‘Looking back, looking forward‘

 

A new slate of officers will be elected by the Board of Governors at the Collectors Club Annual Meeting on Wednesday, January 8th, 2020. This marks the culmination of my three-year stint as Club President. For this last President’s Letter please allow me to reminisce for a bit before signing off.

One is never fully prepared to take over a key leadership role. No matter how well you think you know the organization, people, and objectives, the reality is often quite different. My immediate predecessor spent considerable time and effort in the leadup and events surrounding the New York 2016 International Stamp Show. But, on my taking office, the Club’s priorities immediately shifted. We were facing critical building structural problems, cash flow issues created by changing global market forces, decreasing availability of key volunteers/leadership, and fundraising/development challenges in the aftermath of a major New York international exhibition.

Thankfully, the Board rose to the challenge! In the space of three short years we overcame many, but not all, of the Clubhouse building issues (no more regular calls about water damage after every rainstorm), recruited our current Collectors Club Philatelist editor, negotiated a sharing agreement with the Philatelic Foundation that allows greater use of our landmark Clubhouse and library while providing continuing financial support and attracting increased commercial interest.

Board members have stepped up in reinvigorating the fundraising/development process to further support our programs and mission. Outreach at select stamp events continues, with greater member representation both nationally and internationally. Youth and beginning adult collectors groups are active, and membership has stabilized.

We continue to upgrade our legacy systems and web site on an ongoing basis. Meeting videos and the CCP are now available online, and work progresses in blending social media into our operations. Many have complimented us on our updated logo and image, which more closely reflect who we are. As we are able to dedicate additional resources to it, our library continues to be more user friendly.

A truly major accomplishment has been the recruitment of future leadership and talent onto the Board. We now have a depth of talent which will be a continuing resource for the future.

None of this would have been possible without the unceasing support of volunteers, members, various auction houses, advertisers, and our dedicated staff. Without them we would be a shadow of what we are. In addition, I cannot thank my fellow Board members enough; they individually and collectively supported me in making our Club a better place. Though I have had the privilege of being President, they are the force that enabled my efforts.

With all our progress, there remain several areas for the incoming team to excel in: a continued integration of social media and internet tools to enhance our functions and outreach; ongoing building enhancements to allow greater accessibility, within the scope of our landmark status; an integration of speakers’ visits with additional philatelic and nonphilatelic activities; and a reimagining of some of our outreach activities.

Every leadership team has its strengths, priorities, and vision. I am very excited for the Club going forward! I will remain on the Collectors Club Board and look forward to assisting the incoming team going forward.

–Mark Banchik

‘The Sum Is Greater Than the Parts‘

 

It takes a lot to keep our Club up and running. Aside from the usual outlays for operating and maintaining a designated landmark building, it takes people. Key Club functions are dependent on employees and/or contractors in varying roles. Without them our Club experience would be vastly diminished.

That said, the vast majority of our services are provided on a volunteer basis. Working in coordination with the Board, Officers, and staff, we rely on volunteers’ help for the “secret sauce” that makes the Collectors Club stand out in U.S. philately.

Contributing can take many forms: leadership, resources, specific projects, unique expertise, strategic vision, and outreach are all examples how you can enhance the Club. Note how all Board members assist in moving the Club forward! Some functions may overlap, and we are stronger for that.

Specific areas where you can make a difference are: our Library (volunteering, contributions, special projects, book reviews) with Robert Gray as Library Committee Chair; Program (recruiting speakers, hospitality, presentation write-ups, meeting assistance) with Stephen Reinhard as Chair; Collectors Club Philatelist (recruiting authors and advertisers, writing and reviewing copy, assisting the editor, Wayne Youngblood), with Robert Gray as Advertising Manager; House Committee (input ranges from specialized, i.e., architectural, legal, regulatory, to building function oversight) with Lawrence Hunt, Chair.

Opportunities are also available to assist with Development, with Lawrence Haber, Chair; Outreach, Wade Saadi, Chair; Technology, Joan Harmer, Chair; Website, with Roger Brody and Joan Harmer; Youth/Beginning Collectors, with Debby Friedman; and Image/Branding, with Matthew Healey, Chair. Louis Pataki oversees our annual One-Frame Competition, Roger Brody chairs the Finance and Budget Committees. Bob Rose provides legal insight into our operations, with Dan Ryterband, Ozan Gurel, and Vincent Cosenza contributing managerial oversight and vision to our processes.

