More Young People Attending York?

Yeah ever since they allowed cell phone use in the halls. 

At every show I find myself at some point scanning the crowd to check the demagraphics. I did notice a fair amount of young people. Good to see. 

 

My family and I had a ball. Great show. Next show I would like to spend 2 days there. Found myself rushing around the Orange Hall at the end of the day. 

 

I also noted that the younger crowd was spread out in all halls. I would expect to mostly see the new blood in the Orange Hall but I was wrong.  

With the amount of hassling they gave me over my badge holder I can see why younger people don't want to attend these shows.

Mathew

what do you have to do-buy a tca badgeholder now? for $22 , it should come with the badge.-jim

I noticed some younger faces yesterday as well. Maybe it's just that I'm gettin' old.

People need to stop moaning about badge holders.  Not too many years ago, the badges were the adhesive type that you stick to your jacket or shirt.  Easy to come loose, especially on the second or third day of the meet.  Get a badge holder--TCA or one from someplace else--and the thing will last you a lifetime.

What did they do Matt?  Ask you to turn it around or something?

 

And the badge holder is $2 and the York registration was $13.50 so I don't get it?  If they sent one every time then someone would gripe that they have 20 badge holders and why don't they charge less for registration and keep the badge holders.

 

My boys love the badge holders.  Only issue with them is that at certain points during the day they figured out that they could use them like dog leashes, so they tried pulling each other around by the cord.  A stern warning that I would lock them in the trunk if they kept it seemed to have worked, thankfully.  

 

I did notice more young people at the show, and I also noticed more kids in the play area. Good signs for the hobby, although anecdotal and far from scientific.  

quote:

With the amount of hassling they gave me over my badge holder I can see why younger people don't want to attend these shows.

 

Its not the rules or the way the Eastern Division runs the York show that keeps new people away.
Its the constant complaining and carping about trivial matters. New people don't want to deal with such whiners.

 

Michael

I glad that you are seeing more younger people that are your age. I hope they are not as opinionated  as much as some of us older ones seem to be  lately.

Larry

I HAD a badge holder.... It was something my father had given to me shortly before he passed a few months ago so it was something that I wanted to use. They kept thinking I was trying to sneak in on an old badge because it had a slight tint to it so the color didn't look exactly as it should have while it was in the holder. My last straw was when one door monitor followed me down an isle in the orange hall, turned me around and grabbed the badge holder off my shirt telling me to get out as two of the security guards came over to escort me out. Needless to say I was less then enthused with the eastern division TCA or is that too much complaining for you CW?

Mathew

They took your badge and the security guards threw you out because of your badge holder? Something doesn't seem right, if they thought it was an old badge they only needed to look at it to tell one way or the other. There had to be another reason, the only time I ever had a badge issue was the holder I had gotten from Trainz a few years ago kept tuning the badge over and someone was constantly reminding me to turn it around. Last year I got a new one from the registration desk and never had another issue.

You could have cleared this up by going to the registration desk and ask them to resolve it instead of allowing it to escalate until security got involved.

 

Jerry

That's the way I see it, too.  Seems to me we're missing something here, which is why they say there are always two sides to every story.  I'm not pointing fingers; just saying something doesn't add up quite right.

I didn't say they threw me out, I said they came over to throw me out. After they actually read the badge and looked at the color of it they realized their mistake and walked away without any apology. After they finished I had my words with them, no body talks to me like that.

Mathew

probably never occurs to you that an attitude like that may be what causes these incidents...?  The 'door monitors' i met at the orange hall were a bunch of little old ladies; a smile and a greeting brought a smile back.

 

 

Bingo!

 

That pretty much reveals what "the other side of the story" might be if we were able to hear it.  Some of those security folks have been working the York event since before I first attended some 23 years ago, and I've yet to meet one that wasn't both pleasant and professional.

