Why Garden Train Clubs Need Web Sites - from Family Garden Trains^TM

But I never tried to maintain a list of known good garden railroading clubs. Based on what I'd observed on other sites, it could be a full time job to do right. Instead, I sent folks to club lists on other resources. But in some cases, that made readers frustrated and disappointed - some online club lists have almost as many broken links and bad contacts as they have good ones.

In April, 2008, I took the plunge and started a list of known Garden Railroad Clubs. I use the word "known" because I wanted to filter out clubs that have dissolved, clubs that never were, and clubs for whom the contact information is no longer valid. I also included the disclaimer that the list was only a starting point, and that there may be resources in many regions that just haven't been noticed nationally or internationally yet.

While I was attempting to confirm even the "known" good sites, I could not help noticing that, to an "outsider," clubs with functional web sites had many advantages over clubs that didn't - even if the web site wasn't "state of the art." A web page that showed club contact information, meeting times, photos of club events and the like made the club "real" to me. Clubs that only had phone or e-mail contact information still seem like an "unknown."

No, I don't mind calling or e-mailing folks I've never met and asking them questions that expose my ignorance, but I'm not exactly shy. What about the people we really need to reach, the folks who still find the whole idea of trains in the garden a little "daunting"? Folks who are out of their comfort zone in the hobby shop, much less making "cold calls" to strangers?

Yes, I know that not every club has an internet-savvy member, but even if you have to go to a web developer of some kind, it could well be worth the investment

A Club Web Site Improves Internal Communication

• Helps people in spread-out clubs keep in touch and feel like they're part of it all. Some of the clubs I researched have "members" from 50 to 200 miles away. If they can't make it to more than a meeting or two a year, the web site keeps them updated on what's going on, and helps them feel like they're still involved in the club's direction and future.
• Keep computer-savvy (usually younger) members involved - Some clubs' founding members feel that, since none of them uses a computer, why should they bother to accommodate folks who do? The answer is that if we want to keep the next generation involved, we need to communicate in ways they're used to communicating. Newspapers, churches, workplaces, even other clubs use web technology to keep folks "engaged" with their organizations. So do the garden railroading clubs that are growing and that are growing the hobby.
• Helps young families feel involved - Many of the families we need to take the hobby into the next generation have children who are at a "difficult" age for taking to club meetings, or who are involved in sports or other activities that conflict with club meetings and activities for months (or years) on end.
• Protects officers' privacy - At the same time, having a web site means that you can use e-mail addresses like clubpresident@yourclubname.com rather than posting the contact's personal e-mail address. When the officers change, the club's "webmeister" can just redirect incoming e-mail to the new officers. Or if the spam gets too bad, the webmeister can change the posted address to something else and start over, without exposing anyone's personal accounts to potential spammers.
• Help members keep meeting dates, etc. straight - I doubt I'm the only one who occasionally has to check my schedule when I'm at work or out of town. Club web pages help keep busy members on track, so they don't have to have their newsletter with them everywhere they go.
• Provides an archive for club newsletters and other information that otherwise could get lost.
• Helps members share ideas and accomplishments - "galleries" of member railroads help people learn about each others interests; "how-to" articles help people learn from each other.
• Provide 2-way communications, including sign-up sheets for club projects, or even members'-only forums

A Club Web Site Grows the Club

• Meeting schedules and local events calendars build confidence that you have a legitimate, family-oriented organization and aren't just three guys sitting around "drinking beer and running trains" (like, unfortunately, several of the "clubs" that have been listed on public club lists for years). Also, having multiple contacts on your contact page reduces the fear that the contact information a newbie picked up on a club list is obsolete (it often is).
• Promoting outreach activites, open houses, and permanent display railroads helps folks know when and where they might be able to stop by and see you in action without seeming to be anything but a "passing stranger." For some folks, dropping in on a club is like "church shopping" or "meeting the folks." If they can see you in action on "neutral territory," so much the better.
• Providing "how-to" articles and photos of member railroads helps folks see the rewards of the hobby and also realize that there are some folks in the club who might help them figure things out.
• Maintaining a consistent, quality "presence" helps people on the "fringes" feel like they're still (or at least could be) a part of your "community. Most people who aren't in club don't realize that many club members actually don't have railroads - they just like trains and they like people who like trains. A web site extends your "community" far beyond the people you think you're reaching. The more people who have a favorable idea of your club and of the hobby in general, the more likely you are in keep growing the club and growing the hobby.