Contact the Chair or leader of the area you are interested in to explore how best to proceed. Contact information is on the CCP masthead, or via Irene Bromberg, Executive Secretary. I appreciate your ideas, input, and vision of what we can do going forward. Please share your thoughts and expectations, and how we can achieve them, with me. Our goal is to develop future leadership while maintaining a broad-based talent pool to ensure that we can meet, and even exceed, member expectations.

“It takes a village” may be an overused cliché, but it is true. We are a village whose sum is greater than the parts.

–Mark Banchik

‘A Heard on the Street‘

 

We on the Board of Governors of The Col­lectors Club have listened. We have listened to members regional and far-flung, members who have joined recently and in the past, and also some collectors who have not joined for various reasons.
 
We have heard the overwhelming request for greater inclusion in Club activities from near and afar, and greater access to Club resources.
 
At a recent Board of Governors meeting it was proposed – and passed unanimously – to solicit members’ nominations for key awards. t was the overriding feeling that we as a Club have global breadth and influence. Our awards have historically reflected achievement on an international scale, and we feel that the broad base of Collectors Club membership reflects a depth of awareness for deserving recipients greater than that of the board or even of past awardees alone.
Details will be sent to all members electronically, so please ensure that we have a valid email address on file. Let me reiterate that we do not share these ad­dresses with anyone.
 
Yes, back issues of The Collectors Club Philatelist (CCP) are on our website in a searchable format!
Issues from 1922 though 2012 are currently posted, with the balance through 2018 expected to be completed shortly.This important project has been gestating for longer than initially expected, but we think that the wait was worth it.

Recent auction sales in the Clubhouse have helped us to continue investing in our landmarked building as well as in member services. Besides exposing addi­tional visitors to our world-class philatelic library, these sales have provided the opportunity to include promotional recruitment material with the catalogs. One noted auctioneer lauded us in print for making our prestigious location avail­able for his firm’s sale! In short, we have received much good press in addition to important financial support.
 
Recently the American Philatelic Society took the unusual step of reprinting an article from the CCP for the benefit of philately as a whole. This action recog­nizes the CCP’ s influence in American and – indeed – worldwide philately.
 
Speaking of our journal, please take a moment to thank our current and past CCP editors and advisory boards for their hard work. Advisory board members Kees Adema and David McNamee are stepping down after many years of volun­teer service, for which we are immensely grateful.
Finally, please note our upcoming meeting schedule, available both in this journal and on our website. The 2019-20 season has a strong lineup of presenta­tions, thanks to the hard work of Steve Reinhard and others who have recruited world-class philatelic talent.
 
.. and Don’t Forget. ..
 
The Collectors Club provides – free of charge – the use of the Club’s facilities to specialized philatelic study societies and groups needing a meeting place to discuss and exhibit stamps and postal history within their areas of interest. These groups, all of which are not-for-profit organizations, meet on a regular basis. Pres­ently there are eight specialized philatelic study societies and groups that meet at the clubhouse. The following is a list of these groups and the times they meet.
 
American Revenue Association, first Thursday of the month: 7-9 p.m.
American Topical Association, second Thursday of the month: 6:30 p.m.
British Empire Study Group, second Thursday of the month: 6:30-7:30 p.m.
France and Colonies Philatelic Society, first Tuesday of the month (intermittently): 6 p.m.
Germany Philatelic Society, first Thursday of the month: 7-9 p.m.
Scandinavian Study Group, second Wednesday of the month: 7-9 p.m.
U.S. Philatelic Classics Society- New York Chapter, second Tuesday of the month: 7:30-9 p.m.
Vatican Philatelic Society, second Thursday of the month: 6:30 p.m.
 
Individuals attending these society meetings need not be Club members, but we do require that at least one member be in attendance. Meetings are often held on weekdays, but at times when the building is closed, so the Club provides a monitor to open and close the building.
 
I look forward to seeing you in person at the Clubhouse, on the road or on the web.

–Mark Banchik

‘A Confluence of Glorious Circumstance‘

 

Sounds like a chapter from a Victorian novel- guaranteed to contain excitement, high emotion, grand events and, of course, a bit of wanderlust!

First off, we congratulate our board member Daniel Ryterband on achieving the Stockholmia 2019 Grand Award for his exhibit, A Country Divided; Effects of the American Civil War on the Mails. Dan is the featured speaker at our regularly scheduled June 19 Wednesday evening meeting. The video of his presentation is also available on our website (www.collectorsclub.org) as a member benefit.

Our landmarked Clubhouse has seen more philatelic activity in the past few months than in a long time. We encourage its use by members and related groups as both a member benefit and continued support for the greater collecting community. In this vein, we welcome the Bronx Coin Club members who now meet monthly in our home. There is some cross membership between our groups, and I foresee the likelihood for combined programs in the future.

