Theoretcal Question? If you were elected ANA President, what would you do?

BrianKuszmar · August 21, 2006 6:43AM

For fun and as a matter of opinion I have a Theoretical Question?
If you were elected ANA President and had support of the whole board, what would you do? For an example here are 5 things that could be changed in my opinion if I was ANA President and had Board support.
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#1 Move the Museum to the Smithsonian or a similar Federal or State museums .
This would save on Security, Housing and Storage and offer more people the chance to see it while visiting a major museum, thus opening up more membership possibilities.
Insurance premiums may also be lower if this was done not to mention the basic running and operation of a Museum and Staff. This could be a huge savings in membership money and increase museum visitorship leaps and bounds.

#2 Sell ANA held property and look for more practical and cheaper location for ANA offices, Real Estate prices are still high and this would increase revenues substantially and reduce overall maintenance, Insurance and Tax burdens. I also beleive many other unseen benifits would come from this.

#3 Completely restructures the ANA Coin Show programs to make them far more efficient and profitable for the ANA Membership and Tabled Dealers.

#4 Use the last several years of Exploding interest in Coin Collecting to advance and increase membership and ANA revenue as opposed to running a deficit at a time when Coin Collecting has exploded with millions of new collectors.

#5 Be more concerned and involved in State and Federal laws affecting the memberships Hobby and/or Business.

Ok, What would you do, not do or add to this list?

Regards to all
Brian Kuszmar
2nd Generation Coin & Currency Dealer
LBTS, Fla.
954-493-8811

Longacre · August 21, 2006 6:53AM

On-line educational opportunities for members (video webcasts, etc.). Live and online programs for schools to get kids more interested. Host the conventions in cities with large concentrations of collectors/big fish. Have a bourse fee of well less than 1% of a dealer's sales for the convention, in addition to the table fee (or some sliding scale of fees with a combination of both).

BrianKuszmar · August 21, 2006 6:58AM

I like that. Webcasts is something I also thought about. This is the technology and information age. I would also save a bundle by using net meetings for ANA board meetings and may also be able to have more meetings.

#6 Webcast the entire internet ANA Board meetings so that all members could log in and watch and listen to the Board meetings. This would also include archived additions for members to review.

Ideas flowing..heh

Regards to you Sir.

Brian

Barry · August 21, 2006 7:07AM

Make all meetings open and replace the executive director.

dorancoins · August 21, 2006 7:33AM

Send "Napoleon" Cipoletti to the island of Elba!

Bear · August 21, 2006 7:36AM

Disband.

Steve · August 21, 2006 7:44AM

I suggest each person who posted a suggestion here, also post that suggestion directly to the ANA at www.money.org.
Steve

MrEureka · August 21, 2006 7:57AM

When taking bids for convention auction rights, insist on separate bids for paper money, US coins, and world coins. If the winning bidder for the right to auction world coins is $1, so be it. The most important thing is to get the coins to the show so collectors can buy them.

Open the exhibit area half an hour before the bourse opens, and leave it open for half an hour after the bourse closes. Nobody should have to choose between wheeling and dealing on the floor and casually browsing the educational exhibits.

Increase the number of "stars" awarded for teaching Summer Seminar courses. The teachers are the people that should get the best table locations at shows, not the dealers with the fattest checkbooks. It's the teachers that will do the best job in answering the public's questions.

Make it a priority to provide permanent numismatic exhibits to banks and other secure pubic institutions. No big money items required.

Beef up the ANA website.

Frankcoins · August 21, 2006 9:33AM

They used to be located in Washington DC. The move to Colorado was for cheaper land and insurance costs.
Non profit organizations cannot lobby for changes in the law.

Conder101 · August 21, 2006 9:43AM

<< #1 Move the Museum to the Smithsonian or a similar Federal or State museums .
This would save on Security, Housing and Storage and offer more people the chance to see it while visiting a major museum, thus opening up more membership possibilities. >>

Send it to the Smithsonian? Well then it just got put in storage and now no one gets to see it. No membership possibilities there.

<< #2 Sell ANA held property and look for more practical and cheaper location for ANA offices, Real Estate prices are still high and this would increase revenues substantially and reduce overall maintenance, Insurance and Tax burdens. I also beleive many other unseen benifits would come from this. >>

I believe when the ANA moved to Colorado, as part of the deal the University of Colorado provided the land at a rent of $1 a year.

<< #3 Completely restructures the ANA Coin Show programs to make them far more efficient and profitable for the ANA Membership and Tabled Dealers >>

The progams are usually lightly attended already and they are free. What kind of attendance do you think they will have if you charge for them?

