I Was Minding My Own Business At Stamp Club, Last Night ...

... and all of a sudden, BAM! I was talked into running the club's monthly bourse.

It appears our current director is no longer available to run it, and those that are able-bodied are either over-committed or non-existent.

That said, I am excited at being given a new challenge. Not that it's a challenge watching over a crowd of retirees, but rather, my challenge will be to revitalize this, and other events, with new blood.

No offense meant to the retirees in the crowd :)

As far as I know, there are only two active members under the age of 50 (including myself) and none under the age of 40. The Oregon Stamp Society (OSS) has been in existence since 1916, but is currently at an all time low for active members. If a new generation does not step up and get involved, OSS, and clubs like it, will cease to exist.

For those of you who are active members of stamp clubs in your community, what are you doing to revitalize your clubs, or are you in the same boat as OSS?

For those of you NOT actively involved in a club, what would cause you to get involved?

I really need feedback!

Brian

I formally joined my club just last month (I had attended a couple of meetings last spring to check it out)
When I was announced that I was a new member, there was a rousing cheer, especially from the two 'younger' members (ie. my age). I think a couple of the older members actually woke up.

Well I'm not a member of any club and probably will never be. One of the big reasons I happen to get back into collecting is the Internet. 15 YEARS AGO we didn't have the technology that we have now, with online auction and forums like this I do not have a need to join a stamp club. Sure clubs are a great place to meet other people with similar interest as yourself a place to swap and buy stamps and find out about certain stamps. But I can purchase any stamps I want online with the click of a mouse at what ever time I feel like. If I need to find out the market value of a stamp its there for me. If I want to swap or give away some extra I have I post on a online form.
I dont want to offend anyone but I do believe clubs of brick and mortar are slowly becoming a thing of the past in most things. We can partake in discussions now online with a much broader group of people. Hell I can have a discussion with people from all over the world on a certain stamp right here sitting in boxer shorts.
20 years ago the only options we had was stamp clubs and approval books. A lot of the people in the clubs are of a older generation and the young people that grew up with computers ,chat rooms, twitter and face book well they rather do it all online.
The older generation didn't grow up with this technology, I do know a lot of people on this site are of the baby-boomer generation and do partake online as well as there stamp clubs.
I believe Internet kill the stamp club of old.
Now I will put on my Kevlar before the bullet start.

So the only time I would even attend a club is if there is a auction and sell on.

Brian - Good job taking on the task. Unfortunatly there is no club near me and that is with a city of 280,000 plus numerous close by communites with 25,000+. I tried once getting new blood into a local Legion branch and beieve me the ones who are half asleep certainly wake up if change is blowing in the wind. Unortunatly there seems to be a generation gap between us 40 somethings and the 60 somethings . You need to spark interest in some really young blood in hopes it will carry on but not sure how to do that. Anyone ever try posting meetings and contact info on websites such as kijiji and simular free places?

No offense taken, and in many ways, yes they are.

This is actually useful information, Irishjack, as I want all opinions on stamp clubs ... not just positive.

What would it take to convince you to attend a local meeting?

Naturally, I have my own ideas. But, it's important to get a lot of opinions.

Brian

Hi Brian

Good for you! I'm willing to bet you will do an outstanding service! As you know, we live relatively close in Oregon (110 miles), and I might very well get up there for a meeting if I can in the next several months.

I really like the local club that I joined in the last year. I find the members are a very good source for adding to my collection.

As I collect WW classic, almost every "specialist country" member has extras they would like to sell, and I am the recipient.

In fact, I much prefer getting to know personally the folks I buy or sometimes trade with; and SCF, because of it's friendly nature, could be a source too.

Jim

I have a idea that might help you get new younger members. First place a add in craigslist and kijiji looking for younger members, don't place the add in the meeting section but in the for sale section. When people search for stamps they will use the search word and your add will come up during there search. Now use the heading like NOT YOUR GRANDPAS STAMP CLUB , you will want to hold this meeting as a separate meeting to the regular one.
You will need a gimmick what I suggest is do what the young people do buy stamps online. This is what I would do, if each person puts some money into a hat and the use this money to bid on a stamp, the following meeting those members name are placed in a hat and the winner gets that stamp.
This will allow young people a chance to get high value stamps without having to spend large $$. You would chose what stamp to bid on pick someone to do the bidding, and the other members can watch the auction online and feel like they are taking part while they are home.
Best part is they have to show up for the draw on the stamp.
You could create a Face book page for the club and all the members can keep in touch about the auction stamp choice etc etc. The next meeting there could be a discussion about the stamp and so on.
Just a thought

My wife was curious and came to one of our stamp meetings about 20 years ago..they put her right up at the head table tallying auction lots..shes still doing it and is club treasurer..its the same in any organization..theres about 15 percent that accept the responsibility and the rest just come to be amused !!

