Presenting... some Presentations
Postal History Sunday #190
This week’s Postal History Sunday is going to give a nod to other work I have done that is not exactly writing. It’s also recognition that this is where some of my “writing energy” has gone for the past few weeks. So, I thought I would offer some webinars up as a multimedia offering this week in lieu of a purely text and image article.
For the curious, you will find that I have been involved in multiple webinars in my farmer and advocate roles recently. The Genuine Faux Farm blog has two recent posts that feature webinars. The most recent is a talk about agroecology and this second post provides you with descriptions and links to other recent activities.
And no, there isn’t a quiz at the end.
Now, the time has come to dig a virtual hole and bury those troubles for a while. Grab a favorite beverage and put on those fuzzy slippers because it’s time for Postal History Sunday!
Collectors Club of New York 2024
I was honored with the opportunity to return to the Collectors Club of New York with a virtual presentation on March 27 this year. And this time around, I thought I would focus on the 1861 24-cent stamp I enjoy so much by giving a “world tour.” The basic idea was that I wanted to show covers that traveled to different parts of the globe. Certainly, there are a few to England and France that have interesting stories. But there are also less common destinations for the time that include Japan, Chile, Peru, Guatemala and China.
Longtime Postal History Sunday readers might recognize a few of the stories highlighted in the presentation because they have been the focus of some of the 189 articles that have come before this one. For example, this slide from the presentation features a cover with a story that was described in Postal History Sunday #137.
One of the benefits that comes from these presentations is that I make time to create slides that include arrows to help illustrate important or useful features. While they certainly help me point things out to an audience in a presentation, they can also provide me with useful images for Postal History Sunday.
However, I have to admit that I rarely open up Powerpoint when I work on a new Postal History Sunday article. So, it rarely occurs to me to create this sort of illustration. Perhaps I should consider this option more often?
Webinar presentations give me a new opportunity to consider the images and the story line in new ways. The PHS #137 article is, in my opinion, a pretty good one. It’s good, even though I did not mention that the Saxonia only lost a few bags of coffee. Yet, as I looked at this cover for the upcoming presentation, I just felt like it would be the right thing to include this fact as the title of the slide. Whether the audience agreed with me or not is beside the point. I had fun with it - and that’s good enough.
This is a good reminder to you (and to me) that we can often add more to each story if we are inclined to do so and each story has more than one direction it can go. However, when it comes to readability, more is not always best. I could just provide you with a list of links and tell you to go read all of the source material if I thought that’s what everyone wanted. But I don’t think that’s why most people read Postal History Sunday. I suspect you would like to learn something new and enjoy the journey without having to wade through everything resource and factoid I look at in the process of building the story.
I do like to provide you with links to resources when I can - so you still have the option to learn more and re-frame the story all you like!
See?! Everyone has an chance to be happy!
So, without further ado, the recorded presentation is shown below. Yes, I do recognize that the title at the top and the first slide incorrectly show the presentation as “1869 24 cent World Tour.” Things like that happen in life and I’m sure you’ll muddle on - just as I will - none the worse for wear.
Collectors Club of New York 2023
As I mentioned, I did present last year on February 1st. The topic that time focused on ways to use European mail in the 1860s to understand mail from the US to Europe during the same time frame.
This presentation actually inspired Postal History Sunday #129. And, when I was done with that, I found there was much more to do, so it also resulted in Postal History Sunday #130.
The Collectors Club typically leaves the most recent presentation on their website available to the general public. Older webinars are kept behind the paywall for those who are members. I believe this embedded link will work for everyone. But, it is also possible that it won’t. However, I think it is even more likely that most people will have had ENOUGH of my voice after listening to one presentation.
Still, you can always come back a different day if you’re curious and want to hear this one as well.
Other Presentations
The Collectors Club of New York presentations are not the only ones available on the internet. There are a few others as well.
For example, the video that follows was a surrogate for what was going to be a live presentation for the Collectors Club of Chicago. There was this thing called a pandemic that was preventing face to face gatherings and I was among those who turned to Zoom for opportunities to connect with others.
The advantage of this sort of recording is that I could control the editing and pacing entirely. I do wonder if, now that I have more experience, I should redo this one and use editing tools to make it a bit smoother. But, it has gotten good reviews over time and does a pretty good job of introducing the basics of the 24-cent rate to the United Kingdom.
The Chicago Philatelic Society hosted a webinar that was also shared through the American Philatelic Society during the pandemic. And, at some point after that I was also hosted by the Pennsylvania Postal History Society.
Yes, there will be some duplication from one video to the next. Just remember that I have to make sure that everyone in the audience is able to come along for the entire ride. In that way, they’re just like Postal History Sunday. An effort is being made to try to provide something of interest to everyone, regardless of expertise in the subject.
The Pennsylvania Postal History Society video can be viewed below:
And, of course, Conversations with Philatelists hosted me on Episode 75 (Oct 18, 2021), which is the last presentation I will share today.
I very much wonder how different this conversation would go if we tried it again. After all, I had only completed 60 entries for Postal History Sunday at that time (just over 1 year) and this is the 190th installment!
Sadly, it appears to me that the last podcast by Michael and Charles was in January of 2023. This is certainly not a surprise because any project, such as a podcast or a weekly blog, will take energy and time. And the purpose - outreach during a pandemic - is no longer relevant. Happily for you, Postal History Sunday has adapted its purpose over time and there is no plans for its completion any time soon.
This provides me with an opportunity to pause and be grateful that I have had the ability to share Postal History Sunday with anyone who has interest for three and a half years now. In some ways, it seems it was just a short time ago that I was laboring to just reach 100 posts and now I see PHS #200 on the horizon.
At this point, I am guessing you have had MORE than your fill of weekly postal history goodness. I suspect many of you got to your limit if you viewed even a portion of any one of these presentations!
That’s the joy of asynchronous communications and recorded presentations. You can read these articles or view the videos if and when you want to. If they get too much into details you don’t care about, you can skim the blog or skip the videos forward. Enjoy as much or as little as you like and spread the enjoyment out over time - it’s all fine with me. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share something I enjoy with you.
I hope you have a fine remainder of your day and an exellent week to come.
Postal History Sunday is featured weekly on this Substack publication. If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with the most recent publication. If you think you might enjoy my writing on other topics, I can also be found at the Genuine Faux Farm substack. And, some publications may also be found under my profile at Medium, if you have interest.