Gary Adkins Elected ANA President

GregL

In the contested election for ANA President, Gary Adkins defeated Mike Ellis by a vote of 3274-2007.

The Governor candidate who did not get elected was Adam Crum.

Thanks,
Greg

BryceM

I always enjoy stopping at Gary's table and he seems to treat folks right. I'm sure he deserves congratulations and condolences.

Analyst

I am surprised that Adam Crum was not elected.

shorecoll

This was one of the toughest elections I can remember...there were too many people I actually knew.

GregL

Vote totals for Governor:

Col. Steve Ellsworth, Ret. 4,335

Dr. Ralph Ross 4,073

Greg Lyon 3,953

Paul Montgomery 3,860

Thomas J. Uram 3,679

John. W Highfill 3,653

Brian Hendelson 3,474

Adam J. Crum 3,378

BIGAL2749

Gary tends to have coins with old fashion quality and has always been a pleasure to deal with

dbtunr

surprising how low the vote totals are. 5200+ seems low to me.

Justacommeman

Gary is now the starting pitcher on the Bad News Bears.

Best wishes

mark

renman95

Yay team!

sparky64

Congrats to you @GregL .

ColonelJessup

So, this year, again, a couple of old friends as new ANA Board Members. I offer to you, as I did last time via text with Paul Montgomery, the same felicitations. Quoting that: "Congratulations. Dumbass."

The same text @Laurie sent to herself the day her term ended

TwoSides2aCoin

As long as dealers run the show, we are in good hands.

golden

We got it right!

astrorat

Voter turnout was at 27.65% (5371 votes from 19,425 eligible members). That seems to be a higher percentage than in previous elections, IIRC, which is good news. What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

Zoins

@astrorat said:
What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

It sounds like Gary, the Board, and the entire staff may have their jobs cut out for them.

Does the ANA have membership targets?

BG

Congrat's to Gary.

I voted for Mike.

ricko

Congratulations to Gary.... Cheers, RickO

FunwithMPL

Congrats to Thomas Uram ----- Carl

astrorat

@Zoins said:

@astrorat said:
What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

It sounds like Gary, the Board, and the entire staff may have their jobs cut out for them.

Does the ANA have membership targets?

I am not sure what ANA's plan is for increasing membership, or ... and this may be heresy ... if the ANA should focus on increasing membership at this time. It used to be that each new member cost the ANA approximately 60% more than the membership dues (renewals were less costly).* The trouble was that there was a large turnover of members each year. The ANA could recruit, but not retain, members. Despite this knowledge, the Board insisted on increasing new memberships because it looked as if the ANA was creating a broader reach into the public.

*From internal data disclosed to staff in 2006

BillDugan1959

Agree that the total membership has declined by one-third in the last fifteen years or so.

I'd hate to speculate about the average age of the membership.

Just like this election, there is a big issue of 'is the ANA a collector or dealer focused organization?'.

Also, the location of the ANA is wonderful for the staff and the relatively few members who can get out to Colorado Springs regularly. But the location has a lot of drawbacks too, many things that tend to defeat the "national" part being a of "national organization".

Zoins

@BillDugan1959 said:
Just like this election, there is a big issue of 'is the ANA a collector or dealer focused organization?'.

I'm starting to think it's a dealer focused organization. Gary used to be President the PNG and I've heard of some PNG influence in this election. Nothing wrong with that if members want a dealer organization, but a collector focused organization would be useful for the hobby as well.

Also, the location of the ANA is wonderful for the staff and the relatively few members who can get out to Colorado Springs regularly. But the location has a lot of drawbacks too, many things that tend to defeat the "national" part being a of "national organization".

I thought the ANA was more meaningful when it was on the East Coast and working with Congress, the Treasury and the Mint. I've suggested the ANA open a D.C. Office or have another organization take up the task for working with our government. These may not happen but I think it would be more exciting for collectors if they did.

Greeniejr

@Zoins working with the government on issues is more ICTA's purview. That being said, Gary is a former chairman of ICTA (Gary has completed his triple crown) so he is actively involved with government issues as well.

Zoins

@Greeniejr said:
@Zoins working with the government on issues is more ICTA's purview. That being said, Gary is a former chairman of ICTA (Gary has completed his triple crown) so he is actively involved with government issues as well.

I'm referring to what the ANA used to do with consulting Congress and the Treasury/Mint on new coinage and materials. The ICTA does not cover those areas to my understanding.

