Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Just wondered if anyone on here knows of some reason I haven't at least gotten acknowledgment.
Login to Like
this post
09:51:16pm
As with many clubs, the administrators are volunteers
who work at their own pace and during spare time.
Spare time is often controlled by events in or
around their health, their family, work and sometimes,
yes, vacations
And finally there are sometimes membership "upheavals"
within an organisation, due to elections and re-elections.
Capping that, if you are referring to a UK based club,
the vagaries of the mail flow complicates things.
The last should be minimised by efficient use of Paypal
and e-mails.
So, based on some of my experiences, I'd wait
another week or so and then try to contact another
official with a polite inquiry.
At times the membership coordinator is ill, or quits,
without informing the other officers.
Login to Like
this post
Update, I got the October issue of their publication at long last only to read notice that the society is seriously considering disbanding. Old story, lack of volunteers and overworked officers. They are losing their secretary and also the journal editor. One reason I joined was to purchase sections of their handbook as featured on the website. No one will respond to quires about that.
I sent $25 to join a group they knew was on its last legs.
Their website is still accepting applications from prospective members. Look at the bright side; at least I got one of their publications. Very little excuse for this situation. If you are winding down stop taking money from applicants who have no way of knowing. incredible..
Login to Like
this post
I noticed this group has the Handbook of British Philately for the Intermediate Collector. This is something I may be interested in. Does anyone have recommendations for these articles?
Login to Like
this post
The handbook has been published since I think the late 1980's. There have to be parts or all of it still out there someplace, I'd love to pick up a used set or part of a set on Ebay, they never seem to be listed.
That's abut the only way I now think I will ever get one. I've sent a number of emails to society officers asking for direction as to how to purchase this, no response.
For me, this is sort of an unprecedented situation. I've had a few bad experiences with clubs and societies, but not on this level. The GBCC is an APS affiliate. I may try a bit more then report this to them. Can't hurt..
Update, I located four sections of the Handbook on Ebay and purchased two of them just now. they apparently are out there if you work to find them. Maybe that will be a project for me now.
Login to Like
this post
I paid for the two sections I bought earlier today and sent a message to the seller re additional sections. He has several and we've worked a deal, he is invoicing me via Paypal so they can be added to the ones I bought. I still won't have the full set but nearly so, and.. at a cost far less than if I bought from the GBCC. Who needs that hassle anyway 
Sometimes happy endings do occur.
Login to Like
this post
01:21:48am
only to read notice that the society is seriously
considering disbanding.
I wouldn't be surprised at all. However one of h members of Stamp Communty posted this in August 2017;
Posted 08/23/2017 8:29 pm
Hi,
The GBCC is most certainly still around and active. Our journal comes out each and every quarter, on time, and our last national meeting was in Richmond earlier this month.
The website, however, is in transition as the "old" website was very long in the tooth and very much in need of update.
We are moving to a new url, http://gbphilately.org which is still be populated and in time all the material on the old website will be transitioned to the new one. Sorry for the confusion, but we're working hard to get this all done as soon as possible.
Hope this helps,
Larry Haber
Login to Like
this post
I noted that too and contacted that poster via another forum I participate on. He seems pessimistic about the group's chances of survival.
They apparently have over 200 members. The problem is, very few of them want to do anything. It's a common problem with stamp clubs and societies these days. I belong to the France and Colonies group; they have sharply reduced their journal content. They have some good people in leadership, but they are stretched thin. I gave up trying to contact their secretary on some issues, he never replies.
Not sure what the basis of this problem is, but it is slowly killing organized Philately.
Login to Like
this post
I live near the venue for next year's' APS convention and had planned to offer manning a table for them if they had one. I may still do so if they exist by next August which appears unlikely now. I've done that sort of thing in the past and enjoyed doing so.
I commend your service to the hobby. I did find your comment a tad nasty, we are more or less anonymous on here so none of us ought to conclude someone posting such opinion is a freeloader. I'm not saying you did that; appreciate your perspective.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
04:08:23am
I commend your service to the hobby.
I did find your comment a tad nasty,
It would be so much easier if members
referring to some previous comment of
another member would copy a segment that
they are referring to so that readers
would know what is meant.
In this case I wonder if someone thinks
my remark somewhere was thought to be
intentionally or perhaps inadvertently nasty?
