Railfest 2010 at Steamtown

I was contacted recently byMark Brennan, Chief of Visitor Services & Public Affairs at Steamtown in Scranton about our club doing a train display for their Railfest 2010 Event.. Railfest is on September 4th & 5th, Labor Day weekend this year and is a celebration of passenger railroading past and present. Steamtown is part of the National Park Service and is a major Mecca in the world train museums so for them to invite us to participate in one of their biggest events of the year is pretty special.

I really want to see us do this but it's going to take some work. I don't have all the details yet but I'm hopping we will be able to come in Friday to set up. We will need to transport our tables and MOCs so we will need to rent a trailer (if some one is available to pull it) or truck. Since this is in Scranton and a bit far away for some of us (2 1/2 hours for me) driving back and forth isn't a great option. So a place to stay while in town for the weekend needs to be explored. And most importantly we need people there to help set up and man the display. It's great if you can contribute MOCs but if I'm the only one there to set up and run things there is now way I could make it happen. I need your help.

This is a great opportunity for us to get out in front of the public and add to our portfolio. It would be really great to do a display more local to us. Sure it's nice to do the LEGO conventions but this is a personal invitation by Steamtown (a part of the National Park Service). You don't get that kind of thing often. I want to make this happen.

If you can help please let me know as soon as possible.

Cale Leiphart
PennLUG

Obviously I live in Scranton and will be there to help set up. I can't help tear down on Sunday, September 5th, due to previous commitment. That being said, I am teaching a MIDI guitar clinic Sunday afternoon and my band is playing Sunday night in Scranton if you guys would like to attend :-D

As far as hotels, my cousin manages a hotel. I will see if I can get us a discount rate for the weekend. The Radison and Hilton are both in downtown but too expensive. There is a Clarion nearby too. The hotel my cousin manages is the Sleep Inn in Dunmore, around the corner from our house.

As far as other details, Steamtown is connected to the mall so everything we would need is nearby including a decent food court. Other than that pizza places, and fast food are very close by.

- Dudley

I am very interested, but I have to see how work pans out over the next few months. Truck repairs and a slow winter plus 3 LEGO shows this years have drained us a bit dry. I'm really think probably though. Let you know closer to summer.

I would really love to get in on this. I'm glad we have plenty of time to work out the details. I should be able to go up and man the displays, so long as I can get a ride somehow. I'd certainly be fine with staying somewhere up there for the weekend. Bu then I should have a few more trains to contribute as well!

I'm thinking about trying to get a few local companies to sponsor PennLUG for the event. Then we can use that money to pay for lodging, transportation, food, etc ... for club members.

Anyone against this idea? Or does it effect our club status if we get sponsors for an event?

- Dudley

Nothing wrong with sponsors for an event. Just as long as they aren't going to take control of the club hehe.

Evil Jack wrote:Nothing wrong with sponsors for an event. Just as long as they aren't going to take control of the club hehe.

Sponsors could be good. Some sponsors may want some kind of recognition. Do we want to have corporate banners? Would sponsors want us to put up flyers or have flyers for the public to take? Would a sponsor be satisfied with a few 8.5"x11" sheets thanking them or perhaps stating something like:

"Hotel accommodations and other amenities provided by” then list the company’s logo(s).

However, some sponsors might want bigger logos or "top billing" when listing sponsors if they paid more than another sponsor. This is assuming we can get more than one sponsor per event. (If we're going to dream there is no harm in dreaming big...)

On the surface it may be a good thing to get sponsors but we should discuss what concessions the club is willing and not willing to make for sponsors.

Just my thoughts - you can take'em or leave'em...

Mike Tighe

q

Before we take on any sponsors, shouldn't we be an official organization for legal reasons. As far I understand it now, we are just a bunch of folks who get together and build LEGO. I wouldn't want to see anything go wrong for being naive. This kind of goes back to previous conversations about taxes, fund raising, the sale of t-shirts, etc. I mean it's one thing to get set up a few space ships or trains on a table somewhere, but it might be an entirely different issue if we were to start taking on corporate sponsorship like TRU or restaurants. They may need official forms filled out for their tax purposes as well. Remember, this sort of advertising is a tax write off no matter how small. We have a small business and these are things that we come across often. An accountant maybe be someone to consult on this too. Ours helps us with all of this (for a price).

I know BrickFair is looming large at the moment and most every one is concentrating on that but we do have this one coming up in september. So is any one still interested?

Cale

Hey Cale, I know Kyle and I are going to be there, and we are working on two curves! We can talk about ideas this weekend!

I'm there as well and so is my port, if we can get it up there.

I will be there with you on Friday morning and day to help set things up. Let's talk more about room rates and other expenses this weekend or at BrickFair.
See you then.

I can probably be there Sat and Sunday, Sept 4 & 5, but not Friday unless all my schools are off, which is doubtful, because if I have any public school, they have school on Fri. I don't have my run yet, so I don't know what schools I will have, but I usually end up with both public and private ones.

Unfortunately my cousin no longer manages the hotel I mentioned. I'm sure we can still get a group rate from a local hotel. Maybe we can ask the people running the Steamtown event for some guidance on this, they may already have a group rate at the nearby Hilton or Radison.

I just contacted Mark Brennan from Steamtown to inquire into seeing if there is a group discount for groups such as ours that are setting up displays at Railfest. I left him a message, I will let you know when I get a call back.

- Dudley

Do we have a standard press release we send out regarding club information and such? Mark Brennan is asking for club information so they can use it in Press Releases concerning Railfest.

- Dudley

I will gladly bring my santa fe sets f-7 A-B-B-A with with 14 cars and some rolling stock 5 box cars 4 octon tankers the older ones
also I have the emerald night with 4 coachs I power it thru the tender with a 9 volt motor