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Dave HornishI am actually going through something very similar to this with my professional association at the moment. By way of background, I am (and I am not making this up) an average adjuster by trade, which means I have training and expertise to adjust hull and machinery claims on cargo and passenger vessels (average means "loss" in our parlance). Our core professional association is about 130 years old but we have associate members who are marine insurance brokers (a group I also belong to), underwriters, lawyers and other "interested people". For 115 years things ran pretty smooth from what I have seen but we have been trying for the last fifteen years to reorganize our association to be more inclusive to the associate members and it is not working out very well, primarily because each group is trying to inject too much into their argument.
I think when you talk about a collectors association, you are really talking about a setting a collective, definable, mimimum standard for ethical behavior. It seems you could have say three or four categories of collectors (probably by era, such as pre-war, post war, post 1980, etc., however seems appropriate), a group of grading co. reps, dealers and auctioneers and possibly publishers and webmasters or maybe even boards such as this represented and come up with a basic definition for conduct and deportment. The big problem I saw when the NSCCA collectors association (or whatever it was called when forming in the 80's) is that it was too ambitious.
If you could name a short set of goals, such a what an acceptable card alteration is, what an honest auction listing should include, perhaps a method of dispute resolution, some guidelines for communication and a few other things it could work and be built upon. If it turns into collectors vs. graders or the like it is certainly doomed. We already have a group or association of collectors on this board from what I see, albeit in a loose sense.
You would probably start with an exploratory committee and need a chairperson, then form an executive committee with secretary and treasurer, add an implementation committee or membership committee, plus start a by-laws committee. A press officer would be a good idea too if that function is not handled by the secretary. Each committee should have representative membership from each group and you need a process to nominate people for the committees. Each committee should have a way to break ties, either through odd-numbered membership or procedure. I would charge minimal dues ($5 or $10) to keep out the trolls but free membership could work too with proper screening. If that can be pulled off (you probably need 18-20 good people eventually, serving staggered terms so there is continuity))then you will have something.
Just my two cents and I am sure there are numerous views on setup and what groups to include. I belong to three different professional associations and have served on all the committees of my own twice and all are run this way. The difference maker is that the best have forceful people at the top that are willing to listen but are also decisive. Otherwise, nothing is accomplished.
Food for thought....
Dave