The Great American Stamp Show has been canceled for 2020. To read more, visit the updated news story here.
As Connecticut slowly reopens, plans for Great American Stamp Show continue.
We have been in regular communications with event staff and the leadership of the Connecticut Convention Center. Based on those conversations, we expected to provide more clarity to those interested in attending our annual convention by May 15, 2020.
At present, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont is working with state officials to implement a four-phase plan to restart the state’s economy. His most recent order to lift the stay at home restrictions ends on May 20, 2020. At that time, the state will be evaluating these plans.
At this point, we continue to work with our partners at the American Topical Association and the American First Day Cover Society to plan. Many dealers and exhibitors are planning and members are still registering to attend the show, slated for August 20-23, 2020. Our first priority in planning for the event is the health and safety of our members, dealers, and guests.
Given the current state of affairs and a lack of clear guidance from the State of Connecticut and the Connecticut Convention Center, we are unable to provide more information at this time. We will update members as soon as possible and continue to press for a firm decision within weeks.
If we are unable to move ahead with the Great American Stamp Show, all payments by exhibitors, dealers, and members to the APS will be fully refunded.
On behalf of our partners, thank you for the patience, understanding, and support from the APS, ATA, and AFDCS members as we navigate a very challenging situation.
Governor Lamont on Connecticut's status
The most recent comments from Governor Lamont highlight the challenges of planning for the show.
Source: Hartford Courant, May 15, 2020: "Q&A with Gov. Lamont: Reopening the state, transparency and what a COVID-19 summer in Connecticut might look like."
Q: What’s the summer going to look like in Connecticut? What types of things will people be able to do?
A: There are many questions, and I wish I could speak with absolute clarity about July, August, and September. But look at what's happened in this state, in this country, in this world just in the last 60 days. I'll let you know how I'm thinking about things, and that's the best I can do, and we have to reserve the right to change our minds. Like we said before, if there are flare-ups, how do we respond?
My instinct, broadly speaking, is that outdoors is a lot safer than indoors. You saw that reflected in restaurants, for example. You see that reflected in parks and beaches. You see that reflected as we slowly opened up Mystic Aquarium and places where you can be outside. We couldn't open schools in June, but how can you do summer camps in July? To me, that was sort of an inside/outside thing. We could have a smaller group, 12 people or so outside, much safer. Later on in the summer, I would say if things stay on track, the lines stay trending in the right direction, we can allow slightly bigger groups, 50 to 100.
Believe me, I get a lot of questions about weddings. I tell people I think will end up being much more generous for outside weddings than a hundred people packed inside. I know that’s not as exactly clear as you’d like, but at least you have an idea of how we’re trying to think about this. We’re going to be rolling out different protocols for all these different types of events every two to four weeks just based on experience.