All it would take is to highlight the
comment, paste it at the beginning of a
response and use the "bold" feature on
the line below the comment box.
Login to Like
this post
cdj,
You are absolutely right, I ought to have done that. Apologies. It was a reply to the post by Anglophile. He had a valid point. I was just trying to point out that we ought not assume someone isn't contributing.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
It was obvious to me. There was second guessing in the comment as snick1946 said.
Login to Like
this post
Snick - I'd be delighted to hear more about your volunteering in hobby organizations so I can refrain from any false assumptions. You post extensively here and on Stamp Community Forum, but at the time of my post I couldn't remember anything you had previously said about service to the hobby.'
Oh please..
Are you serious? You want me to document my past service? Would a resume be expected?
One thing I value on this and other boards is relative anonymity. I'm not revealing where and what I may have done. Nor should I have to. I am sure it is not as extensive as yours and no, I am not being sarcastic. You probably have outshone many of us on here. That does not mean I ought not make observations nor ought you be taking offense when I do.
This thread is getting toxic. I think it needs to die a quiet death.
Login to Like
this post
Stepping away from this specific thread; I have a few thoughts about this topic in general.
I have also noticed what Anglophile noted, folks who will quickly write a pubic posts but then disappear when time/money is needed to make improvements in our hobby. Over in the SCF forum, a new thread was started today about the breaking up of rare classic era blocks to generate a highly graded pair of stamps. Folks may be quick to write a post complaining about this practice but would any of them be willing to commit their time or money to help the situation?
That said, I have a number of first person horror stories about volunteering for our hobby. While many of us do not expect our time/money to be noticed or rewarded, there are examples of volunteer efforts actually coming back around and biting a person in the butt. For example, last week I got publicly got flamed (and falsely accused) on a social media posting for using an organization name without authorization on some of the kid videos I donated to a stamp show. (The videos were done at the request of the organization and used at their show successfully!) This got posted and read by others, people now could falsely believe that I run around using organization names without authorization. The person who posted it did not bother to first contact me and inquire before posting the incorrect info. You cannot put the toothpaste back into the tube after you post stuff online.
My take-away on both sides of the discussion is this; sometimes we are our own worse enemies. While it is often easy to dash off a critical post, finding the time/money to help solve an issue is more difficult. And we should consider those who do volunteer their time/money, while accolades are not expected we should always keep in mind that most folks are just trying to help.
Here a few things that I try to do when I write posts
1.When writing posts, I always try to be positive.
2.Being critical is acceptable if I am also offering ideas and solutions for improvement. Just being critical fulfills the stereotype of me being a grumpy old man and serves no real productive value.
3. I try to be cautious about making most assumptions and never make assumptions about another person’s intentions. I can not see into the head of another person so I can never be 100% of their intentions.
Don
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
snick1946, your contributions to this forum are appreciated.
Login to Like
this post
04:26:58am
" ....never make assumptions about another person’s intentions.
I can not see into the head of another person ..."
Yes, that can be sticky wicket, especially getting them to turn sideways and having the ears line up with the line of sight.
Login to Like
this post
Reopening to ask if anyone may have heard what decision was made at this club's annual meeting last week- held at the Mesa show? From what I heard there was a serious possibility that it would be disbanded. I hope not but I'd sort of like to know if that is indeed what happened.
Login to Like
this post
Just briefly resurrecting this to mention that after two emails to a club officer and the promise of an update from him, I have heard utterly nothing from anyone that would tell me if the GBCC is still viable. I think the time for their publication has also passed. Their site is still soliciting new members.
BTW I have volunteered to man any table they have at the APS show this year. It'd be nice to know if they still exist, but by gosh, they're not going to tell me.
Login to Like
this post
I asked Ken Martin about the group and he said they were still an affiliate in good standing and had sent updated information yesterday to APS.
I looked at the web site and see multiple contacts but guess you found the ones that does not do email (that has been another discussion).
Login to Like
this post
Perhaps just a coincidence but this evening I got an email from Tom Slemmons advising me a decision was made at the meeting at Aripex to seek a merger between the GBCC and the GBPS in the UK. Details being 'worked on'.
I have to wonder if this means that all GBCC current members are to be shifted into the UK group. That'd be great if so. I am sure dues would go up however.
