As we move into a new decade, it seems like a good time to take a look at collecting groups and the role they play in the antiques, art and collectibles industry.

At the same time, we will try to project how the Association of Collecting Clubs (ACC) can continue to help the leadership of collecting groups reach some of these goals; perhaps moving in some new directions.

This past decade has provided both opportunity and challenge for many collecting groups. Ten years ago few clubs had their own website... or were just starting one. Now, for many, their sites have become a major tool of communication, both for their members and for others desiring to learn more about the collecting area that club serves. Many of these sites have forums and discussion groups so collectors can easily (and quickly) communicate with one another. Many clubs have gone to electronic newsletters, either supplementing the printed version, or totally replacing it.

For many clubs their events have measurably changed. Rather than being so inclusive (members only), the shows... and at least portions of their conventions are open to the public. This is a good major change. Many clubs are broadening their services, both to members and non-members. Offering trial memberships, collector insurance programs, appraisals and collection dispersal advice, speakers' bureaus, mentoring programs, internships and museum support are a few of these areas.

At the same time, few clubs are without challenges. For many, membership enrollment steadily declines and their membership is experiencing an aging factor. They find it difficult to bring new audiences into the club or association... particularly younger collectors. Some groups are having difficulty recruiting leadership for officers and committees from within the club. Older members may be less inclined to travel to shows and conventions. Most clubs still operate on a meager budget and are not noted for major publicity efforts.

The Association of Collecting Clubs has actively addressed many of these issues. Not yet a decade old, started in 2002, ACC currently works with nearly 5,000 collecting clubs on six continents, all kinds of clubs from coin and stamp clubs, gem and mineral clubs to doll clubs, glass clubs, vintage automobile clubs and more.

A major goal is club promotion, membership recruitment and retention. The ACC Club Directory is the largest club database on the Internet (CollectingClubs.com). The Collectors.Org website, home base to ACC, offers a variety of free directories and services supporting clubs and their memberships. The ACC News Service features news information on and about clubs. The Club Events Calendar offers contact information on upcoming club shows, conventions, seminars and other events. The Collectors Trade Show is a virtual trade show featuring services and products of interest to clubs and to collectors. ACC promotes collector insurance and liability insurance for club events. We actively promote global collecting, and work closely with dozens of Convention and Visitors Bureaus in helping to strengthen club events.

So what might the next decade bring regarding that segment of the antiques, art and collectibles industry known as "collecting clubs?"

Working with club leadership, and visiting hundreds of club websites each month, we have some opinions on where we feel collecting groups should be going, and how ACC might be of assistance.

First of all, we'll get rid of the unpleasant fact that some collecting clubs are going to disappear. And, the reason may not be due to the lack of interest in the collecting areas these clubs support so much as a void in the transitional leadership necessary to keep the club operational.

While there still are substantial problems with recruiting new members, particularly younger members, many of the clubs are moving in positive directions in some other ways.

What do collecting clubs need to do during the next decade to be successful?

• Leadership needs to be less traditional and more creative in their approaches to club operation and supporting their members.
• Clubs must operate more like a business, creating multiple profit centers beyond the traditional dues structure. They can no longer be hampered by inadequate budgets.
• Club events, particularly shows, must be driven more by general public attendance; not just membership.
• While club web sites have become commonplace, club leadership needs to embrace other aspects of 21st Century technology, such as offering webinars, programs on CD's and having a presence on Twitter.
• Traditional club membership recruitment is out. To reach new audiences, new creative methods and messages must be developed.
• No longer can club leadership assume that new members are committing to a "life time" of collecting in their collecting area; they must find ways to actively involve the "casual collector."
• Club leadership must seize opportunities to work more cooperatively with other segments of the antiques and collectibles industry including shows and markets, auction houses, antique malls and shops and museums.
• Nontraditional approaches to reaching and involving younger collectors (teens through 25-35 year-olds) must be implemented.
• Year-round publicity campaigns must be planned and coordinated with the club's events and schedule... and go much further than just announcing the upcoming annual club convention.
• Clubs must move toward more networking and partnering with other collecting groups and pursue more global collecting.
• Clubs serving compatible collecting audiences may need to consider merging and some clubs with a "traditional club format" may need to explore other venues, such as becoming a website club or some different combination.

What are some of the goals of the Association of Collecting Clubs for the next decade in supporting the above?

Promotion and visibility will continue to be a major focus. The ACC Club Directory, currently including over 6,000 collecting groups, will provide club contact information. We will strive to get the Club Directory listed on every major website in the antiques, art and collectibles industry.

Our continuing program of actively involving dozens of CVB's (Convention and Visitors Bureaus) will be expanded and greatly enhance the potential for strengthening clubs' shows, conventions and other events. We will also seek ways to strengthen relationships between club convention chairmen and our ACC partners offering products and services for convention management and supplies.

ACC will selectively target major antique malls and galleries, auction houses and antique shows for developing opportunities of partnering with collecting clubs. A new ACC program, Join A Club, will be launched with some of these audiences early in 2010, involving rack cards, posters, counter displays, buttons and other promotional items. Jointly sponsoring activities and other opportunities will be promoted throughout the industry.

Also, early in 2010, ACC will selectively start building partnering programs with antique and collectible publications in support of collecting groups. While it is anticipated that none of these individual programs will be exactly the same, our goal is to make clubs more visible and providing more opportunities for clubs and their memberships to expand their horizons regarding these publications.

Global collecting is here. Perhaps collecting clubs are doing more than most of the other segments of our industry regarding involvement of collecting and recruiting memberships from other countries, but the potential is overwhelming. The next decade will see this area expand many times over.

ACC will promote club networking in targeted areas of interest with the leadership of cooperating clubs. While this may include areas like holding joint events, speaker exchanges, appraisal services and promotion, club to club assistance in areas like club management, leadership training, developing a museum, fund raising techniques and other challenges are perhaps even more important.

Finding opportunities for clubs to readily use webinars, digitized formats and other communication's tools of today to relay their broad knowledge base to a broader group of collectors will be actively pursued.

Through the Collectors Trade Show, the virtual trade show on Collectors.Org, we will expand opportunities for providing information to clubs and their memberships from our ACC partners including logo merchandise, collector software and club management software, reference books, convention facilities, printing services, educational courses and tours, and much more. Further, many of these trade show vendors who provide member discounts to ACC will be encouraged to expand this important feature.

Collecting clubs continue to be a vital segment of the antiques, art and collectibles industry. The combined knowledge base of club members in the collecting area their particular club supports cannot be matched. Collecting clubs are an unequaled resource, not only to collectors, but to all other segments of our industry.

The next decade can be a bright one for collecting clubs so long as they grasp the challenges that await them and replace these challenges with opportunities. The Association of Collecting Clubs aims to be a player in helping to make this happen.

We're pleased to relay this announcement about one of ACC's partners that has a booth in the Collectors Trade Show and provides printing needs to many of our member clubs.

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