I'm a year and a half into collecting and just joined the National Club. I went to the convention last year as a newbie and really had a good time and also learned a lot. One thing that I found weird was that I always felt like I was the youngest person in the room. At 36 this was a little strange, never felt that way before. But I liked it. I kind of like that the hobby is not growing like fire because if it does Im going to pay more for chips. That issue is a catch 22. I want the chips that I buy to keep their value or go up but I also dont want them to go up so much that I cant afford to buy another denomination to complete a set. IMO the early collectors had it made and should appreciate that they had the chance to collect great chips at a very reasonable cost.

With any non for profit, with our club if the organization's mission is not vital to the community it serves, it will fail or need to be altered to fit. It seems to me that the main goal of the Club should be to promote the hobby and also be an advocate for the hobby. This hobby is still very young and defining itself, and I think it is very special at this stage. When it gets bigger it will change, and be very different than it feels like right now but it needs to grow to be healthy, it will also need to look into the future and embrace certain change. There will be a day when it is not as much a first name thing like it is now. The whole thing interests me and I am very curious as to how it will grow and change over time given the substantial growth since its official start not so long ago. My point is that I'm having a lot of fun enjoying the current environment and new friends through chipping, I'm willing to pick up where some people leave off and I'm hoping that someone will relieve me one day when it's my turn to refocus my energy. The big issue for me is how do I get friends to join and be as enthused as I am... I'm still working on that.
Westen