The RPSC’s first Zoom web-course: How to get started as an exhibitor. As you know, one of the societal priorities established in our new Value Proposition is the importance of education. With this as our motivation, we are thrilled to announce The RPSC’s first, free philatelic web-course, which will be an introduction to philatelic exhibiting. This exciting course will take place on three successive Tuesday evenings in May – May 14, 21, & 28 - and will begin at 7:30 pm.

If you have ever thought about becoming an exhibitor, but were just too nervous to do so, this course is for you. Perhaps you have no idea how to begin and are afraid it will be too difficult. Maybe you’ve heard horror stories about writing a synopsis or title page, and you don’t know where to start. If this is the case, then this practical course is for you! Join us as we take you through the basics of creating and developing an exhibit.

In Week One we will discuss why exhibiting is/ or can be fun and what you, as a collector, may get out of it. We’ll look at how to decide on and choose a topic, what the various terminology means and deciding on the right place to enter your exhibit.

In Week Two, we will consider how to take your chosen topic and develop a plan for it. How do you create a story line for your exhibit? How do you figure out what the proper scope is? What’s an epilogue? How do structure your topic? Is your topic a good one for a one frame exhibit? Each of these questions will be discussed and answered, hopefully making you feel more comfortable with the entire process.

Last of all, in Week Three we will investigate the often-baffling topic of how to write a synopsis and a title page for your exhibit. These two documents are the source of more confusion and create more fear than any other aspect of exhibiting. In this session we will go through this process in detail, explaining who the title page and synopsis are written for and what should be included in them.

The dates of each session will be:

May 14 – An Introduction to Philatelic Exhibiting.
May 21 – How to develop your idea into an exhibit.
May 28 – How to write a synopsis and title page.

I will be leading the first course, and I am excited to discuss the reasons one might want to begin exhibiting and how to take one’s collection and turn it into an exhibit.

Our second presenter will be Andrew Kelley.

Andrew’s philatelic journey began in fourth grade with a beginner stamp album from his school’s book club. After attending the American Philatelic Society’s (APS) summer seminar several times, he assembled a successful national and international youth exhibit. Following a break from stamps for Harvard Law School, family, and early career, Andrew returned to the hobby roughly eight years ago. Since then, he has written extensively about stamps and postal history, earning the United States Stamp Society’s (USSS) 2023 Hopkinson Literature Award for one of his articles. He is the editor of Auxiliary Markings, the journal of the Auxiliary Markings Club. He recently became editor of the United States Specialist, the monthly journal of the USSS. Andrew also serves on the APS expert committee and as the co-Chairman of the USSS Washington-Franklin committee.

Andrew returned to exhibiting in late 2022. Since then, his exhibit of the US Offset Lithographed Washington-Franklin Heads won the 2023 George Brett Cup, two grand awards, and numerous other prizes. He is an apprentice philatelic judge and is scheduled to complete his apprenticeship this summer.

Outside of philately, Andrew is a business litigation attorney and a semi-professional outdoor photographer. He lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife and children.

Andrew‘s topic for session two will be, 'How to develop an idea and turn it into an exhibit'. He is a wonderful communicator and I know that you will learn a great deal from him.

The third presenter in our Zoom series will be Andrew McFarlane. (Insert Fog. 3)

Andrew McFarlane is best known in the philatelic world for his first day cover and aerophilatelic exhibits; he has been exhibiting at the national and international levels since 2001. Andrew received the AAPE's Diamond Award in 2008 for multi-frame exhibiting and his exhibits have won seven World Series of Philately Grand Awards, over 50 Gold Medals, and numerous other special awards.

Stamp collecting became an interest when he was five years old with his father bringing him stamps from around the world. He serviced a White Ace first day cover at the age of nine after a trip to the Washington Press in his then hometown of Maplewood, NJ. Fifty years later, this first FDC now appears in one of his exhibits. Captivated by the exhibits he saw at stamp shows as a young collector, he knew he wanted to exhibit someday. Always a fan of the 1928 U.S. Beacon Airmail stamp, Andrew began a specialized collection of the issue, which eventually turned into his first exhibit.

He is a Past President of the American Air Mall Society and has also served as the webmaster for the AAPE, AAMS, AFDCS, and Writers Unit 30. He has given presentations on philatelic exhibiting to the Collector's Club (NY), the APS Summer Seminar, and the Washington 2006 International Stamp Show. Surprisingly, Andrew is one of only two philatelists known to have been bitten by a Zebra. Or at least the only ones who will admit to it. Creating the Philatelic Synopsis: A Master Class was Andrew's first philatelic book-length publication in 2021. It was well received within the philatelic community; and awarded Large Vermeil Medals in literature competitions at both CHICAGOPEX and the Great American Stamp Show (G.A.S.S.). At CAPEX 2022, an international stamp show in Canada, the book was awarded a Vermeil Medal.

When not collecting or exhibiting, Andrew works as an IT Consultant and lives with his wife, Caroline, and several adorable cats in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

We hope that you will plan to join us for this new and exciting event. The course is open to all, whether you are an RPSC member or not and best of all it is offered without charge. Please let your friends know and invite them to participate. This is our society’s way of give back to the Canadian stamp collecting community and we are so glad to be able to do it.

A Zoom link for the series will be sent out in the May newsletter and will also be available on The RPSC website. Please get in touch with me if you have any questions.