Finding the WW&F on Facebook

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

The Sunday post is a look at projects and operations over the previous week.  Have a look to see who had a "hot time".

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

The Sunday post has news photos from the Ice Cream Social, shop floor project and a special charter last week with a group from Texas.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Today we posted a short video titled:  "Yard Tour on RC4"  If you've never seen the south yard from the railcar, now's your chance.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

The Thursday post features a look at our recent purchase of an historic brass oiler for #10.  Just as we were fortunate to find a rare antique for #9, another rare unit came up for sale this year and a number of dedicated members pooled funds to bring the oiler to Sheepscot. This will be a nice addition to #10 to help apply oil in hard-to-reach places.   

[Bill Reidy]

That's a great photo essay on the lubricator, Stewart.  Typical of the content you post on Facebook.  Thanks!

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Our "Backward Glance" tonight features a view of the WW&F trestlework in Wiscasset circa 1965.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

The Thursday post is a look at some of the on-going projects as well as the first published photos of a new critter.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Well, we did it.  We now have 4,500 people following our facebook page.  Thanks to everyone who promotes the on line resources of the WW&F.

[Ed Lecuyer]

May I offer a challenge - not directed to the Facebook team, but to all of us.

4500 is an impressive following, considering that just a few years ago we had no real facebook effort whatsoever. Can we all try to promote our railroad further with our circle of Facebook friends? To put it in perspective, Maine Narrow Gauge RR & Museum has 6150 followers; Boothbay Railway Village has 5470 - can we do better?

I quickly checked some "big names" in railroad museum facebook pages - Steamtown: 17,300; Combres and Toltec: 31,800; Strasburg RR: 67,300; and Edaville has a whopping: 88,290! This is not to discourage us, but show what can be possible.

Of course, much of this is visitor driven; but more followers create more visitors, which in turn create more followers...

We could also use more reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp, if you are so able. Please be unbiased when writing reviews.

[Mike Fox]

Look at all those though. There are more standard broad guage fans than narrow gauge, and far more Thomas fans than that. We have a following that is either following because they love the RR, love the Museum, are local, or just love trains. 4500 is a very inpressive number. Turn that number into actual members and supporters, and you will have something. And also need a new Membership Secretary ?

[Bob Holmes]

Mike, I know you've done an amazing job as Membership Secretary.  I also suspect your talents are better focused in the future on ROWMOW, etc.

SO, please give us a senses of what the Membership Secretary job entails (in some detail including # of hours per week).  Does it have to be locally based?

That would give the rest of us some order of magnitude of what needs to be considered if one would be interested.

Thanks.

[James Patten]

The Membership Secretary reports to the Treasurer (me).  The job entails tracking donations from members and non-members; setting up memberships; mailings for thank-yous, new members, reminders for renewals, and ding letters for delinquents; sending member addresses to our newsletter publisher for printing on the newsletters; and reporting the donations/etc to the Treasurer for recording.

Later this year I am hoping to move our membership software online, so that duties could be split between individuals (ie, split the list in pieces).  I think Mike usually spends about 5-8 hours/week on it (I'll let Mike tell you the exact amount) most weeks, except in September when the annual fund drive drops and volume increases 10-fold.  This is where having the software online would be most helpful.

Having a local-based person is nice, because you can talk face to face with the Davises (who get and sort the mail), myself, and others.  I would be OK with someone based in New England, but further than that I think it would get more difficult.  I think you need to be a somewhat proficient typist (even of the hunt-and-peck variety), organized, and not uncomfortable around computers.

[Paul Uhland]

Hey...somebody definitely needs to relieve Mike of his duties as Membership Secretary. Besides long-time duties as a local volunteer fireman, and family man, he is a prolific project planner, mechanical inventor/fixer, equipment operator, culvert fix supervisor, problem-solver and government negotiator at WW&F, MORE than enough responsibilities.
  
Good to hear museum membership details will be computerized soon, will definitely streamline and hopefully simplify keeping track, so to speak, of us supporters by the "new" guy.  

[Ed Lecuyer]

4500 is a very impressive number. Turn that number into actual members and supporters, and you will have something.

I wasn't trying to downplay what we have achieved - and I admit it may be unfair to compare us to many of those operations. (I remain shocked at Edaville's Thomas-Land's numbers, though.) I was just trying to raise the point that getting us known on all "social media" platforms (Facebook, TripAdvisor, Yelp, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) is something that anyone can do, and it has a direct bottom line effect on our museum's visibility.

I'm also reminded of the various shopping sites (Amazon Smile, iGive, Goodshop, and others) that donate portions of their sales back to non-profits. We are signed up with all of them (and may be adding a new one.) This is "free money" for the museum by using those sites, and it doesn't cost the user anything extra.

And this is coming from someone who doesn't have a Facebook account 

[Paul Uhland]

Points of comparison...larger Cumbres & Toltec employs many more people than WW&F, has an official, active, volunteer support group of hundreds that do annual maintenance and restoration of buildings and mostly non-revenue rolling stock, has several clerks running their reservation department,  pays fulltime steam loco and car mechanics at two terminals, maintenance crews are out on the 64-mile route during the C&TS May-to-October season.

But...their government-mandated, bi-state commission has not learned to direct their short-term ad people to where C&TS's larger market lies: a hot, humid summer Texas, Arizona,  instead of sparse locals, and riders from a Colorado area loaded with standard and narrow gauge trains.  
Mediocre ridership remains static.