I just got the email five minutes ago. I have no further information. Given the glacial pace of information sharing with the GBCC I rather doubt I will hear anything for quite awhile. I still don't know if the GBCC will now issue any further issues of their club publication.
Login to Like
this post
OK here's what happened at the annual meeting. The membership is being given a choice of three paths. One, to try to continue as before. second to disband and pay back dues pro rata for the membership year, or three- affiliate with the Great Britain Philatelic Society. The last seems to me to be the best outcome for me, at least. Annual dues for Us members are $46 and it's not clear if current GBCC members would need to supplement that for the current year, I sort of doubt it.It works out to around $20 more but some other Us specialist societies are asking for that much in annual dues these days.
I sense the leadership is pitching for the third path. I haven't seen numbers but it sounds as if the numbers are plummeting. I got the January (!) issue of the club magazine today with a mail in ballot.
The GBCC has become almost entirely a Machin centric group. Nothing wrong with that but it is not where I am. Let's see how this plays out.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Just to add an update: the GBCC merged with the Great Britain Philatelic Society as of November 2019. Members were given the option to transfer over their membership to the GBPS until the end of 2020, and nearly 80 did.
The GBPS caters for anyone with an interest in GB philately and postal history. We have two publications, both published six times a year: The GB Journal, A5 size and in full colour, which contains new research into GB material, and the GBPS Newsletter, A4 size and averaging 36 pages (b/w but in colour on the web), which contains news, illustrated reports of meetings, pages from competition entries, notes, queries, and shorter articles, and pretty much whatever members want to send in! There is also an extensive website with a large amount of information on GB philately (much of which is also made available to non-members).
The complete run of the GBCC Chronicle has been digitized and is available for download by members from the website, along with the complete run of The GB Journal from 1956 to date and the GBPS Newsletter from 2000 (when it moved from being just a newsletter to an actual publication). Members also have access to an archive of scanned displays of GB material (some 90+ as of the time of writing), a discussion board, consultants, a library etc.
We have recently started to hold a series of "Zoom meetings" while face-to-face meetings are impractical due to coronavirus, and we plan to continue these even when normal meetings are restored.
Subscriptions are UK £25, Europe £30, World £36 Airmail/£30 Surface.
http://www.gbps.org.uk
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I sent an online membership app with $25 Paypal payment three weeks ago. Two followup inquiries sent and still nothing. Is someone on vacation?
Just wondered if anyone on here knows of some reason I haven't at least gotten acknowledgment.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
29 Oct 2018
09:51:16pm
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
As with many clubs, the administrators are volunteers
who work at their own pace and during spare time.
Spare time is often controlled by events in or
around their health, their family, work and sometimes,
yes, vacations
And finally there are sometimes membership "upheavals"
within an organisation, due to elections and re-elections.
Capping that, if you are referring to a UK based club,
the vagaries of the mail flow complicates things.
The last should be minimised by efficient use of Paypal
and e-mails.
So, based on some of my experiences, I'd wait
another week or so and then try to contact another
official with a polite inquiry.
At times the membership coordinator is ill, or quits,
without informing the other officers.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Update, I got the October issue of their publication at long last only to read notice that the society is seriously considering disbanding. Old story, lack of volunteers and overworked officers. They are losing their secretary and also the journal editor. One reason I joined was to purchase sections of their handbook as featured on the website. No one will respond to quires about that.
I sent $25 to join a group they knew was on its last legs.
Their website is still accepting applications from prospective members. Look at the bright side; at least I got one of their publications. Very little excuse for this situation. If you are winding down stop taking money from applicants who have no way of knowing. incredible..
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
I noticed this group has the Handbook of British Philately for the Intermediate Collector. This is something I may be interested in. Does anyone have recommendations for these articles?
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
The handbook has been published since I think the late 1980's. There have to be parts or all of it still out there someplace, I'd love to pick up a used set or part of a set on Ebay, they never seem to be listed.
That's abut the only way I now think I will ever get one. I've sent a number of emails to society officers asking for direction as to how to purchase this, no response.
For me, this is sort of an unprecedented situation. I've had a few bad experiences with clubs and societies, but not on this level. The GBCC is an APS affiliate. I may try a bit more then report this to them. Can't hurt..