At the wonderful awards dinner held this May, in which Christopher M.B. King, RDP, received the Lichtenstein Award, we inaugurated a proper tribute in the form of the newly named Robert P. Odenweller “Best Article Award.” Aside from being a past president and long-serving governor, Bob, as editor of the Philatelist has set a very high standard for all who follow.

We also recognized several very deserving CCNY members for longstanding accomplishments (also on our website): Alan Warren is now an RDP signatory, and both Debby Friedman and David Steidley received the President’s Medal for their long and varied service to both the Club and philately in general.

Debby has kick-started and maintained our ongoing youth and beginning
adult collector outreach. One of Debby’s youth group members presented at our most recent annual meeting to great acclaim! David’s board service over many years has been low-key, yet essential. He is our longest-serving board secretary; his shoes are hard to fill. In his role as club archivist/historian David has coordinated activities with various community groups. As a result, we are proud members of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association.

Our re-imaging has gotten off to a good start. As time progresses you will see more consistency over all our platforms: physical facility, print, electronic and outreach. This is a continuous work in progress.

Aside from generously sponsoring our Awards Dinner, H.R. Harmer/GPN has held sales viewings and auctions at the Club in both May and June, and have also committed to multiple events going forward. The Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries made use of our facilities for some of the Gross sales. The firm also provided assistance with general building refreshment and upkeep. In addition, Kelleher and Harmers International, among others will have a presence at the end of June and during July.

Why is there an uptick in activity at the clubhouse? Whether based locally or farther away, each one of these organizations appreciates the club’s illustrious past and its importance in the philatelic world today. We benefit in turn by their providing our message to their clientele as part of our ongoing outreach. Their support also allows us to devote additional resources to both our building and member services in a fiscally responsible manner.

Our website continues to add further functionality on a regular basis. Though it may not be visible to the casual user, this greater communication ability will be more representative of our needs going forward.

Library users have complimented us on how the library continues to better meet their needs. Thanks to Andrea Matura and a dedicated team of volunteers, we continue to enhance the library’s overall usefulness. We welcome members and nonmembers alike to make use of our resources. And, as activities bring greater traffic into the building, we anticipate that membership will also benefit.

Please refer to our website or the recently provided meeting listing ( enclosed with the May/June 2019 Collectors Club Philatelist) for upcoming activities and join us in person, or from wherever you happen to be.

Our programs, building activities and outreach result from the hard work of many people. Please enjoy the benefits of your association with us to the fullest.

–Mark Banchik

‘Honoring Our Heritage, Positioning for the Future’

 

When people are asked what visual image comes to mind when speaking about The Collectors Club, our iconic building façade is usually front and center (no pun intended). However, when asked what our current conjoined ‘CC’ logo conveys, many are less certain.

Ideally, one’s logo expresses a sense of purpose along with a distinct identity. It is the public manifestation of what we are distilled into a succinct package. One glance should serve to both identify an entity and convey its mission or key purpose. Though having served us for many years, our current ‘CC’ falls short in conveying a sense of purpose.

As noted in earlier letters, we unearthed several iconographic items from our past during the most recent renovation, which included various documents and building fixtures. The first fruits of these discoveries were the recently distributed membership certificates, whose central globe image is mirrored in the recently recovered and remounted center hall light fixture near the meeting room entrance.

During this period the Board was actively exploring various ideas to connect with our heritage, convey our mission, and present a uniform image across all platforms. We noted that with time there has been a gradual divergence of image between print, electronic, and other outreaching efforts, due in part to a continued evolution of technology and communications not even anticipated when the current logo was first employed.

These goals, to create an updated image of who and what we are and to unify our message across platforms, involve a process which, in an ideal world, would seem straightforward, but which actually isn’t. After Board approval, this important project was spearheaded by Matthew Healey. A series of working sessions in conjunction with past Governor (and design specialist) Niko Courtelis produced, after much discussion, a globe image representing the worlds of collecting and knowledge. Work on unifying design elements continues–compare the visual appearance of this journal issue with those from a few years ago.

Our new logo will be formally introduced at the 2019 Annual Dinner on May 8th. It is only fitting that as we honor our awardees we also look forward to our approaching 125th anniversary in 2021. Over time the web site, stationery, outreach materials, and branded items (ties, pins, other items) will reflect the design that we will proudly present in May. We expect this image to convey what we are about and to unify our message throughout the CCP, the website, and outreach materials, with our ultimate goal being to exceed member expectations.

–Mark Banchik