We have made an enthousiastic beginning of 2012 with the completion of the invitations for PFEC 2012 in Porto. Members with email will receive a copy with the newsletter alert. It was hard work to finish it before the end of the month. PFEC promoters did not sit still and brought in 5 new members. One basic membership expired.

We welcome as a Premium member:

Vittorio Ferrara of Italy……Benvenuto

Vittorio had already renewed his Basic membership several times and decided to take life membership.

PFEC looks a lot better than it did a year ago. The general response is about 80%. To become a really stable exchange organization, we need another 100 members. Therefore keeping up your promotion activity is necessary, especially because a growing number of members have had exchanges with all other  members.

I dug up an application form from the days of Mary White. The back of the old form was filled with positive information about PFEC. I am consulting the PFEC Advisor group to find the best way of making good use of the space on the back of the forms.

What would you write if you wanted collectors to become interested in PFEC?

PFEC Promotion Competition
Gwen Pagonis took the lead of the new round right away with two new basic members, followed by Jiri Fochler, Wil Jansen and Daryle Branford with one. To give as many members as possible a sporting chance, I have distributed more blank application forms. Try sending them and do not forget to place your membership number in the recommender box. Keep up the good work.

Cover of the month January 2012
This month’s jury let me know it was a difficult choice from 20 good covers. It is a pleasure that so many members make the effort to liven up their exchange by sending material in a philatelic cover. Meelis Etti, Mauro Trevisiol and Robert Ashmead were the winners. The bonus listings are awarded to jury and winners.  The covers are on display on my Facebook page.

Stamps for requesting circuits
In general I am satisfied with the quality of stamps sent to me for new circuits. Over the last months I had some request that consisted of stamps from more than 10 countries. This is very inefficient. It is very time consuming for me to sort out the stamps and storing them by country.
The official rule is 25/50/80/100 stamps of your country for circuits depending on your membership status and method of dispatch. I ask for PFEC quality and I am sorry to say that I still get low value English Christmas stamps or worse.

We have rule 8 and I apply that by giving fair warning when I am not happy. I am aware that one does not always have good stamps of  the own country. A decent alternative has not been refused,. I am less particular than you think and I like older quality stamps just as well as recent stamps, as long as they are not common in the sense of rule 1-6.
A further advice  in interpreting the requesting rules is:
In case you are not sure what to send ……do send stamps from maximum 2 countries.

PFEC 2012
I have had my doubts about distributing the invitation in the newsalert, but decided to send it attached. This way every member knows personally that he or she is welcome.

PFEC 2013
The voting for 2013 was kicked off by one member, who brings three people and thus has 3 votes. Dublin is now in the lead. It is also possible to vote for Crete, Vienna and Gibraltar. The top 2 go to the annual meeting in Porto, where members present decide the winner and also vote on the preferred period to meet in 2013.

Next dispatch of circuits
For the dispatch I use city stamps Mooi Nederland and the new stamps from the “official” issue programme of PostNL. For details see the January newsletter.

Best wishes,  Pierre

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!!! As in the general economy, the signs are not good for philately, but we in PFEC are going to make the best of it. Most important is that we communicate, share new ideas and enjoy friendly philately. Keep on promoting PFEC! It is your own contact that you bring in, but a new contact for many.

On the membership front, the year ended quietly with one new member and no expirations.

PFEC Promotion Competition

As could be expected Gwen Pagonis won by a large lead. Many congratulations, to you Gwen.

The question of who was going to claim third and second prize was interesting until the last day. The very last batch of letters from the PO Box brought the answer. Jiri Fochler moved up from joint third into joint second place with Wil Jansen. Congratulations, Wil and Jiri,; your prize will be in the post some time in January.

Cover of the month December 2011
Today, you can blame me for making the selection. The covers that I liked best this month were from Heinz Grillmeier, Sami Kullay and Sergio Bernardi. The covers are on display on my Facebook page.

If you feel like proposing any cover for cover of the year, feel free to indicate that on Facebook. In order not to overcrowd the album, I am going to remove the oldest pictures, less the ones you wish to keep.

