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Commission for Postal Stationery Report 2006-2008
This past biannual period has been a quiet one for the FIP Commission for Postal Stationery. Our Secretary, Erik Hvidberg Hansen has undergone two surgeries and has been forced to devote his efforts to rehabilitation to regaining his health. Michael Ho, Georges Schild and Enrique Bialikamien, Bureau members, continue their efforts to obtain the email addresses of the Delegates to the Postal Stationery Commission but we are still lacking a number. A "snail mail" sending by myself yielded just a few more.
Dr. Ross Towle, our webmaster, has added more postal stationery exhibits and displays and our cooperative effort with EXPONET continues.
I have appointed Ian McMahon of Australia and Cesar Jones of Uruguay to the Bureau of the Commission and hope that they will be able to continue service after the Commission election in Bucharest in conjunction with EFIRO 2008.
On a personal note my exhibit of "New Zealand Postal Stationery 1876-1940" won the Grand Award in the open competition of Stampshow 2007, the annual convention of the American Philatelic Society, the first time anyone can remember that a postal stationery exhibit won the Grand Award at the APS convention.
In October 2007, I was President of the jury at the Costa Rica National Exhibition in San Jose and the same exhibit was judged the best in the "Master Class" which consisted of only exhibits by jury members.
Plans and Targets for the Postal Stationery Commission 2008-2010+
At present the following persons are qualified to conduct seminars on exhibiting and judging:
Mr. Stephen D. Schumann, USA
Dr. Alan Huggins, UK
Mr. Raymond Todd, Australia
Mr. Hans Meissner Gennany
Mr. Erik Hvidberg Hansen, Denmark
Persons authorized to conduct a meeting of the Commission:
Mr. Stephen D. Schumann, USA
Mr. Erik Hvidberg Hansen, Denmark
Mr. Raymond Todd, Australia
Dr. Alan Huggins, UK
Mr. Georges Schild, Switzerland
The future of the Postal Stationery Commission
In 2008 there are two outstanding apprentices in postal stationery - Dr. Ross Towle at ISRAEL 2008 and Mr. Lars Engelbrecht at EFIRO. They are both highly educated, brilliant researchers in their philatelic areas of interest and outstanding exhibitors, with LG postal stationery exhibits. Assuming they are successful in their apprenticeships, I see them as future leaders in the commission.
Future postal stationery exhibiting and judging seminars:
EFIRO- Stephen D. Schumann SESCAL/AMERICAS 08 (FIAF) -Stephen D. Schumann
CHINA 2009- Stephen D. Schumann
INDIA 2010- to be decided
LONDON 2010- Stephen D. Schumann (I hope to be assisted by the two 'apprentices' above)
PORTUGAL 2010- Stephen D. Schumann (if needed after London)
South Africa 2010- to be decided
Philanippon 2011- to be decided
Non performing delegates to the postal stationery commission - a delicate situation. Many of these are from smaller countries which have a very small body of serious collectors and it would be difficult to find a replacement. The commission can continue to function with 6-10 active members with the workload being somewhat heavier regarding information submission and other duties. It must also be recognized that many of the delegates have heavy responsibilities in their own national federations and cannot be as active as they could be at the Commission/FIP level.
Even including the previous paragraph, the future looks much brighter than just two years ago and I look forward to being of service to the postal stationery commission during my second term of office.
Respectfully Submitted,
Stephen D. Schumann
Chairman, FIP Commission for Postal Stationery
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