GPS Convention Guidelines

March, 2010 Edition

The annual GPS convention is an important event for the Germany Philatelic Society. It gives members the opportunity for fellowship with other members, to learn more about their avocation by attending study group meetings, programs, and talking to more experienced collectors and specialists, to add to their collections, to exhibit, and to learn more about the workings of their Society.

These guidelines are intended to aid the host GPS Chapter and the local Exhibition Committee with the planning of this important event. Some items in these guidelines are considered mandatory, while others are recommendations.

Questions pertaining to GPS Convention procedures should be directed to the below-named GPS Convention contact. Suggestions for changes to be incorporated into future revisions of these guidelines are welcome.

Primary Considerations

The sponsoring exhibition must be a three-day APS-accredited WSP show. This will encourage attendance and active participation.

A local GPS Chapter will act as host (Host Chapter). If there is no local GPS Chapter, the responsibilities of the Chapter as set forth in these guidelines may be undertaken by a local/regional committee of GPS members.

The Host Chapter should establish a committee of Chapter members to arrange and follow through on the various GPS functions: banquet, hospitality suite, finances, hotel accommodations, GPS booth, frame reservations, and meeting and program scheduling. The chair of the Host Chapter Convention Committee should ask to be a member of the Exhibition Committee or, at a minimum, to attend its meetings. This should be done well in advance to allow time for arrangements to be completed and assure that everything is done in conjunction with the Exhibition Committee so everyone is informed of all activities and everything is coordinated.

Hotel

The exhibition hotel block must include an adequate number rooms for the anticipated GPS attendance. Coordinate this with the Exhibition Committee. Ensure that the event room rate includes both three days before and after the event (this is common practice if requested).

Room nights credited to GPS members should be used towards hospitality suite credit if possible. Coordinate this with the Exhibition Committee. It is normal procedure that 50 room nights generated will be equal to one complimentary room. One room night is a room occupied for one night by an attendee.

Arrange to have a Hospitality Suite in the hotel where the GPS rooms are reserved.

Provide adequate directions for air, rail, or automobile travelers to find the convention site and, if separated, the show hotel.

Hospitality Suite

The Hospitality Suite should be of an adequate size to accommodate the visiting membership. Expect a large number of banquet attendees to migrate to the Hospitality Suite. Use the number of banquet reservations is a guide to determine room size.

Host Chapter members should be available to serve refreshments, answer questions, and act as hosts when the suite is open to visitors.

The room should have adequate seating.

The room should have a wet bar.

Determine when to have the room open: morning, afternoon and evening hours. Close the suite during the Board meeting, the General Membership meeting, the GPS banquet, and the Exhibition Awards Banquet. Close the suite approximately ½ hour before the cocktail receptions that precede each banquet.

Determine refreshments for the various time periods: Coffee and donuts; beer, liquor, mixes, soda, ice, pretzels, chips, cheese, nuts, etc.

Subsidy

The GPS will subsidize the convention expenses of the Host Chapter up to $750.00. This subsidy may be used for banquet tickets for the judges and apprentice judges and for hospitality suite expenses. This subsidy will usually be paid during the convention, but partial advance payment can be arranged should the need arise.

Exhibits

A block of 125 to 150 exhibition frames should be allocated to GPS exhibitors. A reasonable deadline may be established after which remaining frames may be made available to other exhibits.

Publicity

The Host Chapter should coordinate publicity efforts with the GPS Publicity Director, Jerry Miller, who can be contacted at

The Publicity Director will assist with GPS and other philatelic publicity. Local publicity is the responsibility of the Exhibition assisted by the Host Chapter as needed. Exhibit information, hotel accommodations, and banquet prices should all be advertised well in advance to avoid disappointment.

Please also send all information and details of the show as they become available to the Editor of the German Postal Specialist:

James W. Graue

11911 East Connor Road

Valleyford, Washington99036, USA

Tel: (509) 924-4484

Email:

The Editor will ensure that the show is promoted in the monthly journal of the Society, thereby keeping GPS members advised of the event and encouraging their attendance.

Judges

The GPS requests the invitation of two GPS-recommended judges on the jury panel. GPS recommendations for judges will be provided to the Exhibition Judges Chair well in advance.

Directors Meeting

A Board of Directors meeting must be scheduled in the Hospitality Suite or another suitable location. This is usually held on Thursday afternoon prior to the show, but the President of the Society may opt for another time. There are generally 12 to 15 people attending this meeting.

General Membership Meeting

A General Membership meeting must be scheduled, usually at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. There are usually 100 to 150 people attending this meeting.

Study Group Meetings and Programs

Meeting room(s) must be provided and scheduled for study group meetings and GPS programs.