PFEC 2012
We had some bad times and some good times in composing another great philatelic holiday for you.

Our supplier of the last two years, De Duinen Herentals, Belgium completely let us down this time. The new management was exceptionally rude and we do not wish to do business with such people.

In contrast to that we have a very professional new agency in Cologne. Our contacts have worked very hard and enthousiatically to help us with a very nice programme. Those of you who have indicated so will receive the full programme either via email or via the post.

Next dispatch of circuits

The “official” issue programme of PostNL is as follows:

There is no guarantee on the issue programme as it is subject to many unannounced alterations by PostNL that started the year with other unpleasant surprises to philatelists and ordinary customers, such as an 8% tariff increase and suspending Monday delivery.

Nevertheless let’s keep up optimism and enjoy your exchanges in 2012.

Best wishes, Pierre

Member question
Q. Member X did not answer my letter. Can I have a new address?
A. No. A loss of a letter is one of the hazards of taking part in the exchange game. Therefore, claims of lost letters are not compensated by PFEC in any way.
It is unfortunate that members do not answer and it is very important to report this in time, which is after 3 months at the last. Reports of non-response are gratefully received and taken seriously. Actions are taken towards the non-responder. Premium members will be assisted in getting in touch with the non-responder, often with positive results.
There can be many causes of non-response. The most common is, unfortunately malfunctioning of the postal services. I had a few glitches myself. In July, a whole batch of my special covers disappeared. It can be that the member in question is ill. Good members often let me know, so I can reassure the member who complains about the reason. In rare cases, there is a fraudulent purpose. When one works in good faith, it is not always possible to discover this quickly. One of the indications is when such a member claims to have an email address that either bounces or does not react to the test email that I always send. After some bad experiences, I am seriously reducing the number of listings for such members.

Regional meeting in Cologne
The venue in Cologne was one of the pleasant occasions that we so often experience in PFEC circles. The hotel was fine, the food in general and especially at the PFEC dinner was great and the company of members and family was excellent. We exchanged excellent stamps in the tombola. The weather helped with the visits to the many Weihnachtsmarkte.
The preselection of cities eligible for PFEC 2013 yielded the following results:
  Dublin
  Vienna
  Gibraltar
  Crete
You can start voting from now until August 15th, 2012. Voting must be done by email or letter.
We mad a decision on how to proceed about the annual meeting in Porto. The dates and the hotel are fixed. Details on the excursions to be further agreed.

Cover of the month November 2011
The meeting selected covers from Gwen Pagonis, Jiri Vasek and Paul Hodosi as winners for cover of the month. They are on display on my Facebook page.

New postal rates in The Netherlands
The tariff for inland letters up to 20 grams  in The Netherlands goes from 46 cents to 50 cents.
The rate for 20 gram letters to Europe will go up to 85 cents.
The world rate remains the same at 95 cents. The new rates are printed on all circuits produced after December 1st, 2011. Please also take into account that the fee must consist of PFEC quality stamps of your country. If you do not have sufficient of your country be frank about it and send an acceptable alternative. I will send members fair warning when I am not happy, but if they insist on sending me inadequate fees,  no reaction will be given until adequate quality is received.

The circuits due to be sent December will come to you in a special Christmas Cover. Post NL have issued some extra December stamps at a price in excess of postal value, but without indication who is benefiting from the extra money paid.

Best wishes, Pierre

PS. The weblog was viewed 130 times on Saturday, November 19th, most likely by people, who were “googling” my name or PFEC during the TV programme in which one had to guess who out of 3 people was the real PFEC director. Here is the link to the broadcast. The programme is in Dutch. PFEC is in the second half. Do not be discouraged by the initial commercial. These things are sent to try us.

Andrew was one of the most enthousiastic  PFEC members. He won the PFEC Promotion Competition twice in a row and this year, he was firmly in second position. It was only a few days ago that a new member came in recommended by Andrew.

A great wish of Andrew was fulfilled in May 2011, when he joined his friends at the annual meeting in Croatia and he came along on excursions to Montenegro and to the Elaphite Islands.

