NMRAx: Digital Opportunities to grow the hobby, by Gordy Robinson

Personally, I have never been so engaged and busy with my hobby than I have in 2020.  With lockdowns and stay in place orders beginning to take effect across the globe the world as we knew it has changed.  A popular manufacturer recently said that the past 6 months have felt like the Christmas rush and the virtual & physical shelves of hobby stores have been emptied quicker than the toilet paper aisle at the grocery store. 

However Model Railroaders enjoy one of the few hobbies you can do when locked in your home, suddenly finding the time to catch up on all those projects we had been putting off.  As members of the NMRA we know how important it is for us to socialise and share our knowhow with each other.  Unless you are lucky enough to live with a family of model railroaders it’s still simply impossible to meet face to face indoors without restrictions.

So, it has been encouraging to see the digital transformation that has changed how we interact in the workplace and at home, hands up who actually spoke so frequently with none local model railroaders or distant friends and family before March?  Nevermind doing that on Zoom or some other virtual medium.

Just as in our “real lives” the NMRA has seen a growing number of Regions and Divisions move their events online.  In fact the new catch phrases of the world and the NMRA truly are “can you see my screen yet?” and “I can hear you, can you hear me?”.  Just like when we do anything for the first time, we have all picked up some skills I think 6 months ago we might have said were beyond us.

Although those in the LSR were fortunate enough to hold their 2020 Regional Convention, a number of local and national NMRA conventions elsewhere have been cancelled due to the impact of the pandemic, so I decided it was time to launch NMRAx.  The program was conceived a few years ago following the Orlando 2017 NMRA convention.  Being primarily designed to support the digital transformation of the organisation at local and national levels.  A small team of NMRA members including Speed from the LSR, Brad & Martyn from the Australasian Region and myself, Gordy Robinson from the British Region have provided a number of virtual conventions to replace those lost throughout the spring and early summer. 

These events were streamed live to Facebook and YouTube with the videos available after the event for on-demand viewing.  Over 200 hours of clinics, layout tours and live Q&As with MMR®s have been added to the NMRA YouTube channel since April 2020.  We have also had members of the LSR provide clinics to these events and I’d like to thank all of those who have given their time to the project and I hope their participation encourages more of you to have a go in future.  Highlights of this program being the week long GatewayX during what would have been National Convention week in St Louis and SERx which feature 3 simultaneous live streams over an 8 hour period replacing the South Eastern Regions cancelled 2020 convention. 

All NMRAx events have been free and open to all including non-members, not one cent of NMRA money has been spent to provide these events either. With regions globally showing an increase in membership despite the loss of so many recruitment opportunities this year has really shown the success of NMRAx and moving local meetings online.  NMRAx will continue but now on a less frequent basis as we adjust to a new normal in our lives, however the team are committed to monthly content with longer events taking place once per quarter.  The team are also actively in discussions with NMRA Regions and Divisions to support digitising other face-2-face events that would have taken place in 2020.