International could be Joe's

next publishing barrier to break down. Think about the exchange of ideas that would be possible.

Aren't We There Already?

Many of the members of the forum are posting from overseas already, with the basic focus being on US prototypes.  But we still see non- North American prototypes showing up to the great pleasure of the modeling crowd.

I think half are from outside US

international

MRH has been international from day 1

MRH has been international from day one, with almost 40% of our readership outside the US.

Because  you can get us over the wire, near instant access is possible when a new issue is released. Paper magazines can take weeks or months to get delivered outside the US.

Being international has always been true with our readership - and as we continue to grow (~105,000 unique device reads in Feb) I fully expect to get more authors from those ranks.

I'd love it!

I'm a big fan of European style model railways--especially British. Looking at paper magazines like Railway Modeler have influenced the style of railroad I'm currently building. I love the focus on smaller layouts built to a high level of quality. Bring on the Euro modelers!!

MRH big in France

I am french and a big fan of US model trains. I can then assure you that MRH is very big in my country for all of us who are looking for news and tips about our favorite hobby. 

vive le MRH!

Potential is there

The question I would ask is what are you aiming for?

Will this be based on North American prototype and modeling only. Meaning people from around the world that (a) speak english (b) model North American (US + Canada) prototype or (c) US prototype only.

You know there is a huge world out there that model anything but North American model rail road.

Are you thinking of taping into this as well?

*European

*East-European

*Scandinavian

*Asia

*African

*Australian

*South American

Keep in mind there’s a big internet community out there that have their own on-line magazine (not necessarily like MRH - the one I know are based on print magazine) and forum that is based on specific countries, language, era, and Rail Road type.

Being an internet based forum and magazine you are already accessible worldwide but only to people who are english speaking and interested in North American RR. Are you planning to have various sections in various languages to represent the above?

Just curious

Addendum

Forgot to mentioned, hypothetically speaking, let say you go after the European market, European specific modeling etc. how will you approach the target audience?  We all know that US based modelers tends to shy away from non-US prototype modeling/forum.  So you would need ( I think) a break even number of people to make this work. Will you recruit editors in these specific market/languages?  More specifically will you have various tab at the top of the home page for various version : North American, European etc..

Just my $0.01/4

...

Tue, 2013-02-26 23:57 — joef

But here's the crux of the issue: I could not imagine the present MRH team producing not one but TWO publications.  They would die!  Number one, they'd have to be experts in subjects they don't know - which flies right in the face of what makes a good editor!  Second, there would be a new bucket of fish to think about too, such as language translation support, to throw on top of the PDF/fontsize/pagenumber/loading time issues.  Futher, the language barrier between authors and potential advertisers would be an issue, as too would be the currency barrier, seeing as how local European companies would probably prefer to pay or their advertisements in euro or pounds.

So rather then adding more sections to MRH, I sense that in the future an "MRH: International" publication would make good sense.

Hence, this new publication would require a subsequent team of individuals, preferably a Publication Manager and an Editor who lives in Europe and thus is able to handle this "European Office."  I'd imagine this ideal individual would be bi or perhaps even tri [quatra?] lingual, something like that would be a huge benefit.  By and large, though, they'd be well educated in publishing and have the marketing know-how and commercial experience to pilot such a endeavor -  they'd be someone like Joe... but on that side of the water... and interested in flying the MRH masthead.

I realize this would be a tall order, but the trick to finding these people is to start thinking about it now, so that when the right person does walk in the door [or you happen to meet them at a convention or an ops session], it's not "I never thought about doing that, and I'm completely unprepared to entertain the thought" but rather, "I've thought about it, and though I'm not desperate to jump on it right this instant or right this year/decade, if the right mind walked through that door, we'd discuss it, and if we were the right personality match, we'd do it!!"

Kalmbach, for instance, had such an opportunity 5-10 years ago, but they were not ready to embrace the idea.  So the idea walked, and now that idea is Number 2 in the industry.  How does the father ensure the sins of his father do not begret his sons?

Anyhow, it's just a thought...I suppose the first goal is still "Surpass MR in Unique hits" and that is a good goal, but once that's done...then what?

MRH international?

I would think that having sections of MRH in languages other than English might be unworkable.  I don't see problems with showcasing modeling on different continents in an English format, though.  I don't think MRH would ever replace, for example, a Spanish or Portuguese journal or forum for South American prototype.  It's too far removed from both the subject matter and the audience.  MRH might be a good way to expand the horizons of the English speaking modeling world in a general sense, while leaving the detailed examination of foreign prototypes to those better equipped to deal with it.

I have thought about starting a blog on my German prototype efforts, thinking that people could take it or leave it that way.  If there's some interest in articles on that subject, I could direct some energy in that direction--once I find enough energy to get started on the project in the first place...

...

MRH as it is would perhaps be unworkable in other languages - but that's only because MRH was not designed perhaps to support more than one laguage.   Now if we look at the German Railroad Forum thread, we see lots of people using Google translate to digest this "newly" discovered content.  This is a "big hammer" method, and it works well. 

