WHY SO QUIET?!

As it is summer many of us also have family and social commitments that keep us away from being online and (for me anyway) away from my hobby.  I seem to spend more time on my collection during the winter months when I am more inclined to be staying indoors.

As for suggestions, why not have specific forums set up for different collecting interests?  So a separate forum for Discworld stamps, another for Revenues, etc?  Rather than bundling every post or thread in to one big 'Cinderella stamps' forum. That way you would quickly be able to see what collectors were interested in without having to go through lots of posts about things you are less interested in. 

What happened to this year's forum stamp?  That usually creates a bit of interest.

Not everyone enjoys voting for their favourite design only to find some other drivel has won instead. Then to be asked to buy said drivel just rubs salt into wounds. None of my favourites has ever won.

If you want to raise funds for operating the forum then try charging for membership.  

Or have a raffle of donated stamps.

Perhaps this is another example of how recent popular democracy does not always guarantee the best result for everyone. Clearly Admin feels unhappy that while the winners receive lots of votes, their popularity does not transfer so readily to sales. And those members who voted but did not buy the winner therefore feel that the winning design had very limited value. Perhaps 'drivel' was harsh but let me try to explain.

Many of the members here are more focused on traditional, catalogued, cinderella items and not the more homespun self-authored artistamp material (and I include Discworld in that) that has appeared since desktop publishing simplified printing. Whilst these members might want to take part on a public vote they cannot be expected to buy a sheet of homemade stamps that will have nothing to do with their core collection. 'Support Your Forum!!!' you might well exclaim, but the more established folks here will have other forums and clubs to support too, and the majority of those do not charge $6 for a sheet of stamps and $7 to mail it.

I like the idea of a raffle of donated items to raise money for the running of the forum. It means there is a good chance that some interesting items will be donated and corresponding prices achieved. But in all honesty I question who will donate their own precious stamps to fund a forum that has perhaps 5 regular contributors (as opposed to those using it as a shop window), and where the most frequent contributions are from people asking for help in identifying their stamps, and whose similar posts also appear on other forums and boards?