Update, I located four sections of the Handbook on Ebay and purchased two of them just now. they apparently are out there if you work to find them. Maybe that will be a project for me now.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
I paid for the two sections I bought earlier today and sent a message to the seller re additional sections. He has several and we've worked a deal, he is invoicing me via Paypal so they can be added to the ones I bought. I still won't have the full set but nearly so, and.. at a cost far less than if I bought from the GBCC. Who needs that hassle anyway
Sometimes happy endings do occur.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
03 Dec 2018
01:21:48am
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
only to read notice that the society is seriously
considering disbanding.
I wouldn't be surprised at all. However one of h members of Stamp Communty posted this in August 2017;
Posted 08/23/2017 8:29 pm
Hi,
The GBCC is most certainly still around and active. Our journal comes out each and every quarter, on time, and our last national meeting was in Richmond earlier this month.
The website, however, is in transition as the "old" website was very long in the tooth and very much in need of update.
We are moving to a new url, http://gbphilately.org which is still be populated and in time all the material on the old website will be transitioned to the new one. Sorry for the confusion, but we're working hard to get this all done as soon as possible.
Hope this helps,
Larry Haber
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
I noted that too and contacted that poster via another forum I participate on. He seems pessimistic about the group's chances of survival.
They apparently have over 200 members. The problem is, very few of them want to do anything. It's a common problem with stamp clubs and societies these days. I belong to the France and Colonies group; they have sharply reduced their journal content. They have some good people in leadership, but they are stretched thin. I gave up trying to contact their secretary on some issues, he never replies.
Not sure what the basis of this problem is, but it is slowly killing organized Philately.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
I live near the venue for next year's' APS convention and had planned to offer manning a table for them if they had one. I may still do so if they exist by next August which appears unlikely now. I've done that sort of thing in the past and enjoyed doing so.
I commend your service to the hobby. I did find your comment a tad nasty, we are more or less anonymous on here so none of us ought to conclude someone posting such opinion is a freeloader. I'm not saying you did that; appreciate your perspective.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
04 Dec 2018
04:08:23am
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
I commend your service to the hobby.
I did find your comment a tad nasty,
It would be so much easier if members
referring to some previous comment of
another member would copy a segment that
they are referring to so that readers
would know what is meant.
In this case I wonder if someone thinks
my remark somewhere was thought to be
intentionally or perhaps inadvertently nasty?
All it would take is to highlight the
comment, paste it at the beginning of a
response and use the "bold" feature on
the line below the comment box.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
cdj,
You are absolutely right, I ought to have done that. Apologies. It was a reply to the post by Anglophile. He had a valid point. I was just trying to point out that we ought not assume someone isn't contributing.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
It was obvious to me. There was second guessing in the comment as snick1946 said.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Snick - I'd be delighted to hear more about your volunteering in hobby organizations so I can refrain from any false assumptions. You post extensively here and on Stamp Community Forum, but at the time of my post I couldn't remember anything you had previously said about service to the hobby.'
Oh please..
Are you serious? You want me to document my past service? Would a resume be expected?
One thing I value on this and other boards is relative anonymity. I'm not revealing where and what I may have done. Nor should I have to. I am sure it is not as extensive as yours and no, I am not being sarcastic. You probably have outshone many of us on here. That does not mean I ought not make observations nor ought you be taking offense when I do.
This thread is getting toxic. I think it needs to die a quiet death.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Stepping away from this specific thread; I have a few thoughts about this topic in general.
I have also noticed what Anglophile noted, folks who will quickly write a pubic posts but then disappear when time/money is needed to make improvements in our hobby. Over in the SCF forum, a new thread was started today about the breaking up of rare classic era blocks to generate a highly graded pair of stamps. Folks may be quick to write a post complaining about this practice but would any of them be willing to commit their time or money to help the situation?
That said, I have a number of first person horror stories about volunteering for our hobby. While many of us do not expect our time/money to be noticed or rewarded, there are examples of volunteer efforts actually coming back around and biting a person in the butt. For example, last week I got publicly got flamed (and falsely accused) on a social media posting for using an organization name without authorization on some of the kid videos I donated to a stamp show. (The videos were done at the request of the organization and used at their show successfully!) This got posted and read by others, people now could falsely believe that I run around using organization names without authorization. The person who posted it did not bother to first contact me and inquire before posting the incorrect info. You cannot put the toothpaste back into the tube after you post stuff online.
