...

I do believe the NMRAx movement has been the most significant development related to the NMRA ever since the organization opened up a web domain and put their standards online.

The gatekeepers can hold back the masses no more; you get to see what everybody wants to share.

Instead of saying "You have to be a member in order to get X Y Z," you get "if you enjoy this, you might join."

It's fun.

Nice work, Gordy.

NMRAx ?

I'm still trying to figure out why I'd need this and why MRH would be promoting something that seems to compete for their web traffic?  Maybe I'm too easy to please but I find all the input and info I need right here in the magazine,TMTV, and the forum. We seem to have at least one person knowledgeable in any subject that might pop up. I've never failed to get an answer to my questions so really don't see any need to go looking for more things to spend time on as my layout construction progress already suffers from a lack of available time. . ..DaveB

NMRAx on Youtube is good, on FB less so

The videos from NMRAx don't really compete with anything on either TMTV or MRVP, it's more that they can be additional material to watch. 

I've enjoyed watching many of the NMRAx clinics on Youtube, enough that I joined the Facebook page.  That turned out to be a mistake.  There are a number of what I found to be disagreeable, argumentative people there.  Don't need that.  I certainly don't need to have somebody be a snide jerk when I ask a straightforward question that apparently rustled his jimmies, especially when he wasn't even involved in the conversation.  And it's not that I'm a sensitive flower; you don't last long enough to be retired military if you can't deal with aggravation.

I'll sample the videos now and then; some are good, some need polish.  That's not taking anything away from those who present; I've seen a bunch of horrible business technical presentations, and having taught technical material, I know how difficult it can be for those who don't practise it.  But I don't want to hang out with a bunch of self-righteous clowns, and I've run into similar people at a couple of the regional convention/shows in the past.

Unsubscribed from the FB group, not interested in the organization any more.  Life is too short.

Janet N.

My thoughts

First, I tend to not worry about “competition” when it comes to content online.

Here’s how I look at it: if there’s now more cool content online, now there’s more modelers online. That means we’re now playing in a larger pool than ever. That mindset seems to be holding, MRH has been hitting all-time high traffic levels since the virtual events started showing up online.

I think this pandemic and all the things moving online has lead to a lot of new eyeballs for us. Those eyeballs were always around, just not online. Now they’re discovering online, sometimes kicking and screaming at first, but they’re discovering this online thing has some great free info.

RUDE PEOPLE ONLINE
As for people being nasty online and driving people off, that’s a problem. Being behind a screen and keyboard in general emboldens people to be completely rude and nasty, even making threats - things they would never do in person. Rudeness in a virtual model railroading event setting is a trend we will need to get our arms around.

Unfortunately, it means some strong moderation is needed with no mercy for people who get totally mean and snarky in an online event venue. Making a threat should get you permanently banned.

We almost need to start building an online reputation profile for people and it follows you around for life. If there were bad consequences for being totally mean and nasty online, that would cool their jets.

In a face to face event, those people would be shown the door for acting out or the authorities would be pulled in if threats were made, even in jest. Should be the same online — nasty consequences if you start flaming others.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Some states are starting to put legislation on the table that anonymous posting online be illegal. If you want to post online, you must provide your real name and proof of ID such as a Drivers License or such, or you will be disallowed from posting comments. That should help slow down the rudeness because now we will know WHO you are. No more pseudonyms online if you want to post.

No more pseudonyms online if you want to post.?

  I think that's the exact opposite of the way to proceed. Some folks value their privacy and don't want their name,address, ID ,etc. posted all over the internet. If we discourage anyone from participating we are missing out on possibly valuable knowledge and input. You can moderate fake names just as well as real names and how do you verify someone's submitted info anyway without getting the FBI or other official data base involved in your business? Don't make the cure worse than the supposed disease.....DaveB

...

This would be a huge mistake.  Rudeness aside, there are plenty of disagreeable people who will take a difference in opinion as reason to contact your employer or every other person in your life to harass you over your opinion.  There are further a lot of people who are of the impression that the right to repress speech and free thought only applies against the federal government and we as people and corporations can do it as freely as we like.  These are fun times we live in.

