Call
to Order: The Annual General
Meeting of the American Philatelic Society held at the
Cleveland Convention Center, Cleveland, Ohio was called
to order by President John M. Hotchner at 9:05 a.m. using
the gavel that was used by J. W. Scott in the 1918 APS
Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio. President Hotchner
introduced the APS Board of Directors and then introduced
Executive Director Robert E. Lamb. Lamb introduced the
staff who were present from Headquarters in State College,
Pennsylvania.
President
Hotchner thanked the STAMPSHOW 99 show chair Tom Allen and
his staff of volunteers. Hotchner then recognized APS Committee
Chairmen, Committee Members, Past Board Members, and those
who have been members for 25 or more years.
Hotchner
thanked Don Sundman of Mystic Stamp Company for loaning the
APS the 1c Z-Grill which was on display at STAMPSHOW 99 and
was the centerpiece of a great deal of publicity that helped
bring people to the show; and Mayor Michael R. White of Cleveland
who proclaimed the opening day of STAMPSHOW 99 Stamp Collecting
Day in Cleveland.
Treasurer's
Report
In
the absence of Treasurer John Apfelbaum, President Hotchner read
his report: "The
finances of the Society continue to be in excellent shape. Despite
slightly lower membership we expect the financial situation of
the Society to remain stable for the foreseeable future. Respectfully
submitted, John Apfelbaum"
Secretary's
Report
Janet Klug: The Secretary has attested to and
signed all official documents of the American Philatelic Society
and taken minutes at Board meetings and General Meetings according
to the Society's bylaws.
Board
of Vice President's Report
Dr. Peter P. McCann: The Board of Vice Presidents
act as the disciplinary arm of the American Philatelic Society.
We have meetings every six to eight weeks and we make decisions
on disputes between members. We have steadily made a lot of progress
in reforming the system of how the Board of Vice Presidents work
and cutting down our caseload. We have been very pleased with
our record of achievement. Our new Board of Vice Presidents,
which will be headed up by Gordon Morison and will include Charles
Peterson and Diane Boehret, will do a fine job. They have a difficult
job and their work is unheralded.
President's
Report
Hotchner:
The Board convened at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night and spent
a total of 7 hours working through the agenda and an additional
2½ hours furthering our Strategic Planning process, being
guided by Col. Steve Luster. In Hotchner's opening remarks
he thanked Board Members who have been hosting APS Town Meetings
at both World Series of Philately and Regional shows. The results
have been excellent, not just further opening of the Society's
business to our members, but good feedback, thought-provoking
questions, and ideas to pursue from those who have come to
the Town Meetings. Thank you to those who have done that.
Hotchner
also reported he had been in contact with FIP President Knut
Mohr on the subject of a possible contribution to help the
Russian Federation. FIP itself and most FIP members received
the same appeal about six months ago. Mohr has taken on the
task of assessing the need and has not reached a conclusion.
Hotchner has not taken any action.
We
next received the Executive Director's report and Mr. Lamb
will be giving the highlights of that shortly. During the course
of that we took up and passed a resolution of thanks to the
people who put up the Society's first website. The resolution
reads:
Whereas
Lois Evans de Violini first proposed the American Philatelic
Society establish a presence on the Internet and in 1995 organized,
developed, and put up the Society's original website,
And
whereas Lois Evans de Violini, Robert de Violini, and Joseph
A. Picard have each given devoted and faithful service to the
expansion, growth, and maintenance of that website,
And
whereas they laid the foundation upon which the current website
is based,
Be
it therefore resolved that the deep appreciation of the Society
for their work and tireless service be written in the archives
of the American Philatelic Society and be it further resolved
that Lois Evans de Violini, Robert de Violini, and Joseph A.
Picard each be accorded the title of APS Webmaster Emeritus
and be so recognized on the current APS website.
Under
old business we confirmed phone votes approving the meeting
minutes from Orlando and approving the APS handling of exhibits
for World Stamp Expo 2000 in Anaheim next July. This is the
first of the every-five-year shows planned by the U.S. Postal
Service and we have agreed to give it a one time World Series
of Philately status.