A slate of programs of general interest, related to various aspects of German philately, is important to the overall success of the convention and to the standing of the GPS in the general philatelic community. These are over and above those programs sponsored as part of the study group meetings.

Most study groups desire a Saturday meeting time. It may be necessary to have two study groups meeting simultaneously in order to accommodate them all. The GPS Study Groups Coordinator will request meeting times and room requirements. Publicize these study group meetings by the title of their main program, as that will attract greater attendance and may add a few new members.

The schedule should be provided to the GPS Publicity Director and the Editor of the German Postal Specialist as early as possible. Audio-visual equipments requirements must be specified.

GPS Booth on the Show Floor

Host Chapter members should staff the GPS booth for most of the show to provide information to visitors and assistance and directions to visiting members. Host Chapters may enlist the assistance of others from the general membership. Timing is important. If an appeal for assistance is to be made in the German Postal Specialist, it must be four to six months in advance.

The GPS Secretary will send materials for display, promotion and sale at the GPS booth, including applications, sample copies of the German Postal Specialist, and GPS publications. These items should be requested from the GPS Secretary well in advance and shipping instructions must be provided. Also, provide a visitors’ registry at the GPS booth

GPS Secretary:

Mike Peter,

PO Box 6547,

Chesterfield, Missouri63006-6547, USA

Email:

GPS Banquet

The GPS Banquet is held on Friday evening to not conflict with the Exhibition Awards Banquet.

The size of the GPS banquet varies from 75 to 150. The facility chosen for the banquet, preferably at the convention hotel to avoid transportation problems, should be of an adequate size to accommodate the expected number of guests. If it is held at a local restaurant, the distance should be reasonable and the Host Chapter must provide adequate and reliable transportation.

The banquet should be held in a well-lighted private room. Holding the banquet in a corner of a noisy restaurant is not suitable.

A cash bar precedes the banquet.

Appoint a Master of Ceremonies to keep everything in order and moving. Confirm and schedule an invocation, a welcome speech, and brief talks by the Host Chapter president and the Society president. Assure that special guests, including the judges, are introduced. Arrange for the awards presentations. Give a time limit to all speakers.

Arrange the menu and have it printed with the evening’s schedule of events. It may be either a buffet or a served dinner. Do not have a head table, but reserved seating for dignitaries is optional. In general, members like to mix with the “dignitaries” and this is not possible if they are clustered.

Optional banquet items are place setting favors, door prizes, and entertainment. Entertainment at past GPS banquets has included a polka dance band, a German “oom-pah” band, an acapella German chorus, and a brief talk by a prominent philatelist. The time for entertainment is short as it is followed by special GPS awards.

Awards at the GPS banquet will be the Society awards only, not including any awards for philatelic exhibits. Exhibitors will be recognized at the GPS banquet, but no philatelic exhibit awards will be presented. Society awards to be presented will include the George Blizil Memorial Award, the ribboned medals for 25 and 50 year members, and any special awards authorized by the Board or the President.

Awards

The Exhibition Committee will be advised that GPS medals and awards will be provided. The Awards Chairman should be informed of the GPS awards so that they can be included in the prospectus, publicity, show program and the palmares. A list of GPS awards accompanies these Guidelines. The medals, certificates and ribbons for the GPS awards will be sent to the Exhibition Committee by the GPS Secretary.

The criteria for all GPS philatelic exhibit awards will be provided to the Exhibition Committee by the GPS Secretary. GPS awards for philatelic exhibits are granted only to exhibits of Germany and related areas (colonies, occupations, locals, etc.). All GPS awards for philatelic exhibits shall be presented at the Awards Banquet for the general exhibition, not at the GPS Banquet.

Exhibition Awards Banquet

Attending GPS members, and especially GPS exhibitors, are strongly encouraged to attend the Exhibition Awards Banquet. All GPS awards for exhibits are to be presented at the Exhibition Awards Banquet, not at the GPS Society Banquet.

The GPS Secretary will ensure that the GPS awards, medals, certificates and ribbons are sent in advance to the Exhibition Committee.

GPS Convention Coordinator

James R. Pullin,

2837 Wright Ave.,

Winter Park, Florida 32789-6161, USA

Tel: (407) 647-3479

Email:

GPS Awards for Philatelic Exhibits

All GPS awards for philatelic exhibits are granted only to exhibits of Germany and related areas (colonies, occupations, locals, etc.).

All GPS awards for philatelic exhibits shall be presented at the Awards Banquet for the general exhibition.

GPS President’s Award

GPS Grand Award. Best German area exhibit by a GPS member. This award cannot be given to anexhibit that has won it in the past five years. A list of previous winners is included herewith. The GPS President will provide the award.

