May 16, 2010 | ANA
In the April 2010 edition of The Numismatist, Q. David Bowers writes about the aging of the American Numismatic Association membership noting that 47-percent of its membership is between the ages of 50 and 60. While Bowers notes that there “are several reasons why numismatics has lost its appeal to younger people,” Bowers says that it is nothing “the ANA has done or not done.” Bowers sites studies that show that younger people have embraced technology and social media to fill their spare time. With all due respect to Mr. Bowers, then why has the ANA not embraced this new social media paradigm?
While the ANA has a Young Numismatist outreach program and a Scouts program for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, these programs end when the YN member becomes 22 years old. YN’s who go to college are beginning their careers or starting graduate school at 22. Those who do not go to college are in the beginnings of their careers and maybe beginning a family. In either case, at 22 years old, a person’s life is in transition and the least of their worries is membership or participation in the ANA. If the ANA wants to be relevant in the lives of those in the 20-something and 30-something, the organization must adapt to be where their members are or want to be.
Over the last ten years, technology has evolved to where it is more portable, more accessible, and more communal. And recent advances and other industry activity shows that this trend is unlikely to slow down. Those of us who make this technology part of our lives understands how valuable online and accessible resources can be to enhance our lives. If the ANA wants to continue to be relevant for a broader audience, it has to join the portable, communal revolution to make it more accessible to more potential members.
Did you know that the ANA has a Facebook page? Neither did I until I saw a small note about it at the bottom of the ANA monthly email newsletter. Although I will not use Facebook (for reasons other than technology), why is this not advertised on the ANA’s website? Is it mentioned in The Numismatist? It might have appeared once, but it should be repeated monthly so that people will get the message.
If the ANA is on Facebook then why are they not using Twitter? Those of us who will not use Facebook because of recent privacy concerns will use Twitter. Why is the ANA not tweeting? There must be some news coming from Colorado Springs. Were there new books for the library? Are there new exhibits in the Money Museum? Are there press releases we should know about? What about new content on the website?
The ANA website leaves much to be desired. It appears to be a combination of cobbled together download programming and a commercial markup program that does not help manage content and does not provide for ways to better organize the information. Although better looking than the original ANA website, this version has even removed wonderful content that used to be buried under various menus. Where is this content?
For the ANA website to be relevant, it must get a makeover. I am not talking about a style makeover. It needs a technology makeover. First, it must use a content management system (CMS) for being able to organize and deliver content. Even the people at whitehouse.gov figured this out when they transformed the White House’s website to use a content management system. CMS software has the capabilities to include Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds on the site that will allow people to know when content has changed rather than rely on the user to periodically check the site. CMS also has the ability to create calendars that can be a reference for numismatic events, integrate photo albums from ANA sponsored events to share with the membership, and even integrate a YouTube channel that can incorporate multimedia presentations. Even congress uses YouTube!
There is so much more that can be done if the ANA embraces the technology and adds it to their daily workflow.
After the candidates roundtable at the 2007 National Money Show in Charlotte, I walked up to several candidates and said that I had an interest in helping the ANA with the technology communications plans. I handed several candidates my business card and said that after they were elected that I want to volunteer to help. I waited until a few months after the election to remind those I spoke with and those that I did not have the opportunity to speak with that I was still interested. I am still waiting for a response.
Later in 2007, The Numismatist had an announcement for volunteers to participate in an “IT Committee.” I sent my information to the email provided. This committee had one phone call, an exchange of emails, and nothing came of it. The wasted effort is discouraging.
But I am back with a very public platform to inform the ANA that this member is ready to step in and help. Although I am now part of the 47-percent demographic I do not have the same mindset as many in my peer group. I have been in the computing business for 30 years and evolved as the technology has evolved. I am as passionate about technology as I am about collecting and would volunteer to work with the ANA to help.
