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 Partners' Update, Vol 4, No 9A, June 14, 2006
 

Club Promotion & Recruiting Members
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One of the most challenging tasks of many collecting clubs is that of maintaining membership and recruiting new members. The Association of Collecting Clubs spends much of our effort promoting clubs and helping them recruit members, particularly in new audiences.

During May and June ACC is emphasizing this area in our ACC Update newsletters which go to 4,000 club leaders. We thoroughly cover club promotion, promotion "tools", membership recruitment, membership retention, serving new members, membership incentives, the management of membership, types of members, club commemoratives, affiliate & "cross-over" collectors, networking and building club coalitions.

Join A Club - Helping Clubs With Membership
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One of ACC's most ambitious efforts is the new Join A Club program, designed to help Collecting Clubs recruit new members by providing collectors an easy way to request club information.

Collectors Trade Show - Serving Clubs and Collectors
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During the past six weeks over 60 new booths have been added, or are in production. We are actively reaching out to other partners every day.

If you are a vendor with collector needs...from shipping supplies to display cases...alarm systems to price guides...collector software to training courses, appraisal or restoration services, you should have a booth in the Trade Show. contact: info@collectors.org

If you have services of interest to club leadership such as club customized logo merchandise, membership incentives and club management tools, event planning, convention sites or meeting facilities, printing options and internet services, you should have a booth in the Trade Show. info@collectors.org

If you are an antiques mall or gallery manager, a show promoter, flea market owner, auctioneer, appraiser or have an Internet business of interest to collectors, you should have a booth in the Trade Show. We can promise you will be reaching collectors you are not reaching in any other way.

We look forward to hearing from you and having you as a Collectors Trade Show partner. Contact us at info@collectors.org or call 301.926.8663.

Some of our new Collectors Trade Show partners: Period Paper, ShipandInsure,com, Directiques, HobbyTown USA, Meadows Display Cases, AntiqueTutorials,com, Antique & Collectibles Showcase, Antique & Art Information Network, Bertoia Auctions, Canadian Coin News, CheshireMailers,com, Clearwater Displays, CollectorPro Software, Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau, SpamArrest, The Logo Factory, Modern Litho, Paper & Advertising Collector, SJI Companies, Steele's Display Cases, TCBulk, Bonhams & Butterfields, West Palm Beach Show, Yard Sale Supplies and many more.

Collectors Ad Network - Almost Ready
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Following up on the above article, ACC will be working with our member clubs to directly link their websites to the Collectors Ad Network, further expanding its visibility and making it easier for their members to take advantage of the vendors offering member discounts in the Collectors Trade Show.

Furthermore, there will be several topic aisles added to the Trade Show supporting some of the major hobby areas. These aisles will be announced in the next Partners' Update Newsletter but will definitely include: glassware, ceramics & pottery, coins, paper & postcards, books, stamps, autographs & celebrities, toys, dolls, models, advertising, sports, science fiction, comics, hunting & fishing.

The Collectors Ad Network will be in operation by the end of the summer.

ACC News Service - Available to Partners
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The ACC News Service on the Collectors.Org website is the only major news service developed exclusively for promoting the news and events of collecting clubs. Club news is list by category, such as club-sponsored shows, club conventions, new books, and special projects. Also, news is listed topically in some 80 categories - everything from bottles to marbles, from food collectibles to trains & models.

There is also a section on the News Service for use by ACC Partners - collector books, auctions, shows, tours, radio & TV programs, and more. We welcome any of our ACC partners to send us releases for consideration. Remember, it must have news value. Releases can be sent to: NewsService@collectors.org

We are continually promoting this free News Service to the media, special internet networks and to all of our collecting clubs. During the past 12 months we have had over 1,000 articles added to the News Service. Since all articles are permanently archived and easily searchable, this is becoming a valuable resource.

Club Members Usually Have "Multiple Collections"
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The notion that members of a coin club are interested in collecting just coins, or members of a glass club are interested only in glass, may be true for some members, but they are in the vast minority. Most serious collectors have more than one collection, and they may be entirely unrelated to one another.

Visiting with collectors at shows and auctions, when asked "What do you collect?" we often get a response of a whole list of collections.

Two years ago, ACC worked with the American Political Items Collectors(APIC) in a membership survey of their collectors of political campaign memorabilia. We found that 90 percent of their members, in addition to collecting campaign buttons and other artifacts, actively collected other areas, like military, bells, World's Fair, royalty, thimbles, postcards, coins, pottery, books, stamps, toys, advertising, dolls, autographs, glassware, folk art, banks, tobacciana, paperweights, watches, matchbooks, textiles, sports and photography.

We also asked where they find most of their political campaign items. Although political shows, auctions and eBay and "member connections" were perhaps prominent, many of these collectors looked beyond their traditional collecting area, particularly relating to shows. Many mentioned glassware and bottle shows, gun shows, doll, train and toy shows, paper and postcard shows, coin shows and stamp shows as being places where they have made "good finds" of political memorabilia.

What does all of this mean? It means clubs need to broaden their reach to other kinds of collectors as both part of their membership recruitment and their club-sponsored event promotion. This study should also be of interest to our ACC partners. If you are an antiques & collectibles show manager, operate an auction house, run an antique mall, produce a collecting publication or are a supplier to collectors, keep in mind that most collectors have multiple collecting interests and needs. Again, the Collectors Trade Show may be a good place to reach these collectors.

Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition
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For eight days, May 27-June 3, the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC was literally "stamp heaven" as philatelic collectors from all over the world converged for the 2006 International Philatelic Exhibition. This remarkable international stamp show was open to the general public with free admission, and we were privileged to attend.

Held only every 10 years here in the United States, this show was a class act from start to finish. The new Washington Convention Center presented the organizers with a friendly, flexible and spacious venue. Entry to the main bourse floor was via escalator or elevator to the lower public level. As you approached the elevators, there were areas that allowed you to stand and get a bird's eye view of the entire bourse. And what a view it was.

From the viewing platform, you could see it all: the multitude of dealers from around the world, the various collecting groups that were set up, the international post offices, the 4,000 square foot Kid's Zone, and all of the special exhibits.

As you descended onto the main floor, the biggest question we had was "where do we start?" We began our journey by viewing the multitude of national postal organizations from around the world. The U.S. Post Office had a large area that was constantly busy with participants buying the latest issues, special First Day Covers and, of course, mailing packages back home.

From there, we headed over to the Kid's Zone. This 4,000 square foot area, sponsored by the National Postal Museum, was designed for the young stamp collector, with special exhibits and activities. We had a chance to talk with Rachel Grabek, creator of a curriculum for teachers to incorporate stamp collecting into classroom activities to teach everything from counting to art design. One of the activities available to the kids was creating a mural using canceled stamps as their color palette.

Just beyond the Kid's Zone were representatives from approximately 100 different philatelic collecting groups from around the world. Many of these groups held their annual convention during this eight-day event.

Numerous exhibits of philatelic history were arranged just beyond the collecting groups. The displays ranged from modern day stamps to centuries-old postal examples.

The center of the main floor was reserved for a special exhibit that showcased some of the most rare philatelic examples in existence.

For those that were interested in expanding their collection, vendors from all over the globe were on hand buying, selling and appraising. One of the more unique "tasks" available was the International Passport. The passport contained entries for 147 different countries around the world. The object was to visit the official postal representative for each country and have the passport validated. Each validation was done with a special postmark by the country for the event. Once completed, the passport represents a personal and unique addition to any collection.

We would like to congratulate the organizers of this event for a wonderfully memorable experience.