Greeniejr

@Zoins for the most part no but for those things there is also the CCAC. All of these organizations do have crossover.

Zoins

@Greeniejr said:
@Zoins for the most part no but for those things there is also the CCAC. All of these organizations do have crossover.

CCAC is much more limited than what the ANA used to do. They are focused on design and do not cover manufacture the way the ANA used to. The ANA used to have access to lot of expertise that I don't believe exists with the composition of the CCAC today.

The ANA also represents the ANA membership in a way the CCAC does not.

Here is their the CCAC Mission and Purpose, emphasis mine:

Mission and Purpose of the CCAC
https://www.ccac.gov/

The CCAC was established in 2003 by Congress under Public Law 108-15 to advise the Secretary of the Treasury on the themes and designs of all US coins and medals. The CCAC serves as an informed, experienced and impartial resource to the Secretary of the Treasury and represents the interests of American citizens and collectors.

Zoins

@astrorat said:

@Zoins said:

@astrorat said:
What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

It sounds like Gary, the Board, and the entire staff may have their jobs cut out for them.

Does the ANA have membership targets?

I am not sure what ANA's plan is for increasing membership, or ... and this may be heresy ... if the ANA should focus on increasing membership at this time. It used to be that each new member cost the ANA approximately 60% more than the membership dues (renewals were less costly).* The trouble was that there was a large turnover of members each year. The ANA could recruit, but not retain, members. Despite this knowledge, the Board insisted on increasing new memberships because it looked as if the ANA was creating a broader reach into the public.

*From internal data disclosed to staff in 2006

In the business world, we would look to increase renewal rate. Did the ANA not do this?

JohnF

Congratulations to Gary Adkins and the rest of the incoming Board!

JJSingleton

Congratulations to all involved.

Most interesting voting stat to me is:

"Out of 5,371 total votes, 4,000 were cast by paper ballot while another 1,371 members voted electronically, representing over 25 percent of votes cast—a marked improvement from the 8 percent cast electronically in 2015."

It was so simple to vote online it is mind boggling to me that the membership is so technologically challenged that 4000 members mailed it in.

dbtunr

@astrorat said:
Voter turnout was at 27.65% (5371 votes from 19,425 eligible members). That seems to be a higher percentage than in previous elections, IIRC, which is good news. What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

Yikes!! those are terrible stats. How many of the 19K+ are dead (ie deceased lifetime members)?

astrorat

@Zoins said:

@astrorat said:

@Zoins said:

@astrorat said:
What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

It sounds like Gary, the Board, and the entire staff may have their jobs cut out for them.

Does the ANA have membership targets?

I am not sure what ANA's plan is for increasing membership, or ... and this may be heresy ... if the ANA should focus on increasing membership at this time. It used to be that each new member cost the ANA approximately 60% more than the membership dues (renewals were less costly).* The trouble was that there was a large turnover of members each year. The ANA could recruit, but not retain, members. Despite this knowledge, the Board insisted on increasing new memberships because it looked as if the ANA was creating a broader reach into the public.

*From internal data disclosed to staff in 2006

In the business world, we would look to increase renewal rate. Did the ANA not do this?

The ANA struggled with retaining members (or renewing members) because many of the Board member's philosophy was that once you become a member, the reasons to stay a member are obvious. The disconnect was that many of the new members joined because of an inducement, such as a free coin or other trinket. Or, the membership was a "free gift" from some dealer, auction house, etc, as part of a promotion. The Board, by and large, could not recognize that the inducement increased new members, but the lack of connection by the ANA with the new member (i.e. relevancy) lead to the new member not renewing. Unless, of course, there was another inducement.

At headquarters we had a colloquial expression for this ... by using inducements, we were apologizing for people becoming members. The ANA struggled to increase membership based on the organization's mission, so we used trinkets and hoped it would be enough.

I asked a question at a staff meeting that nearly caused people to seize ... I asked, "Why would somebody want to join the ANA." Funny thing was ... the only answers mentioned reflected the "things" people got as members and nothing about the mission of the organization. It was at that point that I recognized membership would not grow, nor should it grow, without a change in how the ANA engaged its members and the public.

Enough of my soapbox ...

dcarr

@BillDugan1959 said:

Also, the location of the ANA is wonderful for the staff and the relatively few members who can get out to Colorado Springs regularly. But the location has a lot of drawbacks too, many things that tend to defeat the "national" part being a of "national organization".

