APS Branch Offices ?

Recently, it has been suggested that "Branch" offices of the APS might be of interest to the general membership and the stamp collecting community as a whole.

I can see both good and bad points about doing this and I'm sure others have their opinions as well. If the APS were to establish small offices, less than 500 Sq. Ft. in an outlying town near large cities across the U.S. there could be some substantial benefits to the hobby. There would also be some substantial cost associated as well.

My 1st guess would be that an office could be established for around $5,000 per year. It would be manned by volunteers, furnished by donated or second hand furniture and have a lobby, an office and a meeting room large enough for around 30 people.

The meeting room could be rented out for stamp club meetings or classes and thus provide some revenue. Each branch could be on a sales circuit route for people to browse and it would be a focal point for any APS service needed, including easy access to the APRL.

Insurance provided by Woods, advertising in local papers would be provided at some expense.

Obviously, I am in favor of this concept and a national organization should have more than the one location in PA. The city locations would have to be determined by both population and proximity to other branch offices. This is one way to establish an APS presence in places other than stamp shows.

Branch offices would build awareness of the hobby and the APS in general, increase membership, increase current collector participation, increase currently provided services and provide a central place for stamp club meetings.

Like I said at the top of the post, there are both good and bad sides to every idea. I'm also sure that a lot more thought has to go into this idea before it were to go much further. The only bad side that I can see is the cost to the APS and I believe that the cost can be kept to minimum. Besides, we could use the budgeted dollars for the APS Executive Director's position to get things started. Just an idea.

Art

Not a good idea . To many things can go wrong .Each location could become a little stronghold for local power thugs . Money donated to the local office can be abused or kept from the national office . We need new ideas that build a stronger central organization not to divide into smaller sections .

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, so to speak, with new satellite offices, why not try some co-housing with existing entities such as philatelic libraries? The Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library here in metro Denver might be a possibility.

"To many things can go wrong."
True, things can go wrong. That's true of any organization, anywhere. A series of checks and balances and security would need be installed like any other business.

"Each location could become a little stronghold for local power thugs."
I don't see a lot of 'power thugs' in the stamping community. With a few volunteers at each location that would not be an easy thing to do, too many eyes watching sort of thing.

"Money donated to the local office can be abused or kept from the national office."
Any monetary transactions can be done using check or credit card directly to the APS.

"build a stronger central organization"
Without doubt, I think this would indeed build a stronger APS.

There's an old saying that has been proven true many times. Give reasons why an idea can work not why it can't. In other words, positive ideas will help get things done. A balance sheet of both positive and negative reasons for any project plan can only make for a better plan.

It may be that this idea is not a good one but we would need specific reasons why, not generalities. If a certain location or city won't work due to some reason that's not to say that reason would be true for another location or city. Volunteers at these locations could be vetted or be required to be an APS member.

I still think its a good idea and one that the APS should give serious consideration.

Art

re.

"Each location could become a little stronghold for local power thugs."

yup, you gotta watch out for those Philatelic Thugs,

Pagoda

I'd like to apply for the position of Philatelic Thug, but of course, it is hard to live the thug life with a tongs in one hand and hinges in the other. Oh, and when you share your stamp table with five-year-old twins.

On a serious note, the challenge with "branch offices," which aren't a bad idea, is maintaining the proper level of professionalism and a set of operating standards, including financial accounting, consistently through each office.

Art,
How would this differ from existing APS chapters? What advantages would this approach have over empowering the existing APS chapters/clubs with more functionality?
Regards,
Don

There is merit in this but it would hinge, I think, on how the local club felt (or didn't) loyal to the APS - Are they an APS chapter/club or are they a local club that happens to also be a member of APS? Also, I think there is still the matter of what kind of commitment can you get from the club members as volunteers. What level of time commitment - and commitment to tasks - can they make?

I like the idea a lot. Our PR firm uses "ambassador programs" to great success, but even when we offer all sorts of incentives, only half (give or take) of the commitments follow fully through.

Don,

I can only guess and surmise as my experience is nearly nonexistent as a club member, except for once in Jacksonville, FL. which I really enjoyed.

I suspect that nearly all APS chapter clubs meet but once a month. They hold their meeting in a church, a civic center, library or at the YMCA. They have their meetings discussing what's new, then have their auction and someone puts on a demonstration of new technology or a discussion of their specialty area.

I see the branch office as a store front in a strip mall or inside a mall or even within an office building. The lobby would display material from the APS, membership forms, Sales Circuits and other items for sale and a place to meet and greet walk-in potential members and a quiet place to answer questions.

I see the meeting room for just that, a place for new or even existing clubs to meet at a low cost. The meeting room can be scheduled for several evening meetings a week for the clubs. It would provide a place where seminars can be held or for whatever group meetings become requested. Occasionally, a small business needs a meeting place for a sales presentation or something and has no good place to meet. A meeting room does not necessarily need to be limited to just APS business.

The office is just that, it has a phone, a computer and a printer. It also provides storage for anything that needs to be locked up after everyone is gone.

Empowering an existing APS club or chapter would mean that it's that club or chapter's function. The business office is not a separate or distinct entity, it's the APS. It can service multiple chapters or clubs in a more regional scope. The focus is not limited in scope or to an existing membership. Their meetings are not frequent enough to make the impact needed to make the necessary impression with the general public.

