Don't know the venue but its likely its one of those meetings of minds where the attendees are predominately grey / white haired thinning on top with plenty of time on their hands to discuss railway matters. I'll have a stab at a guess and say it's a Travelwatch meeting / dinner at a former railway hotel possibly a Midlands one judging by the colour of the decor (maroon) and curtains but I haven't a clue really.
Different organisation, different venue to you suggest – but so right about the activity and the metrics of the group.
Or... Darlington! More specifically, the Dolphin Centre – Railfuture meeting "Rebirth of the Railway", 22/06/2019.
The business of predominantly old men with time on their hands... looking forward to Rail
Future is a very interesting one – and one which I (personally) as I get older have been taking a deeper interest in.
I am - personally - very much interested in the future not just of rail but of public transport as a whole, and look to make that a
useful interest for the future. There are many, many others who now have more time than they previously did, but perhaps their motivation is not looking forward to a practical future but hoping that the future might be like the past - the good old days. And there are other who attend these meetings to meet up with others of similar interest, to listen to lectures and talks on subjects that interest them, and to have an enjoyable day out - either at one of these conferences / events or at events organised by one of the 14 branches across Great Britain.
At the national level, RailFuture has some excellent specialist interest groups and a board overseeing the whole, a three or four times a year newspaper "RailWatch" packed with articles and data, and "RailUser Express" - monthly by email and a useful update across the whole country. Branches produce their own newsletters, varying from virtually nothing to vibrant.
But – predominantly old men. The trick / need is to nurture their enthusiasm for rail and provide them with a continuing product, while at the same time making a use of their knowledge to look to the future as the organisation's name suggests, pulling in and encouraging a wider cross-section of members who also wish to encourage better and where appropriate bigger public transport into the future. I could be specific with some ideas (and the hurdles to bringing them to fruition) but as a "lighter side" post this is probably not the place.
I did – last autumn – take a closer look at RailFuture, some of the issues I've mentioned above that were clear to see, and allowed myself to stand for the board on a platform of developing and tuning ideas and helping to put some of them into place. An initial approach to me in November resulted in a formal candidacy in the new year, and an election process which resulted in my joining the board this May, with a first board meeting in June. Sadly for putting my thoughts into action / process, I came 5th out of 6 standing (for 5 places). It means that I'm only there for a year rather than the usual three year term (that's what no.s 1 2 and 3 get) and am fast approaching a decision point. The election process is such that it imposes a long "Purdah" on candidates, so soon after that decision, should I stand again, I'll be unable to promote Railfuture to members in any way that could also be considered to be self-promotion.
The RailFuture board comprises excellent individuals. And it does a lot behind the scenes of excellent work towards a "better and bigger railway". But somehow it doesn't all join up. A story, I think, initially for the board; sadly, I missed a board meeting last weekend and I'm missing the annual conference on 21st, both events which were moved (from August and from November) - but let's see how we do at Branches and Groups day in October, and at the November board meeting. Not yet on the Forum's diary, but next year's
AGM▸ in on 27th June and I look forward to being there.