I walked in with nothing more then a smile and a hello, there was no attitude. Little old ladys? You must have not seen the guy that I dealt with then. The only time I got upset was when he chastised me in front of a group of people and grabbed my badge off of my shirt. What right does someone have to grab my personal belonging off of my shirt let alone something my father wore at many Yorks past and gave to me shortly before he passed only two months ago. I'm 21 years old, I graduate with my Business Management degree in three weeks I've never had any problems with professors at school, friends, or with anyone at any of the shows at the hi-railers layout in my fathers building nor at any of the 12 years worth of Yorks I've been to. Ask your partners in the magazine what kind of guy I am, I'm sure they'll tell you how many great times we've all had at the layout over the past five years. My father always taught me to greet someone with a firm handshake, a big smile and listen to what they have to say, I'd appreciate you all listening to what I have to say before jumping to conclusions about my character or what kind of person I am.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mathew

I am literally at 28,000 ft on a flight home to San Diego from my first York show.  Had to buy 3 suitcases at Walmart to get my purchases home. Had a wonderfultime!!  Loved every minute. 

 

Matthew, I am very sorry to hear about your father's passing.  I am sure you will keep his love of trains alive throu your own dedication to the hobby.  My deepest condolences to you and yours.  

One thing I can honestly say is that young Mat does not have an attitude.  That is not because I am blinded by friendship but I know him as a person.  Seems the only attitude adjustments I see here are for the people jumping down his throat.  As can be evidenced in this picture Mats badge was in plain sight.  The hall guards must have had edict this year as one of them almost knocked me over coming out of the Silver hall because it was turned around.  That was coming OUT of the silver hall not going in.  Mats holder had a greenish tint to it but the dates were absolutely glaring at you

Wow, some of the responses to Matt I'm seeing here sound about as bad as the guards' behavior. I'm 21 as well, and let's just call it like it is; there will always be a segment of the older population that just relishes and jumps at any opportunity to chastise younger people. I've experienced it plenty of times and Matt's response is the correct one - to make it known you WON'T be treated like that. The guards have no right to snatch something off his person unless it's a threat, and that can probably even be considered assault / battery. All they had to do was say please let me see your badge, politely make the suggestion to get a new one to avoid potential problems, and that would have been that.

 

To actually suggest Matt was doing anything wrong on his part is laughable. We're going to get this draconian over tint? Get real people, it's a toy train show.

Good grief...all this ruckus over a $2 badge holder?

WE HAVE OGR FORUM BADGE HOLDERS AVAILABLE...AND THEY ARE FREE!

At the next meet, just come to our booth and we'll give you one.

I need to clarify something:  

 

I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with both Mat and his late father in the past.  Anyone who knows anything at all about the NJ Hi-Railers (which I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting) knows both of these folks very well and will attest to their fine character.  Mat's dad was instrumental in that club even being the club that it is today.

 

My point about there being two sides to every story was well-intended and certainly not, as I noted, pointing fingers.  I can understand Mat's frustration with the situation, and I can also understand how the door monitors feel they are just following the instructions they were given.  Things just didn't "come together" as one would hope, and it certainly would have been great--and resulted in a far more satisfactory outcome--if the scenario had evolved as Nick suggests a couple of posts above this one.

I saw him at the grandstand, and wondered why he had a special color badge. Not his fault, but not the guard's fault either.

That, Joe, is pretty much the way I see it, as well.  It's fairly easy to understand both sides of the story, and it's just a shame that it had to happen at all.

 

I'll be happy to send Mat one of our OGR badge holders if he would like to have one, and at the next York he can wear that one prominently displayed to avoid any possible confusion, and still wear his father's badge holder as well if he cares to.

While I certainly understand why the people at the entrances would stop you to read your badge, some of them were out of hand. I actually had one of those little old ladies strong arm me when I was entering blue hall to read my badge, which I made sure was properly displayed in a York Badge holder and facing the correct way (not an easy task on Friday).

 

Was it because I am 22? Perhaps. Could it be because I was in a bit of a rush to get through all the member halls in about 2 hours before they close? Maybe. Could it be boredom? Who knows.

