Support Your Local Stamp Show

The Colorado Springs Stamp Club held its annual stamp exhibition and bourse last weekend. Other commitments kept me from going, but several friends who did go said turnout was exceptionally good, and everyone was reporting favorably on the show. This is great news, both for the club that sponsored the event, and for the dealers who pay a lion's share of its cost.

Local stamp shows are a lot of hard work, especially those sponsored by small local stamp clubs. I've helped plan and execute several shows, dealer bourses, and other such exhibitions, and know first-hand how much work is involved. Most local stamp clubs that hold annual or bi-annual shows spend at least six months getting ready for them, and as much as 1/3 of their annual budget funding them. Let's take a quick look behind the scenes of a typical local-club sponsored stamp show:

Planning

Planning for a stamp show usually begins six to twelve months in advance of the show date. In fact, that date is only tentative until the planning committee can firm it up! Most clubs start out with a premise that they will hold a show "sometime in the month of X". They then appoint a planning committee of three to five members to decide what the show will feature. This usually consists of choosing a theme for the show, deciding whether or not there will be exhibits (and awards), the size of the show, an approximate location and date, and any special features they choose to incorporate with the show, such as a USPS booth, special youth activities, etc. The planning committee usually chooses two or three different ideas for each option, then brings this information to the club, where the members vote on their choice, or to approve the work of the committee. This is just the first step for the planning committee, however.

Once the basic details have been worked out on what kind of show to have, the theme of the show, and such information as what exhibits will be allowed, what kind of secondary activities will take place (Junior exhibits, lectures, etc.), and so forth, the committee next has three important functions to accomplish: appoint secondary committees to handle each of the major portions of the show preparation, begin canvasing local and regional dealers and determining which of them would best enhance the theme of the show and who will participate, and establishing a basic budget for the stamp show.

The copyright of the article Support Your Local Stamp Show in Stamp Collections is owned by Michael A. Weatherford. Permission to republish Support Your Local Stamp Show in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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