Behind Canada's Secretive, Invite-Only Specialists Society

Here is an interesting Canadian Stamp News (CSN) article:
http://canadianstampnews.com/behind...sts-society/

Wow! This is the philatelic equivalent of announcing the discovery of the last surviving Japanese soldier in the Philippines in 1974.

Now that they've let everyone know that they exist, it will be interesting to see what they do next. Good luck!

May be they could join this forum. We may learn some things

I think maybe they will learn some things too.

I think you might find that some members are already in this forum. (not me...yet)

The passing reference to meetings being held at Ottawa's ORAPEX caught my eye - I've been to each of those meetings by virtue of my role(s) in that show. Each of the breakfast gatherings have had VERY interesting presentations and the room is consistently filled with some of the nicest people I know in this hobby (some grouches, too, but even they can be nice at times!) and one day, when I'm ready to make a presentation on one or more of my specialties, I'd be happy to be considered for membership.

Secret society? Hardly - but it makes for a great newspaper headline.

Peter in Ottawa

Yes petermac, some of us on this forum are members of the PSSC. I must state that the PSSC is not really a secret society but it does maintain a low profile as a philatelic group while several members are out in the community doing relatively high profile philatelic work.

In the early days of the society the membership consisted of names that are now considered legends in the hobby in Canada and they were the elite of the hobby without question.

Today's membership still constitutes the deep end of the philatelic pool in that the majority of members have built exhibits that won gold medals both nationally and internationally. Several members have researched and published material to the benefit of the hobby in general. When it comes to exhibiting, most of Canada's judges and commissioners are members of the PSSC. It is no coincidence that all directors of the Greene Foundation and most of the members of the Expert Committee are members. CAPEX and STAMPEX shows of the past were all organized and run by members of the PSSC.

The list of members' accomplishments in the philatelic world is astonishing but there is no sitting on laurels. The research, writing, publishing, exhibiting and judging is still a continuous process.

As Ingo Nessel, PSSC President, stated in the article, we are reaching out to the stamp community and we are looking for new members but membership will continue to be by invitation only and that invitation will need to be earned.

By the way, although I am a proud member of the PSSC I cannot speak for the PSSC or for its members. This statement is purely an unsolicited personal reaction to the tone of some comments.

GJP

Are there any similar societies in other countries? Are the Collectors Club New York (CCNY) and the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) similar to the PSSC? For some stamp societies, one needs to know at least one member in good standing that can be a reference for one. With regards to the PSSC, are most members philatelic specialty Canada?

The RPS isn't a mass-membership organisation, but you can join with the support of a resposible person, rather than an existing member. Not my sort of thing, however.

http://www.rpsl.org.uk/home.asp

jogil, the Collectors Club of New York is reasonably similar to the PSSC inasmuch as it caters to the high end of the philatelic spectrum. The Royal of London is open to general membership but the application must be supported by two or more existing members. The RPSL is a pretty serious organization and is not suitable for the casual philatelist.

With respect to the specialties of PSSC members, it has been a generally accepted concept that not more than two members shall have the same primary specialty. Off the top of my head some of the specialties include significant studies of selected topics in Hong Kong, China, several Asian nations, Russia, Poland, France, Great Britain, several African nations, Australia and such. The detailed studies include Airmail, Postage due, Postal markings and any other aspect of postal history that can be imagined. At almost every meeting one member presents a PowerPoint presentation based on some aspect of his / her chosen topic and frequently supports that presentation with a number of selected pages from the collection so the original material can be seen (high end show & tell session).

By the way, we often have invited guests at our meetings which are held at the Greene Foundation in Toronto. Members of this Forum who would like to be invited to a meeting should contact me directly through the links provided on the Forum. I will try to accommodate everybody (but not all at once).

GJP

There are societies similar all over the world. Most of them are groups of specialists with particular interests, and they are, in Australia anyway, only too willing to invite persons with similar interests to join. Probably most Australians would have heard of the A.C.C.C. of New Soluth Wales. (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of New South Wales. Secretive sounds sinister, I would say that most of these societies are very knowledgeable and dedicated in their fields,and they certainly have a wealth of information to share, and and they are usually very willing to share it.

Regards

Horamakhet.

Garfield,

Missed you at the NY event--had nice chat with Ingo, Ted and Kathy (your librarian?) A lot of BNAPs clan members too.

Found some Newfie covers too. More to follow

There is a really neat display on the oxidation of Canada's famous 1898 Christmas stamp (among other nice displays):

http://www.philatelicspecialistssoc...ozz_f1.shtml

The website does need to be updated - there are a few broken links.

I've been invited and managed to attend a couple of meetings of the PSSC in the last couple of months. A nice bunch of folks with some amazing material and presentations. I hope to be able to attend more in the future.

tommy I am sorry that I could not make the NY2016 show. Too much on my platter at home with unfinished projects and a minor house renovation. All things being equal though, I plan to be at the ROYAL in Kitchener-Waterloo in July and BNAPEX in Fredericton in September.
The Greene Foundation is well represented in New York. Congratulations to Ted for his VERMEIL for his exhibit of Paris Stars. Kathy, I understand, is on a whirlwind tour connecting with library folks from around the world. Charles Verge is a co-chairman on the jury.

GJP

jamesw: Was your invitation an invitation to membership or to a presentation meeting there?

Invitation to meetings. A couple of the members are also members of my stamp club. They were aware of my interest in postal history, and thought I would enjoy it, which of course I did.
Invitation to join was broached at our last club meeting, but I would have to exhibit nationally or publish, or both, to be considered seriously. Flattering though.