider having them early in the week, and working a deal with a hotel in Napa or Sonama to host the NGRC folks those days...and maybe coordinating that with a Napa Wine Train dinner option...and keeping with my Other things to do...wives idea...winery tours. I'd sure exercise a north bay option...might even do it on my own if there are enough GRRs up there on the tour. 

7. 4th of July...never attended a NGRC over the 4th of July holiday...but you might think about adding where folks could go to celebrate it...and see fireworks.

8. Outreach...think about how you'd get the word out over the next year or more...on the existence of the NGRC there. Focus on how you'd get the word out to folks who are NOT GRRs. The local ABC station in San Jose does this kind of stuff...think about the week before the convention. Hook em up with a great GRR in the San Jose area...and pump the convention access on Saturday. If there are any GRRs that might be open to the general public...so that mom and dad and kids could get introduced to what one looks like...figure out how to get them to a web page from the ABC news coverage there.

9. Makers...reach out to the Maker's world. SF has the biggest Maker's Fair in the US...and much of what's at their fair is directly relevant to GRRing....like 3D printing, laser cutting, modeling, mold making, etc. I would think that many of the vendors that vend at the SF Maker's Fair would be interested in vending at the NGRC. Some might even provide clinic stuff...especially in the 3D printing world as I know there are many manufacturers that are interested in this new technology. Same for the laser cutting world....seems to me TAP might know some folks that could vend.

OK...done.


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Dick Friedman said:


> Just some thoughts. Best Ice Cream social was in Cincinnati in 2002. A real event, not an "It's It" while standing in line outside the vendor hall!
> Still working on this one. Aramark is the sole supplier of food at the Convention Center. We might do something away from the center...
> 
> Places for our older folks to sit and rest.
> ...



Thank you for all of your input! I hope to be touring the Sacramento Layouts on Friday as I have to work the rest of the days at TAP. Maybe I'll see you on the tours so that we can talk.

Russ Miller
BAGRS President 2014
2016 NGRC Chair


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Mike,
Thank you for your input! You and I sure think alike...


Mike Reilley said:


> OK...so I just lost a huge post I was going to make...so I'll start over.
> 
> 1. I've been to 4 or 5 of the BAGRS events....they're fantastic IMHO. Keep up the good work. I gotta say Russ...you really bit on a big one this time. Yep! I've been thinking about this for the last 5 years. I really want to make this the best NGRC ever.
> 
> ...


Oh, you can't be done yet! Please… I am open to ALL input as I really want to make this NGRC special.

Thanks everyone for their input, it is very important to me. Please keep it coming…

Russ Miller
BAGRS President 2014
2016 NGRC Chair


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

On Outreach...I was saying that you should TRY to get the ABC News folks in San Jose to cover the convention...as a news item...before the convention. Think about a human interest angle on what it takes to plan and set up a national convention of garden railroaders.

Re the Makers...what I was suggesting was to get some of the Maker's Faire VENDORS to sell at the NGRC....you know...renting booths in the vendor's hall. The stuff they have might sell well at your NGRC...and there's a bunch of maker's vendors up there.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Parking costs: With people coming and going, most of these lots charge you everytime you come in and it's a flat fee at most. So if you leave in the morning to go see tours, you pay for parking when you return. Then you leave to go to a Ice Cream, BBQ, eat on your own or other function then return, you pay again. I can see parking costing $20.00 - $30.00 a day. In California it may be even more. This parking deal for the attendees sounds like it may become a serious issue. I guess this will force people to ride the tour buses.


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

It's a little late, but it would be nice if they would have someone to show people around.
I went to two National Conventions, with my son in a wheelchair. The first was in Denver,
the second was in Cincinnati. Both shows did not have a handy cap bus for the tours.
We had to try and follow them in our van. We ask if someone could ride with and show us 
how to fined the layouts. We don't have anyone!!! 
Both shows the people were very rude when we asked for someone.

Don


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## neals645 (Apr 7, 2008)

With Bay Area traffic, even if each day covers a specific area, 10 layouts in 7 hours may be too many. Focus on quality, not quantity - only the best layouts. Having attended a couple NGRCs, I find maybe 1/3 of the layouts are superb, 1/2 are very good, and a few could have been skipped. When self driving, sometimes you can figure out which ones to skip, and you can spend more time at layouts that interest you . When taking the bus, all layouts are created equal - I recall twiddling my thumbs at one layout, only to have the bus whistle sound way too soon at the best layout of the day.

Bottom line, please be brutal in telling your members "no, your layout is not included", even if they are longtime members and really nice guys.

I've never been to a BAGRS event, so the above experiences happened elsewhere.

Neal.