 

PC9850 and Matt- I agree that there are some members of the older population who do not show us respect, both in this hobby and in other places, but usually those are people who do not spend much time around young people. I think they only know about young people from what they hear from others, what they see on the news, and how tv portrays our generation, none of which are good. While I understand wanting to stand up for yourself in these sorts of situations, I truly feel that we need to be kind to these people in these situations, as hard as it may be, to try to show that not all young people are members of the cast of Jersey Shore.

 

Now back to topic. Something else I was thinking about was that I saw quite a few pre-teens with a parent (several with their mothers), which must be a good sign. I mean that means the teen must be interested enough in trains to become a member and talk their mother into taking them.

 

Actually maybe they do spend time around young people and that's why they are like that. You 3 guys are in the minority when showing respect towards older people.  in the past many years there is a trend of disrespect across all age groups. 

 

That being said the fact that holder makes the badge look the wrong color is enough for them to stop you. It should have been handled better though. And after the second or third time it happened you should have just avoided the issue by getting a new holder and retire your dads to a place of honor, maybe your train layout or display case. 

 

Ever think about volunteering yourself  for standing at the door checking badges

Maybe the FBI needs to check out this person.

Car guy, I asked about you at TGI's. They said you weren't there. Were you there?

 

No. I was only able to attend on Friday this time. I was at the Grandstand Meet though.

Everyone sure is full of advice for Matt.  Maybe you missed the part that it was his father's?  You know, the guy who passed away unexpectedly just a couple of months ago?  Wearing it was something that Matt helped to feel that his father was close by.  All people had to do was look at the dates.  I admit, I did a double take when I first saw Matt when he stopped by Vince's Trains.  But I did something different.  I read the dates on his badge.  He saw my eyes widen when I first saw the badge and got a good laugh out of it.

So before you pass judgement on this young man, try to put yourself in his shoes for a moment.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tempest in a teapot.  

 

 

 

But to contribute to the topic here:  Yes!  I noticed more young people at this past week's meet than in many previous Yorks.  And, THAT is great news!

Maybe next York  Nick, Michael, Matt and I should go together and walk in all at once.  They will probably call the SWAT team to stop us!  HAHA

 

I'm all in for this one. LMAO! I'll spike my hair up and do some steroids just for the occasion.

 

 

Seriously though, thinking about it more, I'm surprised I actually didn't have any issues with the guards my first time attending at last April's York, especially after hearing how stiffly the younger guys above were treated. Perhaps it was because entering each hall I was behind my father's wheelchair pushing (he's a paraplegic) and also accompanied by my 60 year old uncle, so maybe that got me a pass.

 

The age problem I did have was one incident with a dealer in the Orange Hall that dismissed with a rather snarky look and tone a bundle offer I made on multiple items. A while later I gave my uncle the money and sent him over to make a similar offer, which was promptly accepted. It's happened to me at other shows where a dealer couldn't take my negotiating seriously because of my age.

Its not just the door monitors though.  There is one dealer in the Orange Hall with the name starting with a Gr and I wanted to take an engine I was interested in buying out of the box to check it.  The Senior Gr  ask me why I would need to see it, its Store New he says.  He pretty much dismissed me and moved on to another cutomer.  Yet right next to me his son was opening up an engine for a very senior gentleman, turning it upside down, showing him the wheels etc.  I beleive I was discriminated against because I was young and he assumed I had no money to buy an expensive engine.  Little did he know I had 3000.00 burning a hole in my pocket.  He lost that sale.  Its very frustrating and even though I love the hobby, make me wonder sometimes if I should find another one.  It always seems I'm a fish out of water at these meets.

I wouldn't let it deter you from participating in the hobby or the meet Sean, and heh, that's the dealer I had my problem with too 

 

With these types of people, you have two choices. Take your business elsewhere as you did (the best justice IMO), or get one over on them if it's something you REALLY want, like what I did with my uncle. Although in your case it probably would have only taken flashing the cash to get him singing a different tune real quick 

NickyBoy you definitely fit right in with that crew.