It's Not All About Buttons II

Right now many of us are putting together trays of buttons to take to Portland next month for display or competition.  Jerry DeHay shared the following story that reaffirms the fact that button collecting isn’t just about the buttons.

Jerry tells of a member of a local club who was stricken with a very aggressive cancer of the brain and died in a matter of weeks.  However, her incredibly positive and happy attitude during the ordeal inspired the club to do something that exemplifies what we appreciate and enjoy most about NBS - the wonderful friends we come to love.

Two members of the club learned from the woman’s daughter that she had been working on a tray right up to the time she was hospitalized and was really looking forward to entering state competition for the first time (she had not been collecting for many years).  They got together with the daughter and, using the buttons the woman had selected along with a few others, they completed the tray and entered it for her under her name.   You guess it – it won first place!
They managed to deliver the tray with the ribbon on it to the daughter who took it to the hospital and held it in front of her mom and told her she’d won.  Although having been mostly unconscious, she opened her eyes, looked at the tray and said “how did they do that?!” She smiled, closed her eyes and died only a couple of hours later.  Her daughter attended the next button club meeting to thank everyone for their prayers and support and especially for giving her mom a very special last moment of joy with her buttons.

When I was much younger, I couldn’t help noticing how many old people there were at button shows.  It made me think there must be something about collecting buttons that made people live a very long time.  After awhile I came to realize friendships are as important as the buttons themselves and people belong to clubs and travel to shows as much to see each other as to see buttons.  In spite of the convenience of instant communication, there’s still nothing better than a hug from a button friend.  It’s my hope, if you don’t already belong, you will seek out (or form) a local button club and become involved not only there but at the state and national level, also.  The rewards are lifelong.  Remember, NBS is celebrating 75 years of friendship next year.

This will be my last post before I retire as NBS President.  The Board is meeting the challenge concerning membership benefits and retention head-on.  As long as there are bonds of friendship along with the continued willingness of members to devote time and talents to strengthen the Society, NBS will flourish at least another 75 years.

A Couple of Notes

It won't be long until the National Button Society Convention in Portland, OR.  The show is from August 4-11 at the Red Lion Inn, Jantzen Beach.  Public is welcome August 9-11.  For more information, go to nationalbuttonsociety.org.   Along with many thousands of buttons to buy and admire, there will be opportunities to buy button related goodies at the Marketplace.  Our local club  got together to make cards and button jewelry to donate.

Here we are making cards.

From left to right:  Simone Kincaid, Shirley Stoller, Anne Geaudreau, Marian Schenkenberger, Joann Carlson, Linda Hudec and Alice Adams

Some examples.

As some of you may know, the NBS archive was given to Ohio State University in 1991 by then Historian, Ann Rudolf.  She also bequeathed them her personal button collection and books.  Several NBS members, including our present Historian Marilyn Regrut, went to OSU and, over the course of three years, helped catalog Ann's collection.  Here is a link to a video showing the result of their labor:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUodP2ikCRI

IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT BUTTONS

Practically every time I mention my hobby to a group of strangers they share stories of past experiences and enjoyable memories of time spent playing with Mom’s or Grandma’s old buttons.  If there’s a state button show coming up in our area I encourage them to attend or invite them to come to a local club meeting.  Membership in a club not only introduces potential collectors to mentors who pass along their knowledge of buttons but also to a whole group of friends with a common interest.   Many times the friendships mean more than the buttons in the long run.

Jerry DeHay just shared some great news from Texas. Several years ago, while he was president of the TX State Button Society, they held a one day “Button Collecting Event” in Waco and widely publicized it in a 5 county area. Although attendance was lower than they’d hoped, a seed was planted and recently a new club of ten members was founded in Waco!  One of their members has been collecting for years but didn’t know anyone else did until she went to the event.  How many others like her are right under our noses?  Jerry plans to attend their next meeting to welcome them and share with them the benefits of belonging to NBS.  Attracting, and keeping, members at the local, state, regional and national levels are key to our future.

The National Button Society is somewhat unique among other national organizations in that our membership is voluntary.   In many other groups, membership at the national level is required before one may belong to a local club.  I’ve been giving this some thought lately since the NBS Board is taking a hard look at our member benefits and how to improve our member retention.  There are “core” NBS members who attend every convention and serve the organization loyally and untiringly in many capacities.  There are those who support the organization financially and  intellectually by doing research and writing articles for the Bulletin.  Still others work behind the scenes to keep the organization running.  Many times these volunteers are stretched to the limit because they’re not only involved at the national level, but at the regional, state and local levels as well.  They’re the bridge connecting local members to NBS.   Membership chair, Susan Porter, encourages all state societies to belong to NBS.  The main goal here is mutual support.   Susan is now publishing the names and contact information of all new NBS members so state and local clubs can invite them to their meetings.  Belonging to a local or online group helps increase interest and  retain members at all levels.  On the other side of the coin, all members of local clubs should be encouraged to join NBS.   One level should never be considered an alternative.  It will take mutual cooperation and support to ensure our future.

NBS MEMBER BENEFITS

How do we attract and retain members?  What do we offer members they can’t get elsewhere?  What impact is the seemingly unlimited access to information online having on membership in organizations such as ours?  The NBS Board has been giving these questions considerable thought.  When members are asked the one benefit they value most, the resounding answer is The Bulletin.  After that comes worldwide camaraderie with people with the love of buttons in common. And, of course, button education is high on the list.  We love to share our knowledge and enthusiasm for our hobby.

