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Alistair Kennedy and Michael Dobbs (Hon Secretary) travelled separately up to Coventry on the Friday. We booked into a charming little B&B (the Acacia Guest House) just a short walk away from the railway station. A number of officers had indicated they would be attending on the Saturday and indeed our President and his wife also travelled up on the Friday and stayed in a B&B local to the venue. I was also expecting to see at Midpex two members who were going to relieve me of a large batch of magazines that had been purchased at the AGM live auction back in April - Stan Brooks from Yorkshire (on behalf of John Fowler) and Nick Guy from Bedford. Nick was helping out on the East Africa Study Circle stand. Alistair also managed to hand over a backlog of Newsletters/Journals to our Librarian (Nick Martin) who was also helping out on the Belgian Study Circle stand. But before I ramble on, what is exactly Midpex ? Midpex is not only the major exhibition held in the Midlands but it is also a showcase for the many and varied specialist societies that exist in the UK and which, in the main, are affiliated to the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS). Midpex is held every other year, but in 2005 it was thought to be the last time it was going to be held in the Tile Hill venue due to redevelopment of the site and the building of a new centre nearby. For 2007 Midpex was run by a special committee under the Midlands Philatelic Federation with generous financial support from both Cavendish Auctions and ABPS. Some 45 specialist societies were represented, ranging from the Aden & Somaliland Study Group to the West Africa Study Circle and including ourselves. In addition there were some 46 dealers present - all (dealers and specialist societies) spread around three halls within the Centre. The FPHS stand was in the large hall - light and with plenty of room to wander between dealers and society stands, all of which carried displays of material representing the collecting interests of the specialist society concerned. We had five display stands with suitable material provided by both Alistair and myself (including Falklands, The Ben Ferguson story, UN involvement in the former Yugoslavia and other small wars/campaigns). In addition we had a variety of publications for sale provided by Peter High, back issues of the Newsletter/Journal to give to prospective members and of course membership application forms. Whilst we did not sign anyone up on the day we did hand out a number of application forms (with a generous special Midpex rate), answered queries, engaged in good natured banter with collectors and our neighbouring societies and met with FPHS members, some of whom were helping out on the stands of other societies of which they were members. Peter High managed to sell a number of publications - and thanks to the three Peters for helping out on the stand - Peter O'Keeffe (President), Peter High (Vice-President) and Peter Jenkinson (Treasurer). Both Michael Dobbs and Peter O'Keeffe attended the ABPS Limited AGM and the ABPS Council Meeting. The former was a fairly quick formal proceedings of the limited company whilst the latter provided plenty of opportunity for members to air their views, mainly on the proposed increase in affiliation fees to £1 per UK member from 1 January 2008. After a great deal of debate the proposal was carried. An e-Bulletin will be issued by ABPS to summarise the meetings and once received I will re-circulate it to UK members. A hectic time which passed very quickly, but I did manage to visit a few dealers stands and those of other societies. Although we did not sign any new members on the day, it was nevertheless felt to have been a success - it keeps the Society in the collecting publics' eye, shows our support for ABPS and is a suitable venue to meet and greet members who we may not see at our London meetings. We look forward to Midpex 2009. |