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Don,
We had a Handicap Bus available in 2006 and it was underutilized. The handicap buses are smaller and carry fewer people but cost the same as larger buses. We hope to have the option of taking a handicap bus on the registration sheet though the cost to take it will be higher than the regular buses. I also hope that our directions and maps to the layouts will allow visitors that are driving to find the layouts easily on their own and not require people to follow the buses. We are also considering having a sign up sheet for ride sharing and car pooling at our information desk.
Russ Miller
NGRC 2016 Chairman



Trains said:


> It's a little late, but it would be nice if they would have someone to show people around.
> I went to two National Conventions, with my son in a wheelchair. The first was in Denver,
> the second was in Cincinnati. Both shows did not have a handy cap bus for the tours.
> We had to try and follow them in our van. We ask if someone could ride with and show us
> ...


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Randy,
We honestly do not know how the parking situation is going to work out. Right now, the 3-level parking garage is FREE. I know that is going to change once the new 49er Stadium opens. I'm hoping we can work out some kind of pass system for convention goers that will be leaving the garage and coming back. I also want to work out some sort of parking arrangement for the vendor vehicles. We really won't know what will happen until next year. But keep positive thoughts and hope for the best!
Russ Miller
NGRC 2016 Convention Chair


Randy Stone said:


> Parking costs: With people coming and going, most of these lots charge you everytime you come in and it's a flat fee at most. So if you leave in the morning to go see tours, you pay for parking when you return. Then you leave to go to a Ice Cream, BBQ, eat on your own or other function then return, you pay again. I can see parking costing $20.00 - $30.00 a day. In California it may be even more. This parking deal for the attendees sounds like it may become a serious issue. I guess this will force people to ride the tour buses.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

As for I and some of the other folks I believe you still need to keep registration to either on line or by mail. I prefer mail as I do not like using Paypal or any other form of payment on line.

For getting the word out how about contacting venders and see if they would insert flyers in there orders they send out. 

I like some like to have Live steam layout at show Tampa never did respond to the request but heard that a card table layout was finally provided. 

Later RJD


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

We used EventBrite for the WCRM this year. Contact our webmaster for the details on how we went about it, etc. I'd never do another event without on-line registration.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

I wasn't open on Friday. Saturday was my day, and I was still prepping on Friday. I floated the idea with the Portland Club president to create some sort of ad-hoc "Association of West Coast Garden Railroad Presidents" to share info (maybe via Facebook, but certainly by e-mail) to share info, ideas, experiences in putting on events.

More to follow!


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Russ, I don't remember exactly when the last convention was that offered a couple of EVENING tours, specifically designed around layouts with really well-modelled lighting of their buildings, bridges, etc. The effect was really charming, and the twinkling light 'fairy village' effect was one of the things that drew both me and Carla into the hobby.

Sadly, I haven't seen something like this organized in years. I know that there are some really excellently lit layouts in BAGRS territory -- if you could convince a few of them to have an evening open house, say from 8 or 8:30 (whenever dusk is) till 10 or 10:30? Just one or two on nights that don't conflict with banquets or other events? A camera with a tripod can really capture the magic of a miniature world that you don't get to see in the daytime!


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Gary,
Great Idea! I know Phoenix offered night tours when they hosted the NGRC; I thought it was a great idea at the time. They looked great and it wasn't as hot as it was during the day. I personally would like some of our layouts open at night. I know one of our outstanding layouts in Marin County is in the process of lighting every one of their scratched built buildings. They hope to be open for an evening tour during the Convention, most likely during the pre-tour on Saturday Night. We're a little concerned about getting around the backyard in the dark though as there are stairs involved. 

Russ Miller
2016 NGRC Chair



Gary Woolard said:


> Russ, I don't remember exactly when the last convention was that offered a couple of EVENING tours, specifically designed around layouts with really well-modelled lighting of their buildings, bridges, etc. The effect was really charming, and the twinkling light 'fairy village' effect was one of the things that drew both me and Carla into the hobby.
> 
> Sadly, I haven't seen something like this organized in years. I know that there are some really excellently lit layouts in BAGRS territory -- if you could convince a few of them to have an evening open house, say from 8 or 8:30 (whenever dusk is) till 10 or 10:30? Just one or two on nights that don't conflict with banquets or other events? A camera with a tripod can really capture the magic of a miniature world that you don't get to see in the daytime!


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

It's been a long time since I posted photos.
Here are some of the buildings that will be lit. Some already have lights and the rest are being worked on. 
Well, I figured out how to add attachments…

Gary, tell Carla that these photos were taking during the morning hours…
Russ


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

I've attached some photos that I took yesterday during a tour of the Santa Clara Convention Center. I took the first photo from an upper floor of the Hyatt Hotel. Note the distance of the hall from the hotel. In the photo you can see Halls C & D and the new 49er Stadium right across the street. The main 3 story parking structure is right below and there is a new 5 story structure available for additional parking. Each hall has a large roll-up door that opens to a ramp. Vendors can use these for loading and unloading along with 4 sets of large double doors. I took a photo of the dock area showing a couple of the 8 docks that we will have access to. This is a far cry from the one dock and one set of double doors that were used in 2006.

