Hi John,
 
> Jenny; This was not brought up by a dealer, but by a past president of
> C.O.A.
 
COA as an institution has a vested interest in protecting those who form
such an influential part of its membership and bring so much money to the
organization.  We ought to be cognizent of the relationship and its latent
effect on COA as a non-profit organization.
 
Motive what better place for him to get to a lot of shell
> collectors without haveing to pay for adv.,   Why would anyone want to go
> to this auction at this time to undercut the C.O.A. auction which does a
> lot of good , just so he can make some money for himself.  As far as for
> me, I doubt if I would get hurt, as the people that would buy from me
will
> buy any way, weather they go to this auction or not.
 
I totally agree the COA auction is a good thing, and the money raised goes
where it's needed most -- to those doing research work on our favorite
invertibrates the Mollusca.
 
This fellow has been
> selling Lens' shells for quite awhile, so I dooubt if anything of real
> value woould still be left, and it would be a big disappointment to the
> people that would go, and a wast of their time.  Len was a good friend of
> mine, and I think he would not like to see this happening.  If he had
know
> before he died that something like this would happen, he woould have done
> something about it.
 
This statement (nothing of value left) has been cited as a reason not to go
by a couple of critics.  My question is, isn't that something for the
visitor to decide?  Who's to say a novice would not find something he/she
valued out of the less-expensive remnants of Len's collection?
 
I just do not know why you always think the dealers
> always have something to do with  anything if they do not go the way some
> people want them to go.  You must understand the dealers are the ones
that
> mainly support the C.O.A.
 
Yes, I agree that COA relies heavily on dealer generosity for funding.  Of
course it's in their interest to encourage folks to confine their buying
activities strictly to COA-sanctioned events.  Naturally it would benefit
COA and the bourse dealers to keep the money in-house.
 
This case is complicated by the fact that Ed also is setting up a booth at
the bourse, apparently.  I don't know Mr. Paul and so I can't grasp the
personal politics which might be involved, or whether they're limited to
the auction issue.  Will he be forced to choose between his COA booth or
holding his auction?  Would be convenient if he weren't a COA member; isn't
that a prerequisite of having a place in the bourse?  Cynical thoughts...
I hope we're better than that.
 
We give a lot of shells to the main auction, a
> lot to the other auction and still have to pay table rent, without having
> any idea if we will make enough to pay for being there, much less the
cost
> of the shells we donated.  Please get off the back of the dealers and be
> nice.
 
John, my comments on the auction aren't a criticism of dealers -- but it
should be always be asked of any ethical dilemma: who benefits?
 
Evidently one of the reasons there is a commotion over Mr. Paul running
this auction concurrently is that it would draw away business not only from
the benefit auction, but also from the for-profit dealer bourse.  Who
benefits if there is no competing auction?  If a dealer were involved in an
effort to convince people not to patronize a competing event, I suggest
that would be a breach of ethics.  This was my (again, cynical) point.
Just something to consider.
 
In this instance we're being told what to think, where to go, and where not
to go.  Also, someone (Ed Paul) is being attacked when he has no
opportunity to respond.  My Gen-X authority alarms are going off.
 
Personally, I would prefer to spend my money at the benefit auction, for
all the reasons Lynn covered.  I'm a COA member and I support the
organization.  However, it's wrong for critics to spoil the turnout for an
event on the basis of it 'competing' with COA.  There ought to be plenty of
dollars to go around, especially if there really isn't "anything of value
left" in the Hill collection.
 
I'm sorry, I've written you an essay.  I enjoy this type of philosophical
discussion.  Please don't take anything I post personally.  I raise issues
as points to ponder, to reflect on, not as a call to arms against the foe.
We should all be friends on Conch-L.  I try to be.  Thanks for sharing your
perspective with me.
 
Jenny