We have always had rude people around us and on the Internet we are in the village square where we effectively get to hear all of them.  Moderation does help quite a bit, keeping it from being personal covers most of the remaining ground.

MRH's stance

Yes, that's some legislation that's currently on the table in some states, so it may become the law of the land if it gains traction.

In the meantime, we're good. But I'm tempted to make one of the consequences you face if you become a trouble-maker on here is we require you to give us your ID and change your handle to your real name if you want to continue to be a member of the forum. No hiding behind a pseudonym or "fictitious" handle if you're going to be rude.

The problem with the internet

The problem with the internet is it's instant. If you wanted to comment on something before the internet you either did it in person to someone next to you or you wrote a letter and sent it. By the time you have found an envelope, found a stamp, and walked out to the mailbox, you will likely have had time to reconsider.

...

I spent 8 years on a college campus, there were places on campus where you could reliably go and hear people saying things that were completely disagreeable and offensive, and it was their protected right to be there and speak.  It was as instant that as we might think of it here online, with about the same number of people participating.

Over the years since I graduated, the public has become increasingly antagonistic against such speakers and more willing to commit acts of violence towards those speaking such opinions they detest versus the public as they were earlier in my program, to the point of physical violence.

Overall, web moderation has been more than sufficient to peace, though it seems we have more and more people of the impression that their privilege to airspace free of things they don't like - to include derision for low level statements - is a free borne right that they should have in all spaces.  Not much we can do about that, except know it exists.

Opinions are one things, factual questions are another

People constantly argue over opinions; goes with a free society, and yes, that  some people's opinions are going to be offensive to other people is a given we have to re-learn to live with.  My gripe is solely with those people who feel the need to respond to a factual question, e.g. "Did the Erie ever run Trainmasters in a consist short end to short end?" with a personal attack when they weren't part of the original conversation.

That was the sole point of why I left the NMRA facebook page.  Not because I felt I was offended by the jerk, but because I don't need free aggravation from some dope that doesn't know me and didn't care for the question and couldn't answer it anyway.  And Facebook is far fuller of those people than most model forums.  But this is far afield from the NMRAx, which is doing great work in trying to attract new people to the hobby in spite of the obstacles some self-appointed "established"  folks are willing to throw in their way.

Janet N.

Back on topic

Did he say anything about the future of NMRA-x, regarding putting it behind the paywall?  I didn’t see any specific comments on that.

Paywall

I asked Gordy about that and I got the definite impression that he was less than pleased with that idea. 

And that's all I will say on the subject. 

I agree with Janet

I have experience with several model railroad forums where the disagreeable people have taken over. Snarky comments, catcalls and name calling were common. It’s not unusual for someone to ask for a take on some older equipment and have the forum highjacked by lengthy diatribes against a particular brand and aspersions cast on anyone that would run that equipment. Usually it will run on for a while but the original poster is long gone. I usually dwell on MRH forums. I occasionally see that happen, even here, but not to the extent of other forums. NMRA was very antagonistic at one time and so were the Kalmbach forums. I avoid both now.

I find it ironic that certain

I find it ironic that certain folks here are seeing snarkiness as an issue at NMRAx. Some of them are why I stopped posting except on very rare occasions (and it continues unabated. It's not pervasive, but it's enough to discourage me and several others I know of from participating). 

As far as NMRAx goes, there are some of the same problems there that plague the NMRA as a whole. The rank-and-file modeler gets very little thought, and even less consideration. If you're not part of the "in" group (MMR's and certain "celebrity" personalities, for the most part) they don't want to be bothered with you. Basically, you're place is as part of the faceless masses. They've even gone so far as to add presenters to their list of clinics (or whatever the current term is) for specific dates. The presenter does the hours of prep work and spends cash to obtain the hardware required to do a web presentation, only to discover they were never scheduled, and never even given the courtesy of being told they were cancelled. They just didn't show up on the agenda. And the officers of the NMRA ignore any complaints.

