New MHR Website:

Be more specific Phil please.

Many thanks
Chris

 

If people do not like the new website why not start an unoffical one like quite a few railways do from an enthusiasts view i do miss the roster as i would like to attend the freight weekend but would prefer a ride behind Lord Nelson rather than the A4. does anybody know if Lord Nelson will be definately running.

 

Quite right. However, my experience of running an unofficial WSR website suggests the website forms an important part of getting more bums on seats. There are other positives. By having a presence on the web, the website helps to bring in new volunteers, helps to maintain a community for the Railway and also provides educational material for young and old alike. It also acts a bit like a local newspaper in that local folk get to read stories and see pictures about their local railway. A growing number of hits suggests more people are looking at the website and this interest converts into visiting, volunteering, contributing and so on. It's not the only way of achieving those things but it does make quite a contribution.

Other posts on this thread mention the South Devon Online website www.sdronline.org.uk This is a great example of an "unofficial" website "filling a gap" by picking up on all those activities that are of interests to enthusiasts and local people but are not of interest necesarily to the average SDR visitor. The work that Sarah Anne and Maureen are doing to raise the profile of the SDR and building a sense of community on the SDR is truly excellent. With the immensely competent General Manager in the shape of Dick Wood, I can foresee great things happening at Buckfastleigh. Anyone wanting to see how it's done could do no better than closely watch the SDR over the next few years (and before you ask, no, I am not member of the SDR).

For the record, I am a great admirer of the Tony Wood MHR website. Tony had the knack of exploiting every opportunity the web offers to raise the MHR profile to visitors and MHR folk alike. And I also like the new MHR website which comes very near to the content expected by the average potential MHR visitor. Perhaps recent suggestions of an unofficial website to complement the official one are worth exploring?

I hope there is some kind of peace soon at the MHR on this subject.

Steve
(WSW)

 

I rest my case, this from one of the most experienced webmasters in railway preservation.

It follows therefore there are going to be fewer bums on seats than would otherwise be the case as the MHR site has wound down.

The MHR like the Bluebell is a preserved railway going from nowhere to nowhere, no seaside town or large city next door so it needs more promotion not less.

The Bluebell though has an active website where there were 64,392 total hits , from 35,397 unique visitors in January alone. Read about it here

http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/whats_new.html.

Lets hope a new marketing broom will see the light!

 

An entirely plausible theory had the Mid Hants had a bad year financially. It hasn't. Quite the reverse in fact.
I rest my case that the real promotional value of the website lies in selling actual tickets predominantly to the family market rather than simply existing to entertain armchair rail fans. An unofficial site probably is the best vehicle to do that.

 

Widge , you have a very good point there, and it looks as though Tony Wood has done just that so well done to him.

I am beginning to see that there is room for both which does not take anything away from either site.

Regards
Chris

 

Amen to that!

 

Armchair fans only make up a small percentage of the MHR customers and every other railway customers. This has been talked about before on other threads over the past few years. The family market is where all the money is. Like it or not every railway needs to tap in this market because with out this market every preserved railway would disappear. There just aren’t enough armchair rail fans around anymore to cover the costs of running all the preserved railways. Some people on this web forum are still back in the 70s and 80s and they need to move on to the modern day preserved railway style of running things. The new style MHR web site is a very easy & friendly web site to navigate around for the average customer in the street.

Ps I can’t under stand why the MHR web site is still under attack from some members on this forum. This thread keeps going around in circles and is starting to make me dizzy maybe it’s about time this thread is locked?

 

Well when the site improves and there are updates with some regularity then maybe they will ,
Note freight weekend coming up and No Updates this week (just found an update on the shunt dated Thursday )But No propper loco roster and its Thursday Evening .Thanks to Chris were kept informed on here about all this
but the MHR site is still slow uttering a word . However Pete Watermans coming to clean his engine on Wednesday lol ...

 

Though I have to say that my report of last week has not been updated as yet.

Regards
Chris

 

Your points are taken Lee, however have you considered that without the enthusiasts there would be no volunteers on the Railway thus nothing would be restored to show the family market hence people would not come, it,s a vicious circle which is why I say that there is room for everyone.

