Over a year ago, I donated 5,000+ stamps to the Boston 2026 World Expo, the global decennial stamp show. Organizers hoped to gather as many as they could, eventually 2,000,000+ for distribution to youth and beginners. I've been catching up on several YouTube videos taken at the show and I have a few impressions:
- the venue is huge and maybe too huge!
- the overall colour scheme is...grey!
- exhibitors were given white booths with glass display cases
- the USPS had a huge auditorium where several new releases by Faroes Islands, Fiji, US etc. were revealed. Their merch area seemed to do a good amount of business.
- the display frames area was almost uninhabited with wicked glare off the glass. Perhaps the judges had a field day there, but regular folks seemed to be avoiding the area. I've written about this phenomenon before.
- every so often, an important looking person in a blazer would walk briskly by the videographer, clipboard in hand!
There was discussion in the videos about which [high-end] dealers were participating vs. local dealers. Prior to the show, there were certain political considerations affecting attendees, dealers and even club presidents due to the host country.
The brightest point for me was the [adult] beginners area. There, one of the glass display cases was filled with stamps, while beginners were encouraged to fill an envelope with the stamps arrayed on top of the case (video capture - top photo). Fun!
