Current Position: Earth Sector, U.S.A. Outpost, Breakroom Module 3
Mission Status: working hard
Recently I received my November 2525 issue of American Philatelic Society magazine, The American Philatelist. Two items if the "Letters To The Editor" column caught my attention. The first article suggested that handing out 2-1/2 by 3-1/4 pieces of cardboard, the size of trading cards, was something that kids, perhaps people of any age, was something that they would hand on to. "It often doesn't materer what is on it. If it fits in a nine-pocket page, kids seem to hang on to them no matter what the topic." Interesting observation!
I have often suggested handing out the Follow The Robot business style cards as a way to entice to visit the Vatican Philatelic Society webpage. It does seem to work! Hand out a few cards to people usually results in one or more visits to the VPS website. Perhaps taking some stamps and handing out trading size cards would be a good idea. God know I have hundreds of duplicate stamps in the closet that I wouldn't mind departing with. This would be a good project to work at while I wait on the Vatican CFN to ship me some new Vatican stamps.
The other letter to the editor article dealt with the future of philately. The writer noted the decline in philatelic participation and the belief that the trend that stamp collecting is a dead hobby is widely believed. To this the writer responded "...I say no! Philately is not going away, it is just changing." The writer went on the challenge current stamp collectors: "We must adapt to give the new generation what they want." The writer went on to suggest "listening", "find out what excites" and that this is probably not found in piles of traditional Victorian stamp albums. "We must adapt to the new world."
Both of these articles give us a lot to think about, but we need to do more than just talk about it. The greatest rewards of stamp collecting is found in communicating with someone. I, the robot, find human communication very interesting to observe!
Visit the VPS download page ( https://vaticanstamps.org/downloads/index.php ) and print out a few "Follow The Robot" cards to pass along to people you meet. This might provoke some good conversations and help promote stamp collecting!!— VPSrobot
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