I saw an interesting back and forth the last few days that I thought I'd touch on just a little. I wasn't in the middle of it but still thought I'd address it since this email newsletter gives me a bit of a soapbox to stand on.
Vintage eBay Boy Scout Auctions This Weekend
The discussion was about Patch-L and the SPC Facebook Group. For those that don't know Patch-L is what you might call a list serve (it's now a Google product) whereby you can send an email that goes to everyone that is subscribed to receive messages. The Facebook Group was set up in 2012 as a place for online patch collectors to meet up and swap. Patch-L has been around for a long time in the hobby (I don't know when it was started) and has a lot of veteran collectors.
So the issue was a Patch-L member decided to part ways with a pointed opinion on why he felt the SPC Facebook Group was better. I will confess that as Brad England and I have shepherded the group along we made a conscientious decision to not be restrictive on posts in the group. We didn't ban using the word eBay (yes that even came up this week!) or posting things for sale. It has some times been compared to the wild west with everything from questions, people sharing their collections, and of course selling and trading taking place.
However, I do want to say publicly that we are not trying to smother Patch-L or for that matter any other organization in the hobby. When we created the group in 2012 there was no plan to push out more established associations. In the slang of the Internet the group has just gone "viral" and will likely have 10,000 members by this summer. ISCA and Patch-L and any of the other established pieces of the hobby are still important. I think of it more like Glenn Chase's excellent website where under EMail Lists and Discussion Forums he lists 5 of which the SPC is just one option.
The conversations I have with Brad England on this topic are more about how can we do more to help further the hobby. Are there ways the SPC can reach out to young collectors and help them stay interested after a Jamboree? Are there ways the SPC can get older collectors to share their knowledge and display their collections. There is no bureaucracy within the Facebook Group but we are still talking about ways to keep the hobby growing. So while everyone has a right to join any list or group they choose I'll just say I think that all of the above is a menu choice that I vote for.
This week I've been burning the midnight oil getting some more patches listed up on my Facebook Store. The newest folder was launched less than 12 hours ago. It features almost 300 council shoulder patches that are set up in a great bulk deal style. You can get an 10 for $30 with some of these issues over forty years old. Because I'm not paying eBay fees I am throwing in free shipping on all orders. So if you see something you like send me a message and I'll let you know if it's still available.
