Tom Draper

NMRA Organizational Changes

  • Eastern District Director John Roberts is unable to continue serving on the BOD due to health reasons. Joe Gelmini has been designated as John’s replacement to serve out the remaining years of John’s term as Eastern District Director. We all wish John well. The family requests that you not contact John at this time.
  • Gerry Leone has resigned as Communications Director for personal reasons including some unfortunate personal snipes from other officials and the organization’s slow pace of modernization.
  • At Large Worldwide Director, Tony Koester is retiring from the BOD due to term limits. Tony has served as a Director for the past six years. This position will be filled via the upcoming elections.
  • Atlantic District Director, Nobby Clarke is retiring from the BOD due to term limits. Nobby has served as Director for the past six years. This position will be filled via the upcoming elections.
  • As a result of a disciplinary action the BOD declared the At Large North America Director position vacant. As a result, Miles Hale is no longer the ALNAD. A replacement will be named according to NMRA policy and procedures. Reference the NMRA web page for additional information.
  • Bill Kaufman, Vice President for Special Projects has resigned for personal reasons.
  • Tom Draper has been appointed Director of Support Services to fill any vacancies until a replacement can be found starting initially with the publication of the InfoNet News.
  • Rick Coble was confirmed by the BOD as Assistant National Secretary supporting National Secretary John Stevens.
  • Most of the functions of the Member Services and Map Departments have been folded into the Marketing Department. Those functions that were not moved to the Marketing Department were assigned to other existing departments.
  • PresidentCharlieGetz hastens to add there is no village coup in all of these changes but rather a combination of events that has led to a dynamic turnover. The NMRA is is good shape!

2016 National Convention Bid

An excellent presentation was made by the host committee for the 2016 National Convention inIndianapolis,IN(“Highball toIndianapolis”). The BOD approved the bid. The convention will be July 3-10, 2016 in downtownIndianapolisat the Westin hotel andIndianaConvention Center. The National Train Show will also be in the Center, directly across from the hotel.

Future National Convention Dates

The BOD approved a motion to allow more flexibility in scheduling the dates and areas of the country for our conventions starting with the 2017 convention.

Donations to the NMRA

The BOD approved a motion to provide NMRA members a first opportunity to purchase items donated to theNMRAMuseumor Library or which were undesignated but were deemed surplus. Any unsold items may be offered for sale to the general public.

Data Sheets and Calendar

…are now the responsibility of the Publications Department.

NMRAMuseum

The NMRAMuseumhas reached over $300,000 in pledges for the California State Railroad Museum Gallery Exhibit (“The Magic if Scale Model Railroading”). This pledge amount has triggered a matching pledge amount of an additional $250,000 which puts the Museum closer to its goal of reaching $750,000. Fundraising will still be needed as we are not to our ultimate goal yet. The Museum is now in a position to ask for construction bids. It is estimated the gallery exhibit will probably be completed within 14 months of awarding a construction contract. TheCaliforniaStateRailwayMuseum is visited by over 600,000 attendees each year.

The BOD offered its sincere appreciation for the recent donations to the fund raising program of $10,000 by Model Railroader Magazine and $50,000 by The World’s Greatest Hobby. There were also four pledges of $25,000 or more and 12 pledges of $10,000 or more.

Financial Reporting

It was reported that the Summary of Financials for 2012 and the 2011 Auditors report will be published on the NMRA web site.

Both the 2012 NMRA Convention and the 2012 National Train Show made a profit from their operations.

HASEA Agreement Extended Indefinitely

The BOD approved extending indefinitely the one-year working agreement with HASEA, an association of 100,000 Chinese Model Railroaders and railfans, to share the NMRA’s standards and organizational knowledge. This agreement can be cancelled for no cause upon a 30 day written notice by either party.

Marketing Plan

Marketing Director Page Martin reported on a new ambitious marketing plan for the NMRA including in-package membership inserts with Walthers products as well as on-line and hard building hobby establishments, museums, special attractions and national and regional model railroad shows and conventions. An active program is being created for November which is National Model Railroad Month.

The Constant Contact email system has been set up and is ready for use by Regions and Divisions.

Awards

PresidentCharlieGetz presented the President’s Award to outgoing At Large Worldwide Director Tony Koester and outgoing Atlantic District Director Nobby Clarke for their years of service to the NMRA.

The BOD adjourned in Honor of John Roberts, HLM, MMR (MER), former President and Eastern District Director and in memory of Lt. Cdr. John M. Baker (USN) (MER), John Baker (AR), and Jim Long (PCR).