With
regard to the minutes, Hotchner thanked Janet Klug who has
done a marvelous job. A lot of people in the Society do read
the minutes and read them carefully. Klug has done an exceptional
job of capturing not only the facts but the milieu of the discussion.
Next
we accepted three new affiliates to the Society: ESPER (Ebony
Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections), the Fellowship
of Samoan Specialists, and the Indiana Postal History Society.
Peter
McCann reported on the continuing negotiations with the American
First Day Cover Society to bring their AMERICOVER show into
closer association with the APS. Hotchner was pleased to report
that the boards of both the AFDCS and APS have now agreed on
terms to govern this relationship. This is more than just giving
AMERICOVER WSP status. It is a recognition of the important
role First Day Cover collecting plays in our hobby. Hotchner
thanked Ken Lawrence and Lloyd de Vries who played critical
roles in initiating this relationship, Peter McCann who oversaw
the negotiating process, AFDCS President Tom Foust who guided
the agreement through the AFDCS Board, and our own negotiating
team composed of Janet Klug, Jeanette Adams, and Ann Triggle.
We
next discussed future conventions. February 18 - 20 we will
be meeting at Portland, Oregon and August 24 - 27 at Providence,
Rhode Island. Hotchner urged those who have an interest to
come a couple of days earlier and attend the Board Meetings
which are open.
During
the discussion of future shows we accepted the application
of the Minnesota Stamp Expo, having successfully completed
its apprenticeship to become the 34th World Series
of Philately show.
We
next got into the issue of hosting our own Winter Show. This
has been a more expensive process than we had bargained for.
We discussed three alternatives. Briefly they are:
Downsized
hotel ballroom shows that we would host with approximately
50 dealers and 200 frames. This would allow us to go to smaller
locations and get closer to members who have not been able
to go to an APS gathering.
Another
was a return to holding APS meetings in association with existing
shows.
Yet
another is meeting as a Board without having an associated
show.
There
was also a fourth possibility which is some combination of
the above.
After
a substantial discussion we opted for the downsized hotel show
alternative. We want to be able to continue to experiment with
ideas like single frame exhibiting and display class exhibiting.
We believe it is important to hold Board Meetings in venues
where members can participate in Society functions and see
the Board at work.
We
next got into the Internet presence of the Sales Division.
This was discussed in the context of a letter from Past President
Joe Foley asking that the Society expand its stamp sales capability
on the Internet. In Hotchner's first year in office he formed
a committee with Randy Neil as chair to make proposals on how
the APS should utilize the Internet to expand its range and
better serve our members. Getting the Sales Division online
was one of the areas that received considerable scrutiny as
a result and we are committed to doing it. Other actions resulting
from that initiative have taken priority and Lamb will be reporting
on some of them. The Sales Division on the Internet is in our
future.
Les
Winick submitted two recommendations to the Board. The first
asked that the Board take action with the FIP to discourage
profiteering by FIP judges on show favors. This is a complicated
issue and it is not entirely clear what happened in the Philippines
last November. It is, however, clear that there was poor judgement
displayed by the Philippine postal administration, by the regional
Asian philately subgroup of FIP, and perhaps by individual
FIP judges. We have agreed that an expression of our support
for Winick's opinion should go to President Mohr.
Mr.
Winick also proposed the Society condemn dealers who sell labels
misrepresenting them as postage stamps. After considerable
discussion the Board agreed this matter is already covered
by item 17 of the APS Code of Ethics which reads, "I agree
not to knowingly participate in any way in the advertisement,
sale or trade of any philatelic material using any deceptive
practices including, but not limited to, false or misleading
claims of sales scarcity, value, condition or investment potential." We
will highlight this in a future issue of American Philatelist and
invite those who can present documented complaints to register
them with the Board of Vice Presidents.
We
next took up the operating budget for 2000 and the revised
1999 budget. John Apfelbaum, our Society's treasurer, presented
the revised 1999 and projected 2000 operating budgets. Both
project deficits of approximately $100,000 which will be offset
by investment income. The Board passed the budgets recognizing
these are living documents which need constant review and updating.
We also asked the staff to, in the future, present certain
parts of the budget in a form which will aid us in understanding
and tracking specific issues.
