Fw: World's Greatest Hobby Newsletter - January 2004

["Steve Wise" <swise@aoot.com>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "WorldsGreatestHobby" <WorldsGreatestHobby@maillist.kalmbachmail.com>
To: <ttat@aoot.com>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 3:37 PM
Subject: World's Greatest Hobby Newsletter - January 2004


> Dear ,
>
> WORLD'S GREATEST HOBBY NEWSLETTER
> January 2004
>
> What's up with the World's Greatest Hobby? The updates come from a
> variety of sources, but we place extra weight on the information
> provided to us from you, our ambassadors. Below you'll find some recent
> success stories as well as other information and updates. - David Popp
> and Jim Riccioli
>
> A newly renovated web page, which debuted Jan. 21, awaits ambassadors of
> the World's Greatest Hobby. It features new easy-to-follow navigation
> giving you quicker access to the ambassadors-only forums and success
> stories, plus a link that allows you to update your personal account
> information more readily. The redesign complements the recent changes to
> the main (public) page.
> For the ambassador's home page, go to:
> http://ambassadors.greatesthobby.com/
> For the public's home page, go to:
> http://www.greatesthobby.com/
> Also, remember that the ambassador's forum is an excellent way for
> ambassadors to share information with one another, particularly
> concerning what works and what doesn't. Try browsing it today and post
> your ideas.
>
> The World's Greatest Hobby is going on tour.
> Beginning this December, WGH's campaign will reach a group of
> specialized train shows at sites yet to be announced. The new program,
> appropriately named the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour, will engage
> prospective hobbyists through family-oriented events filled with
> interactive displays, music, workshops, and contests.
> The Model Railroad Industry Association, which announced the pending
> program in mid-January, is creating the series. Exhibitors at these
> special train shows will be sponsors and supporters of WGH (including
> ambassadors, clubs, and hobby shops) and members of the MRIA and
> National Association of Retail Hobby Stores. Train show promoter CIA
> Incorporated will manage the shows.
> The World's Greatest Hobby on Tour will travel to three to five cities,
> spread across the country, in its first year. The dates are expected to
> be announced sometime before Feb. 1.
> We'll bring more information next issue.
>
> The Boston Globe revolved around the World's Greatest Hobby in a Jan. 11
> feature.
> The piece profiled a number of longtime model railroaders (Ben Merry,
> Richard Nichols, Peter Bryant, Ed McCarthy, Amos "Ace" Cutter, Don
> Herdeg, and John Calder), clubs and organizations (North Shore Model
> Railroad Club, the Salisbury Point Railroad Historical Society, and the
> Wenham Museum), and retailers (Charles Ro Supply Company and North East
> Trains) who served as effective spokesmen and unofficial ambassadors in
> describing the hobby's history and intrigue.
> References included demographic statistics supplied by the WGH campaign
> (including Classic Toy Trains magazine's survey information on how much
> time hobbyists spend on their hobby) and the Model Railroad Industry
> Association. It helped that the metro region is home to Charles Ro
> Supply Company, which the Globe credited as being "a leader in worldwide
> model railroad sales."
>
> WGH's official ambassadors and others coupled their efforts together
> nationally to promote the third annual Take a Model Train to Work Day
> Nov. 14, 2003.
> Joe Bohannon, WGH ambassador no. 1049 and a traveling salesman, put a
> bit of a different spin on the promotion this year. He took his model
> train and a card with WGH info on his sales route. The train, an HO
> scale EMD GP60, was proudly displayed on the dash of his car in parking
> lots at a number of different locations including a Long's Drug Store
> and a Michael's craft store.
> David Metlie helped bring the word to an estimated 400,000 viewers
> watching WPIX in New York that morning, when he was interviewed about
> Take a Model Train to Work Day.
> Stu Schuster, who works in the GM Design Center in Warren, Mich., joined
> his peers in setting up a model display that featured a range from
> vintage Lionel products to ultra-modern Japanese high speed trains.
> However, while Schuster said co-workers enjoyed the informative display,
> he couldn't quite top last year's display. That's when Electro Motive
> (part of General Motors) brought in a real diesel.
> Take a Model Train to Work Day also earned ink in the Milwaukee
> Journal-Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), plus Model
> Railroader editor Terry Thompson spoke to listeners of WTLX in Madison,
> Wis.
> And finally, even your newsletter editors got into the act. David Popp
> (WVIK in Rock Island, Ill., on Nov. 11) and Jim Riccioli (WTAM in
> Cleveland on Nov. 14) discussed the promotion in separate radio
> interviews. We shied away from reading any reviews on such performances,
> however.
>
> WGH's ambassadors and clubs kept the trains running through Christmas
> along various layouts throughout the nation.
> The holiday trains ran full steam at Metrocenter Mall in Jackson, Miss.,
> where the Jackson Society of Model Engineers welcomed visitors to "Metro
> Train Station." The display and station, more than merely promoting the
> hobby, were part of a $10,000 fundraiser for the Mississippi Children's
> Home Society. This holiday tradition in Jackson included another visit
> (on Dec. 18) by David Hartman, WAPT-TV meteorologist, who did a live
> remote weather broadcast for the 6pm news from Metro Train Station.
> At the Hoard Historical Museum in Fort Atkinson, Wis., Keith Randall and
> Gale Puerner kept seven loops of trains (ranging from Lionel Standard
> gauge to Z scale) running for the delight of museum visitors on Dec. 7.
