KENDALL BAILEY'S ANA INTERVENTION

I meant that, what I just wrote above, calling you dear. You are dear to a great many collectors, myself included. For 125 years you have been the go to resource for numismatic information and education, not that I need to tell you. Lately though, there is a lot of talk about declining membership and your relevance in general. That's why I am writing this letter; I don't want to see you disappear. You are capable of so much and it hurts me to watch you dwindling away. In the past I had turned a blind eye to your suffering and said things like, "If the ANA is determined to kill itself, that's its business." No longer. You need an intervention.

Interventions are for addicts who are destroying themselves. In a way, that is the problem I see with you. You're addicted. You're addicted to old ideas. I see you trying to pull yourself back together, to modernize as best you can, and hopefully rescue yourself from oblivion. However, I do not see those efforts bearing fruit. I'm using the only measuring device I have at my disposal, my desire to become a member. The next thing I say is going to be harsh, so I wanted to warn you ahead of time, and to reiterate that, as with all intervention letters, it comes from a place of love.

I do not want to be a member of the ANA. Your organization is a relic of yesterday's numismatics and, even though you are making an effort to incorporate technology into what you do, it is obvious your thinking hasn't changed. You're acting as if it is still 2000. Collectors my age (I'm 34) have a few expectations on which you do not deliver.

1. We expect free information. Look at Wikipedia. It is easily one of the most visited sites and that is because they bring the free info. It seems most of your information is under lock and key, only available for a fee. I'm not willing to pay for answers to my occasional questions. So, when I need a numismatic answer, I ignore money.org and Google it.

2. We expect an answer when we ask a question or some kind of response when we make a statement. I see your posts on Facebook and Twitter, I sometimes comment and never hear anything back. It makes me think, "Why should I bother?"

3. We love real people. Right now, I don't see you as a real person, or a collection of real people. Intellectually I know you are, that there are employees doing their jobs every single workday, but I don't feel a human vibe from you at all. It's like you are a government agency. It's a real turn off.

4. We like to share what we know. Another reason Wikipedia kills it in the information area is because users can modify the entries. Reddit is another example of information sharing done right. Users are able to share articles and get instant feedback from all sorts of people. It's interactive and we love that. I don't get that kind of interactivity at money.org, so I go where I can.

Those are four behavior driven reasons why I am not interested in becoming a member. Here is how you could win me over.

Stop treating your social media accounts like they're a billboard. Social media is supposed to be social. Comment on things, have an opinion, take a side. Don't be an unfeeling corporate-esque impartial robot. I'm not saying get into arguments with people, but having an opinion is okay. My generation respects it, even if we disagree.

Get more free information on your website. There is no reason why money.org can't be the best free online numismatic encyclopedia, and making it member driven would be amazing. Think of the wealth of knowledge (bringing a sharp upswing in web traffic) that could rapidly accumulate if members contributed material. Keep it members only, as far as contributions go, no one would fault you for that. Also, make all the entries in the public domain, don't claim a copyright to any of it. You're not going to make money off the free encyclopedia, so why bother claiming a copyright? The information on your site will be cited much more often if people don't have to worry about violating a copyright.

Another way to get me on board, change your billing options. I'm much more comfortable paying $3.99 per month (Netflix style billing) than $46 per year. I realize the $3.99 is more money annually, but I don't care. $3.99 feels like a pittance while $46 is a nice condition Walking Liberty Half that I can't buy.

Please understand, I want you to get to your 250 year anniversary and am not sure you will without altering your approach to fit with what younger collectors expect. I hope my candid approach wasn't too offputting. I think it is better to be upfront and honest rather than dancing around difficult subjects.

Kendall's no spring chicken at 34, but he's much younger than many of us and his position reflects that of today's younger collectors. I'm 58, having been born in 1958, a time when I regret ever telling my kids that "there were only 48 States in the Union..." But despite my age, E-Sylum readers know I'm all about moving forward and making as much numismatic information as possible social, connected, and free.

That's what The E-Sylum has been from day one. Free to all, and as I noted last week, it's not a book or magazine but a conversation. It's about hearing from and connecting people. As editor I respect and present submitter opinions objectively, but I'm not afraid to have and publish opinions of my own.

Now today, our weeklong gestation period is sooo 1997. But I still think it's useful, enabling similar responses to be collected together where they make sense, and inserting at least some minimal editorial judgment to keep the conversation civil. All it takes is one person who doesn't respect differing opinions to send the party into the sewer.

But Kendall's points are well taken. My advice has been that a web site and social media features cannot be just add-ons for the organization like the ANA. They must be at the HEART of the organization and used daily or even hourly by officers, staffers, and members alike. -Editor

To read Kendall's complete blog article, see:
An Intervention Letter to the ANA (www.thecoinblog.net/2017/01/an-intervention-letter-to-ana.html)

KENDALL BAILEY'S ANA INTERVENTION

THE BOOK BAZARRE