My take-away on both sides of the discussion is this; sometimes we are our own worse enemies. While it is often easy to dash off a critical post, finding the time/money to help solve an issue is more difficult. And we should consider those who do volunteer their time/money, while accolades are not expected we should always keep in mind that most folks are just trying to help.
Here a few things that I try to do when I write posts
1.When writing posts, I always try to be positive.
2.Being critical is acceptable if I am also offering ideas and solutions for improvement. Just being critical fulfills the stereotype of me being a grumpy old man and serves no real productive value.
3. I try to be cautious about making most assumptions and never make assumptions about another person’s intentions. I can not see into the head of another person so I can never be 100% of their intentions.
Don
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
snick1946, your contributions to this forum are appreciated.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
06 Dec 2018
04:26:58am
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
" ....never make assumptions about another person’s intentions.
I can not see into the head of another person ..."
Yes, that can be sticky wicket, especially getting them to turn sideways and having the ears line up with the line of sight.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Reopening to ask if anyone may have heard what decision was made at this club's annual meeting last week- held at the Mesa show? From what I heard there was a serious possibility that it would be disbanded. I hope not but I'd sort of like to know if that is indeed what happened.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Just briefly resurrecting this to mention that after two emails to a club officer and the promise of an update from him, I have heard utterly nothing from anyone that would tell me if the GBCC is still viable. I think the time for their publication has also passed. Their site is still soliciting new members.
BTW I have volunteered to man any table they have at the APS show this year. It'd be nice to know if they still exist, but by gosh, they're not going to tell me.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
I asked Ken Martin about the group and he said they were still an affiliate in good standing and had sent updated information yesterday to APS.
I looked at the web site and see multiple contacts but guess you found the ones that does not do email (that has been another discussion).
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Perhaps just a coincidence but this evening I got an email from Tom Slemmons advising me a decision was made at the meeting at Aripex to seek a merger between the GBCC and the GBPS in the UK. Details being 'worked on'.
I have to wonder if this means that all GBCC current members are to be shifted into the UK group. That'd be great if so. I am sure dues would go up however.
I just got the email five minutes ago. I have no further information. Given the glacial pace of information sharing with the GBCC I rather doubt I will hear anything for quite awhile. I still don't know if the GBCC will now issue any further issues of their club publication.
Login to Like
this post
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
OK here's what happened at the annual meeting. The membership is being given a choice of three paths. One, to try to continue as before. second to disband and pay back dues pro rata for the membership year, or three- affiliate with the Great Britain Philatelic Society. The last seems to me to be the best outcome for me, at least. Annual dues for Us members are $46 and it's not clear if current GBCC members would need to supplement that for the current year, I sort of doubt it.It works out to around $20 more but some other Us specialist societies are asking for that much in annual dues these days.
I sense the leadership is pitching for the third path. I haven't seen numbers but it sounds as if the numbers are plummeting. I got the January (!) issue of the club magazine today with a mail in ballot.
The GBCC has become almost entirely a Machin centric group. Nothing wrong with that but it is not where I am. Let's see how this plays out.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
06:44:37am
re: Great Britain Collectors Club - Is There An Issue?
Just to add an update: the GBCC merged with the Great Britain Philatelic Society as of November 2019. Members were given the option to transfer over their membership to the GBPS until the end of 2020, and nearly 80 did.
The GBPS caters for anyone with an interest in GB philately and postal history. We have two publications, both published six times a year: The GB Journal, A5 size and in full colour, which contains new research into GB material, and the GBPS Newsletter, A4 size and averaging 36 pages (b/w but in colour on the web), which contains news, illustrated reports of meetings, pages from competition entries, notes, queries, and shorter articles, and pretty much whatever members want to send in! There is also an extensive website with a large amount of information on GB philately (much of which is also made available to non-members).
The complete run of the GBCC Chronicle has been digitized and is available for download by members from the website, along with the complete run of The GB Journal from 1956 to date and the GBPS Newsletter from 2000 (when it moved from being just a newsletter to an actual publication). Members also have access to an archive of scanned displays of GB material (some 90+ as of the time of writing), a discussion board, consultants, a library etc.
We have recently started to hold a series of "Zoom meetings" while face-to-face meetings are impractical due to coronavirus, and we plan to continue these even when normal meetings are restored.
Subscriptions are UK £25, Europe £30, World £36 Airmail/£30 Surface.
http://www.gbps.org.uk
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.