Proposed Merger Of The APS And Asda

There are a lot of steps to getting to a done deal. Just a few process notes: I've asked the ASDA for full financial information going back a few years and complete membership information. I've reviewed the general financial statements and have a list of questions that need more detail and information. Once we're satisfied with the financials and membership information, we'll move to the next step. If the financials can't work, that will answer the question. It's fair to say the ASDA cannot continue as a standalone organization for much longer.

At the ASDA General Membership meeting at NOJEX, I stated that there were many issues to work through, which could take six to eighteen months.

I am working on scheduling an online Town Hall meeting with members of the ASDA committee to discuss the process and take comments and questions. There will be plenty of notice for the discussion.

Scott

Sadly the APS is a slowly sinking ship. ASDA is a not-so-slowly sinking ship. APS absorbing (let's call things for what they really are) the ASDA won't keep APS afloat. It will only make it sink faster.

Why? because the reason both ships are sinking is the same: declining numbers of stamp collectors.

I don't see any value for APS members from this deal, only additional liabilities.

I would like to think the board will have a very active role in the study and have opinions. It should be something the board really wants to do and not just a couple of people.. They should not be rushed into a decision.

For those APS members opposed, I suggest you contact the board members.

Honestly, not sure now whether I am for or against this merger. What do both groups see as the factors that would make this a win win for each? Both exist for the benefits they give to their members. What are these benefits?

There may be fewer collectors today in the traditional sense but there seems to be plenty out there better connected in our email digital world than could ever have been possible in the snail mail era. We could never have held this open discussion before our digital era.

Declining? When I logged on this am, the "Active Users" section of the home page showed 54 registered users and a whopping 626 lurkers or un-registered interested persons, a total of 680 active collectors. Doesn't seem like declining numbers to me.
Using these numbers, it seems that only about 8% of interested collectors register or JOIN any originations. 92 % don't bother to even register here for free.




Yep, that worked for the Match Factory

All the above is my opinion only.

Bots, normally, are not active collectors. Nor is every person that comes across the website by accident an active collector.
The record of 5,901 also is a highly suspect number.

I agree Phil, folks who believe this are often trying to apply metrics from decades ago (i.e. declining brick and mortar stores, declining Linn's subscriptions, declining stamp show attendance, declining APS membership). And just as often they are not considering the growth of the online segments of the hobby which have exploded since around 2008.

I think it is an understandable perception, trying to comprehend the size and health of the online hobby segments is very difficult. Obviously, it is significant but knowing even approximate metrics is extremely challenging. Added to this is the fact that the online metrics are easily spun and VERY often exaggerated by those who have reasons to show growth/traffic. ALWAYS take any online traffic metrics with a grain of salt and consider the motives of those giving them.
Don

Currently there are 68 Active users (users who have SCF member accounts).

Currently there is 288 'Guests' out of which 54 are Bots, the rest appear to be humans who do not have a SCF account. I think that 'Guests' are those logged on and actively navigating the forum and assume that the remaining 'Lurkers' are those who have the site open but have not clicked on anything for X amount of time.

Not bad considering the day and time; 302 humans are here right now and navigating on the site. That is about the same as a stamp show (where there are also some who may not be active collectors). And this forum attracts similar traffic 24/7/365
Don

Still a good number.

One assessment is how many of the members and guests are APS members? I would say under 20. This is back to the discussion about organized philately being perceived as less relevant to them and assume one major aspect of Linn's circulation decline is fewer are subscribing to buy through dealer ads. I used to only buy through dealer ads.

I haven't subscribed to Linn's for decades, back when it was a weekly newspaper. We stopped when we realized that they were just piling up unread. Some of the dealer ads were interesting, but as the Internet became more prevalent, it wasn't all that necessary. The same is generally true of most of the modern stamp magazines, sometimes the articles are interesting and I'll look through some of the ads, but mostly, that's just something that shows up with my membership and it isn't something that I look forward to.

By any metric the APS membership number is a tiny fraction of active stamp collectors but has an outsize presence by virtue of its history and the cache cachet that it carries. The APS has a lot of leverage to exert when it comes to the marketplace for both members and non-members alike. That gravitas is the most valuable thing that the APS possesses, even greater than the APRL or any physical assets IMO. Any linking of the APS to another organization carries inherent risk and the juice REALLY needs to be worth the squeeze to even consider it in the first place. My analogy, as stated before, is one of Bentley hooking up with General Motors. One will gain esteem and one will definitely lose esteem. No need to point out who the loser is.

Oh wow, I did not know that the APS has a cache.. is it a cache of old auction catalogs? the AAMS hardcopy books? boxes and boxes of donated materials? Scott's hair that he has pulled out?


Don

Corrected to "cachet".

Roger cleared his cache.... and about damned time too.