Joe:
As we’ve discussed, TrainMasters needs to be about the
hobby at-large. Find the best and brightest who really know
their stuff, and put them on camera to share their knowledge.
We have a huge opportunity to pull in those expert model-
ers you might not otherwise hear from, unless you happen to
live next to them. Let’s expose up their wisdom and insight to
everybody in the world over the web via TrainMasters.
Barry:
We use the word “experts”, but it doesn’t take much to
be an expert in this hobby in some cases. If you have a tech-
nique you do that’s in any way unusual, that’s something that
somebody somewhere will be interested in.
I sometimes have difficulty convincing people to be a guest on
TMTV. They figure they’re not very good on camera, and after
all, they’re just doing what they do – it’s nothing special. But
there is always something you can learn from somebody else’s
modeling. So in that sense, anybody can be an “expert”.
Joe:
Good point. No modeler should automatically rule them-
selves out as a possible candidate to be on TrainMasters.
“When I ask, ‘What
would I want to see?’
there is so much I
want to see myself! I
realize we will never
run out of ideas!”
“I would call my
hobby interests ‘big-
tent.’ I am broadly
inclusive – traction,
diesels, steam,
freight, passenger
cars, whatever – all of
it fascinates me!”
Barry:
As a producer of the content, I am always concerned
about, “Is it too simple for viewers, or it this going to be over
their heads, or is the terminology of the guests clear?”
I also ask, “Do viewers know what our guests are talking about,
or do we need to explain everything to them?”
It’s all a very fine balance, which requires intuition. I base it on
the people I know in the hobby, and what most of the people I
know would want to see.
Joe:
That’s exactly how we do MRH as well. There’s a good
synergism between TrainMasters and MRH. A lot of times we
just ask ourselves, “What would we like to see? What do we
think people would be interested in, and would get a lot of
traction with model railroaders?”
Barry:
The problem is, when I ask, “What would I want to see?”
there is so much I want to see myself! I realize we will never
run out of ideas! On the other hand, where am I going to find
the time to do it all?
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MRH introduces TrainMasters TV - 3
MRH-Dec 2013