Regards
Chris

 

Ok Dave you made your point about the updates on the MHR web site but there are plenty of other preserved railway web sites that are well below par compared to the MHR web site and we don't hear about them getting all the negative response from everyone. It just seems to me this thread is all about attacking the web team. Maybe you should consider going to the next AGM and voicing you opinion there and see what response you receive back from Colin and the board members.

 

Lee
I dont look at many others web sites . Bluebell ,WSR ,Swanage and MHR.So I havent a clue about how they do it . I only know what I see.
And I have chatted to members of the current web team about this and they know Im attacking the SYSTEM not them , David

 

Good Afternoon,

You may not know me, since I do not volunteer train-wise at the MHR, but I am also part of the web team. Myself and Alexander Penfold have recently joined the team, after we noticed that the current website needed a lot of work. We approached the MHR, and, after a meeting with Tim Beere, he agreed to let us take part in the maintaining of the website. Our original intention was to redesign the entire website, to make it up to modern day standards, and to also help in the marketing side of the railway. It is hard to balance the site out to cater for the needs of both volunteers, and tourists who may want to take their family for a day out at the Railway.

I cannot say too much, but I can confirm that a brand new, redesigned website is currently under construction, and will be live soon, balanced for the purpose of enthusiasts and marketing. The problem we had with the old site, (after Tony Wood had left) is that updates could only be performed by one person, therefore causing a delay in any content needing to be added. The new site resolves this problem enabling individual departments to update their own section of the site, using a state-of-the-art back end, which will ensure that any urgent updates can be performed, with ease, using a unique and tailored input form. This also removes the need for using complicated software, resulting in a consistent style and format, with limited 'mess'.

We hope that this will be sufficient, and if not, a feedback/contact form will be present which anyone is welcome to use. This form directs emails at a non public email address, invisible to spammers, resulting in more time spent processing relevant, valuable emails.

We will be transferring most content from the old website, to the new, maintaining a smooth transition. Please understand that this is an extremely lengthy process and may take some time before all content is added, although we can guarantee that the majority of this years content will be visible before the site is live, with older content being added in due course.

I understand that this may cause concern, but I would appreciate it if you could keep all comments and questions (although I cannot reveal much) to this forum, rather than emailing the railway. I just felt that this 24 page discussion needed to be ended on a positive note.

Regards,

Luke Stratton, MHR Web Team

 

Tim Beere

Tim made a significant contribution to the railway, yet sadly joins the long line of those who have tried before and have failed to avoid the interference of those at MHR who will never grasp the realities of front line marketing.

Marketeers by their very nature are self starters, creative and results oriented. Each has his or her own way of devising and succesfully introducing initiatives, alas good ideas when reaching the point of implementation, often highlight the failings of an organisation.

Many organisations - and I suspect that MHR is no different - will close ranks and say 'Thats the way we have always done it' instead of rallying to the call and supporting the need for change.

I was present on an occasion when Tim was effectively 'playing second fiddle' rather than taking the lead on a marketing initiative. It was obvious that the person 'taking the chair' was not willing to give Tim a voice, indeed Tim was given very little say at all. If he was subjected to sidelining, it is no surprise that -contract or not - he has departed for an environment in which he can make his mark.

Good luck to whoever takes the role now.

 

What makes you think Tim Beere is no longer in the job? He is still actively working towards the marketing side of running the railway.

Thanks

Luke Stratton. MHR Web Team

 

I think i saw him around at the freight weekend with a camera.

 

Tim Beere is still very much in the job, it is nothing otherwise.

I can also only echo the comments made by Luke above.

 

Well then maybe you should find the source/cause of the widespread story that Tim is no longer in post. There is more than one person of my acquaintance who has heard the story and they are adament it came from 'someone reliable'.

No smoke without fire or a case of sour grapes against the MHR.

 

What has happened is, is that Tim is on a temporary contract. That has come up for renewal, and the company are interviewing. He is still working, unless the company appoint someone else.