2023 saw the third iteration of the Philatelic Traders’ Society’s (PTS) Virtual STAMPEX.
Virtual STAMPEX came at a perfect time to capture exactly where the hobby was at after the world came out of a pandemic. Not not only did the pandemic change parts of the hobby, it has introduced new people to stamps and welcomed back those who had put aside collecting in the past. This creates an exciting time for new explorations.
Two definite themes that I found throughout all the conversations I have attended was Rejuvination (new possibilities) and the other theme was Contribution – we all have a part to play whether this be in-depth articles for journals or #xtremephilately.
In Part 1 of my review, I want to provide an reflection on this year’s features. These are not criticisms but merely reflections.
In Part 2, I will cover the Auditorium presentations.
In Part 3, I will cover the Roundtable talks.
Entry Screen
I loved this new entry screen. It faithfully recreated the many posts seen online showing a modern stamp collector’s working environment (if not a bit too clean!) – complete with computer and mobile phone, along with the mix of traditional collectors’ tools such as catalogues and stockbooks. From this screen, you are drawn into the main lobby.
The lobby is where you can then choose all the different features offered by Virtual STAMPEX.
Auditorium
Since COVID, more philatelic societies have made presentations available online through platforms such as YouTube and Zoom – and this number is growing. This has resulted in a familiarity for the Auditorium feature where presentations were made via a Zoom-style presentation from within the virtual experience.
At the end of the presentations, there was an opportunity to ask the presenters questions. You can also re-watch the videos here during the ‘on demand’ period’ in case you were unable to attend.
The Auditorium has become a staple feature for Virtual STAMPEX now and in the future.
Forum
There was a discussion forum but it doesn’t appear to have been very popular. This was probably because it is a passive form of engagement whereas the rest of the event was mainly active (such as the Roundtables). I have run discussion boards/forums before and unless you are really well established, they are more cumbersome that useful. It was also somewhat difficult to find.
My two main issues with the forum were that you had to click out of the virtual space to engage and the colour of the font (pale grey on white) made it very difficult to read.
I would recommend the PTS link off to other existing discussion forums such as the popular Discord channel (International Philatelic Promoters) for the next Virtual STAMPEX.
Roundtables
In prior Virtual STAMPEXs, interactions were restricted to chat rooms only. This often made it difficult to keep up with conversations (especially when they occurred at different international times) and you never really got to see who you were chatting to.
This year the Roundtables acted like a Zoom meeting where attendees interacted by video with the guest host. Attendees could turn their video and/or mic off and still engage.
During the session, the host could share their screen to show material they were talking about and there was also a chat function so people could talk without disturbing the main discussion. It would be better if the share screen function could be enabled to be full screen – the current screen was a tad too small to view items. However, the new Roundtables were overall amazing.
Another downside was the Roundtables were timed too close together. Sometimes you would only catch the last part of a table because you had been in another table. However, as this was the first year utilising them, you expect improvements after the initial trial. A couple of the big Philatelic personalities such as Exploring Stamps and Punk Philatelist had two sessions which helped to reach different times which helped out too.
The PTS decided not to record these Roundtables and I feel that was the right choice. If you want get the experience, sometimes you have to participate! The AI presentation was one example where people missed a great session.
Roundtables was one of the most popular and well-received experiences of the event and I hope they are kept for Virtual STAMPEX 2024.
Matchmaking
Matchmaking was a function that allowed you to connect with other visitors via video. The general feeling was that this was more like a dating function rather than a meet’n’greet function. Also, when you clicked to use the function, the first thing you saw was a screen saying the video was connecting, which made you quickly click out!
The feedback from other guests was they didn’t use it or understand it. I could see this feature being improved for future events but I am not sure it is worth the investment due to the popularity of the Roundtables.
Virtual Booths
As with previous years, each dealer had their own virtual booths where STAMPEX deals and dealer links took the visitor out to the dealers website. From a user perspective, I am not convinced they work as well as they could.
When you visit a booth, you click on a link to the dealers/representative’s website. This feels more like the same experience as Googling which means there is nothing really unique to make me visit their sites (unless there was a super offer on like Empire Philatelists).
I feel this feature needs to mimic the experience of a Stamp Show where you see people engaging with, and buying from, dealers. When you are clicking out of the booth to a dealer’s website, it feels like you are taken out of the virtual experience.
But the question is: How can you reflect an in-person experience virtually? I think there are a few ideas to create a similar energy…
SOLD!
I’d love to see a small pop-up screen that says SOLD! where dealers can upload a pic of an item that sold during the event. It would be great to see what people are buying and from whom. You see a version of this on commercial retail websites where they show what people bought and where in the world they made the purchase from. No doubt a feature like this would create more of a buzz for dealers.
If I see a dealers name popping up regularly enough, I would be more inclined to check them out.
Active Booths
I find the booths a passive area – they require the visitor to search for material. Its kind of like walking past a retail store but they don’t have any merchandise in the windows. I’d like to see more active engagement from this feature.
For example, I’d like to type into a box or form what I am looking for, such as, “Im looking for FDC from Bahamas from 1950-79” and include my email or other contact details. This is then shot to dealers who can see if they have the material that matches my interest. The dealers can then contact me either via a video chat function or send me a message that they have material that matches my criteria and/or any special offers for STAMPEX. This also will give dealers a lead for future material that lands in their hands (something I have heard dealers often cite as a benefit of stamp shows).
I’d also love to see the booth page with some pictures of the dealer’s, say, top six items or specials. As most of the dealers already have the images on their the website, it would be just a matter of uploading a few pics.
Getting to Know Dealers
For many new collectors, dealers can be a little intimidating. I would love some time devoted to a ‘Meet the Dealer’ event. During a Roundtable, I engaged with Mark Bloxham where he and Jack Zhang educated me on a very special Penny Black. I saw the benefit to dealers and hosts working together to promote sales via these methods.
Another example was a fascinating talk on the concept art by stamp designer Jennifer Toombs. From previous dealings I know that Zeboose has many unique British Commonwealth pieces such as concept art and proofs. It would be great if this was advertised during the presentation to educate buyers on what dealers may hold while they are excited about what they are seeing. Zeboose even had a STAMPEX special on during the event. It seems there was a missed collaboration opportunity here.
PART 1 Conclusion
The PTS have yet again shown that they are at the forefront of this hobby with innovative ideas and experiences to capture the new generation of collectors. They have obviously put a lot of time, energy, money and thought into these events. While there may be opportunities to improve, it cannot be denied that they are making a huge difference.
You can access the on demand content from 7 May 2023 to 7 June 2023 HERE.
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