I just got back from the 2015 APS show in Grand Rapids. It was a very good show in a very nice venue, and I have two broad observations that I’d like to make.
First, the show was very well attended, and the collectors that I saw seemed engaged and energetic about the hobby. The dealers were busy and seemed to be smiling and friendly, which I’ve learned to take as a more accurate indicator of sales than the words they say about how business is. United States stamps and British Commonwealth seemed in short supply, and the booths that were selling these stamps seemed crowded. There were few European collectors and dealers at the show. The very strong dollar has made it difficult for Europeans to pay the price that Americans want for their foreign stamps. Smart US dealers of foreign stamps (like Apfelbaum) have been consistently moving down the price of the European stamp offerings to reflect the strong dollar. But many bourse dealers get stuck in a percentage-of-Scott mentality which dries up sales for them in a market like this one.
The highlight of my trip was meeting two people who have been named to two of the most important positions in organized philately—Dana Guyer the executive director of the American Stamp Dealer Association and Scott English the new executive director of the American Philatelic Society. Dana was the stamp show coordinator for the APS before her newest job. She brings energy, intelligence, and likeability to the job, and she is working on a large number of new ideas that should energize shows and our hobby in general. Scott was only named recently to his new position, so he is really just getting acclamated to philately. He has an impressive resume, and I found him smart, engaged, and very personable. I think he will do an excellent job, and we are all excited to work with him as he unveils his plans for the APS.
Likeability is a critical characteristic to have when you are the point person for any public organization, and both Scott and Dana combine likeability with empathy and ablity. They should do very well in their new jobs, and our hobby is fortunate to have them.