<< #4 Use the last several years of Exploding interest in Coin Collecting to advance and increase membership and ANA revenue as opposed to running a deficit at a time when Coin Collecting has exploded with millions of new collectors. >>

I think you will find that those "millions of new collectors" really have no interest in coins or collecting and simply picked up the state quarters when they cam out because they were "different" and most of them have already lost interest and are just waiting to finish off the set from circulation. Within a couple years after the series ends 90+% of those "millions" will be gone. And the only reason there are "millions" is because the government counts everyone who puts aside a couple of state quarters as a collector.

BrianKuszmar · August 21, 2006 10:08AM

<< Send it to the Smithsonian? Well then it just got put in storage and now no one gets to see it. No membership possibilities there.. >>

Who would make a deal with a museum to hide it in a basement, Im sure this would all be planned and thought out and besides the Smithsonian is just an obvious well known example of many possibilties.

<< I believe when the ANA moved to Colorado, as part of the deal the University of Colorado provided the land at a rent of $1 a year. >>

O-well, forget #2 that being the case. Sound like a deal at that.

[QThe progams are usually lightly attended already and they are free. What kind of attendance do you think they will have if you charge for them? >>

No one said charge, Im sure lots of room for improvement on this subject, would you disagree?

<< 
I think you will find that those "millions of new collectors" really have no interest in coins or collecting and simply picked up the state quarters when they cam out because they were "different" and most of them have already lost interest and are just waiting to finish off the set from circulation. Within a couple years after the series ends 90+% of those "millions" will be gone. And the only reason there are "millions" is because the government counts everyone who puts aside a couple of state quarters as a collector. >>

Interesting opinion, still 90% of millions..

Aside from my opinion and yours of it, what would you do?

Regards and thanks for replies!

Brian Kuszmar

JimmyJoe · August 21, 2006 10:13AM

I would work to make the Association website second to none in the coin field, including great message boards. There just isn't enough on it yet to hold anyone's interest, IMHO.
Jim

cladking · August 21, 2006 10:28AM

First and foremost they need to reduce administrative costs so they can put much more into
membership value and especially into "the Numismatist". As membership increases ever more
value should be put into the magazine so advertising revenue will increase as well. Almost
everyone who considers himself a collector should belong to the ANA but now people simply
percieve there is no value to joining. They currently have a very high budget for what they
do. If their income were to dry up they'd become extinct as things stand since they can't poss-
ibly survive on membership alone.

They also need to do much more to encourage and retain newbies as well as new members.
The best mechanism is a greatly expanded magazine but there are numerous other things
that can be done from working with the mint to make more coins and supplies for beginners
available to actually printing things like folders themselves.

They have been working in this direction but they won't make too much headway until they
look at this from each member's and each potential member's perspective. There simply isn't
enough value to most collectors to shell out more than $30 and get hit with an "initiation fee".

Musky1011 · August 21, 2006 10:30AM

Give myself a 1000% RAISE

dpoole · August 21, 2006 10:42AM

I'd move to institute some type of certification system for dealers, a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval," if you will, with transparent criteria for the ratiings or certification.

I'd figure out a way to put some of their courses live and taped online, so people who couldn't take a week-tendays off in the summer to travel to Colorado could take advantage of some of that expertise and training.

ABC123 · August 21, 2006 10:45AM

# 6 Resign, until all Board Dealings are Open and Transparent to the Membership !

Conder101 · August 21, 2006 10:53AM

<< No one said charge, Im sure lots of room for improvement on this subject, would you disagree? >>

No you didn't say charge, but you did say make them profitable. Hard to make a profit out of something that is free unless you charge for it. Now by profitable you could be meaning "make them a benefit to". But the only way I could see you could make them a benefit to the tabled dealers would be to hold them after bourse hours so the dealers could attend. But since that dealers are already exhausted after being at their tables all day, and probably have an auction to attend after getting a bite to eat, I don't think they will be attending then either and neither will the collectors.

I have only managed to get to a few ANA's and I have always enjoyed the programs. In fact as some of the people here will attest to, given a choice between a lecture and the bourse, you will find me at the lecture. (The last ANA I was at I was there the entire week and spent just 4 hours on the bourse. The rest of the time I was in lectures or meetings. At the last Central States show I attended some programs while I had a recorder at another. Never did manage to finish my first walk around the bourse.) I'm not sure how you would improve the programs or make them "more efficient".

Halfsense · August 21, 2006 2:32PM

Keep in the President of the ANA is only one vote. You need a majority of the nine Board members (7 Governors, the Vice President and the President) to pass a motion.

-donn-
Been there, done that, 1989 - 1993

Theoretcal Question? If you were elected ANA President, what would you do?

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