Personally, I had my first contact with Andrew via PFEC exchange. I sent him one of my personalized first day covers and he reciprocated with a complimenting letter with fine stamps and with a wonderful personalized first day cover made in 1964 by his employer in the United States. It is still one of the most precious items in my collection.

Andrew always contributed to the tombola at the annual meeting, even when he could not be there. His contributions were among the best. I was lucky to win the one in Dubrovnik.

We  will miss Andrew’s friendship and enthousiasm. May he rest in peace.

Dear Friends,

Fifteen minutes of fame for PFEC on November 12^th, 19:25, Nederland 1. Watch and enjoy…..

By the end of October, already 30 requests for new circuits were in from premium members only. So there is a busy month ahead. The designs for both the Children Welfare issue and the Christmas issue are ready, the latter thanks to Mrs. Irene Mertens, a Belgian artist, who also kindly helped me last year with the design.

In October, one collector joined the ranks of Premium members

Welcome
Neil West of USA

Two Basic subscriptions expired. Just as William Rideout and Jiri Fochler joined third position, Wil Jansen jumped ahead on the last day of the month as single runner-upper with 4 points. In all seven new Basic members joined PFEC

Because of the widespread enthousiasm for finding new members, I have decided also to award a second and a third prize.

Remember: New Premium members count treble. One point for the basic entry and two for the upgrade. So many of you have a chance still to win a prize. The contest closes on December 24^th.

Cover of the month October 2011

A long time PFEC member from Greece relieved me of the difficult task to judge the covers. Feng Jun Ping, Ariel Friedman and Christian Derrier emerged as winners. Keep up the good work It is such a pleasure to find a nice cover in your letterbox. Any member may enter a cover. When you send it to me to be judged, let me know if you want it back. At the moment, I do not store the covers and take off the stamps for my collection, after I havemade an image to be saved in my computer. If you like to have one of these covers, you must see to it that I get the message before the end of the month of the newsletter.

Regional meeting in Cologne
In Cologne we will have a discussion on the fine offers that we received from various travel agencies. For our annual meeting in Porto. This means that the invitations will be sent in December.

There is a tombola. Make sure your contribution reaches me on time, before November 15^th.

The cover of the month November will be selected at this meeting. Send your contribution to me or to one of the participants who will bring it along.

Last but not least, a preselection of four cities will be chosen for the annual meeting of 2013 for all to vote on.

New postal rates in The Netherlands
PostNL has seen it fit to raise the tariff for inland letters up to 20 grams to 50 cents.
The rate for 20 gram letters to Europe will go up to 85 cents.

The world rate remains the same at 95 cents. It is unbelievable that you can bridge the gap between Amsterdam-Antwerp and Amsterdam Tokyo with just 10 cents.

Next dispatch of circuits

The circuits due to be sent December will come in a special Personalized City Cover.

Best wishes,  Pierre

Also, your PFEC director has appeared in a TV recording, that will be broadcasted some time in November. The object of the game is for 4 Dutch celebrities to ask questions to 3 persons claiming to be the PFEC director and pick out the right one. It was great fun to take part in such a game.

In September, one collector joined the ranks of Premium members.

Bienvenue
Patrick Bour of France

Seven new Basic members joined PFEC. Two Basic subscriptions expired. Below is the ranking table of the PFEC Promotion Competition.

Do not be discouraged by the firm lead created by Gwen.

Remember: New  Premium members count treble. One for the basic entry and two for the upgrade.

Protecting your (mint) stamps

There are polythene bags that weigh very little. If you are not sure how waterproof the road is to the addressee, do use them. It saves disappointments.

Cover of the month September 2011

September was an exceptional month for good covers. There were 24 that qualified for cover of the month. This time a long time PFEC  member from Belgium took upon him the task to select the best 3 out of 15 remaining covers.

He selected covers sent by Lorenzo Menin, Tryggve Johansen and Shawn Davies, all Basic members and  senders of fine material.

