Wednesday, April 27, 2016 started out like nearly every workday, except that a packed bag was stored on the back of my car. After working a little over half a day I ducked out early to head for Dulles airport. Destination: Chicago.

I'd been invited to participate in the Numismatic Editor's Forum at the Central States Numismatic Society show. I was looking forward to it. I never really set out to become an editor, I just fell into it as a part-time task when I started The E-Sylum. it was too much fun, so I just never quit.

After parking my car and shuttling to the terminal I found a Men's Room and entered a handicapped stall to change into some casual clothes. It had one of those automatic toilets, so every time I moved an elbow or knee the toilet flushed. When I emerged the room was deserted - they may have hightailed it, understandably thinking I was an Ebola victim fresh off a flight from Ghana.

My United flight was blissfully uneventful until our landing in Chicago. BAM! While we were all still digesting what we'd heard and felt, there was another BAM! It was our landing gear hitting hard. But all was well, thankfully.

I caught a cab to the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center hotel and checked into my room. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and my room was great. Laid out like a Grand Hyatt, the hotel had a huge central atrium.

After unpacking some things I went downstairs looking for some casual snack food in the bar. I quickly ran into Pete Smith, who was just finishing a meal. We then grabbed seats at the end of the bar to catch up.

I passed on the Fried Bologna sandwich, which sounded like a heart attack waiting to happen. I ordered the tacos, but I thought they tasted horrible. The bartender let me reorder, and I got a small pizza this time. Not so healthy either, but at least what I ate of it was tasty.

Topics with Pete included families and work, and Pete's newest project. He'd codenamed it project G.R.O.S.S., which stands for "Getting Rid of Some Stuff". God bless him. We collectors can accumulate inordinate amounts of stuff, especially bibliophiles. We talked about venues and strategies for selling and donating coins and numismatic literature.

I was nursing a single-malt scotch through all of this, and it was good. Usually the only drinks I have in the course of a month are some wine at our Nummis Nova social group dinners.

Eventually it was time to split up; I paid my tab and headed to my room, where I ironed a shirt and watched the Robert Redford baseball movie The Natural on TV. It was a nice evening away from working on The E-Sylum.

But I didn't slack off for long - I got up at 5:30 Thursday morning and worked on articles from Harvey Stack, Robert Hoge and others. I went downstairs for breakfast and ordered the buffet. it was a good choice. There was a great stock of fresh hot and cold food. I'm usually a cereal eater but I indulged with some good sausage, crisp bacon and delicious roasted potatoes. Cooked with onions and peppers, they were quite tasty, although I came to realize that they weren't potatoes so much as a butter delivery mechanism - not a good everyday choice. But this was one of the best hotel breakfasts I'd ever had.

Back up at my room I got back to work on The E-Sylum and also made a phone call to sort out a credit card matter for my wife. At 9:30 I showered and got dressed, and by 10 was heading over to the convention center side of the complex.

Editor's Forum

I quickly found the room where the Editors Forum would be held, and Beth Deisher was already there. We talked a while about our preparations and discussion topics, as well as the Newman Numismatic Portal. Steve Roach soon arrived and joined us.

I excused myself to go get a drink of water and soon ran into our fourth panelist, David Harper of Numismatic News, and led him back to the Forum room. Attendees were already getting seated, and David Lisot was setting up his video equipment.

While we were waiting to start I briefly spoke with Gerry Tebben, Bruce Perdue and David Lisot. After Gerry kicked things off Beth talked from a PowerPoint deck she'd prepared, giving some very good advice on understanding your audience, soliciting articles, and easy-to-use newsletter templates.

In my own opening remarks I emphasized that the Editor's task doesn't have to be a lonely one. I get by every day with a little help from my friends, and I gave this example. A couple weeks ago, I excerpted John Kraljevich's Introduction to the Stack's Bowers Pogue Four catalog, where he noted how useful the Newman Numismatic Portal was to his work as a cataloguer.

I remembered something pertinent that Joel Orosz once said to me about the Portal, and I dashed off a note asking if he would send me a few sentences for an upcoming issue (that's step 1). He did. Now for step 2: I tried to envision how this would look in the issue.