However, this offer does come with conditions. Since the last effort fell short and the ANA has not shown great interest in member suggestions, my conditions require a commitment from the ANA Board of Governors that such work will be fully supported. I want a commitment from the Executive Director that he will participate with providing input regarding the daily operations of the organization and how to integrate technology into their workflow. I want a commitment of money—not for me but a budget that would be used to make the improvements necessary and any future operations and maintenance issues. Finally, I want a commitment that the group that would do this be small—limited to the Executive Director, one member from the Board of Governors, and three members at large. Two of the three members should have a technology background and the third be in the 20-something to 30-something age bracket who may or may not have a technology background. And since I am volunteering, the ANA only has to find two more members at large!
If the ANA is interested, I can write a committee charter that would propose the structure, goals, outcomes, and milestones that the Board of Governors could consider. I am also prepared to provide my own credentials to become of a member of this committee. All I would need is to start this conversation with ANA President Cliff Mishler or Executive Director Larry Shepherd. Both may contact me via email to begin the conversation. I look forward to hearing from these gentlemen.
May 10, 2010 | ANA, shows
“We can now move immediately to ‘brand’ Chicago as an ANA city.”
With that statement by Larry Shepherd, the American Numismatic Association has begun to reverse the progress it has made to reach out to its members over the last few years. Rather than finding a way to bring the largest of the ANA shows closer to the membership, Shepherd convinced the ANA Board of Governors to anchor the summer show in Chicago.
“Successful conventions and auction contracts are critical to our future,” Shepherd was quoted as saying. But is he implying> that no other city can put on a successful convention. This would include Baltimore where a successful World’s Fair of Money was held two years ago.
Shepherd also said that the National Money Show in the spring and a new fall show, which was announced to begin in 2011 in Pittsburgh, would be available on a rotating basis with pre-selected cities.
Shepherd stressed the importance of branding Chicago as the home of the summer ANA World’s Fair of Money, noting the success FUN has had branding Orlando as its home, and Whitman establishing Baltimore as a destination for its shows. What makes this argument ridiculous is that Orlando is a central location in the area represented by the Florida United Numismatists and and easy place to travel in the state. Anyone who has travelled through O&rdsquo;Hare International Airport understands the effect of being the nation’s second busiest airport.
There is also a difference in using the location as the branding for the show. Orlando is a travel destination in a way Chicago will never be. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chicago. I think Chicago is a great city. I have friends in the Chicagoland area and look forward to visiting them. But unlike Orlando, Chicago is not the national or international destination Orlando is. Chicago is a great place to visit, but it is absurd to compare Chicago with Orlando. Face it, you are not going to hear the next Super Bowl MVP announce that he is going to Navy Pier!
To further add to the fallacy of Shepherd’s statement is that while Whitman has turned the Baltimore show into a bigger success than it was before they bought it, Whitman is also expanding their reach to Philadelphia and Nashville. While Whitman expands its reach, the ANA now has favored locations and if you are not able to travel to those locations then the ANA will not come to you.
Interestingly, not only is the ANA fixing the locations for their shows, no announcement has been made as to how to improve the outreach to those shows. This can be done using a little imagination and technology to allow members to virtually attend the show. I will have more on this in a future post.
In the past, Shepherd had been discussing the scheduling and handling of the ANA shows so as to not lose money. One consideration was to find what he described as “a good bourse city” primarily to make the dealers happy. What is not mentioned is what would make the collectors happy. Rather, Shepherd is saying that it is not enough to use what is probably the world’s largest numismatic show as the destination in different cities as outreach to its members and future members, the ANA, a non-profit organization, is using the show to make a profit and enforce profits for its dealers. While I am not against dealers making profits, I am against the profit motive as a driving factor for the placement of the ANA convention.
In the May 2010 edition of The Numismatist, ANA President Cliff Mishler quoted ANA Governor Jeff Garrett that Mishler told him, “He reminded me that there are not two classes of ANA membership—dealers and collectors—but rather a single community, one that cares about the well-being of the hobby.” It is interesting how Mishler could tell an ANA governor that the ANA is a community yet support a convention policy that is clearly geared to the dealer community.
I do not recommend quitting the ANA out of protest. This is where being a member helps. As an ANA member I am letting our elected Board of Governors know that this is not a good decision. It is not in the best interest of the ANA nor does it advance the ANA’s chartered mission for numismatic outreach and education. ANA members who are not happy with this decision should use this opportunity to contact the Board and tell them how you feel.
