2nd rant on Saturday York

How about we hold it on a3 day weekend?  think about it... let it set in!!!

 you would then attract a younger crowd  who could travel furthur!!!!

At shows like Greenberg's train show in Atlanta they require all vendors to be set up before the doors open to the public at 10 AM and require you to stay until the doors close at 4 PM both Saturday and Sunday. They do not permit any vendor to leave before closing time on either day. This is in bold type on the vendors contract. I guess you could force your way out but then you would never be allowed to return in the future.

I drove 1613 miles in two days to get to York.

Did it in 28 hours of driving.

Bailed out early on Saturday at 11:29am cause I had spent way too much money.

Got to halfway point at 12:45am Sunday morning thanks to a time zone change.

Drove the last 14 1/2 hours to get home at 12:20am York time on Monday morning.

Went to work this morning as usual.

I took a week of vacation to be able to make the trip and enjoy York.

Cut it a little close time wise on the way home.

Just depends on how bad you want to go to York.

BTW, I am a senior citizen and I don't like driving at night either.

I went with no expectations other than the probability of O gauge trains to see and buy.  I filled my 2 seater mini-van as full as logically possible.  My wife was speechless, when I picked her up at the half way point, but as I pointed out, I did have a place reserved for her to sit.

If York was 2 hours away, I would probably make every one of them just to enjoy the event.  Much cheaper than a professional or college sporting event, or maybe even a date night with a movie.

So far I have counted about 47 people commenting on this thread.   If all 47 were to agree that the York train meet is bad and needs to be changed then . . . . WOW you still have a long ways to go in convincing the other 12,500 attendees, much less the ED committee.  I'm guessing that there is in excess of 200 Eastern Division members that put in a lot of hours every six months hosting this event as well.  You need to start lobbying them as well.

BTW, did anyone besides me have a good time ? 

I'll preface this posting with my opinion of "York".  Never been to "York" and probably never will.  It's a closed event to the public,  held for the enjoyment of the members of the group putting it on.

Having said that, I attend the National Farm Toy Show (held the first Fri-Sat-Sun) in November in Dyersville, Iowa.  This show has a similarity to "YorK" in that it is the largest for the farm toy hobby and has the best selection of products for any farm toy show.  It is open to the public, no membership or secret handshake are needed to enter.   It has a waiting list of people wanting to have tables there.  (I waited nearly 20 years to get mine).  

In our show contract it states that early teardown is prohibited.  I've seen it done and "magically" the next year, that table holder was not there.....ever again.  Since this is a 3 day show, people attending on the 3rd day are entitled to the same show experience as those on day 1 and day 2.  If you were going to York for the first time and could only make it on Saturday, should you have a "less than YORK" shopping experience at York because it's the last day of the show?? 

Do vendors sell out?  YES!!!  I had an instance one year where I sold out of toy STEIGER 4wds I had brought with me on Friday.  I went home Friday night,(2 hour drive) loaded up the rest of them and turned in at 1AM. Five hours later I was back on the road to be at the show for the Saturday opening and I sold EVERY ONE that I made the trip back for by Sunday. 

There has been years when I had just a handful of items to sell on Sunday, but I stayed put.  I've waited too long to get tables there to risk losing them with an early exit. 

Does York have any "early exit" clause in their table contract and do they enforce it??  If not, maybe they need to add one.

The work demands some are citing do not end on 3 day weekends.  The "connected to the boss 24-7" phenomena takes no holidays, apparently(or allowance for funerals even, that one was a new low for me to read). 

I'm no where near in that scenario, luckily.  I accrue vacation hours each month, and with notice and approval (less specific events I may be responsible for being at or presenting, etc) I've not normally had any issue taking them.

I know some industries are different in terms of taking a day here or there.  A friend of mine in the financial industry had to on at least one job take his vacation with at least one consecutive 2 week chunk.  That is due to the nature of what he was doing and it made it hard for anyone in the department to modify the books in a way that would not be discovered while they were away.  There may have been some flexibility with the rest of the vacation days (taking a day here or there may have been possible) after the 2 week criteria was met.  The offset for this requirement was that I think he was given 4 weeks of vacation each year, no matter the number of years of service with the company.

-Dave

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Nothing say you have to be there for the opening bell.  If the meet opens at 9 and you get there a noon, where is the problem?

No point for an active collector to go unless they are there for the opening bell. Desirable items move quickly.

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The work demands some are citing do not end on 3 day weekends.  The "connected to the boss 24-7" phenomena takes no holidays, apparently(or allowance for funerals even, that one was a new low for me to read). 

Does the York train meet have to accommodate everybody?
I don't think its even possible to accommodate the work requirements for some of the folks who have posted here.

Another thought on the hours: I would not mind at all if they shifted the show to being on Saturday and Sunday only. Perhaps 8:00 to 5:00 on Saturday, and 8:00 to 2:00 on Sunday. Most of the local one day shows I've attended over the years have been on Sunday. Although the folks promoting the Albany (NY) train meet are scheduling their shows on Satuday. So far attendance has been good.

