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November 7, 2007
ATA CREATING TOPICAL CDs
Remember the days when stamp club meeting often incorporated a slide show in which a slide
projector, a screen and a script read by a club member using a flashlight were an occasional
staple program? When was the last time that your club presented a slide show?
Times have changed and slide shows are joining the ranks of 8mm movies as a part of history.
If you attend a professional meeting today you will find that PowerPoint and CD presentations
shown either by projectors or on TV screens have all but eliminated that old technology.
Problems with slide shows were many: only one set of each available and therefore there might
be a waiting list; a show could not be sold; shows could not be sent overseas for fear of loss;
packing and returning slide shows was time consuming and added an additional cost.
Over the past several years very few slide shows have been borrowed from the American Topical
Association's library. As a result the ATA started a program last year in which ATA members
Dennis Dengel, Harvey Edwards and his wife have now recorded 18 CD presentations with voice-overs
for use by both individuals and stamp clubs. Of these, fourteen have been copied from existing
ATA slide shows and four are shows created by South African Thematics with ATA traded shows sent
to them in return. The South African show titles created to date are Endangered Species of the
World, Doctor's Who Were First, Amsterdam on Stamps and Red Cross on Stamps. Others will follow.
The ATA created programs now include stamp shows on Americana, Art, Flowers I and Flowers 2,
Butterflies, Lions International, Olympics, Pyramids, Ships, Orchestration, Trains, Watercraft
and Worldwide Railroads. Other shows are in process of being created.
With the CD technology, ATA shows can now either be rented for $5, postpaid, or bought for individual
or club libraries for $10. Clubs can buy these and loan them to members. The CDs can also be sent
overseas without the high postage costs or fear of loss for only an additional $2 to cover postage.
Additionally, after being viewed, presentations can be donated to stamp clubs, schools, libraries,
hospitals, senior activity centers or elsewhere to entertain and inform others about topical stamp
collecting.
The ATA is also encouraging its members to create their own PowerPoint or CD presentations to share
their knowledge of specialized topical stamps with others.
These shows are available from the ATA, PO Box 57, Arlington, TX 76004-0057. For more information
contact the ATA at 817-274-1181 or at americantopical@msn.com.
For information on the world’s largest all-topical philatelic organization, contact the ATA
Central Office, P.O. Box 57, Arlington, Texas 76004-0057 (telephone: 1-817-274-1181; email
americantopical@msn.com; or visit their
website at
www.americantopicalassn.org.
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