Collecting Supplies by the case

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 5, June 16, 2005

What's New
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We urge you to please read the following article. Unless you are one of those rare collecting clubs (and we've run across a couple) who state "we have enough members and can't handle any more" then we think the program outlined below should be of interest. There simply cannot be an easier and cheaper way to recruit new members.

Join A Club
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We are pleased to announce a major ACC program expansion to help collecting clubs recruit new memberships - particularly from new audiences.

This is a combination of two existing ACC programs. The "Join A club" name has been used for two years on the homepage of the http://collectors.org website to lead visitors directly to the membership applications on the websites of many of our ACC member clubs. We will continue this feature under the Join A Club logo.

Many of our member clubs participate in the ACC booths at the two Atlantique City shows each year - 220 clubs were represented at our booth at the March show. During this show we have been approached by a number of other show promoters and antiques & collectibles mall managers, asking how they can get information on collecting clubs for their shows or malls.

We are pleased to announce that the new Join A Club program is going to do just that! Working with the major show promoters and the largest antique malls, we will be offering partnering opportunities in the Join A Club Program.

These shows and malls will receive a large Join A Club logo banner and a quantity of Join A Club visitor response forms listing no more than 60-70 clubs. Customers can check clubs from which they would like to receive membership information. (They can select a maximum of 5 clubs.)

Show and mall managers return these completed forms directly to ACC. The information is entered into our computer system and participating clubs are sent the e-mail and/postal addresses of those wishing to receive more information about becoming a member of your club.

As a participating club, you will have two primary obligations: 1) provide ACC with the name and e-mail address of your contact person for this program, and 2) fill the requests in a timely fashion.

ACC will be aggressively promoting the Join A Club program within the antiques, art & collectibles industry. Our goal is to have 50 participating show managers and/or mall managers using the Join A Club program by the end of this year. We plan to be working with some of the largest shows and malls which offer the greatest traffic or exposure. We will also be experimenting with some specialty shows like glass shows, paper shows, bottle shows...

We are also seeking some ACC business partners to help support this program by covering out-of-pocket costs. This will assist greatly in the expansion of the program.

There will be several different response forms carrying different listings of clubs, although clubs can appear on multiple forms. Six or seven variations will offer clubs by subject area, for example: 1) glassware, ceramics, porcelain, pottery clubs, or 2) paper & ephemera, books & maps, art & artists, illustrators clubs, or 3) household, kitchenware, dining, quilts & textiles, sewing collectibles, lamps & lighting clubs.

Response forms will also be offered with a geographic breakdown, such as Pacific Northwest, Mid-Atlantic States, New England... The geographic forms are being done primarily for the antique malls. The geographic listings can carry the names of national clubs, however if you have regional clubs or local chapters under your "umbrella" this provides a tremendous opportunity to allow them to participate and "grow" their memberships in their respective geographic areas. These local or regional chapters would need to become ACC members but we would be happy to work with any of you in offering a package deal for club memberships to make this possible. Just let us know if you are interested. There will definitely also be a geographic listing for Canada and for Great Britain to distribute at the shows and fairs in these countries. We are in contact with a number of collecting clubs in both Britain and Canada, and some U.S. clubs may wish to be listed on these forms, as well.

We realize that all clubs have your own membership recruitment programs. The Join A Club program is not intended to replace any of these efforts you do on a regular basis. However, we also hear the concerns about clubs losing memberships and needing to reach new audiences. This is an excellent opportunity to get exposure for your collecting club in front of thousands of collectors and to provide a new channel of opportunity for recruiting membership for your group. The more ways you can recruit to different types of audiences, the more successful you will be in expanding your membership.

This program is open to all ACC member clubs. Again, your primary obligation is to provide us with a contact person and to commit to filling the requests when they come in. We can't make it much more easier than that. There is no cost to the clubs for this program. Our goal is to have this program operational this summer.

If you have any questions, please let us know. We assume that most of the clubs who participate in the Atlantique City booth may desire to participate in this portion of the program, as well.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact us at either info@collectors.org or call 301.926.8663 - and Join A Club!

Larry Krug & Rick Moses
Association of Collecting Clubs
18222 Flower Hill Way #299
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
301.926.8663
info@collectors.org
http://collectors.org

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