Russ Miller
2016 NGRC Chair


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

neals645 said:


> With Bay Area traffic, even if each day covers a specific area, 10 layouts in 7 hours may be too many. Focus on quality, not quantity - only the best layouts. Having attended a couple NGRCs, I find maybe 1/3 of the layouts are superb, 1/2 are very good, and a few could have been skipped. When self driving, sometimes you can figure out which ones to skip, and you can spend more time at layouts that interest you . When taking the bus, all layouts are created equal - I recall twiddling my thumbs at one layout, only to have the bus whistle sound way too soon at the best layout of the day.
> 
> Bottom line, please be brutal in telling your members "no, your layout is not included", even if they are longtime members and really nice guys.
> 
> ...


Ditto....THAT would be cool!!!!


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Russ, I remember that layout with the beautiful hotel! Somewhere just above the bridge in Marin, right? GREAT layout!

I understand your caution about feet tromping around in the dark, though. I'm sure you've thought of possible solutions, but f'rinstance

>Have 'open' pathways clearly marked (maybe reflective tape?, as well as 'don't go here' areas.

> One layout situated on a hillside had low level ambient lights that illuminated the pathways. Then about every five minutes, they'd call out a warning, and then dim the ambients down to zero, so for about a minute you had nothing but the 'character' lights illuminating the vignettes. Then they'd bring the lights back up and we'd scurry around looking for the next vignette to shoot when the lights went back down again 5 minutes later.. This was on a bus tour, yet! I was terrified on the layout owner's behalf, but he said the only accident was when a visitor stumbled on a Non-scale, pedestrian railing. So go figger.

I'm not sure it's practical, but what about handing out flashlights? We had our house painted a while back, and the local paint store tossed in a handful of flat, skinny little black plastic flashlights every time we visited. Magnet on one side to stick on your refrigerator, paint store's logo on the other side. Battery is sealed in, you squeeze on the plastic to activate the single LED, which is very adequate. My point is, these are CHEAP, cheap enough so we wound up with about a dozen! Put a box ful of them at the entry to the layout, put a box to "please return" at the exit. Put your NGRC Logo on them!


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

A idea on how to deal with safety in the darkness. You can get cheap and small LED flashlights from Harbor Freight Tools, have a greeter hand them out as folks come in and collect them as they head out. Folks can then use them to navigate the backyard. My outdoor layout has path lights that come on at dusk and out at dawn. They are spaced far apart but light up the yard, allowing one to navigate safely. They are also far enough away from the layout that what buildings I have lighted are easily enjoyed and not spoiled by the path lights.


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Live Steam will DEFINITELY be a huge part of the 2016 NGRC. BAGRS has one of the largest active live steam groups in the nation. The plan is to have our new modular steam track set up in the Convention Hall for all to see. It is a large double track layout with a full steam-up bay. We will then try to cluster the vendors specializing in steam in booths near the layout so it is beneficial to all. We are hoping that Accucraft, a Bay Area Company, will have a large presence at this show. 



aceinspp said:


> I like some like to have Live steam layout at show Tampa never did respond to the request but heard that a card table layout was finally provided.
> Later RJD


I've attached a few photos of our Live Team Track set up at Roaring Camp over the Father's Day weekend.

Russ Miller
NGRC 2016 Chair


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

This sounds like a Great Idea. Count me in!


Dick Friedman said:


> I floated the idea with the Portland Club president to create some sort of ad-hoc "Association of West Coast Garden Railroad Presidents" to share info (maybe via Facebook, but certainly by e-mail) to share info, ideas, experiences in putting on events.
> 
> More to follow!


Russ Miller
NGRC 2016 Chair
2014 BAGRS President


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

*View from LEVI Stadium*

I got to visit and tour the new LEVI Stadium today. I've attached a couple of photos showing the backside of the Santa Clara Convention Center. We'd be in the two large halls closest to the camera.

Also, we've signed the Contracts with both the Convention Center and the Hyatt Hotel.

I still need ideas of what you want from a National Garden Railway Convention.

Here's something we are thinking of adding… An encore day on the last Sunday of the Convention. On this day any and all layouts that want to be open a second day can be open. This would most likely be more layouts than can be visited in one day and they would be spread out over the entire Bay Area but it just might allow an attendee to visit a nice layout that he heard about but missed or maybe to visit a layout for a second time. We're also thinking this could be a day when interested public attendees of the vendor hall on Saturday can join their local club, BAGRS, SVGRS or REGRS and then get a map of the Sunday Open houses only.

Russ Miller, Chairman
NGRC 2016
#ngrc2016


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

Our revamped website is now up and running... Go to www.ngrc2016.org

We're still open to ideas... What would you like to see? What did you learn from Denver and other NGRC's that you've attended?


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