ACC Program Area:Starting a Collecting Club - Introduction

Introduction

The Association of Collecting Clubs gets dozens of queries from collectors which go something like this, "I collect (fill in the blank) but I've never run across anyone else who collects these items. Are there other collectors? Is there a collecting club for us, or how do I start one?" The major intent of this program area is to help collectors who are in a collecting area not having an organized collecting club, and who would like to start one. We will also compare different types of collecting clubs.

Collecting clubs have been in existence for decades. For most of us in the antiques and collectibles industry, the image of a collecting club is pretty standard. But over the past 10 years many new clubs...and some of these are the clubs experiencing the most growth...are in many aspects "non-traditional." Is this an indication of the future for collecting clubs? Will some of them transition into more traditional club models? Can traditional clubs learn something from some of these newer efforts which can make them stronger in relating to the collecting area they serve?

A Program Advisory Group is developing this program area and will continue to monitor, add to, and refine the information on an ongoing basis. Discussion Forums are available for collectors to gain more specific information from a variety of forum participants. A listing of Resources for this Program Area is provided, as well as a Reference Archive.