Regional meeting in Cologne

The guaranteed availability of rooms in the chosen hotel in Cologne at our special price is now closed. You are still very welcome, but the price will depend on the availability of rooms.

Next dispatch of circuits

Requests theat need a quicker attention will be sent in a special Personalized City Cover.

Best wishes,  Pierre

Two new Basic members joined PFEC. In the PFEC Promotion Competition, Jiri Fochler gained another point. Daniel Remy joined the competition with one point. One Basic member’s subscription expired. On the positive side: many of the new Basic members have renewed, some to the maximum period of 3 years.

Writing comments on circuits

In accordance with our circuit’s name we try to exchange in a friendly manner. For that, we have our rule 8. BE KIND TO EACHOTHER. It is kind to note that the exchange was an excellent one. It encourages people to make the extra effort.

Not so pleasant is reflecting any frustration about exchanges gone wrong by writing on the circuit for other members to see. Remember this does not only say something about the member who might have done his best to send as good as he could, but also about YOU.
Nobody can check if the stamps that you sent yourself were that brilliant.

Feel free to communicate any negative feedback about your exchanges to me in a separate note or email or whatever, but NOT ON THE CIRCUITS. For premium members, there is a formal mediation service. Use it, if you cannot work things out with the member in question.

I am also happy, and of course happier, when you let me know how much you enjoyed your exchanges with a specific member.

Cover of the month August 2011

This month, I received many fine covers, that qualified for cover of the month. I took 15 of them with me on a short brake in Cyprus and decided to visit the Post Museum in Nicosia. The manager, Mr. Ploutis Louiziou, kindly consented to make this months selection. The covers made by Simon Pravdic, Isabel Jorge-Friedrich and John Hopwood came top in his selection. The covers are on display on Facebook in the cover of the month album.

Regional meeting in Cologne

The guaranteed availability of rooms in the chosen hotel in Cologne at our special price is now closed. You are still very welcome, but the price will depend on the availability of rooms.

Next dispatch of circuits

You may notice that in the table it says no longer Circuits sent on, but Circuits sent from. On August 22^nd,  I went to several Post Offices to buy the Heemschut stamps on the first day, but no luck.
My daughter had the same experience on September 1^st, when the new definitives were issued. Sorry for those members whose circuits have been delayed by this latest ploy of Postnl. It is now clear that new Dutch stamps are no longer available many Post Offices, or whatever has come in its place. They can be ordered from internet, but they come when Postnl feel like it, which is
not the first day. It seems that Postnl is only out to protect their First Day Covers and preventing people to make their own FDC’s.

In my opinion, the Postnl FDC’s are nothing better than CTO’s.

These covers come many days after the first day and the only thing you can do with it is shove them up your album (or is it IN your album? Difficult those English prepositions). A lot of the fun of having the Postnl covers disappeared in 1997 when we could no longer get our letters cancelled on the first day with the nice PTT cancel. I have kept them on for 15 years to make sure I had a cancelled version of all the new stamps by the official post, now Postnl. Since a few years this has also become pointless as Postnl issues so many unofficial stamps. You often stumble over stamps on internet by Postnl, that are available at face value, but not listed as official and thusnot included in the official FDC series and therefore not blessed with an official
cancel. So my subscription to Postnl FDC’s will end at the beginning of 2012.

Best wishes,

Pierre

In July, one collector joined the ranks of Premium members.

Bienvenue
Christian Derrier of France

In the PFEC Promotion Competition, Wil Jansen gained another point. Vittorio Ferrara joined the competition with one point Two other collectors joined PFEC directly as a Basic member.

Member questions
Q: What do I need to send in money if I wish to refund the postage and get a discount on the number of stamps that I send.

A: The refund is for postage from Holland to you. In 2011, it is 95 eurocents for members overseas and 79 cents for members in Europe. If you wish to make an alternative arrangement, feel free to ask. For instance, US dollars are acceptable.

Used stamps not accepted for postage
In many communications, I have mentioned that I do not accept used  uncancelled stamps for postage. Of course, if this is an honest error, I shall not ignore your letter. Please remember that a postman does not have a tremendous salary. You would not like to do your work for half the price or get copied money for pension.