C. H. Hunt Award

GPS Reserve Grand Award. Second best German area exhibit. Provided by GPS Chapter 5. No GPS membership requirement.

Herman L Halle Memorial Award

Best exhibit research. Provided by GPS Chapter 16. No GPS membership requirement.

Colonel W. E. Davis Award

Best exhibit of German Colonies and Post Offices Abroad. Provided by the German Colonies Collectors Group. See award criteria below. No GPS membership requirement.

GPS Gold, Vermeil, Silver, Silver-Bronze and Bronze Medals

Medals shall be given in the same manner as the show medals of the same level. GPS medals are given to all German area exhibits as merited. Medals are provided by the GPS Secretary.

German Colonies Collectors Group

Criteria for the Colonel W. E. Davis Award

Purpose

To encourage the exhibit display of competitive material related to the German Colonies and Post Offices Abroad.

Eligibility
  • Exhibits must be multi-frameand earn a vermeil or gold awardat the show.
  • No minimum number of potentially qualifying exhibits is required.
  • Membership in the German Colonies Collectors Group is not required.
  • An exhibit is eligible to receive this award only once.

Eligibility will be determined in advance by the German Colonies

Collectors Group.

Areas Included

  • German Post Offices Abroad

China (including Boxer Rebellion), Morocco, and Turkey (including WWI Military

Mission).

  • German Colonies

German East Africa (including Lamu, Witu, and Zanzibar), German New Guinea, German

Southwest Africa, Kamerun, Caroline Islands, Kiautschou, Mariana Islands, Marshall

Islands, Samoa, and Togo.

If German colonial material is shown combined with issues of prior or subsequent

governments, the German colonial material must constitute two-thirds of the exhibit.

  • Directly Related Areas

German Naval Ship Post (Deutsche Marine Schiffspost) when serving “on station” in the

German Colonies and Post Offices Abroad.

Sea post from vessels serving the German Colonies and Offices Abroad (such as the

Hamburg Westafrika Linie and Deutsch Ostafrika Linie).

World War I overprints on Colonial stamps and stationery (including East Africa,

Cameroons, New Guinea/New Britain, Marshall Islands, Samoa, and Togo). If subsequent

issues of new governments are also shown, then occupation overprints must constitute at

least two-thirdsof the exhibit.

World War I prisoner-of-war mail related to the German Colonies and Post Offices Abroad.

  • Previous Winners

Exhibitor / Show / Exhibit Title
Diane Boehret / CHICAGOPEX 87 / The Post of the German Military MissionTurkey 1914-1918.
Ulrich Czimmek / OTYMBINGUE 100 (1989 Windhoek, SWA / Namibia / Die Schutztruppe in DSWA + Vor- und Mitläuferpost von DSWA.
Ferd Lauber / CHICAGOPEX 89 / Forerunners of the German Offices and Colonies.
Paul Larsen / COLOPEX 92 / German Togo 1885-1914.
Alfred Kugel / MILCOPEX 93 / German Military Forces in China 1898-1914.
Alfred Kugel / Philadelphia National 97 / The Germans in the Pacific.
Jerry H. Miller / ARIPEX 2002 / German Intervention in China.
Philip Parker / APS STAMPSHOW 2002 / WWI German East Africa: The Portuguese Connection.
Philip Parker / BALPEX 2005 / WWI German East Africa: The Portuguese Connection.
Robert Stein / CHICAGOPEX 2006 / Postal History of German Nauru 1890-1914.
Regis Hoffman / APS STAMPSHOW 2009 / Allied Forces in East Africa, WWI.
GPS GRAND AWARD / PRESIDENT’S AWARD WINNERS