The APS is not in the public's face enough to be even noticed by the vast majority of people. Many may know what the APS is if you spell it out for them but it's not recognized by very many. If someone says "The YMCA" they know what it's about, even if there is only a small one in a near-by town, it enjoys a 95% name recognition. I would not be surprised if the APS has 5% name recognition in the general public. Once you reminded them, they might say "Oh Yea, I heard of them." we need better. Even my spell checker in MS word keeps trying to change APS to ASP!

Bottom line, I believe that an organization that's loosing membership, or at least not keeping up its membership, has to make themselves more visible to the public. The only way to do that is by being in the public's eye and I think the best way to do that is by branch offices.

APS sponsored/attended shows and advertising in their own magazine just isn't doing it. their name on a storefront, that just might do the trick.

Just my opinion.
Art

Edited for content spelling.

What benefit would these local offices provide?
Wouldn't this function be better served by local stamp clubs that are APS chapters, or co-locating at an existing stamp dealer?
Will these locations be guaranteed to have evening hours? A local APS office that's open 9-5 is worthless.

This topic has been discussed to length on both this forum and Delphi's SCF http://forums.delphiforums.com/stam...?msg=50655.1 . Both the positive and negative aspects of having branch offices have been discussed. Numerous benefits have already been sited. As with any proposal, a great deal of discussion needs to be had before any decision can be made. We are not the decision makers. We share our opinions, ask some questions and give unqualified answers. Not one of us has all the answers that's what the review committee and project planner are for. So, IF this idea even gets that far, let's hope they share with us their reason for or against moving this plan forward. Let's just hope that it does move forward to some kind of decision. After all, we are just trying to come up with a way to help the APS.

Art

Edited: Added Delphi link. On a side note, I was banned from the Delphi forum, am now re-instated. I do read it but I will never post there again for reasons already discussed. This site is and will remain my forum of choice.

Still think the idea of branch offices is a bad idea .---If I was running the APS .......this is what I would do . First I would set up a mobile library van that brings both research material and stamp catalogs to local stamp shows and clubs ,these vans/trucks will allow collectors to both loan material and scan and print or load what they want onto their thumb drives . Second I would set up stamp clubs that meet at some of the 6,000 fast food restuarants dinning rooms that are empty each evening . A tie in to a few large fast food restuarants would be the GOD sent to save the future of the APS .The van could visit these clubs and help print album pages to get the younsters started .This idea may sound strange but I think H.E.Harris did this with Ivory Soap for the Capt TIM program back in the 30's
. The restuarants can give a packet of 50 or so stamps with each meal . They get people into their stores .
This whole winning Gold Medals at stamp shows stinks ........I would change it to a achievement award system of ribbons and pins were thousands of collectors can win and get noticed .The purpose is to get collectors expanding and buying more material . You get a pin if you have collection of 500 Italy stamps or Germany ,then a extra pin for a more detail country collection and it moves up to all kinds of extra award pins and ribbons .It would be fun to go to stamp shows to see what your friends got and what new ribbons and pins they got over the past year . Older collectors would walk around the stamp shows looking like some of those old Russian Generals after WWII.
Start up the kids at stamp clubs where they can even get school credit for a show and tell at school of something like "wild animals of Australia" or 'famous South Africans " everybody will get on board if you push the education learning of stamp collecting .
Award the old collectors and teach the young, a winning combo.Forget about the private and expensive store fronts .

How many branch offices should there be? 20? That's $100,000 that the APS doesn't have.




After the first year, that would dwindle to almost nothing.




Yep. If you don't mind all those reasons why not actually becoming fact, and biting you in the behind. It's like saying that positive thinking will conquer all. I guess negative thinking is why way over 50% of all business startups fail in the first six months...

Hmmm... interesting idea! It might be difficult to pull off (like the others above have said) but I can see the potential interest that collectors would have in a place like that.

I'm bumping this back up. I think its an important topic.

New business fail due to many thing. A lack of funding, poor product design, bad location, lack of advertising and a lack of understanding of the market as well as negative thinking.

This is just one of several ideas put forward to help the APS and our hobby.

This satellite office can be a focal point for weekend sales by collectors and dealers alike. IF an office can get the dealers interested in showing his material, the collectors will come. Each week, a different dealer is invited. It may only have 3 tables a week but that may be enough to keep the people coming in. The more that come in the more interest the APS will receive.

This is called marketing. The APS needs fresh ideas and to try something different. Obviously, the old ideas aren't working anymore and the APS needs to try something, anything.

Typical stamp clubs meet once a month in a rented room, usually with the same 5-25 older members. Put the meetings in a new environment the demographics may change to interest younger or just new members.

Not everyone likes this idea and it will cost some big bucks. Start the idea someplace on the left coast and see if it takes hold. Just do it before all of us old farts run out of wind.

On a side note, I had also responded to the same topic on that other forum where I was kicked off. It seems those post were deleted! I guess that forum's host was really upset! Honestly, I didn't mean to do so, I just didn't like the censorship and said so.

Art

Nobody agrees with me .......but still think .......empty fast food restuarants ,kids with computers and the the support from the education community are the three things that can change this hobby .Empty office space 90% of the time can't justify the expense to have a branch office .