Cover of the month July 2011
This month I received many fine covers, that qualified for cover of the month. Rosemary and I travelled to London to show the covers to a special jury member who happened to celebrate his birthday with a great party, and he selected Dan Lazorovici, Sergio Bernardi and Farouk Barbari as winners.

Regional meeting in November
The members who showed interest in a regional meeting chose unanimously for Cologne as meeting place. Rosemary and I have found a fine hotel. The final invitations will be sent early August. We have already 18 confirmed participants.

Next dispatch of circuits

 Best wishes,  Pierre

In June, four collectors joined the ranks of Basic members. In the PFEC Promotion Competition, Andrew Anderson and Gwen Pagonis gained more points. Wil Jansen went into second runner-up place and Rosemarie Bourlier came in new in the competition.

In memoriam Maurice Dardaine

On March 28^th, our good friend Maurice Dardaine passed away. He was one of the frequent circuits senders, who make PFEC the successful circuit that it is today. Maurice’s daughter kindly sent me the remaining correspondence and I shall make sure that the members involved will get their stamps returned to them.

Cover of the month June 2011

This month I received many fine covers, that qualified for cover of the month. Matthew Cassetta acted as judge and  he picked 3 fine covers from the 14 scans that I sent to him. The winners were: Heinrich Zweifel, Ivan Rogin and last but not least Reno Sciberras, who sent a good quality cover  to Maurice Dardaine, that sadly came too late for him to enjoy. Both the winners and Matthew have receive their extra listings. If you wish to have the chance of winning an extra listing, feel free to send your cover of the month to me and if you like to pick the winners let me know.

Regional meeting in November

The members who showed interest in a regional meeting chose unanimously for Cologne as meeting place. Rosemary and I are now in the process of finding a hotel, that has the comfort and dining facilities matching the quality we enjoyed last year at Hotel BelleVue in Vianden, the meeting place of PFEC 2009. When we have found the hotel, we shall send the invitation and the programme to the members that have indicated interest.

Next dispatch of circuits

Best wishes,  Pierre

In May, four new collectors joined the ranks of Basic members. In the PFEC Promotion Competition, Andrew Anderson closed in as first runner up to Gwen Pagonis. Kris Trebacz, left the pack of followers and settled in second runner-up place.

Member questions

Q. Can you deselect or select members from certain countries for me?

A. Already members are divided into Premium and Basic.
Discrimination on countries or specific people is against the principles of PFEC and, frankly, too time consuming to administrate.  If you have a bad experience with someone,
skip that partner next time, or better sort it out with him or her. Others may not have that same experience. Use the checklist for feedback. If I receive too much bad feedback on one member, adequate measures are taken. Every member gets a chance to exchange with every other member.

Cover of the month May 2011

This month I received many fine covers suitable for cover of the month. The winners were: Isabel Jorge-Friedrich, Simon Hall and José Mauro Caldeira Reis. The covers are on display on Facebook.

PFEC 2011

We introduced several novelties at the annual meeting.
For the first time we were successful to connect a beamer to the computer and display items. The ballot for the location remained a secret one for members present only, but we had an open ballot for the period, in which also the votes cast in the primaries by members not present did count.

We moved the meeting to the afternoon, which felt much better than meeting after an already copious dinner. The tombola system was efficiently assisted by Mia Hartman and Kathy Taphouse, although I must admit that we all forgot about the extra prizes from the happy-go-lucky tombola.

We decided to meet again in November. Possible locations are Vianden, Cologne and Rotterdam. As soon as I have cost indications from the hotels, information will be sent via email and snail mail.

We also decided on a small reduction of fee for Premium members.

PFEC 2012

The election of Porto was a landslide win. The 13-14 backlog of Innsbruck from the primaries was transformed into a 24-1 victory for Porto. It must have been the Mediterranean influence of Dubrovnik that caused the swing. The result of the period is September, but it was a close finish with the first two weeks of June.

Next dispatch of circuits

Best wishes,
Pierre