ANA Day 3: A book, thoughts and observations
Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 08:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scarlettinaBetween the time I last posted yesterday and the banquet, I mainly trolled the bourse and chatted people up.
Book: One interesting development: Ray practically gave me what is the most expensive reference book on elongated coins, a 1,000+ page encyclopedia on elongateds from 1960-1977. It's a hard-bound, self-published thing written by a guy named Angelo Rosato who, during my time as editor of the elongated collectors newsletter, demonstrated -- as a result of his creation of this monster -- a sense of entitlement and self-importance that has rarely been matched in my experience in any field. In the wake of those experiences, I swore -- despite an interest in owning the book -- that he'd never get my money for it. (He typically charges around $300 plus shipping.) Ray sold me his personal copy for a song, and paid for the shipping to my home. The thing's a cinder block and I'm not sure where I'll put it, but it will be used.
The Young Numismatists (Sounds like a Discovery Channel series, doesn't it?): I haven't talked about the kids beyond generalizations yesterday, but I wanted to be sure that I did. The kids here -- the serious ones, the Young Numismatists, or YNs as they're called -- are a scary, impressive bunch. Ranging in age from about 14-18, they are typically very intelligent, scarily articulate, and far, far more knowledgeable than most casual collectors (like myself). They feel like a different tribe than kids in the SF community, though I think they're distant kin. After talking to these kids, my thoughts have been that a) their parents are doing something right, letting their kids follow their passion, b) they're all respectful, smart, and self-confident, and c) they're all probably school valedictorians and class presidents including, I'm pleased to say, the blond 15-year-old girl with a clear sense of popular-girl style who won three major awards for her exhibits yesterday. She was atypical of the otherwise male, slightly nerdy bunch of YNs I met.
Women in the community: The aforementioned YN was good to see. Prominent female numismatists are pretty thin on the ground here and, with very few exceptions, are over 60 with little or no computer savvy or idea of how to do outreach. I found myself hoping that the female YN (whose name I totally missed) got to meet some of the younger women in the community, otherwise she would probably feel pretty conspicuous -- and I'm sure she did when she had her picture taken with the other exhibit award winners, all of whom were men 45+ years of age except for her. Myself, I missed every single Women In Numismatics event at the show, which I really regret. It was a result of the challenges of programming, everything scheduled against everything else. Very frustrating for me. Interestingly (and a little scarily), the new president of the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association (PNNA), a woman a little younger than me, told me last night that she wants to talk to me about running for the board of directors of PNNA, as she's the only woman, the only member under 60, and the only one with any tech savvy at all. I made no promises except to listen (I learned my lesson with the chorus). We're supposed to have dinner sometime after we get back to Seattle.
The banquet: Most of us have attended banquets of some sort or other, so I don't need to get into excessive detail here. The most impressive thing about this gathering was the economy with which its proceedings were handled. We were in and out of the banquet hall in less than two hours, including speeches and awards (and nearly 15 awards were given). Dinner was steak and a crab lump cake with potatoes au gratin and a chocolate dessert I can't even describe except to say that it was delicious. With the exception of the 14-year-old YN with us, I was one of the two youngest people at the table; everyone else was 60+. I did some networking -- habit more than a requirement, as there's not a lot I want or need in this community except to enjoy myself. And yet I find myself spending a lot of time with pretty prominent folks in the field -- and I don't know how or why it's happening! I have some decisions to make about how much I want this all to be a part of my life because I can see that just the fact of my interest in the field at all is creating a space for opportunities to be presented (see above re: PNNA). I need to decide if they're opportunities I want or not. In any case, I'm glad I attended the banquet. It was a pleasant way to spend the evening. The food was good.
This morning, I have to run one errand at the convention center and then I have to prepare for my departure. I haven't gotten out into the city the way I wanted to, but I shouldn't be surprised. This is the way of conventions, regardless of type.