A more planned approach would perhaps have the article written in one language, and then translated to the various languages as it is determined necessary, or to aid Google translate in making the best translation possible.  For some of us, this would be a rather monumental undertaking, but for those who are naturally fluent in multiple languages, this is a relatively easy task.  Granted, their translations might not be "perfect" work, but a once over by a copy editor in that native tongue after the translator has finished it and most of the errors should be contained.

I'd think an MRH International copy would be to the hobby worldwide as MR is to modelers on a national basis.  It wouldn't be ideal for the diehard of one specific prototype, but it would be widely popular for how often somethign does come upthat is of interest.  If it was served up on the same platform, if enough advertisers could be found, I can't imagine the purists complaining Too much about their pet country not being represented enough...

Jurgen, as far as your efforts go modeling a german prototype, I think you should go for it!  Build it and they will come!!

An international devotee

It's a small world ...

Just wondering what a 'European Editor' would have to write about, each country has a healthy local market, mostly h0 and N scale.

As a Dutchman I know a wee bit about German modeling, a lot about British model railways and next to nothing about the French, Italian or Nordic model fraternity. From the odd picture I see from these places there are really good layouts over there !

Looking at it from an other angle, MRH is looking for a Narrow Gauge Editor, could this be someone from Europe ?

I model in On30, get most of my supplies by mail from the US and the Internet allows me to keep touch with new developments, and lets me tap into the grapevine ...

Guess in that respect I'm not that different from a fellow On30 modeler in, say, Hobart, Oklahoma.

cheers, Leo

International Narrow Gauge Editor

Well, the good new there is the introduction of the various breeds of narrow gauge to most North Americans, as  I remember from long stay in Germany, the locals had HOe, HOm, HOn3 and HOn42.  HOe is the use of N gauge track for Feldbahn (Military narrow gauge lines of WWI) HOm was the use of TT gauge track for meter gauge railroads, like the Radhiser (?) Bahn in Switzerland.  The HOn42 was the Colonial Gauge used by the Brits and others.  Europe has lots of smalspurbanhn lines with real character.  I know that frankly, I loved the fact that on any given weekend I could drag along some American friends and go with my German friends and enjoy a delightful weekend behind steam of our choice.  I was also impressed by the number of narrow gauge lokies with US whistles. For the folks who are tired of everything being D&RG narrow gauge, Europe is a breath of grand diversity.

How about starting small?

Instead of giving Joe yet more work to do, how about the membership encouraging more international participation in the forum, especially Weekend Photo Fun (which doesn't require much English)?  It may be initially a task for existing European, South American, etc., members to work on their local contacts, but if the interest is actually there it will build on itself.

David

Point taken David

and a very good point you have !

cheers, Leo

Language

I don't believe it is necessary a multi - language platform for MRH to reach international audience. As Joe Fugate pointed ou 40% of the readers are from outside US, granted some of those are British, Australian or any other english-speaking country, but most speak english as a second language. And we don't complain about having to read in other language. What would really make a difference is the content. Each country has different modelling prototypes and culture. I would like to read about how people model in Britain, Germany, Japan or Australia. I would not like to read it in german or japanese, for I can't read them. But the theme is global, we try to recreate reality in scale. Each one has different realities. As for the advertisers much of the stuff i bought for my german prototype comes from US shops (DCC system, decoders, even sound decoders, scenery materials), therefore for an american business other coutries are also a market.

Google translate in making

That is a flaw tool trust me   I tried it a few times and it made no sense - mostly -

MRH being international

When I say MRH is international, I am speaking of readership, not content. MRH's content focus is North American railroading, and to the degree that non-US readers are interested in this content, then great. Our focus is not non-North American Railroading.

That said, we are not opposed to running an occasional non-North American railroading article, especially if it's modeling techniques that transcend geography.

There's so much that can be done in this space once we get to our intended HTML5 goal and can move beyond PDFs. For example, in an HTML5 format, it's fairly easy to provide a translate this page button that a reader could click and get an automated translation. Granted, an automated translation would be rough, but generally it's quite functional.

There's just so many more things that become possible once we move back to a mainstream format like HTML5. It's on the roadmap, and once we have tested it to our satisfaction we will start offering it as an option to PDF.

I have to agree with

Daniel Kramer. One possibility might be columns oriented toward different areas of interest like British or South African or Asian. They could cover shows and gatherings within their area of specialty as well.

i don't get it

I really don't understand some of the criticisms on some comments here. As I wrote earlier, I am french and I am modeling US trains. But I also use british, french and german stuff like kits or rails or whatever. My point is, of course when articles are about locomotives or rolling stocks they're all american, but when it's about kitbashing or weathering for example, every modelers in the world can appreciate the articles and use the tips given.

Also about the advertising, american brands like bachmann or walthers or even bar mills, you can find and order them online or sometimes find them in french hobby shops.

The only limit of MRH is the language. But, even if my english is really far from being perfect (and i apologize about that if my little comment has a big amount of grammar mistakes), it is good enough for me to read and understand all the articles of this magazine. And so it is for many european readers.

I forgot what www stood for!

I haven't read through this entire thread.

That being said I remember Joe asking for contributions from international modelers almost from day one of MRH.  I think as with domestic content, the limits to the content of MRH is entirely due to the limitations of what the publisher receives from the readers.