RicharH is right - the Kalmbach forums used to be very antagonistic, but that was a long time ago. The Model Railroader forums, at least, have cleared all that out (I don't know about the rest of the Kalmbach forums), and are now a friendly place where modelers of any skill level can share their thoughts without ridicule or derision (it simply isn't allowed, and violations are handled with alacrity). More so than any other forums of which I'm aware, including this one.

I probably wasn't clear about things

I never had an issue with the NMRAx presentations - as I said, I've done some technical instruction and I'm aware of the difficulties in putting together a presentation.  I have nothing but respect for the people who've stepped up. Some aren't quite ready for prime time, but everyone has to start  somewhere.  

My issue was solely with the NMRA FB page, where there were some folks who just had to chime in with an opinion to answer a factual question - no opinion required to answer, but a gratuitous insult and a nonsequitor opinion tossed in with no actual content.  Nobody needs that.  I'll just follow the NMRAx presentations on Youtube.

And if I've been snarky on occasion, I apologize.  The last thing I want to do is drive anyone off like those "experts".

Janet N.

Gee I was once in the "inner circle"...

...and i'm a nobody.  It's when I realized that most of my time was being spent volunteering and doing NON-modeling activities most of the time that I resigned my office, and just kept on being a member.  That was 21 years ago.  Back then there were the snooty types on the Board, but there were also several nice good hard working people who listened.  

FWIW,

Ken L. 

I've never been a member of

I've never been a member of the NMRA, partially because I had other places to put my hobby dollar and partly because I haven't always agreed with the way it's run but I have to say the NMRAx has caused me to take a second look and the "trial pass" membership is an attractive option to try it out. I'm leaning towards giving it a shot.

...

What I love about the NMRAx Facebook page is I'm finally seeing and hearing from the rank and file NMRA member.  I have seen more work by NMRA members through that page than through any other previous venue - and yes, heard form more of them too.  Sure, we've seen NMRA member work before, but only the top 10% or so of the show and that's it.  There's more people out there playing trains than that top 10% - why should they have the only spot light???

Everybody likes to be a part of the conversation, hence why everybody chimes in.   

Keep up the great work, Gordy .

My skin is thicker than most

My skin is thicker than most so I am not bothered by the rude twits behind a key board. I have found some on here as well and just do not respond to them or read any of their topics. I have found that there topics are a waste of my time so as I scan down the forum entries I read the topic and look to the right and if it was started by one of the individuals I have issue with I go to the next one. Simple solution and saves me time.

All about NMRA x

I think MRH and NMRAx are mutually compatible, as it is not the same information on both platforms, so rather than being competitive, I think they compliment each other in the more general sense. 

There is now masses of stuff on the digital platforms, and this has played a part in the recent substantial growth in the hobby. While it is all competing for our time, it is also competing against many other alternative hobbies and pastimes too. 

On the separate issue of social media and rudeness, I have watched all of NMRA x and I have not seen much in the way of rudeness in the chat, and when it has appeared, it appears to have been quickly set upon by the Moderators. But this is not the same in many other areas of social media, where it is a difficult subject in lands of free speech, where the moderators are split between wanting as many people as possible to take part, yet not themselves wanting to delete comments or ban people for fear of creating yet more hard feelings and losing site visitors and creating more friction.

Discussion is good. Constructive argument likewise. Not everyone is rude with it, but rudeness is a part of social media (even society itself) and if you use social media, you need to expect trolling and rudeness as part and parcel of the nature of the beast.

Personally, I find it quite amusing, that almost without exception, it is the loser of the argument that becomes more bellicose and rude, the more he or she is losing the argument.  But then, that's life, isn't it. 

Cornhill and Atherton RR - NMRAx - Saturday 27th February

For anyone interested, I'll be presenting a live clinic on NMRAx - "The Art of Urban Scenery" .

Saturday  27th February 15:00 ET

I'll be using my Cornhill and Atherton RR development to illustrate the issues and techniques. 
No doubt it will appear on YouTube at a later date.