May 2, 2010 | ANA, CCAC
After taking some time off from blogging following the announcement of the new $100 federal reserve note, there have been a number of news items I wanted to mention that will talk about in more details over the next few days. But I wanted to mention a few as a “preview” of things to come.
Dave Harper wrote on his blog about Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee member Donald Scarinci was tweeting from the CCAC meeting at the Philadelphia Mint this past week. You can read the tweet on his account @Scarinci. As a proponent of using technology to reach out to everyone, I was very happy to go back and read Scarinci’s tweets from the meeting and hope he continues and others follow. I will write more about this topic soon with quotes from Scarinci.
The American Numismatic Association has change how they are assigning convention sites and has decided to add a convention in the Fall. I was a bit confused by the announcement after reading the the World’s Fair of Money will be centered in Chicago and the National Money Show will be part of a rotating series of cities. This is clearly a nod to finding what has been described as “the best bourse cities” which benefits the dealers more than the collectors. Interesting, in the May 2010 edition of The Numismatist, President Cliff Mishler quoted ANA Governor Jeff Garrett that Mishler told him, “He reminded me that there are not two classes of ANA membership—dealers and collectors—but rather a single community, one that cares about the well-being of the hobby.” It is interesting how Mishler could tell an ANA governor that the ANA is a community yet support a convention policy that is clearly geared to the dealer community.
In the April 2010 edition of The Numismatist, Q. David Bowers writes about the aging of the ANA membership noting that 47-percent of its membership is between the ages of 50 and 60. While Bowers notes that there “are several reasons why numismatics has lost its appeal to younger people,” he claims that it is nothing “the ANA has done or not done.” Bowers sites studies that show that younger people have embraced technology and social media to fill their spare time. With all due respect to Mr. Bowers, then why has the ANA not embraced this new social media paradigm? Why isn’t the ANA trying to fit in that electronic social networking space? The ANA has no social media presence or outreach program to these users with the exception of a website and Facebook page and not real electronics communication policy. By the way, did you know the ANA was on Facebook? It is not even advertised on the front page or the ANA’s website!
Finally, your intrepid blogger was recently interviewed for a national publication that will be printed in the late summer. I will write more when it gets closer to the publication date.
Aug 8, 2009 | ANA, awards, shows, US Mint
It is no surprise that there have been a few announcements at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money.® Of the announcements, I found three very interesting stories.
I think the biggest announcement is that the US Mint and the Smithsonian Institution’ National Museum of American History jointly announced that they have partnered to create traveling exhibits from the National Numismatic Collection. The Mint and Smithsonian Institution wants to create exhibits that will highlight U.S. history through its coinage.
The National Numismatic Collection is the largest collection in the world with over 1.6 million coins, notes, tokens, and medals. The collection spans from ancient times to modern days with the bulk of the materials being donated from the Mint’s transfer of its core holdings in 1923. The display of the National Numismatic Collection closed in August 2004 in preparation for the renovation of the American History Museum building. Although selected pieces were incorporated into other exhibits, the collection remains out of public view. Bringing the collection out to the public is a wonderful idea and I look forward to seeing how the curators at the Smithsonian and US Mint display the collection.
In another interesting announcement, the Numismatic Guarantee Corporation will begin to provide detailed grading to problem coins. In the past, NGC would “body bag” coins that were scratched, cleaned, or had other problems. If you wanted these coins encapsulated, the coins would have to be sent to their sister company, the Numismatic Conservation Service. NCS would be able to either conserve the coin and cross it to NGC or would encapsulate the coin with detailed grading. With this announcement, NGC will provide the grading services while NCS will continue to perform conservation.
This new service will simplify the grading and encapsulation of problem coins. Rather than have to wait for the submission to NCS to be processed and possibly NGC, NGC will do it all in one submission. It is also a good idea to include why the coin could not be graded in plain English on a different color label. I think this is a better idea to embedding cryptic code on a label that is not as easily identifiable, especially on the bourse floor of a busy show. More information that is easily understood is always better.