Not suggesting that at all, just pointing out that the proposed 3 day weekend thing proposed by aterry11 is not a cure-all.

As to your second suggestion on the hours, others will say it fails their needs since they use Sunday for travel/unpacking/etc. to start the work week on Monday, validating the point that no matter what is done, it can't suit everybody.

I intend to just roll with what ED does and not whine about it too much (especially since I'm outside the division and I'm their guest).  I do dislike the early packing up, but not enough that I will stop showing up due to it.

-Dave

Well that's the thing...it can not meet every ones needs, days off, time preferences, etc.  What it does do is a pretty good job of doing the best it can for as many people.

Dave is correct.  We are guest there.  The folks work very hard at delivering the meet.

I had a great time.  And my brother did, too. 

The way it is set up now, time-wise, works out well for us as member table-holders.  The Thursday Noon opening allows us to make the 4-5 hour drive, set up the camper, and get our tables set up before the opening time.  This York, we did it with 10 minutes to spare.

I agree that many table-holders pack up way too early.  I don't, and I sold a good number of items on Saturday.  I can understand why some of them do, though.  And I don't think that strict enforcement of the rules would help, as I think it would just result in more empty tables in the halls, which wouldn't be good for anyone.

Andy

Talk about being crass...

 Also if you're going to quote me, please don't cherry pick what I said by leaving out important context.

"I can't speak for those in the trading halls, but many of us in the Orange hall have large displays/backgrounds/signage as well as merchandise to put away. Also, I personally have sold out of some products on Friday. And as far as the 10-15 empty tables on Saturday, I would say they were empty for the entire show. 

We are not allowed to move stuff out the door until 2 PM on Saturday. And even with some pre-packing, it takes a good 2 hours for me to break everything down and load my truck. Since many of us have long drives ahead, it behooves us to get on the road as soon as possible. Additionally, Saturday is a bust for most of us. After 12 o'clock the sales are few if any. 

York is a major commitment in time, money and energy for vendors. At least for me, that 3 day show entails about 3 weeks of time when all is said and done. 

I understand the frustration for those who can only attend on Saturday but it is what it is. It wouldn't make any difference if the last day was Friday." 

Point of clarification. The general public is very welcome to register and join TCA right at the door. The days of needing signatures of members to vouch for you ended years ago.

York is an experience and I would encourage anyone that has never gone to make at least one trip. Try it once and see what it's all about.

Let me be clear, I had a great time. My earlier post was directed at having to leave early and getting in trouble at work despite using vacation days.

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BURFLE, go Wednesday. You can afford it. I also would like to see a 9am opening on Thursday. I have already talked about it with eastern bigwigs. It's plain stupid to sit around all morning on Thursday waiting for 12 noon.

BURFLE, You missed a great bandit meet at the Wyndham Tuesday & Wednesday.

If you don't drive at night, you must be old.

Eddie:

I make it a practice to never tell someone else what they can or cannot afford.

As for driving at night: if your night vision isn't impaired, then you are a very lucky fellow. Most of the over fifty folks that I know have mentioned having problems seeing at night. Trains are not worth having an accident over. 

ive been to the york meet 4 times ,all with the thurs 12;00 start. its perfect just the way it is now. even with all the complaining,and crying about how its run,if you havent been there ,attend at least once. my 1st time ,i felt like a 10 year old kid on christmas morning..thanks eastern div for having the meet.-Jim

Hey I think the hours are fine, I just want the Saturday crowd to have the same chance to see the show like the everyone else. If that's not possible, then Saturday tickets should be at a discount rate. Then the member has the choice, and understands what he is getting. As for the vendors, I get it, it's a lot to break down, but you signed up for it, your choice, I'm sure you made some cash...no-one twisted your arm to be there, when your trying to go through and your being pushed aside for people pushing carts and boxes out, it's a little frustrating.

Yes, and for modular groups...if you are on the schedule, and don't show up, don't bother trying to get on the schedule in the future. Space is usually limited, and other modular groups may have been turned down because of you.

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At shows like Greenberg's train show in Atlanta they require all vendors to be set up before the doors open to the public at 10 AM and require you to stay until the doors close at 4 PM both Saturday and Sunday. They do not permit any vendor to leave before closing time on either day. This is in bold type on the vendors contract. I guess you could force your way out but then you would never be allowed to return in the future.

Greenberg tried a few times to establish a show in my area. They couldn't get enough vendors, and couldn't get enough people through the door. I wonder whether they would bar anybody who left early if they tried another show.

According to the Political Correctness Police, the key word is FAIRNESS.

It's not FAIR that some can get there on Thursday or Friday. Therefore, a equal % of BARGAINS must be set aside for each day, including Saturday.

It's not FAIR that some have more money to spend than others. Therefore a maximum of $975. spending per meet will be imposed (receipts will be totaled at exit doors).