A Club Web Site Grows the Hobby

Now it's time for a confession - I'm fairly useless as a local club member, because I'm always neck-deep in some online or regional project that benefits people I'll never see face-to-face or, in some cases, will never see again. But the local club is what grows the hobby at the grass roots level. That's why we work with clubs whenever we can - many of our articles are available for use in club newspapers, for example, and we provide brochures and other materials for the asking. Several clubs are just as active at the regional or national level as the are at the local level. Eventually such efforts benefit us all. If another 500 or 2500 or 5000 people join the hobby next year because of various clubs' outreach, you can be sure it will help manufacturers keep costs down and introduce new and improved products.

Yes, I've already mentioned photo galleries and "how-to" articles, but a good collection of each makes our hobby more attractive, not only to folks around the corner, but also to folks around the globe.

And EVERY club web site can promote regional, national, and international events. Otherwise, potential hobbyists usually don't know that they are missing major garden railroading shows or other events in their back yard. (In fact that sounds like yet ANOTHER web page project that I have to take on and try to keep current - oops). Let's keep thinking globally and acting locally until everyone knows or knows of someone who runs trains in the garden.

How Do You Get Started?

Some club web sites actually reside on some folks' business site or personal sites. If all you can do is get a page or three up that provides contact information (preferable shielded), a description of the club's focus and strengths, and a list of coming events and meetings, you will be WAY ahead of just having a phone # or e-mail contact.

It IS better if you can register (and keep registered) a domain name that identifies your club. GCGRS.org is already taken; so is MVGRS.com, but what's wrong with something like nwohgardenrr.org? A meaningfull domain name also helps your own club members remember "who to call" when they are away from their own computers. A domain name costs about $10 a year through a company like goDaddy, and it's really an excellent investment. Even if your pages are located on a business or family site, you can have the domain name "point" to the page. Example, www.FamilyGardenTrains.com actually used to point to the train part of my business web site - www.btcomm.com/trains. Which is easier for you to remember?

If you want something more professional than the 3-4 page "home-grown" web site I described above, you may have to pay someone to build the framework, and then show your club web person how to keep it updated and add new member galleries, "how-to" articles, and so on. Remember, the more content that visitors bookmark, come back to, link to, and tell their friends about, the better placement you'll get in the search engines. Which, in turn, makes it more likely someone down the street from you will find your page if they try googling things like "garden railroad club detroit" (or wherever).

By the way, this is a hint to clubs that make their newsletters "members-only," you're actually hurting yourselves in this area (unless your newsletter really suck). If nothing else, go back through your stash and look for useful articles you could put on the web in HTML format, rather than "hiding your light under a bushel."

One other hint, for wannabe webmeisters: Use thumbnails on your gallery page that expand to fairly high-resolution "blowups" when folks click on them (Get to know the "target=new" parameter). More and more folks today have high-speed internet and higher-resolution monitors, so those small, low-rez photos folks were posting in "galleries" a decade ago are nowhere near as impressive (or useful) today as a good 800x600 high-rez photo. At the same time, try to use a jpeg compression setting that keeps the photo size under 200K if possible, as long as it doesn't go so fuzzy as to be useless. Yes, it does cost money - I have been paying a lot more for bandwidth and hard drive space, since I started publishing high-rez photos - but it's worth it if it keeps growing the club and growing the hobby.

Conclusion

I don't have the bandwidth to do a bunch of web sites for free, or even for a "reasonable" fee. But if you have general questions about garden train web sites that might be of interest to your fellow readers or other club members, please get in touch and I'll try to respond.

Enjoy your trains, and especially enjoy any time you have with your family this season.

Best of luck,

Paul Race

familygardentrains.com

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