Finally, I want to congratulate Julian Leidman for being awarded the inaugural Harry J. Forman Dealer of the Year Award. Julian is a wonderful person, knowledgeable dealer, and an annual speaker at my local coin club where he talks to our membership about the state of the industry. Julian is one of the few dealers who always has people around his table talking coins or just kibitzing. Congratulations Julian on a well deserved honor.
Aug 7, 2009 | ANA, commentary, shows
I am not attending the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money® this week. I would like to attend, but the show is in Los Angeles, which is about 2,690 miles from the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Although this is closer than the 2,800 miles I would have had to travel to Portland, Oregon for this year’s National Money Show,™ both were too far to travel—especially in this economic climate.
I know the ANA had to make it up to Portland for moving the 2007 National Money Show to Charlotte. However, by doing this, the ANA has prevented a few people from attending at least one show this year.
Although I would not mind both shows being East Coast affairs, I can understand the need for a national organization to hold its conventions to make it accessible to both coasts, but to hold both on the West Coast reduces accessibility for those of us in the east.
Next year, the National Money Show will be in Fort Worth, Texas and the World’s Fair of Money will be held in Boston. Fort Worth, home of a branch of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, will be more accessible from the West Coast than Boston. Although not perfect, it is better than if both shows would be on the East Coast.
I hope that in the future the ANA will make every attempt to diversify the location of their shows so that everyone can be included.
Jul 2, 2009 | ANA
The American Numismatic Association has announced [pdf] that Cliff Mishler, the retired president and CEO of Krause Publications, has been elected the 56th President of the ANA. Mishler defeated current ANA Vice President Patti Finner with 61-percent of the votes cast.
Tom Hallenbeck ran unopposed for Vice President and will join the new Board.
Elected to the Board of Governors are incumbents Chet Krause, Joe Boling, Walt Ostromecki, and Wendell Wolka. Joining them will be newly elected Governors Scott Rottinghaus, J.P. Martin, and Jeff Garrett.
This election was less contentious than the last when every incumbent was defeated. We can credit this relative calm to the good work of the outgoing Board of Governors lead by the current ANA President Barry Stuppler. Credit also has to be extended to Executive Director Larry Shepherd who appears to have helped get the ANA closer to a more solid economic footing.
Congratulations to the 2009-2011 ANA Board of Governors. As an ANA member, I hope you continue with the success and recovery of the organization.
Jun 16, 2009 | ANA
Now is the time for all good members to vote for their governors of the ANA. This turn of that infamous typing phrase was not updated to exercise my typing skills. It is to remind ANA members that the ballots you received last months need to be received by the accounting firm of BiggsKofford on or before June 26, 2009. My ballot was mailed last Friday on my way to Baltimore.
While this ANA election is not as contentious as the previous one, it is important that the ANA members be heard. Newly employed Executive Director Larry Shepherd has done very well in facilitating the ANA’s recovery. But there continues to be issues lingering from previous problems. These problems need resolution while further refining the mission of the organization to better serve its members. We all know that the economy is not doing well, but this means that it is a good time for the ANA to address issues that will carry forward to better times.
As I filled out my ballot, I first considered whether the incumbents should be re-elected. Considering how much better the organization is running, I think that most of the incumbents should be retained. They should be allowed at least one more term to allow them to see their work through. Of the incumbents I am endorsing are Joe Boling, Walt Ostromecki, and Wendell Wolka. With all due respect to Chet Krause and Alan Herbert, it might be time to allow for others with different ideas.
To fill out the slate, I am endorsing Mike Ellis, Tom Palmer, Scott Rottinghaus, and Michael Turrini for the Board of Governors. Amongst the list, the most interesting of the candidates is Rottinghaus, a former Young Numismatist award winner. He is the youngest candidate of the list and probably more representative of the future of the ANA than any of the other candidates. I think it is important for the Board to have a different perspective and from what I read, I believe that Rottinghaus will provide that perspective.
Tom Hallenbeck is unopposed as the candidate of the Vice President.
The most interesting race is for ANA President where Patti Finner and Cliff Mishler are trying for the top job. Both are very experienced and respected within the ANA and both would make a good president. But only one can serve in the office.
