Council for Postal Collectors to be formed after recent summit meeting

By Michael Baadke

American Philatelic Society President Mick Zais and American Stamp Dealers Association President Mark Reasoner have announced the formation of the Council for Postal Collectors. The council is set to convene in December. 

The new smaller group of hobby leaders will consider a summary of points from the Oct. 28 Summit on the Future of Philately held at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pa., and develop action plans.

Details of the summit were published on Linns.com Nov. 12.

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Those invited to join the new council in a Nov. 10 letter from Zais and Reasoner are the APS president and executive director (currently Zais and Scott English), the director of the National Postal Museum (Allen Kane is retiring in January; no successor has been named), an unspecified representative of the United States Postal Service, the ASDA president (Reasoner), the president of the National Stamp Dealers Association (Richard Kostka), and the president of the American Topical Association (Dale E. Smith).

In the letter, Zais and Reasoner thanked the 56 participants in the October summit, and specified three items that will be on the agenda for the new council: branding of the hobby to be more inclusive and descriptive of the hobby, especially for noncollectors; increasing technological capabilities to reach a larger audience of collectors; and strengthening the ability to improve the marketplace, including preparing the next generation of dealers.

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The new group will also consider additional members who should be invited to join.

“Thank you again for your leadership and we look forward to a strong partnership going forward,” the letter concluded.

In discussions at the Summit on the Future of Philately, it was decided that plans and decisions would be presented at the next APS winter stamp show and exhibition in Reno, Nev., March 3-5, 2017.

More than 30 individuals were present at the Summit on the Future of Philately, with additional invited leaders participating via telephone connection. The public meeting included brainstorming about concerns affecting both collectors and dealers.

The 100-minute meeting was presented live online, and was preserved in an archived video that can be accessed through the APS Facebook site.