In recent years we’ve seen a steady decline in membership, some from natural attrition but a majority from those who drop out after a year or two.   Are we not giving them the personal attention they desire?  Are they not finding state and local clubs?  Are we not providing the information they need?

Due to finances, several years ago the Board decided to get out of the handbook publishing business.  It was difficult to find members willing to update them, it was expensive not only to print but also to store and mail them.  The decision was made to publish future revisions as articles in Bulletins.  The challenge, still, is finding volunteers to do the updating.

We’re working to develop programs and policies to protect and ensure the future of the organization.  It’s our goal to share information with potential collectors while holding onto enough of our intellectual property to provide incentive to join the society.   It is felt a “members only” section of the website is the first step and we’ve begun to pursue that.

The challenge still remains to find ways of including our members without internet access while increasing online benefits for the rest.

Button Display at San Diego International Airport

If you’re flying in or out of the San Diego International Airport between now and the end of July, even if you miss your flight, be sure not to miss the San Diego Button Club’s outstanding display in the Commuter Terminal.  The following photos are courtesy of Susan Porter.

The title of the display is The Art of the Button and shows buttons and related items in the following categories:

Case 1 - The Americas and Western Europe

Case 2 - Eastern Europe and Asia

Case 3 - Victorian and Art Nouveau Periods

Case 4 - Arts & Crafts and Art Deco Periods

Poster and Card Rack

Rosemary Ward and Judy Edelblute preparing the Exhibit

There will be photos on the airport website at:
http://www.art.san.org/default.aspx

Learn more on the San Diego Button Club website:  www.sandynpat.com/SDButtonUpdate/index.htm
Contact:  SDBC President, Nancy Varah  vargo12@cox.net

NBS Blue Book

The NBS Classification System (Blue Book) will be sent with this February issue of the Bulletin and will not be published again for five years.  For those members who compete, it might be a good idea to order an extra copy or get the book bound.  For members who don’t compete and might be tempted to toss the Blue Book, I’d like to offer the following ten reasons to hold onto it.

Ten Reasons to Keep (and Read) your NBS Blue Book

1.  It provides structure for organizing your buttons (by age, use, surface design, material) and helps you categorize them so you can see gaps in your collection

2.  It may introduce you to types of buttons you didn’t know existed

3.  It helps you recognize, and refrain from buying, fakes and makeups

4.  It helps you stay up-to-date with newly discovered information

5.  It helps you raise questions and seek answers

6.  It provides a "big picture" of the variety of buttons available, so you can see what might appeal to you

7.  It defines (non-button) related items (buckles, netsuke, etc.)

8.  It provides information helpful in giving programs

9.  It provides guidelines for collectors who may want to exhibit or compete with their buttons

10.  It explains and defines commonly used button terms (the glossary) and helps you speak the lingo so you can communicate more easily with other collectors.

Thoughts on Competition and Blue Book

    The NBS convention has come and gone and the Board is back to monthly telephone conferences.
    One of our main goals is to study the results of the member surveys.  A general survey was sent out with the May Bulletin and a more specific one was given to convention attendees.  The Publicity Committee tallied every answer and noted every comment.  The next step is to analyze the information and do what we can to increase member satisfaction.
    Our publicity committee members are professional survey creators and analysts, so I have great confidence in their ability to translate data. 
    We received a number of comments concerning the Blue Book and competition.  Those who know my background know my chief interest and effort has been centered around classification, so those comments were of particular interest and concern to me.  Here are a few of my thoughts.
1.    Resistance to change is a normal human reaction, but change is inevitable.
2.    There are two basic types of button collectors - those who want details  and those who don’t care.
3.    In the old days, judging consisted of looking at the trays, mentally assessing and placing them.  There were no judging sheets.  The prettiest tray won.  The award criteria and definitions were published along with the awards list.
4.    The Blue Book evolved not only as new knowledge surfaced, but also as a result of disagreements among entrants and judges.   For example, moths were added to the butterflies class because judges were disqualifying trays having a moth on a tray for butterflies.  There’s a long list of classes that have been added, subtracted and revised in the attempt to clarify and simplify so entrants and judges who read the Blue Book have a better chance of consistent results.
5.    Interpretation is everything - but can be subjective.  Trying to make the Blue Book user friendly while closing loopholes is a never ending challenge.  Fashion designers simply didn’t design buttons with classification in mind.  For example, when is a metal button with glass embellishment classed as glass mounted in metal?  If the eye goes first to the metal design, it’s metal.  If the eye goes first to the glass, it’s glass mounted in metal.  If there’s doubt as to which is predominant, the button can be used in either place.  One person’s doubt can be another’s certainty.
6.    The Classification Chairperson receives numerous complaints and suggestions.  Since every change affects everyone, she must decide whether the complainer is representing the majority, or merely one person reacting to one bad experience.
7.    The Blue Book provides, in 80 pages, comprehensive information for organizing a button collection and is a valuable resource whether one enters competition or not.
     Plan now to go to Portland, OR, August 4-11.  Details are on the NBS website:  nationalbuttonsociety.org.
     Joan