Future of the Frisco - discussion summary

Howdy folks,

At the 2nd Annual Frisco Convention, I presented a history of Frisco historical and modeling groups followed by a discussion of the future of the same. The discussion centered on four topics: historical, modeling, FRISCrg, and the annual convention. Here is a summary of the discussions and the resulting direction, we as a group, agreed to take.

Frisco Historical
The group agreed that we needed to formalize a historical society. The primary purpose of the society will be to provide an organizing structure for people interested in the Frisco from both historical and modeling perspectives. While FRISCrg provides a forum for the exchange of information, it is thought by many (although erroneously), to be a modeling organization. The new organization title may help dispel that myth. The society name will be published in periodicals to improve the access, image and credibility of the Frisco community.

A small ad hoc committee is being formed to develop additional goals and objectives of the organization. A fee will not be charged for membership in the society, and the publication will be The Meteor. Content in the Meteor is provided by members, which means that the members must provide the editor with historical as well as modeling articles. The primary information resource will be FRISCrg with further discussions required for a repository for Frisco related items. The society will issue membership cards, but won't have a formal board of directors or officers.

Modelers
FRISCrg began as a follow on to the Frisco Modelers' Information Group started by Douglas Hughes. It has evolved to be a Frisco historical information library that benefits anyone interested in the Frisco. The discussion of FMIG centered around reorganizing the Modeling the Frisco section of FRISCrg.

FRISCrg
Several important decisions were made about FRISCrg including perpetuation, moderators, structure to support branding as a historical and modeling society, content of the Real Frisco section, and structure of the Modeling section.

Everyone saw the necessity of developing backup and assistant forum leadership to assume management of the forum, when I retire. To that end, we agreed to increase the number of moderators over forum topics, e.g., steam engines. I will conduct orientation and training for anyone desiring to be a moderator for an area. Keith Robinson has agreed to become my primary forum assistant. This is a very big job, and I am grateful to Keith for volunteering. Several folks have submitted their names and interest in becoming a moderator, but I need to formalize the list. Please send me a private message if you are interested in becoming a moderator. I'll post a separate message about moderator duties and knowledge requirements.

The structure of FRISCrg is going to change in an upcoming software upgrade, but not drastically. Navigation to topic areas of interest will be improved. The Frisco corporate history will be showcased and a bibliography will be more visible from the opening page. The Layouts section will be reorganized around the Frisco divisions and freelance categories, capitalizing on the work done by Douglas Hughes in the old FMIG Lines newsletter. We'll also move Memorabilia to the Real Frisco section.

The biggest change to Modeling the Frisco will be its restructuring to match the Real Frisco section. The conversion will take quite a long time, but the group seemed to think it might help with navigation.

Annual Convention
The group unanimously expressed the desire to continue the annual convention, hosted by an ad hoc group of interested Frisco folk. It was agreed to formalize a convention committee, i.e., people who know how to register, establish venues, and conduct convention administration, plus additional members from the hosting city. There will be a big effort to improve awareness of the convention. The location of choice for next year was Springfield, MO. Several attendees are beginning to search for local Springfield folks to help sponsor the event.

Well, that about sums it up. I may have omitted a few things, but hopefully captured the primary points. The main objective of all this work, organization, and formalization is to have more fun. We'll do everytihng in our power to keep it simple and enjoy the memory of the Frisco.

Best regards,
Mike Corley

 

I look forward to being a part of it. Unforunately, I could not attend the convention as I live too far away.

Charlie