‘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

‘On the Road Again’, and a ‘Mea Culpa’

 

Let’s start off with the mea culpa. Generally these missives are written several weeks prior to the issue’s cover date. This means that sometimes comments about some activities or results are based on ‘best knowledge’ or ‘project timelines’ which usually are pretty close to how things usually pan out. Thanks to the good graces of our Editor, I can usually slide these writings in after his preferred deadline which helps to minimize unplanned differences between what is written and what actually occurs.

Thanks to a series of deferred promised delivery dates combined with my overly optimistic view of technology, I had publicized the ‘go live’ for the searchable online ‘Collectors Club Philatelist’ before it was actually possible. Now that our technical gurus have completed the actual scanning, conversion, and uploading processes we are very close (if not already live) to fulfilling the promise. Yes, the CCP will be available in a searchable format on our website (www.collectorsclub.org) in the very near future!

I take full responsibility for the premature setting of expectations. My hope is that the final results exceed expectations in usability and ease of function. The Board of Governors has decided that more recent content (both journals and videos) are best placed in a ‘members only’ area with older material freely accessible to all. This is a prerogative of membership, yet allows reasonable access for others to enjoy past material.

Only a few short weeks ago The Collectors Club participated at the Sarasota National Stamp Exhibition (SNSE). A number of our members live and vacation in Florida, and several were able to help staff our table.

Turnout for the Club meeting/presentation was better then expected with several new faces in the audience. The overriding theme was ‘How the Post Office handles major change’. It was noted in the introduction that the Post Office could be both the most traditional, and yet most progressive of organizations. For example, without Post Office support our air transport system would have developed much differently (if at all). I started off with ‘How the Mexican Post Office made the transition from collect to mandatory prepayment of mails’. Wade Saadi then continued the theme by demonstrating how both changes in technology and demand for services drove stamp production as demonstrated by evolution of the U.S. Liberty Series. Larry Haber concluded the program with an insightful presentation on how the British Postal Service dealt with the conversion from Sterling to decimal currency. Each short presentation was self contained, yet demonstrated how a government entity dealt with, and ultimately succeeded in dealing with major change.

Several new and reinstatement membership applications were received, and many old friends stopped by our table. A great thanks goes to the SNSE show committee for hosting us, and the volunteers who put their best foot forward during the show. The exhibits were a marked highlight with Dr. Daniel Knowles (U.S. Classic), Larry Haber (U.S. Modern), and Sandeep Jaiswal (Foreign) winning the Collectors Club Multi Frame awards. Please join us at our Annual Awards Dinner on May 8, 2019 at The Cornell Club to congratulate them, and our other deserving awardees.

–Mark Banchik