If you haven't been to a Summer Seminar, then you just won't get it (the location). And it is centrally located within the country.

tommy44

Congratulations to Gary, The few times I visited his booth he was always cordial. I thought the quality of his coins and the prices were fair. Hope he is a successful president.

BillDugan1959

@dcarr said:

@BillDugan1959 said:

Also, the location of the ANA is wonderful for the staff and the relatively few members who can get out to Colorado Springs regularly. But the location has a lot of drawbacks too, many things that tend to defeat the "national" part being a of "national organization".

If you haven't been to a Summer Seminar, then you just won't get it (the location). And it is centrally located within the country.

Oh please. I've been to seven ANA Summer Seminars - if not for those experiences, I would have dropped my very long-time membership years ago. Also went rather far out of my way to visit the headquarters perhaps three times before I ever attended a Summer Seminar.

A serious "national" membership organization would be located in say Rosemont, IL or Pentagon City or Crystal City or Arlington, VA. In other words, near a major airport. How far is it from the Denver airport to Colorado Springs? An hour and one-half on a good day? Denver is centrally located, Colorado Springs isn't.

Nic

The number of coin collectors that don't belong to the ANA overwhelm the numbers that do. Not including investors, US Mint customers, etc.

Can't blame them.

I am a life member .....

BillDugan1959

ANA probably has 225,000 living former members.

Mark

I am a member of both the ANA and ANS. The only benefit I get from either is the magazine. The ANA's magazine is monthly; the ANS's magazine is quarterly. For an extra fee, I also get the Colonial Newsletter from the ANS. The ANS is substantially more expensive than the ANA. Even so, I think I get more pleasure from the ANS. Virtually all the articles I read in the ANS magazine are fascinating--well written and well researched. Too much of the ANA's magazine seems filler, such as the newly touted price guide that takes up a useless 7 pages in the current issue. And even the articles sometimes seem more of an advertisement than article, as Kagin's article about Bechtler territorial gold, coincidentally printed just before his firm conducted the March ANA auction that was anchored by a fantastic collection of ... wait for it ... Bechtler territorial gold.

tommy44

@BillDugan1959 said:
ANA probably has 225,000 living former members.

Make that 225,001

Zoins

@astrorat said:

@Zoins said:

@astrorat said:

@Zoins said:

@astrorat said:
What is surprising is that eligible voting membership has dropped below 20,000. That seems to be down more than 1/3 from a decade ago.

Let's see if this Board of Governors can increase ANA's relevance.

It sounds like Gary, the Board, and the entire staff may have their jobs cut out for them.

Does the ANA have membership targets?

I am not sure what ANA's plan is for increasing membership, or ... and this may be heresy ... if the ANA should focus on increasing membership at this time. It used to be that each new member cost the ANA approximately 60% more than the membership dues (renewals were less costly).* The trouble was that there was a large turnover of members each year. The ANA could recruit, but not retain, members. Despite this knowledge, the Board insisted on increasing new memberships because it looked as if the ANA was creating a broader reach into the public.

*From internal data disclosed to staff in 2006

In the business world, we would look to increase renewal rate. Did the ANA not do this?

The ANA struggled with retaining members (or renewing members) because many of the Board member's philosophy was that once you become a member, the reasons to stay a member are obvious. The disconnect was that many of the new members joined because of an inducement, such as a free coin or other trinket. Or, the membership was a "free gift" from some dealer, auction house, etc, as part of a promotion. The Board, by and large, could not recognize that the inducement increased new members, but the lack of connection by the ANA with the new member (i.e. relevancy) lead to the new member not renewing. Unless, of course, there was another inducement.

At headquarters we had a colloquial expression for this ... by using inducements, we were apologizing for people becoming members. The ANA struggled to increase membership based on the organization's mission, so we used trinkets and hoped it would be enough.

I asked a question at a staff meeting that nearly caused people to seize ... I asked, "Why would somebody want to join the ANA." Funny thing was ... the only answers mentioned reflected the "things" people got as members and nothing about the mission of the organization. It was at that point that I recognized membership would not grow, nor should it grow, without a change in how the ANA engaged its members and the public.

Enough of my soapbox ...

That's interesting and it makes sense. I wonder how many ANA board members have experience running a successful subscription based business. If they don't have this experience, perhaps the staff should have more leeway?

I hope this is something Gary can help tackle.