August 2018 - Sneak Peek

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN .........................................................................................
BY ROBERT ZEIGLER president
RZeigler@zcklaw.com
Listening and Ready
New APS President Eyes Future with Staff and Membership
I
am Bob Zeigler, and for the remainder of the term that
was started by Mick Zais, I am president of the American
Philatelic Society by virtue of a vote of the society’s
Board of Directors. I was elected in 2016 to the board as one
of three vice presidents and have served in that capacity until
now. As you may already know, our former president, Zais,
was nominated and is now deputy secretary in the federal
Department of Education, just below Cabinet level. As part of
that responsibility, Mick was required to resign from all other
leadership positions, including the APS presidency.
I have every reason to believe that our loss at APS is the
country’s gain. Mick has outstanding leadership skills, and
has served APS well, if all too briefly. He “showed the APS
flag” by getting to many shows across the country, got good
cooperation from the board and our hard-working staff, and
had a quietly effective way of building consensus that minimized
conflict and helped to resolve
tough issues. We at APS will miss Mick
and wish him the best in his new responsibilities.
A lawyer by trade, I am a partner in
an 11-lawyer firm in Indianapolis, Indiana
that is largely devoted to the defense
of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare
professionals in malpractice cases. I
enjoy this work, but I have enjoyed philately
just as much. Where else but in our great hobby can you
acquire so much knowledge and attention to detail in an area
of your own choosing? Stamp collecting is entirely what you
make of it. You get out of it what you put into it.
Today, we stamp collectors must seek not only our own
pleasure but need to find ways to make our hobby more appealing
to those who will come after us. In a world of video
games and instant electronic gratification, stamps and postal
history may appear less appealing. But nothing can be further
from the truth. This hobby dovetails with so many things:
armchair and real traveling, a love of history and geography,
an appreciation of art in miniature, studies in depth of a topic
or theme, the history and development of printing and papermaking,
and in all, just about any subject you can think of
can be explored and developed through stamps, postal history
and their related fields.
This society is blessed to have a devoted staff, along with
many volunteers who give freely of their time and effort. We
are also fortunate to have a visionary and active executive
director in Scott English and a very capable new editor of
The American Philatelist in Martin Miller.
I solicit your aid in moving this society forward. If you
have an idea, or more than one, as to how to help APS grow
and foster a broader appeal, please let us know. We have already
formulated some plans, but more ideas cannot hurt as
we work on a “big picture” plan to move our society forward.
Your letters, and yes, even your e-mails, are welcome.
724 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / AUGUST 2018