The upshot of the American Philatelic Society town hall meeting Tuesday, January 25, 2022, was: The APS is in very good shape. Executive director Scott English (in the inset window in the upper right of these screen shots) said the membership numbers are “moving exactly as I want them to.” That is, the trend is in the right direction. Note on the chart below, the “trend line” is below where the number of members has been since 2016. That is, the decline in membership has slowed and appears to be leveling off.

If there is a negative, English said that it has been hard to find tenants for the rental space in the American Philatelic Center (right). When the American Philatelic Research Library purchased the former match factory 20 years ago, it was with an eye toward renting office space to other organizations and businesses, to provide revenue. The pandemic and its effect on the economy have made that difficult in recent years. The APRL, as an educational institution, owns the property. The APS provides management services. English is executive director of both.

English admitted that when he became E.D. 6 years ago, he didn’t expect to stay this long. “You all have hooked me in.” However, the former congressional and gubernatorial aide did not indicate how much longer he plans to stay in the position.

About 110 people attended the virtual Town Hall, which was held using the Zoom conferencing system.