My stamp club doesn't have many members. Last meeting 8 or 9 members attend. I just turn 50 and I think there is only one member younger than me. Meetings consist mainly of buying and selling. Many members have big collections and allot of stamps to sell. Every coming meeting is mention in the community page in the local newspaper. That's the only exposure we have. Although everything is available on the internet including SCF, I like to go to the stamp club and meet stamp collectors in person.

I feel your pain, Riley.

I am the only person in our local stamp club under 40. The next youngest is almost 60. Our oldest member (and president) is 90. We average about 5 people per meeting, which is once a month.

Whenever I bring up a new idea for promoting the hobby in our city, like having a display at the library, I always get the same reply- "We already did that and it didn't work." After further questioning on my part, they admit that "it's been at least 20 years, but since it didn't work then, there's no point in trying again."

We advertise in the paper every month and I have printed up countless flyers (at my own expense) and we have never had anyone new show up at the meetings.

Three weekends ago, I sat at the Senior Center for their "Hobby Mania" day. I had a table set up with free stamps, club info, and all kinds of displays, and only 5 people picked up brochures. None of them came to our meeting which was the very next week.

Any advice you have about recruiting members would be greatly appreciated.

We have our own clubhouse that is paid for, with an extensive library consisting of what may be the best philatelic reference material anywhere in the Western United States. It's an amazing place for such a small number of people!

(Google street view picture)
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4828+...029188&hl=en


(Library Link)
http://www.nwpl.org/about-npl.html

the clubs may well become a thing of the past...in our club the average age has to be close to 70...you have to expect losing members...we don't get the younger guys raising kids..they have family activities..by the time they are ready we may all be gone !

Last year I started going to the monthly stamp club meetings here in Halifax, NS (population 300,000). There seem to have always been about 20 die hard people (mostly men age 50+) but most times the room has 30 - 40 members (15 - 20% women) and visitors.

They have auctions, members bring their stamps to sell and you can meet up with real people who have what you want or know what you don't know. There are short presentations by some on what they are collecting.

I stated going, after starting collecting again, because, even though this forum and the web provide tons of good info and pics, I wanted to see what others were doing and get to know some other like-minded people.

My few experiences at the old stamp store (now closed earlier this year) with other stamp collectors had encouraged me because they all seemed friendly and wanted to help in their own ways.

I was not attracted by buying or selling as much as the friendship. But there is lots of buying and selling going on so those that want that can fill their boots, so to speak.

I have not heard much talk of advertising but there could be I suppose. They have a show every year with displays and dealer tables. They belong to the BNAPS and RPSC.

They have a draw every month, everyone who wants to can buy one or more tickets (3 for $2) and you win one (your choice) of stamp items they have. I won once and it was wonderful, better than the lotto I thought. Not that I have won that.

They have a library you can borrow from (haven't yet but I know it's there (somewhere)).

So one reason to go to a meeting is to meet people who share a common interest and can help you or you can sell to or buy from.

Another is to compete in regional or national shows across the country.

Another that I have not used to my advantage yet (but have met a fellow who lives near me who used to do this years ago) is to sell and buy) stamps to collectors directly.

I like the design aspect of stamps and writing so have been thinking of contributing to their monthly newsletter. But I like the studying and history aspects also.

Maybe that is it. Concentrate on the ideas that people are attracted to or their motivations around those ideas and let them know that you do things that will let them contribute and make a difference.

I went over early to help in the stamp show set up of the display easels (not sure of there correct name) and I was just their to do some grunt work but that was a really food thing to feel I was contributing to something that had been around for a long time. Well, OK, I also got to chat to a few dealers and collectors before the show opened too.

I notice that Delcampe and Bidstart have contests or something that you can enter to win prizes. I don't enter but people must because they continue to have giveaways. Giveaways were always a draw for the old approval (maybe new too?) dealers. Maybe some small giveaways would work sometimes in some places?

What we really need is some really good advertising and marketing. Pictures of a woman wearing a glittering stamp on her finger and ad words like Stamps Are Forever. That will draw a crowd.

The question is, are the stamp clubs slowing down because there are just fewer collectors, or are today's collectors just not joining clubs?
(Reminds me of the question posed by Owl in the Pooh Bear story about Tigger's lost kite. "Is the kite lost because you don't know where it is, or do you not know where it is because it is lost?")
I keep intending to join my nearest club. I wouldn't be able to attend regularily as it is an hour-and-a-half's drive each way and with a young family, I don't have much spare time. But I would like to be more in touch with local collectors.
I think that the under 40's are very caught up in families and work. Difficult to pin them down, often.

I would join a club if there were one local, but the nearest to me is the other side of the city, I dont drive and the bus service here is awful.

Thats why the internet and forums such as this are a godsend for me..without them, I doubt I'd be collecting at all.

Perhaps if they rotated meeting sites so that the drive for me was not over and hour each time!