Since the election of the previous Board of Governors, aside from fixing the business issues of the ANA, a priority has been to have the ANA return to its core mission of education. To demonstrate the current Board’s commitment to education, the board created the Florence Schook School of Numismatics. Schook, a former ANA President who died in 2006, was well known for her commitment to numismatic education. The ANA has been using this as a way to expand their numismatic programs outside of ANA conventions and the Summer Seminar.
But the ANA continues to have business-related issues that include lawsuits and a diminishing membership that must be addressed. Although the ANA is not drawing down its endowment like in the past, a steady hand is needed to rebuild its financial foundation.
When considering the two candidates, the education record of Patti Finner is something that really stands out in this environment. Finner works with many organizations to push numismatic education and is also a fixture at the Baltimore coin shows at the Kids Corner. Her passion for education can be infectious, too. You cannot visit with her and not walk away wanting to help with her education mission.
Mishler is a strong manager. A retired executive with Krause Publishing, Mishler has the background and the knowledge to help lead the ANA through the rest of its recovery. Readers of Numismatic News can read about his numismatic treks mostly through the midwest and how he works with many organizations to help in their success. It would be interesting to see how he could carry that out on a national level.
If Mishler was qualified to run two years ago, I think he would have been the the best person to be ANA president. However, the ANA seems to be turning around under the very capable leadership Larry Shepherd as the Executive Director. With that part of the organization improving, the ANA needs to do a better job with education and retaining members, specifically adults in their 20s and 30s who drop out of the hobby because of other obligation. I believe that education will build the organization, bring in new members, retain members, and start the training the numismatic leaders of the future. With that in mind, I am endorsing Patti Finner to be elected the next President of the ANA.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, please ensure that you mail your ballot so it is received by the accountants by June 26.
Jun 5, 2009 | ANA
I received a note from the American Numismatic Association saying that the advertisement for the candidacy of Tom Palmer was omitted from the last issue of The Numismatist. Tom’s information is included in the mailing I recently received and at the ANA’s online Election Center. I hope Tom gets his money back!
Remember, ballots must be returned by June 26. ANA members are encouraged to participate in the election.
Apr 10, 2009 | ANA
When the American Numismatic Association held its last election, the mood of its members could be charitably considered contentious. That year, I attended the candidate forum at the National Money Show in Charlotte. The attendees at that meeting were angry. While some where complimentary to the Board, most were angry with the state of the association.
What a difference an election can make!
The current Board of Governors fired the previous executive director and hired Larry Shepherd. Both Shepherd and the Board have focused on rebuilding the core operations of the ANA and focusing more on the Association’s core mission. Amongst their successes is the recent approval a balanced budget [PDF] for the first time in many years.
I am not saying that the Board has been perfect; they have had a few missteps. But there seems to be more of a comfort level with the current direction than what we experienced in 2007. One evidence of this was the reported low turnout at this year’s candidate forum on Portland, Oregon.
Just because this Board of Governors was successful does not mean that this election is not important!
On Tuesday, the ANA announced [PDF] that 17 members have been nominated for the 2009-2011 Board of Governors. In fact, this year, there are two candidates running for president. Current Vice President Patricia Jagger-Finner and Governor Clifford Mishler are two very strong candidates for president. Tom Hallenbeck is running unopposed for Vice President. There are also 14 candidates for the seven governor seats.
I urge all ANA members to learn more about the ANA elections process and about the candidates. You should also visit CoinTelevision.com to see the videos from the Candidate Forum held on March 14, 2009. Additionally, watch for the candidate statements that will be published in The Numismatist in the coming months.
Apr 9, 2009 | ANA
When I wrote about the new ANA Membership Fees, I commented that there was no information provided for those of us who prepaid through this year and beyond. So I asked.
According the the ANA, if you prepaid your dues, the increases will take effect the next time you renew your membership. Since I paid my membership fees through 2012, I will continue to receive the paper copy of The Numismatist without a dues increase.
I know I can read The Numismatist online, but I like having the paper copy. It can be read anywhere without worrying about an Internet connection and accessibility to electricity.
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