The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the main stamp collector society in the United States. It has over thirty thousand members, puts out a wonderful magazine—The American Philatelist—runs sales circuits, offers inexpensive stamp insurance, and is an all around good membership value for philatelists, especially as they transition from novice to serious collector. Every stamp collector should consider joining.
Every year the APS has an annual show which includes a meeting of the stamp societies Board of Directors as well as meetings of numerous smaller specialty societies that are affiliates of the APS. There is a large "Champion of Champions" philatelic exhibit where the winner of the fifteen or so regional stamp exhibitions compete to win the honor of being the best collection exhibited that year. There is much to learn by viewing these exhibits and many rare and unusual philatelic items to see. Competitive philatelic exhibiting is not for most people (just as one can love one’s pet without wanting to compete for Best Of Show), but there is much to see and learn from competitive exhibits. And there is the dealer bourse, where scores of the world’s better dealers have tables offering their wares.
This year the APS national show is in Grand Rapids Michigan (the show moves around the country annually on the theory that this makes the show geographically contiguous to most members in a period of five to seven years) and will be held this year August 20-23. If you have a chance to get there, it would be well spent weekend philatelically. I’ll be there for a few days, and if you contact me I’d be happy to meet with you to answer any questions you might have about buying or selling stamps. I can talk too about the Phillies or nineteenth century novels (two other interests of mine), but you probably will want to talk about stamps. Hope to see you then.