Analysis of Easter Eggspress crowds

[James Patten]

This is an attempt to get feedback on what people think may have made our Easter Eggspress a record event for riders.

We followed the normal advertising routine this year: press releases in all local newspapers, from Rockland to Brunswick and Augusta; flyers in local stores.  I don't think we did any print advertising.

* It was a gorgeous, relatively warm day.  But we've had nice, relatively warm Eggspresses before.
* However this was almost as early at Easter can get, in March.  March trains don't always do that well.

About two weeks before the event we mentioned it on our Facebook page, and had a number of follows (is that the right term?).  Do you think Facebook made the difference?

[John McNamara]

Did we have any entries in the "How did you hear of us?" column in the visitor register?

-John

[Stephen Hussar]

Better economy, perfect spring day, etc. Also a number of people I spoke with mentioned
how much fun they had at Victorian Christmas...

Great job to everyone who made it happen!!

Stephen

[Steve Zuppa]

A number of people I spoke to thanked the Museum for putting this on as it was a fun, wholesome family activity that was affordable. Charging everyone children's prices is part of that.I've always maintained that we would rather make friends than money because if you make the first, the second follows. 

[Mike Fox]

Also, every year more and more people show up. This may be related to word of mouth. I think I can narrow it down more than Steve. Keep the mothers happy, they tell their friends, their friends try it, they tell their freinds. If you upset the mother, it is less likely that family will be back. We have been blessed with great help for these, a significant amount of planning and prep, and some luck with the weather. This has all combined to another great event that the museum has proven it can put on.

  Lets continue to build on it, make the necessary infrastructure improvements we have been, and enjoy the happy crowds.

[Bill Reidy]

I think the last three posts hit it on the head -- family-friendly events that are fun for both kids and parents, and are reasonably priced.  The Museum has done a great job building both the Victorian Christmas and, now, the Easter Eggspress events.

I did a news search last week (news.google.com) and saw two newspapers online listing the event, so I know the press releases helped get the word out.  We also posted the event with flyer on wwfry.org a few weeks earlier.

[Jonathan B. Smith]

Agreed with comments of "all of the above" + there are many who return having enjoyed a previous experience, an ever building progression.  Also, the press annoucements I saw were above and beyond a simple listing on a calendar, ie, an additional press release article or more.  Perhaps WW&F is experiencing increased recognition/support from media.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

You may have a point about the media JB but I spoke to a number of people who were making their first visit.  One time there were about 20 people sitting in the open car waiting for the train to take them back to Sheepscot.  A lady told me how much fun she had and I asked her how she heard about us.  She replied that she saw the brochure at Owls Head TM and this was her first visit.  I then told her about other events such as the Ice Cream Social and Victorian Christmas. Other folks in the car turned around to listen to the conversation and I asked if anyone had been to VC.  Only two of them had.  One fellow thanked me for the info and loaded our website into his iphone.  I spoke to some other folks who I saw at VC and they knew about the Easter trains from the website and the posters we spread around Mid Coast businesses.

Stewart

[Marcel Levesque]

I agree with Steve and Mike.  The museum has been doing better and better each year.  Supplying a great time that is affordable is an important hit with the public.  The musuem offers an all around family event that is a great time for all ages.  A definate blast from the past that touches all the visitors in their own individual way.  Not only do the moms like it, but I am sure that all of the children do an outstanding job at telling all of their friends and classmates about the fun time they had at the egg hunt.  The events are having a direct impact as with the general public begins to recount the past visits to our events and are begining to make them an annual tradition.  That is an important ingredient in the recepe for success.  Alot of people also believe in the buy and support local idea.  With tight economic times this works to our advantage and the musuem grows even more.  i, too, can also attest to speaking with people and they tell me how they have been to the museum before and how much of a good time they have.  I am sure Harry is pleased.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Marcel put it well, repeat visitors are one of our best marketing tools. Each event they come to gives them a different but enjoyable experience.  Keeping the moms happy and entertaining the kids is a big thing.  I don't think it detracts from our mission statement of education, but gives us the vehicle (no pun intended) to present a historical steam railroad with all the early 20th century trappings. Kids still see engine 10 and coach 3 while traveling to AC to hunt for eggs or to have an ice cream. 

Regarding James original question about Facebook. I'm not on fb but have knowledge of how it operates. To set this up, the people who see WW&F updates and announcements on Facebook are the ones who "follow" the museum's facebook page.  This means they have linked the museum's page to their own page which means they already have knowledge of the  WW&F.  Some are previous visitors, some are members  and some are railfans.  Either way - new messages/posts about events are a way to tell people what we are doing and what events are coming up.  Facebook users can then "like" and /or share our updates with their friends which helps spread the information.  I know it sounds a bit strange to non Facebook users but it is a good way to get the word out.  The more traffic we have on fb then the more followers will know.  It all comes back to serving our repeat guests so they tell their friends about the railroad.  Facebook is just one more way and it's a rapidly growing medium.

Stewart  

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

It would appear that the WW&F is becoming another Edaville RR (the original one), which became a "traditional" place to take the kids... especially at Christmas. Not a bad thing.

Richard

[Ed Lecuyer]

"Like" Stewart, I am not a Facebook person.

However, I do think that we could do much more in terms of "Social Media" marketing. This would include a strong Facebook presence, as well as other online groups (local moms, event calendars, etc.) We could probably leverage our photo and video talents (both professional and amateur) to do more with YouTube and the various photo sharing sites.

I already have us listed in volunteering sites for Maine, as well as 3 fundraising search engines (both of which have generated some, but not significant, response.) I think we need more of these sorts of efforts. The issue is who is willing to tackle this?

[James Patten]

I signed up on Facebook this year for the sole purpose of being able to administer our facebook page.  I think Mark Edry was the original admin.

I added a notice about the Eggspress a couple of weeks before it happened in it, and thanked everyone on Monday or Tuesday.

I'm planning to aggressively use it this year for marketing purposes and seeing what happens.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

James,

It's good that you are posting on Facebook, it's gotta help bring in the fb subscribers.  Another social media system is Twitter and I think we should consider setting up an account.  There are lots of people getting tweets from friends, businesses, etc and we could make use of it sending event tweets to the WW&F group.  I know it's one more thing that a member would have to do but if it's limited to special events it wouldn't be that much.  I'm not that familiar with Twitter but I know it is widely used by folks who do social media and tweets can be sent from a smart phone.  Hundreds of people can recieve a tweet message from one person.  Tweets are short messages that can incude a photo.

You guys know that I prefer tube radios and rotary dial phones but we have to keep pace with new media technology that will help get the museum's message out.  At least the guests won't see us using modern equipment at the railroad.

Stewart      

p.s. Another message option ... Burma Shave style signs along Rt 1

[Jason M Lamontagne]

I agree with all the takes given above but I feel another important factor is the simplicity of the event.  Ride a steam train to an Easter egg hunt, find the golden egg.  There are other factors, but our spring event didn't start taking off until last year when we gave it a clear, family fun theme.

Just a thought,
Jason