What better way to enter summer than by learning from some of the best philatelic minds in the world?
This past June, Summer Seminar Online 2022 took place across three weeks. This year’s SSO featured seven three-session courses, 12 hour-long featured speaker presentations, and an online auction. In total, there were 1,260 different registrations made by collectors and enthusiasts across the globe. This is an increase from last year’s 1,082 different registrations.
The continued growth of Summer Seminar is wonderful to see, and it has been a joy speaking to new and returning participants. Each session of the courses held a 30-minute group discussion afterwards, which allowed participants to socialize and discuss with each other the topics just covered. This also was a time for the participants to ask the instructor questions and have a conversation about the course itself. There was no shortage of enthusiasm or curiosity by our participants, and there would often be so many questions that we would have to carry them over to the next session.
Along with the copious amount of philatelic educational content, we also held an online auction. This auction helped raise money for the Education Department and the American Philatelic Research Library. In the end, the auction was a huge success, with every item sold and the total amount raised eclipsing $2,700. We would like to thank anyone who registered for Summer Seminar Online 2022 and took part in the online auction.
The sessions in this year’s seminar covered a variety of topics that are appetizing to both the philatelic beginner and the master. There were 33 hours of content covered by our philatelic experts. Courses such as Introduction to Russian Philately, presented by John Seidl, and Argentina, presented by Dr. Thomas Bienosiek, which took us on a historical deep dive of those respective countries while using philately as an educational tool. Stamp Separation, presented by SSO mainstay Wayne Youngblood, had participants studying the multitude of perforation sizes and the mechanical processes that go into making sure we can pull our stamps apart.
If you wanted something a bit more on the technical side, we offered that as well. Forensic Philately, presented by Garfield Portch; Applying Analytical Methods in Philately, presented by Richard Judge; and Philatelic Expertizing, presented by our very own Ken Martin, opened up the curtain to the world of using technology and science to learn more about the stamps we see every day.

A screenshot from the Summer Seminar session by Librarian Scott Tiffney on the Robert A. Mason Digital Library.
We also had two sessions covering the APRL: Getting the Most out of the APRL’s Online Catalog and Navigating the APRL Digital Library. These presentations were led by Director of Information Services Scott Tiffney, who did a wonderful job teaching people the various ways they can use the APRL’s resources for their academic or recreational needs.
If you were unable to attend Summer Seminar Online 2022, no worries! All of the sessions were recorded, edited, and are now available to purchase on our C3a learning platform. No longer will you be bored trying to find something fun to watch on your run-of-the-mill streaming services. Now you can hop on C3a, peruse a wide array of philatelic content, purchase what you want, and then watch it as many times as you want. Whether you want to watch one specific session or binge watch all 33 hours of it, C3a is the place for you (User perk: we don’t even have ads). For anyone who registered for SSO 2022, the sessions that you purchased have already been added to your C3a account and can be viewed at any time that you wish.
Also, the philatelic lessons don’t just stop when Summer Seminar Online ends. Throughout the rest of the year we already have a few live virtual learning events planned. In October, we will host Dr. Gregg Redner as he presents Belgian Railway Stamps, a detailed look into the evolution of postage use on Belgium railways, including the use of waybills and cancellations. In December, Robert Cagna will present God and U.S. Postage Stamps. The presentation will explore the various instances of religious and holiday themes on U.S. postage stamps and the controversies that they created. This presentation will be free to all APS members. We hope that you join us for these live-virtual learning events.

If you have any questions about accessing C3a or the content within it, contact us at education@stamps.org so that we can help you. To learn a bit more about the C3a platform and read some frequently asked questions, check out our webpage at https://stamps.org/learn/c3a-online-learning. The platform is growing fast and is the premiere way to watch and learn from a multitude of philatelic experts online. Remember, there’s always something learn.
We at the Education Department would like to thank all of the presenters who gave great time and effort to make sure Summer Seminar Online 2022 was a success. Again, I would also like to thank the participants: your energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity make the event as worthwhile and fun as it is.