Book: One interesting development: Ray practically gave me what is the most expensive reference book on elongated coins, a 1,000+ page encyclopedia on elongateds from 1960-1977. It's a hard-bound, self-published thing written by a guy named Angelo Rosato who, during my time as editor of the elongated collectors newsletter, demonstrated -- as a result of his creation of this monster -- a sense of entitlement and self-importance that has rarely been matched in my experience in any field. In the wake of those experiences, I swore -- despite an interest in owning the book -- that he'd never get my money for it. (He typically charges around $300 plus shipping.) Ray sold me his personal copy for a song, and paid for the shipping to my home. The thing's a cinder block and I'm not sure where I'll put it, but it will be used.
The Young Numismatists (Sounds like a Discovery Channel series, doesn't it?): I haven't talked about the kids beyond generalizations yesterday, but I wanted to be sure that I did. The kids here -- the serious ones, the Young Numismatists, or YNs as they're called -- are a scary, impressive bunch. Ranging in age from about 14-18, they are typically very intelligent, scarily articulate, and far, far more knowledgeable than most casual collectors (like myself). They feel like a different tribe than kids in the SF community, though I think they're distant kin. After talking to these kids, my thoughts have been that a) their parents are doing something right, letting their kids follow their passion, b) they're all respectful, smart, and self-confident, and c) they're all probably school valedictorians and class presidents including, I'm pleased to say, the blond 15-year-old girl with a clear sense of popular-girl style who won three major awards for her exhibits yesterday. She was atypical of the otherwise male, slightly nerdy bunch of YNs I met.
Women in the community: The aforementioned YN was good to see. Prominent female numismatists are pretty thin on the ground here and, with very few exceptions, are over 60 with little or no computer savvy or idea of how to do outreach. I found myself hoping that the female YN (whose name I totally missed) got to meet some of the younger women in the community, otherwise she would probably feel pretty conspicuous -- and I'm sure she did when she had her picture taken with the other exhibit award winners, all of whom were men 45+ years of age except for her. Myself, I missed every single Women In Numismatics event at the show, which I really regret. It was a result of the challenges of programming, everything scheduled against everything else. Very frustrating for me. Interestingly (and a little scarily), the new president of the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association (PNNA), a woman a little younger than me, told me last night that she wants to talk to me about running for the board of directors of PNNA, as she's the only woman, the only member under 60, and the only one with any tech savvy at all. I made no promises except to listen (I learned my lesson with the chorus). We're supposed to have dinner sometime after we get back to Seattle.
The banquet: Most of us have attended banquets of some sort or other, so I don't need to get into excessive detail here. The most impressive thing about this gathering was the economy with which its proceedings were handled. We were in and out of the banquet hall in less than two hours, including speeches and awards (and nearly 15 awards were given). Dinner was steak and a crab lump cake with potatoes au gratin and a chocolate dessert I can't even describe except to say that it was delicious. With the exception of the 14-year-old YN with us, I was one of the two youngest people at the table; everyone else was 60+. I did some networking -- habit more than a requirement, as there's not a lot I want or need in this community except to enjoy myself. And yet I find myself spending a lot of time with pretty prominent folks in the field -- and I don't know how or why it's happening! I have some decisions to make about how much I want this all to be a part of my life because I can see that just the fact of my interest in the field at all is creating a space for opportunities to be presented (see above re: PNNA). I need to decide if they're opportunities I want or not. In any case, I'm glad I attended the banquet. It was a pleasant way to spend the evening. The food was good.
This morning, I have to run one errand at the convention center and then I have to prepare for my departure. I haven't gotten out into the city the way I wanted to, but I shouldn't be surprised. This is the way of conventions, regardless of type.
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no subject
Date: Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 01:20 pm (UTC)It's because you're driven, passionate and engaged (or engaging). What could be more fun to an informed enthusiast than finding leaders in the field?
no subject
Date: Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 04:10 pm (UTC)Because the TSA will probably declare it a lethal weapon and confiscate it.
no subject
Date: Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sun, Aug. 3rd, 2008 06:40 pm (UTC)