> Keith says his grandson Matthew, now 21, has been helping him with such
> goodwill model railroading ventures since he was 4.
> Newspapers kept holiday trains in the public's eye, too. On Nov. 14, the
> Charlotte (N.C.) Observer profiled the annual holiday layout of the
> Metrolina Model Railroaders club. On Nov. 27, the Baltimore Sun shined
> on the annual holiday layout at the B&O Museum. On Nov. 28, the York
> (Pa.) Dispatch featured both the Model Railroad Club of York and the
> Glen Rock Hose & Ladder Co. layout.
>
> For good measure, the staffs of Model Railroader and Classic Toy Trains
> magazines helped keep trains in the holiday air. MR's Dick Christianson
> (on WBT in Charlotte, N.C.) and Andy Sperandeo (on WICH in Uncasville,
> Conn.) were each interviewed Dec. 16, while Terry Thompson's
> pre-recorded interview aired Dec. 23 on WGTD (Kenosha, Wis.) Meanwhile,
> CTT's Roger Carp made another on-air appearance for the syndicated radio
> call-in show "Calling All Collectors," originated by WSRO in Hudson,
> Mass.
>
> WGH ambassador Jerry Brettschneider was recently presented the Chuck
> Zehner Memorial Award (Chuck was the creator of the Tracks Ahead TV
> series) for his outstanding work in promoting the hobby of model
> railroading.
> Jerry, a life-long model railroader, has been instrumental in starting
> Lionel train clubs in Chicago; Kenosha, Wis.; Milwaukee; St. Louis; and
> Sunnyvale, Calif. (He started the group in Milwaukee in 1947 at age 6!)
> Today all five clubs are doing well - the Chicago club alone has more
> than 400 members!
> Former Model Railroader editor and publisher Russ Larson presented the
> award to Jerry at the Association of Model Railroad Clubs' (AMRC) All
> Star Railroad Night, a monthly meeting open to members of all train
> clubs in the Milwaukee area and held at the Milwaukee School of
> Engineering.
>
> WGH INFORMATION
>
> AMBASSADOR NUMBERS - Your ambassador kits included your own unique
> ambassador number. Please remember to use this number in ordering WGH
> booklets and any other WGH materials, whether by e-mail or telephone,
> and to have your audiences enter it on the feedback cards they fill out.
> This number on the feedback cards will help us to keep track of your
> appearances and to recognize outstanding contributions by individual
> ambassadors. You can e-mail your requests for materials to
> <mailto:customerservice@greatesthobby.com>, or telephone 877-426-5082.
> Please plan ahead and allow at least two weeks for delivery.
>
> ARRANGING APPEARANCES - While the campaign's public relations firm, the
> Rosen Group of New York, continues to publicize the WGH speakers bureau,
> ambassadors can also arrange their own appearances, particularly for
> events that are conveniently close to home. Using the following link,
> you'll find a form letter (a Microsoft Word document) that you can copy
> and add pertinent information. At a minimum you'll need to enter your
> name and address, that of the organization and contact person you're
> writing to, and your own contact information. Note, this link cannot be
> accessed by going to WGH's home page on the website. Cut and paste the
> following address or use the active link enclosed in this e-mail.
> http://www.greatesthobby.com/wgh/doc/FormLetter_ambassador.doc
>
> YOUR FEEDBACK - We'd like to hear from you. Retailers can reach an
> appropriate contact in trade sales, and sponsors have access to program
> leaders. Ambassadors with e-mail and Internet can check out WGH's
> recently redesigned website and participate in a forum set up just for
> them.
> The forum consists of four topic areas: Success stories, sharing
> speaking tips, other promotional activities, and suggestions for
> improving the campaign. The forum is interactive, allowing you to
> comment on other ambassadors' posts, and moderated, allowing us to keep
> the posts on topic. Please tell us about any WGH presentations that you
> make. We'd especially like to share your successes and anything you
> learn with the other ambassadors. Using the forum, we'll try to
> summarize and highlight some of those success stories in future issues
> of this newsletter for all ambassadors, clubs, retailers, and sponsors.
> Ambassadors you can access the WGH forum at
> http://www.greatesthobby.com/wgh/forum/
>
> If you have forgotten your password for access to the ambassadors forum,
> here are the Username = and Email Address=ttat@aoot.com that were used
> for your initial registration. You can use them to get help remembering
> your password by clicking
> http://www.greatesthobby.com/wgh/forum/password.asp
>
> UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION - Ambassadors who need to make changes to
> their registration information can do so online at
> http://www.greatesthobby.com/wgh/dynamic/contactus/form_updateapplication.asp
> When you get to that page, you'll be able to enter changes of address,
> telephone numbers, e-mail, and anything else on the form.
>
> RECRUITING - Grass-roots support efforts have helped spur the campaign
> over the 1,000 ambassador mark. Keep spreading the word about the
> World's Greatest Hobby. The more ambassadors, registered clubs, and
> registered retailers the program has, the better.
>
> WGH LAYOUT - A PDF is now available on the WGH website of the track plan
> and materials list from the WGH "Building Your First Layout" video. It
> can be found on the downloads page at:
> http://www.greatesthobby.com/wgh/default.aspx?c=a&id=84
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> Copyright 2004 Kalmbach Publishing Co.
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