Rhett, I hear you and I won't go into what it costs the sponsoring group to stage the meets and what happens if they don't make a few bucks. Conventions are expensive to set up-in fact National Railway Historical Society has had so much difficulty finding local chapters to sponsor them that the National has had take on the responsibility more & more in recant years. I went to the very first NASG convention in KC many years ago. I didn't think I should spend the money but my wife insisted. Since then I have probably averaged attending every 3 or 4 years. When I went to that first convention I had met one other S'er face to face. For me, at least, the greatest value has not the model railroading; it has been getting together with old friends and meeting new ones. And going to the convention is the best way to do that. Hopefully you will be able to try it and will have a wonderful time. Chuck Porter
----- Original Message ----- From: rhettgraves To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:10 AM Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} NASG Annual Convention --- In [email protected], "Tom Hawley" <t.haw...@...> wrote: > I have in front of me the registration form for the 2009 Convention in St > Louis, 4-9 August 2009. It says non-NASG member add $20, includes 1 year > membership. So don't worry about it, just include the extra twenty beans > and you'll be a member. WOW!! I know economies of scale dictate that an S scale convention will be more expensive than a general model railroading convention. If I'm adding this up right, the convention (for my wife and I) will cost: $20 for NASG membership $55 for registration $30 for spouse registration So I'm at $105 before I even set foot in the door. Add in the layout tours, the banquet dinner and a couple of the additional tours and we're over $300 before lodging and travel. I think this may shed some real light on why S scale appeals to an older crowd and why growth in S scale is marginal. My wife and I are in our 30's, we have no children (yet), and we're comparably well-off. Yet this trip is borderline cost-prohibitive for us. For young folks in their 30's with kids, it's likely a non-option. These costs might be easier for an "empty nester" to swallow, which likely explains the aged demographic in the hobby. I'm not complaining, just suffering some "sticker shock". Rhett Graves [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
