The American Numismatic Association Board of Governors held a teleconference last night. During the telecom, updates were provided on the ANA Twitter account @ANACoins. Here are the highlights with some commentary:

This is an anticlimactic type of announcement. With so many World’s Fair of Money shows scheduled for Chicago, is there really anyone else who could be the host club? What many people do not know is that if a club is designated as a host club, they automatically earn Life Membership in the ANA. With the shows being concentrated in Chicago and the decision to rotate the spring National Money Show between three cities, the chance for others to not only be part of the experience but earn life membership has diminished.

I know where I will be in the spring of 2013! I love visiting New Orleans. There is no place like it in the world. Aside from the French Quarter, there are world class restaurants, the Audubon Zoo, the music, and more. Have you ever been to a Voodoo museum? I have, and it is an interesting sight. Have you ever ridden on a steamboat on the Mississippi? That is a lot of fun, too. Then there’s definition of heaven: sitting at Café Du Monde at the French Market while drinking café au lait and eating beignets, getting powdered sugar on your shirt, and watching the crowds. Try doing this at 2 AM while an event is in town.

Why did they stop early birds in the first place?

As I said in a previous post, the hobby has to do better at diversifying. While this announcement is a good start, I think there should be more. What about exhibit awards for minorities? How about something to help the “Lost Demographic” (as I previously discussed)? I realize that this was probably initiated by the anonymous donor, but what about working with those in the donor community to sponsor a program for minorities or the Lost Demographic?

As someone who has taken advantage of the self-submission benefit with NGC with much success, I feel this is a good decision.

Someday the ANA will have a better information management and communications policies so that this information is more accessible to the membership in ways other than relying on Twitter. While I appreciate the information appearing on Twitter, too many people cannot handle the level of noise generated on Twitter and how to separate real information from the noise. In fact, if I had not checked Twitter for realtime sports information, I would not have seen the ANA tweets about the Board meeting.