Board
member Ann Triggle proposed the Society offer a software package
with our logo for our members who want to identify themselves
as APS members on online auctions. The Board approved the proposal
as being both good publicity for the Society and as identification
for individual members since it will signify that they are
subject to the APS Code of Ethics.
We
were visited by Dr. Charles Lowry, Dean of Libraries of the
University of Maryland, who gave us a presentation on the future
of the American Philatelic Research Library. He is a nationally
known library consultant. He visited State College a month
or so ago and looked at the operation of the library, its facilities,
and how the library can best serve the members in the next
century. His major conclusion, paraphrased, is that given current
space, the pace of acquisitions, and the expense of electronic
conversion, we need to be planning now for expansion of the
physical plant otherwise there will come a time in the near
term when facility problems will negatively impact service.
He'll be coming back to State College to look at our operating
practices to see if he can make recommendations to utilize
space and staff to maximum efficiency, but it is clear we have
done the right thing in beginning the planning process for
expansion.
Finally,
the Board nominated Charles J. Peterson as a U.S. candidate
for a director slot on the FIP Board in the 2000 elections.
We also voted three individuals into the APS Hall of Fame:
Herman "Pat"
Herst, L. Norman Williams, and Ernest R. Ackerman. Each of these
people has made major contributions to the hobby.
Executive
Director's Report
Robert E. Lamb: Earlier John Hotchner said some
really nice things about Lam and his dedication. It is really
easy for Lamb to work for the American Philatelic Society because
he believes in the Society. It does a lot of good things for
collectors and Lamb is delighted to have the opportunity to do
that.
John
Apfelbaum said in his report that we are in good health financially.
We are. Our auditors just told us our Society and Library combined
are worth $8.7 million. That excludes the value of the holdings
in the library which we estimate to be another $2 million.
It is the finest public philatelic library in the world. It
also excludes the value of our reference collection which Mercer
Bristow has been building up. It is now a respectable stamp
collection and is available for research and the enjoyment
of all our members. It is worth about $750,000 and we expect
it to cross the $1 million mark in the future.
One
dark point on the horizon is our membership. Our membership
has declined by about 1800 people in the last two years. We
have to do something about that. To that end we have launched
the Race to 200k membership campaign. We are going to continue
with even more incentives to become a member of APS until we
reach membership number 200,000 which we hope will be next
year. It is an ambitious goal. We got 25 new members at our
booth in the last two days.
We
have spent a lot of time on the Internet. We just brought our
website in house and have put up a redesigned website. If you
haven't seen it please visit www.stamps.org. We are very proud
of it. We will be offering more services to our members on
the Inernet and that will continue to grow in the next years.
Lois Evans de Violini, Bob de Violini, and Joe Picard really
brought us into the automation age and deserve our thanks.
We
have a new Director of Education and he is working on philatelic
training programs that we hope to offer on the Internet. We
hope to offer the first course sometime next spring.
The
All Star Stamp Clubs have been a major success for the hobby.
We launched the program in January and we are going into our
second school year this fall with 2000 kids in the program.
It has been extremely well received. One of the reasons we
have been able to do this is because of the generosity of the
membership who has helped underwrite those expenses.
We
have a close relationship with the US Postal Service in a lot
of areas, but it is not always a warm relationship. We are
beginning to see the Postal Service understand more what collectors
want. They have approached us in two areas we are excited about.
One is that they would like to work more closely with us to
change the focus from marketing individual stamp issues to
promoting stamp collecting as a hobby during National Stamp
Collecting Month. The Indiana Stamp Club in Indianapolis is
handling the arrangements for the first day ceremony for the
insect stamps on October 1. That club has a whole month of
activities planned for the month of October. The second area
is that the Postal Service has asked us to take the Stampers
program one step further to promote stamp collecting as a hobby.
We are talking about ways we can work together on that.
The
Expertizing Service has broken records for three out of the
last four years and we expect it to end the last year of the
century with its best performance yet. In addition Mercer Bristow
has put the expertizing application on the Internet. It is
the first expertizing service to be available to the public
electronically.