The article was about three eras of numismatic research - pre-internet, internet, and the Newman Portal era. I pictured section headers, each with an appropriate image illustrating the era. So what would the images be? One was easy - the Newman Portal logo. For the pre-internet days, I picked a random image of a bookshelf. For the pre-NNP internet, it turned out I already had a funny image of an old man at an old-fashioned personal computer. I added a fourth section where I discussed future eras, and found a rainbow picture I thought was appropriate. As my old friend Ken Lowe would say, badda-bing, badda-boom - done.

I could have written it myself from scratch, but with Joel's help we had a much better article, much faster. His part didn't take too long to complete, and neither did mine. Many hands make light work.

My other advice for my fellow editors was to take advantage of their unique perspectives and vantage points. By dint of geography, or simple personal relationships, there are always opportunities for interesting articles, if only one thinks to ask. Hook up with curators at a local museum or historical society and highlight numismatic connections. You can do all of this easier and faster than people outside your location or numismatic specialty.

Finally, I told them not to be afraid to borrow material from elsewhere. This is getting easier and easier to do with online archives like the Newman Portal. Search around and find an earlier article that would be of interest to your readers today. Get permission if necessary, but cut, paste and bingo - a new article. Don't beat youself up for being lazy - you add value by curation and perspective. Your editor's eye chooses that one item of hundreds on behalf of your readers, and your comments add value for newer collectors who may not be familiar with the material. Your readers will appreciate your work, and you may find that it generates new discussion on the topic. This happens every week in The E-Sylum.

I won't recap here everything that was said, but it was a very useful and productive event. David Lisot captured it all on video, so it will be avalable in the future.

Here are some photos taken by Bruce Perdue. Thanks!

Bourse Floor
Bruce Perdue and I next walked downstairs to the bourse floor where I met Bourse Chairman and baseball fan Kevin Foley, who gushed over The E-Sylum, comparing it to the 1950 New York Yankees.

I also spoke for a bit with Julian Leidman, Elongated Cent man Ray Dillard and waved to Paul Cunningham. I took this shot of some great plaques at Paul's table.

Next I visited Dave Lange at the NGC booth. As promised he had a few copies of his new book on hand.

Next I spoke to Darrell Luedtke, editor of the wooden money journal Bunyan's Chips.

Exhibits
While wandering the bourse floor I took some time to review the exhibit area, which was quite extensive, rivaling the annual American Numismatic Association convention. Here are some pictures of exhibits that caught my eye.

The Newman Numismatic Portal
By now E-Sylum readers are familiar with the Newman Numismatic Portal. Len Augsburger and I gave a talk to a couple dozen attendees. I started off with comments about Why the Portal is necessary, and len took over to discuss the What and the How. We had some great questions from the audience.

Afterwards I enjoyed meeting some of the attendees, including Kathy Freeland of TAMS and E-Sylum contributor Harry Waterson, whom I'd never before met in person. Coin shows are great for nothing if not putting faces to names.

Back On the Bourse Floor
After the NNP meeting I went back down to the bourse floor for a while. I visited with Ed Krivoniak and Pat McBride at the Burns library booth. Pat has done a marvelous job creating a welcoming and colorful layout for the Burns and PAN booths.

The lots in the upcoming PAN online auction (closing May 6th) were at the table for viewing. Pat showed me an interesting book lot: A Guide to the Coins of Great Britain & Ireland with embossed & colored plates.

To read the complete lot description, see:
A Guide to the Coins of Great Britain & Ireland (www.go2coinauctions.com/Listing/Details/831835/A-Guide-to-the-Coins-of-Great-Britain-Ireland)

Brad Karoleff snuck up behind me and grabbed my backpack, moving around so I couldn't see him, try as I might. I had no idea who it was.

My time was running short, so I said my goodbyes and headed to the lobby to pick up my bag and head out to my waiting cab. That breakfast had lasted me all day and I never did eat lunch. Luckily I had time to grab dinner at the airport before my flight. It was whirlwind trip, but very productive and enjoyable. Great show!