An Evening Of Old-School Stamp Trading...

I see philb at the local shows here in New York every other month or so, but otherwise I really don't see anyone else from here. Most people from the small local club don't even use a computer.

When we had the old ebay stamp chat room ,I hooked up with about 15 different members over the years and a few on a regular basis . We would have group meetings at various stamp shows . I believe we had one meeting where 8 members showed up .
I would meet members of the chat room at the Chicago shows ,St. Louis shows ,at various stamp auctions and even the big Washington D.C. exhibition .
It was fun, because your idea of what the person was like was always in for a surprise ,fun times .

I think all your fears of bad things happening are way over blown . Your not going to have some senior citizen climbing in your house after midnight . Thieves have given up on stamps ,there just to hard to fence .
Your more likely to get mugged for your I-phone in the parking lot at your local mall ,then somebody wanting that nice cover you show everybody on a chat room .
As far as break ins at my house you couldn't find my valuable stamps in all the stamp binders ,albums , red boxes and folders that I have , Matter of fact I can't find them either !

This opinion is based on your experience with developing/owning/administering websites and forums?

Do you realize that I have received death threats from 'senior citizens' like "I am coming to your house and hunt you down' just because someone broke the rules on a free forum? Now imagine someone get screwed on some trade or deal. Not over a free forum account, but over real money. It is easy to imagine that the crap would hit the fan.

Are you volunteering to invest your time administering any complaints and managing a trading section? Are users willing to make this a paid feature if additional costs are incurred with a new feature like this?
Don

It seems like the city name is already listed on some people's profile. For example, I can see that revenuecollector is in Urbana, IL.

People should be able to choose whether or not they want their city listed. Then, all it would take is a way to search/sort by city, then e-mail folks in your city if they want to get together or not.

They can choose to accept your offer or not.

Sounds wonderful, I've never been in a position to do that, not once in over 60 years of collecting.

For reasons best not gone into, I probably will no longer be participating in my local club or shows. It's a loss but life goes on. You can enjoy collecting as a 'solitary vice'.

Getting together to talk stamps and other stuff is one of the greatest benefits of our hobby. The West Toronto Stamp Club has an informal group that meets every Thursday morning (since mid 2003) at a local coffee shop. We have anywhere between 3 and 10 members who get together to share ideas and enjoy an informal "show & tell" session. Without a doubt, this session is one of my most treasured events.
We always enjoy having visitors so if any SCF member is visiting Toronto on a Thursday, contact me and visit our 'coffee gang'.
GJP

I tried to attend a local stamp club once a few years back. It was about 6 or 7 "old guys" sitting around a table at a church "shooting the breeze" about stamps, no real program, no agenda, etc. And they pretty much just ignored me, no welcome, no introductions, nothing

Needless to say, I never returned.

Alas, sometimes fools form clubs too.

Hey Chris. You should look around to see what other clubs may be available to you as they are not all "dead". The West Toronto Stamp Club has been active since 1935 and currently has about 100 members. We meet almost every Tuesday (no meeting on the 5th Tuesday of any month) and manage to get about 50 or so at most regular meetings. The specialized meetings with guest lectures, etc generally draw about 25 - 30 members. We have made it a point to generate a program that has something for almost anyone wishing to participate.
I know that there are other clubs about that are just as active (and interactive) as we are. The APS and RPSC maintain lists of member clubs that you should check out. Get out and get involved.

I've been lucky to meet a few SCF members, black jag (whose a member of my club in Barrie), bujutsu (who we often see there as well as a guest, though not for a while), and lithograving who live in the town near me.
Also met gportch on many an occasion. Always a pleasure, sir.

Yes, it's great to sit and chat stamps, 'in the flesh'.

Chris2015: I had a similar experience some years back, went to a local chapter meeting of a national specialist society. It was a bunch of old guys sitting round a table. About half the time was focused on stamps, the rest was a lot of shady jokes and bashing of Obama, the 'N' word was mentioned. I was not impressed and never went back.

There are lots of angry older men out there right now, eager to share their anger. You run into them at club meetings and shows. No surprise, but it doesn't make lot of us who want to park this stuff at the door feel welcome.

Chris and Stamps, I understand completely. When I hear the negative crap, I always make an excuse to exit quickly.