The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (RPSC) social media committee is rolling out its initial strategy, which it describes as “a holistic approach to explore all media with the goal of aligning each medium with our strategic direction.”
Like other philatelic societies, The RPSC has used extensive effort in recent years to promote philately to younger generations.
“Is this the right demographic to target to increase our membership? Surely, because many adult returnees indicate they collected when they were young, it is necessary to ‘plant the seed of philately’ in young minds; however, one can easily conclude this effort will not yield immediate or actionable results,” said committee chair Sam Chiu, a Fellow of The RPSC, who added it’s “highly questionable how successful we can claim to be using this strategy to increase membership.”
The committee’s strategy will aim for measurable and actionable results to determine if its actions can be deemed successes, Chiu said.
In addition to the ongoing redesign of The RPSC website (rpsc.org), the society has also launched a Facebook page (facebook.com/Royal.Philatelic.Society.Canada) and is discussing the feasibility of using other social media, including Twitter and Instagram.
In regards to the strategy’s target audience, it has been suggested the committee support, facilitate and attract adult returnees to the hobby. Click here to continue reading.
“The reasons for not supporting a broad base of youth activities is ever expanding. This is not to say that we should not seize the opportunity to mentor the occasional exceptional youth as the opportunity presents itself,” said long-time philatelist and active member of the West Toronto Stamp Club Garfield Portch. “In order to ensure survival, we must attempt to recruit a different demographic. Our efforts should be concentrated on the folks in the 40 to 50 year age group. These people have (generally) matured, have their careers, have their families and their homes. They also have some disposable income available for entertainment or a hobby. What they need is a distraction from the stresses of life.”
RPSC President Ed Kroft said the “key is making philately relevant in the 21st century,” adding the best avenues for this approach are postal history and thematic and topical collecting.
“The reason I have been beating the drum on investing in technology is because we heavily emphasize and rely on the wrong platforms (shows, clubs and meetings – physical and face-to-face) to promote the organization.”
In addition to Chiu, the members of the social media committee include:
- Hugo Deshaye;
- Robert Lunn;
- Leon Matthys;
- Robert Pinet;
- Jesse Robitaille;
- Robert Timberg; and
- Mike Walsh.