On January 5, 2013, the website was renewed for another year. The website, along with the ever-popular “Clinic Handouts” page, continues to receive more than 250 visitors per day! Check it out. The X2011 e-Store also still has convention cars for sale.
Nearly 2,000 people enjoyed this annual celebration of model railroading, which included layout tours, prototype tours, clinics, operating sessions, banquets, a National Train Show, and just interacting with others who enjoy this fantastic hobby of ours.
We planned X2011 to be The Unconventional Convention from the start and it appears we succeeded:
- The full registration price was originally $99, an unbelievable value! The full fare was finally raised to $139 about a year before the start of the Convention, still a value!
- All tours and special events were available ONLINE at the Company Store. Registration was also available online. In addition, you could purchase Convention shirts and Convention cars online. A first!
- An Advance Section was held in the San Francisco Bay Area over the weekend prior to the start of the Convention. This event drew around 300 attendees. These early-birds were able to see more layouts, participate in operating sessions, and go on several special tours, including a dinner cruise on the San Francisco Bay onboard the USS Potomac, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s private yacht.
- To encourage interaction between both attendees and those who were unable to come to Sacramento, we set up both a Facebook page for the Convention and a Yahoo! Group list so that everyone could get answers to specific questions to the Convention committee prior to and during the Convention. Another first!
- All conventions have websites, but we added an RSS news feed to allow attendees to get updates delivered automatically without checking the website. Our website was also continually updated during the Convention with clinic and tour changes.
- California is home to the Silicon Valley and it was only appropriate that we should set up a smart phone app for the Convention. The free download allowed attendees to pick and schedule clinics they wanted to attend. Another first! And Unconventional!
- And … The Unconventional Convention continues … many clinic handouts and presentations have been posted on our website (see the “Clinic Handouts” page, under the “Clinics” menu tab) and more are being posted. Anyone can download these handouts.