DB Rejoins the Druids Guild

DB says: Well for what it's worth, I signed up for what might be my third stint at NZ Model Railway Guild membership this week using the new website (much easier than sending a cheque and all that nonsense) and am looking forward to receiving my journal with CE wagon plans in it.



It's pretty easy to sort out a login and join up, and once you're in, what else is inside? There is a list of upcoming events, a fledgling photo gallery, the ability to buy Guild stuff, including back orders of journals which is pretty nicely done, click on a cover pic to see the articles inside or use a searchable list of articles in excel or PDF format.

It's all a work in progress I assume but a very good and well presented refresh of the Guild's online presence. There is no forum on the site and I (also) think it needs one - firstly to give people a reason to visit more than once a year, and more importantly, to strengthen the 'brand' of the Guild by building a community around the isolationist modelers of the NZ railway scene in a way that a periodic magazine and conventions can never. Not that they don't have their own role to play, but they can't build that instant access to information and fellowship across distances that forums can.

At the moment, the internet for the modeler of railway things New Zealandy is very fragmented with NZ120.org, several blogs/sites, various Yahoo groups and mailing lists providing sustenance to the unwashed masses and I feel the Guild should try to be that centerpoint. Maybe Wes could extend the NZ120 forum with boards for the 'other' scales and that could be plugged in...?

Almost all the the site content seems accessible whether you are a member or not, so why join? Well the Journals I guess, discounts off purchases might be another. If they build a forum or a classified ads section they can't make that for members only - that's not the way the internet works. Still I'm sure someone will come up with value-added services the site could provide for members. There have been so many nice modern image plans in the journal over the last 20 years that maybe it's time for a low-cost, low-effort Cedric Green/Fred Lee style hardcopy planbook for those of us who don't model steaming lumps of iron and wood. Photocopied and stapled with a cheap cover will be fine.

Anyway, I'm in. For now anyway. You can be too at http://nzmrg.org.nz/