We
are concerned about the number of thefts taking place in the
hobby. We were pleased Hugh Wood, working with the FBI, was
able to help recover one of the biggest stamp thefts in the
United States. We have been talking to a retired FBI agent
in Tennessee about the possibility of reactivating the Stamp
Theft committee.
Our
members continue to be extremely generous. Contributions to
the Society this year have been in the neighborhood of $40,000
in cash and should exceed $100,000 by year's end. This has
been quite good because we have not had any major fund raising
campaigns this year. The in-kind contributions continue to
be very important. It is one of the reasons why we have been
able to build the Reference Collection. The in-kind contributions
so far this year have exceeded $300,000. We just got an unusual
gift from John Barber who donated a voltage regulator which
helps to make certain the current coming into the building
is maintained at a constant level. It also will help to bridge
short power outages. The voltage regulator turned out to be
4,000 pounds and the book value is $25,000.
World
Columbian Stamp Expo that was held in Chicago in 1992 has been
very generous to us and we got a call yesterday that they would
be donating another $2000 to help us with the things we are
doing.
The
Sales Division has had a decline for the first time in years.
The inventory has declined from over $13 million to $12.3 million.
There are a lot of reasons for that but the main reason is
the competition we are getting from Internet sales. It puts
a greater urgency for us to make the Sales Division available
on the Internet.
We
changed printers for American Philatelist with the July
issue. Many have noticed the magazine is arriving more quickly.
We have also saved money in changing printers.
We
had 6119 ballots cast in the recent election. This was down
considerably from the almost 10,000 votes that were cast in
the last election. It is one of the lowest elections we have
had. Lamb urged members to vote in the next election. It is
important we get a good turnout with our elections.
Lamb
closed on a personal note by saying he has had the privilege
of working with two fine Presidents of the Society. Randy Neil
knew where he wanted to go with the Society and was a delight
to work with. John Hotchner has a completely different personality
from Randy Neil, but he leaves the job of President an even
better friend. Lamb has a great respect for his integrity and
respect for what he has tried to accomplish for the Society.
Hotchner: Introduced
the members of the APRL board and asked them to stand and be
recognized.
25
Year Members
President
Hotchner, with the assistance of Executive Director Lamb, recognized
those present who were celebrating their 25th year
as members of the American Philatelic Society.
Open
Discussion
President Hotchner opened the meeting for any
questions from the floor.
Steve
Esrati: Urged the Society to urge its members to subscribe
to an e-mail service. Esrati has found in his own field of
philately e-mail is a great tool to communicate with other
collectors.
Hotchner: Mentioned
that in one of his President's columns. E-mail is an important
tool that helps collectors enjoy their hobby.
Elliot
Landau: Moved a resolution on behalf of the membership
of the APS of gratitude to John Hotchner for his service
before his presidency, in it, and continuing as a member
of the Board for his integrity and inspiration. We thank
you. Motion seconded by Steve Esrati. Passed unanimously.
Hotchner: Introduced
incoming President Peter P. McCann.
McCann: Introduced
the new Board: Vice Presidents Gordon Morison, Charles Peterson
(not present), Diane Boehret; Secretary Janet Klug, Treasurer
Nancy Zielinski Clark, Directors-at-Large Jeanette Adams, Lloyd
de Vries, Ann Triggle, Wayne Youngblood and Immediate Past
President John Hotchner. The new Board was sworn in by Past
President Randy Neil.
McCann: Stated
it was not planned, but he became a candidate for President
at the urging of John Hotchner, Ken Lawrence, and a few others.
The Society is in good shape. We have good leadership and good
directors. The priorities he has are the members' priorities.
These include the relationship with the US Postal Service,
the Insurance Plan, the John K. Tiffany Endowment Fund, the
decline in our membership, and expansion of our Society headquarters
in State College. We are looking to developing a philatelic
resource center at State College, but this must be done responsibly.
We must study all aspects and know how it is to be financed
before we begin. McCann will address this further in his President's
column.
Adjournment
President
McCann asked for the member with the lowest membership number
to close the meeting. George Brett, member number 14188 moved
to adjourn. Seconded by Ken Lawrence. Passed unanimously.
