My article from September 1, 2007! Quite a reaction back then!

NAME CHANGE!!??

To the members of the: The Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, Inc., the CC>CC, perhaps the time has come!

I believe, based upon a warning fairly received that what I write will open up a can of worms; that I might be accused of disloyalty to the American way of life, that I might be accused of hating mom, that I might be accused of disliking apple pie!

So here goes:

I feel it is time to reconsider an issue that has received little support in the past. Don’t know why!! I feel we should reasonably, rationally and slowly consider changing the name of our club!

THERE I SAID IT!

Here’s what I believe is the reasons:

1. We have in the title of our club two words: GAMING TOKENS which are now almost universally no longer being manufactured and for which the identification with them could be construed as being archaic and behind the times! To those who still collect them, Chris and I included, no disrespect is intended! Tokens are still a valuable collectable!

But we are too closely identified by them in our club’s name!

2. We are too hard to pronounce: YES, I know that doesn’t seem like a good reason but once again after hearing Jerry Birl’s wonderful tribute to Bob Mera at the 2007 banquet and hearing Jerry repeat the CC>CC name for the 10th time when even Jerry got to pronouncing it as: CCCGTTCCGTCC! It is too long and cumbersome! Look at the clubs that exist today and, YES, I know the American Numismatic Association is a mouthful but when was the last time it wasn’t referred to as the: ANA! Even the Butter Pat Society has a smoother, more pronounceable and more endearing name than we do!

3. I believe at the installation of our new officers Mr. Wayne Thompson, President, indicated that our membership, despite going from 5087 when Chris and I joined some 6-7 years ago to 7800 (apprx) still has only about 2900 members. He said that membership is a priority for him. YES, I know there are members for whom this slow pace of our growth, VEEEEEERY SLOOOOW, is just fine for them but for many of use we need to see far in the future and see new and YOUNGER members! The demographics of the gaming industry point to a population that is increasingly willing to gamble, why aren’t they fighting each other to join? They have or at least think they have the disposable income to gamble, surely they have $30.00 to join a club that specialize in the collectability of gambling memorabilia.!

Therefore, I propose changing the name of our club to:

The Casino Collectables Club, Inc.

THE CCC!

C (cubed)

There I said it!

Sheldon Smith, LM-5087-83