1959 to Date

Year / Show / Winner /

Exhibit

2013 / WESTPEX
2012 / BALPEX – 9th Salon
2011 / Rocky Mountain
2010 / BALPEX
2009 / COLOPEX / Jerry H. Miller / German New Guinea 1888-1914
2008 / St. Louis Stamp Expo / Paul Larson / Caroline Islands to 1914
2007 / 8th Salon – Melbourne / Paul Larson / German Togo 1885-1914
2006 / CHICAGOPEX / Robert Stein / Postal History of Nauru
2005 / BALPEX / Harold Peter / Feldpost Schleswig-Holstein – Denmark Wars 1848-1851 and 1861
2004 / St. Louis Stamp Expo / Alfred Kugel / The Germans in the Pacific
2003 / COLOPEX / Paul Larson / Ubangi-Shari-Chad 1900-1938
2002 / ARIPEX / Jerry H. Miller / German Intervention in China
2001 / BALPEX / Paul Larson / German Caroline Islands 1899-1914
2000 / Minnesota Stamp Exp / Bernard Cohen / First Issues of the Saar
1999 / ARIPEX / Dickson Preston / Commercial Zeppelin Mail
1998 / ALAPEX / James W. Graue / DLH South Atlantic 1934-1939
1997 / PNSE / Alfred Kugel / German African Possessions Postmarks
1996 / CHICAGOPEX / Alfred Kugel / German African Possessions Postmarks
1995 / FLOREX / Roger Schnell / German Offices in Turkey
1994 / BALPEX / Cheryl Ganz / Zeppelins and the USA
1993 / MILCOPEX / Alfred Kugel / German Military Forces in China
1992 / COLOPEX / Paul Larson / German Togo
1991 / INDYPEX / Harold E. Peter / AMG Issues of Germany
1990 / ROMPEX / George Laury / Postal History of Berlin from May 1945
1989 / CHICAGOPEX / Gerald Korn / German Booklets
1988 / NOJEX / Michael Jolly / The Germania Issues
1987 / CHICAGOPEX / Diane Boehret / German Military Mission in Turkey
1986 / AMERIPEX / Last GPS Spring Meeting
1986 / FLOREX / Frank Bachenheimer / Development of the Saar Postal System
1985 / INDYPEX / Dr. Gene Scott / Bavaria Numeral Issues and Embossed Arms Issues 1849-1911
1985 / ROMPEX / Dr. Claus A. Wulff / Krone & Adler: Reichspost Issue
1889-1900
1984 / BALPEX / Harold E. Peter / Prussia: OPD Kőslin Postal History
1984 / COLOPEX / Richard Willing / Development of the Bergedorf Post
1983 / SEPAD / Harold E. Peter / Hamburg Postal History to 1867
1983
1982 / ESPAMER
1982 / MILCOPEX / Udo Sassenhausen / Kingdom of Prussia 1850-1857
1981 / CHICAGOPEX / Arthur Salm / Study of the Stamplpess Period in Bremen
1981 / PIPEX / Ingeburg Fisher / Berlin: Emergence of a Stampland
1980 / FLOREX / Paul Larson / German Togo
1980 / WESTPEX / James E. Duffy / Military Mail and Parcel Permit Stamps
1942-1945
1979 / BALPEX / James E. Duffy / Military Mail and Parcel Permit Stamps
1942-1945
1979 / COLOPEX / John Strawbridge / HOPs District 16 Erfurt
1978 / CHICAGOPEX / Paul Larson / German Togo
1978
1977 / MOUNDCITY / Frank Bachenheimer / Ruhleben POW Camp 1914-1918
1977 / ROMPEX / John Strawbridge / HOPs District 16 Erfurt
1976
1976
1975 / COMPEX / Drew Nicholson / Hero Uprising in German SW Africa
1903-1907
1975 / BALPEX / R. J. Houston / Channel Islands Under German Occupation
1974 / FLOREX / Carl P. Kroboth / German Empire 1871-1918
1974
1973 / FLOREX / Fritz Rosenberg / German Empire #1-28
1973 / COMPEX / None
1972 / NOJEX / Carl P. Kroboth / Feldppost and Inselpost of World War II
1972 / WESTPEX / None
1971 / HARMONEX / George Kunzernann / Germany 1889-1900
1971 / SOJEX / None / First GPS Spring Meeting
1970 / BALPEX / Myron G. Hill / Storkow 1945-1946
1969 / GERMANEX / Alfred Heinz / Grossräschen Provisionals 1945-1946
1968 / NOJEX / Bernard A. Hennig / Submarine Mail of World War I
1967 / COMPEX / Alfred Heinz / Grossräschen Provisionals
1966 / SIPEX / None
1965 / FLOREX / Carl P. Kroboth / Feldppost and Inselpost of World War II
1964 / No Convention
1963 / BALPEX / Ike West, Jr. / Bavaria
1962 / NOJEX / None
1961 / SEPAD / Werner Ruthenberg / Mecklenburg
1960 / COMPEX / Bernard A. Hennig / Danzig
1959 / SOJEX / Flaccus Stiffel / Bavaria

Additional GPS Meetings

The GPS is not committed to a regular second annual meeting (convention). The purpose of GPS meetings at additional philatelic exhibitions is to increase the visibility of GPS at as many shows each year as possible. A GPS presence with a society table and informal meeting has always had positive benefits for GPS. We have signed up new members, recaptured some old members, sold some merchandise, enhanced interest in German philately and gained new friends. All of these are worth the effort of the chapters or local members.