From: Association of Collecting Clubs
18222 Flower Hill Way #299
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
301.926.8663

Info@Collectors.Org

To: Digital Reprieve, Inc.
From: Association of Collecting Clubs
Subject: ACC Update, Vol 3, No 4, May 10, 2005

What's New
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Changes in the ACC News Service will help club editors...and the media (read more below). Club survey on promotion & membership recruitment slated to come out this month. ACC announces new Global Marketing & Management Program for Collecting Clubs.

Club Promotion & Membership Recruitment/Retention Survey
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As we mentioned in the last ACC Update, during 2005 ACC is giving priority attention to assisting clubs with promotion, and membership recruitment & retention. Within the next two weeks you should be receiving a survey on this topic. Our intent is to get as much information as we can on the exact status of club activity relating to this whole very important area, as well as the creative ideas clubs are using to promote and recruit..

When you receive this survey, PLEASE fill it out and return it. Getting this information is critical in building and offering the type of program that can help those clubs which need assistance in this area...and hopefully provide new ideas for all clubs.

If you have someone in your club with a strong interest in this area, we are also initiating a task force to focus on creating new approaches to this whole area. Let us know if your club is interested in being represented by writing: info@collectors.org or calling 301.926.8663.. The person on the task force must have an e-mail address.

Global Marketing & Management Program for Collecting Clubs
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Thanks to the Internet our world has grown much larger from a communications standpoint. We can now take note of dedicated collectors in other countries - collecting the same things we are collecting. We can communicate with them and buy, sell and trade around the world.

Many collecting clubs are beginning to realize the potential for this expanded audience and have asked for assistance and guidance on how to build a global membership, marketing and management strategy for their group. True, they may already have a few members from other countries in their group, however they need to adapt programs and services which can accommodate "global thinking" for their club, no matter whether they have 300 members or 3,000. They may find "sister" clubs in other countries with which they can network. They may locate collectors in other countries who have no collecting group as a reliable resource. They may recruit new international members, or foster interests in a "new" collecting area in some countries.

New and expanded markets for both buying and selling antiques, art and collectibles have great potential around the globe.

This month the Association of Collecting Clubs is launching a global marketing and management program to assist the leadership of collecting clubs. Phase I of the project is expected to take 6-8 months to complete and will include the following:

1 - Identify those collecting groups who already are working with "sister" clubs in other countries, or who have an international component within their club structure. Seek out their experiences, recommendations and advise.

2 - Although ACC is based in the U.S., our goal is to strengthen communications with collecting clubs in other countries, wherever they are located. ACC already is working with a number of groups in other countries. We will aggressively document the areas of collecting in other countries which are supported by organized collecting groups...and involve these groups in the global marketing & management project.

3 - Survey the leadership of all the existing collecting groups on the ACC club data base to seek their suggestions and input.

4 - Tabulate and analyze the results of the first three segments, formulating the base for Phase II of this program.

Phase II will be the development of the actual Global Marketing & Management program - the "tools" to assist the leadership of collecting clubs in developing their own global membership, marketing and management strategy.

International Partners to Assist with Global Club Program
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ACC is pleased to have four major partners assisting us with the Global Marketing & Management Program during this first phase:

DMG World Media, Bonhams and Bonhams & Butterfields, Carter's and Antiques & Art Australia, and Trajan Publishing Corporation.

DMG World Media is an international exhibition and publishing company with a worldwide presence through 39 offices around the globe in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, the United Arab Emirates, China, Australia and New Zealand. DMG World Media, with headquarters in Great Britain, publishes the Antiques Trade Gazette and The Antique Dealer in the u.K. and AntiqueWeek and The Auction Exchange and Collectors News in the U.S. The company also operates the Charlotte Antique & Collectibles Show at Metrolina; The West Palm Beach Antique & Collectibles Show; Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show; and the Miami Beach Antique, Jewelry, Watch & Fine Silver Show in the U.S. and some of the most famous antiques & collectors fairs in Great Britain including Newark, Malvern, Ardingly, Detling, Newmarket and Shepton Mallet.

Carter's is Australasia's leading publisher of price guides on antiques, art and collectables. Carter's Price Guide to Antiques in Australasia, the company's flagship publication, has been produced annually since 1985. Antiques & Art Australia, sponsored by Carter's Price Guide to Antiques in Australasia, has been established as the place for information on antiques and collectables throughout Australia and New Zealand. The website was first established in 1993.

Bonhams is not only the world's fastest growing auction house, it is also the world's oldest and largest auctioneer of fine art and antiques still in British ownership. Today, Bonhams conducts over 700 sales a year of art, antiques and collectables and is truly global with offices and representatives throughout Europe and the United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Japan and Hong Kong, In the U.S., Bonhams & Butterfields, the principal auction house on the West Coast, holds more than 50 auctions a year. Bonhams & Goodmans, serving Australia and New Zealand, conducts 50 sales annually.

Trajan Publishing is one of the leading businesses serving the antiques & collectibles community in Canada. They publish Antique & Collectibles Showcase, Canadian Coin News, Canadian Stamp News and Canadian Sports Collector, plus several annuals.

ACC looks forward to working with these partners and will be soliciting advise and comments on the project from many of our other ACC partners, as well, as the program develops.

ACC News Service - Serving the Industry
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Back in July 2004, the ACC News Service was launched as the first online news service representing the antiques and collectibles industry with emphasis of providing news from collecting clubs. During these past several months over 500 articles have been posted on this free news service.

Enhancements continue to be added to the News Service. In April we added the feature "Format for Pickup" which automatically prints the story in a size for copying, plus instructions for how to "Cut and Paste" the article. The archive search of all past articles has also been improved and made more accessible.

The latest enhancement allows quicker access to the articles by providing direct links to the various zones as a header on the News Service.

Shortly, all ACC member clubs will receive new IDs and pass words for their designated editors. Some clubs have apparently lost this information and new clubs have not been issued IDs, as yet. At the same time, we will be sending instructions on how to submit an article. No longer will editors need to determine the correct "zone" for placement. ACC will do that upon receipt of the article.

We will also be encouraging our ACC partners and affiliates to enter news articles in the ACC News Service and will be providing special IDs and pass words to this group.

That's all for now. Let us know any time that we can be of assistance.