Philatelic Exhibiting

When I attended shows, I never spent a lot of time looking at exhibits. Given the time and all the standing, it never was a high priority activity.

Now, in my quest for something to read online, I spent some time last week looking at some award winning exhibits at the AAPE web site http://www.aape.org to see some of the best.

Again, I am not familiar with many of the subjects and still see that unless you really know the material one cannot really appreciate. The supporting write ups are often no more than captions describing the various artifacts. It seems clear the purpose is to show completeness (a criteria in judging) rather than a full story given the space constraints. That is, except to some, many cannot appreciate what they are seeing.

If someone took the same exhibit and created an article with same items as illustrations (even if they owned them), they would not get the same recognition even though the article would provide a better story in my opinion.

There are awards for writing and different awards for exhibiting.
Some people write books and articles, some people exhibit, and some do both. I think the vast majority of collectors do neither.

Have you seen Richard's site, Al? Quite a remarkable range of reading, exhibits etc

https://www.rfrajola.com/

Speaking as an accredited judge, "story" is extremely important in exhibiting (we call it treatment). It is different than what you'd see in an article, because we do value economy of language, but in a good exhibit you'll see a full philatelic "story" with an introduction, a narrative storyline and and a conclusion.

As an exhibitor, it's rare for me to put together an exhibit page that does not have at least one sentence of "narrative" text to keep a story moving.

I am not an exhibitor but I always look at them at shows and often attend the judges' critique. If there is no real story or if it is not clear and concise (N.B.), the judges will not hesitate to penalize the exhibit. The scope of the story should be laid out clearly on page 1.

One has to wonder when exhibiting will resurrect itself.

The scholarship in most exhibits is something that I always appreciate. Having said that, the subject matter usually isn't very exciting. When I attend a show, I go through the program and can find a few exhibits of interest. Almost always, they are either in one of several philatelic areas that I specialize in; or otherwise fall into my "worth a look" category. I have visited Richard's site, Geoff, and have bookmarked it on my list of various sites.

Dudley: I like your thought about listening to the critiques by the judges. Have not thought to do that in the past.

One exhibit in the last 10 years really caught my eye; the grand award winning exhibit on Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, by Dr. Ed Andrews. I liked it so much that I bought the book, when Exhibitors Press was a going thing.

Whenever I want to start learning a new (stamp) subject, I always try to find whatever literature is available, in all forms. This includes finding as many key exhibits as I can, which cover the topic.

Usually there is a narrative that advances my understanding with the exhibit. Even if the narrative is lacking, I am able to familiarize myself with what material is out there.

I've wanted to exhibit for a long time and have been planning and building an exhibit for a few years now, accumulating an extensive number of items and adding to the treatment/narrative. Personally, I don't feel that I should put it out there at a show until I've exhausted all avenues in procuring all of the items to properly tell the story.

I found an exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in 2018 on the 1898 Trans-Mississippi issue essays & proofs to be very informative and filled with exceptional material (shown below).

Scott

Scott: if you wait until your planned exhibit is perfect, you may wait for a while. :-) :-) .

Have you thought about doing a trial run in the non-competitive category? While Rocky Mountain Stamp Show for this year is cancelled, there is the smaller Cherpex show in September at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. Cherpex usually has a few exhibits and I think they're all considered non-competitive. But, probably too early to know if the show will happen.

Indeed. "Le mieux est le mortel ennemi du bien". How much more I'd have got done had I not chased the perfect ...

Walkman, Very few exhibits are truly ever "complete". Share with others (like this board) what you are seeking and exhibit it also. Don't be concerned about awards. You will be surprised what comes out of the woodwork with a little exposure. There are more avenues to explore than you can think of.

I am always interested in publishing exhibits on Stamp Smarter.
Don

Don - Its of somewhat narrow interest, but you're welcome to my 10-framer on the 'Marcophily of Hudson, New York, 1793 - 1919.' Its received several golds at the WSP level, FWIW. Let me know.

Hi docgfd,
Would love to publish it, you can email it to me in any format and I'll get it done.
Don

Morning all,

The quest for perfection all to often discourages collectors from showing their treasures. There is no such thing as perfect according to one of my old grade school teachers. There are many great exhibits out there that accomplished the goal of its creator after many hours and years of effort; however, they failed to achieve perfection as determined by the judge's score sheets when perfection is not or should not be the prime objective. Live long and prosper.