About the Philatelic Development Council (PDC)
Strategic Plan
The overall plan is still in the process of being developed. However, guidelines for the final strategies have been proposed in two of the key areas.
Identifying and Encouraging New Collectors and Exhibitors
This element will be developed along two lines
- Adopting the concept of a four-year exhibition cycle; and
- Making better use of the hobby’s exposure to the public.
The concept of a four-year exhibition cycle is based upon a National Exhibition each four years to be held in Sydney. This exhibition would be at the end of the cycle. During the preceding three years, there will be a series of State exhibitions which will be held in both Regional and Metropolitan areas. Naturally, the members of the Exhibition Standing Committee will be available for support in the organizing of these shows.
This cycle allows a new exhibitor to commence at the lower level of exhibiting, build up his/her skills, and then enter the National exhibition with confidence.
Many of the stamp clubs and societies affiliated with Philas hold one or more event each year to which the public are invited to attend. These events create opportunities to influence potential collectors and club members. Similar opportunities exist with the regular dealer run stamp fairs. The PDC is looking at ways to take better advantage of these opportunities.
Improving Communications
A number of obstacles presently exist making speedy communication difficult.
Initiatives are being considered to speed up the availability of current information. A key part of these options is to make greater use of the facilities offered by a web-site. The big advantages of a web-site are
- The currency of the information; and
- The breadth of the information that can be readily available.
At present there is quite a large amount of information regarding philately in New South Wales available on both the Philas website, www.philas.org.au and the Australian Philatelic Federation (APF) website www.apf.org.au/nsw.